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Secret to Starbucks’ success decoded in new book.

Investigation of state dinner finds a third uninvited person.

IN ARTS, 7

IN WIRE, 3

Men’s and women’s basketball square off against Big West opponents.

IN SPORTS, 12

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Volume LXXV, Number 54

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Campus construction ongoing as campus activities resume UU Plaza Renovation

Rec Center Expansion

Construction in the University Union Plaza began in June 2009. It is funded by money from Associated Students Inc. reserves. The UU is set to reopen in April 2010 with an upgraded stage, landscaping and seating area. The total project budget is $4,478,000.

Seventy-five percent of the students who voted in a February 2008 referendum approved a $65 increase to the Student Union fee per quarter to fund the Cal Poly Rec Center expansion.The fee increase will not go into effect until the expansion project is estimated to be completed in June 2012.The total project budget is $71,128,000.

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Congress tasked with multiple economic issues Robert Schroeder MarketWatch

WASHINGTON — Health care, job creation and tackling the gaping U.S. budget deficit await both President Barack Obama and lawmakers upon their return to Washington, getting the new year and new decade off to an intense start with a sharp focus on economic issues.

With midterm congressional elections coming up later this year, the heat is on Democrats in particular to deliver as the economy begins to crawl out of recession.

The health care overhaul,

Obama’s top domestic priority, will be front and center when lawmakers return to work in earnest in the middle of the month. On Dec. 24, the Senate passed its plan to revamp the health care system, which seeks to extend insurance to millions of Americans and bar insurers from denying coverage to the sick.

Senate and House lawmakers must now hammer out a compromise version of the legislation, which Obama wants to sign before his State of the Union address. Republicans have vowed to continue their fight against the bill. Leadership and committee chairs will be

discussing the process for conference this week, said Stephanie Lundberg, a spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. Obama’s State of the Union speech is likely to be in the first days of February, and in it the president is expected to take on the $1.4 trillion U.S. budget deficit. The White House is backing a bipartisan commission to cut federal borrowing, and Obama’s budget director Peter Orszag has said the administration will offer ways to see Economy, page 2

Gov. Schwarzenegger faces new lame-duck status Michael Rothfeld los angeles times

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — No self-respecting politician wants to be one. The phrase itself is utterly demeaning. But with a year left in office, there are signs that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has begun his transformation into a lame duck.

This status, defined by the weakness of a politician whose term will soon expire, may be difficult to swallow for a former Mr. Universe known to legions of moviegoers for vanquishing opponents as Hercules, Conan and the Terminator.

Even as a pregnant man in “Junior,” Schwarzenegger reflected a particular kind of strength.

But legislators already have begun

sensing that as a lame duck he is easy prey and have openly disregarded some of his wishes. Members of his staff have steadily been quitting, and replacements are hard to come by.

Schwarzenegger himself has stopped curtailing his famous mischievous streak. More of all this is probable in the year ahead.

The question for Schwarzenegger is whether he will focus his energy on resolving California’s renewed budget crisis or take a more passive approach and spend his time on a publicity tour around the state or the globe to burnish his legacy, said Bill Whalen, who was a speechwriter for California Gov. Pete Wilson.

“He is by definition a lame duck, but being a lame duck does not see Lame duck, page 2

Lame duck Continued from page 1

mean that you have to sit back and let the situation overwhelm you,” Whalen said.

Schwarzenegger took a jaunt through the Middle East and Europe in November and flew to a climate conference in Copenhagen last month while aides were dealing with a $20 billion deficit. If that pattern continues, Schwarzenegger will have to fit it into a busy schedule.

Besides the budget, he is expected to campaign for a system of open political primaries on the state ballot in June and an $11 billion bond measure slated for November.

“Gov. Schwarzenegger is going to approach this year no different than any other, with an aggressive agenda to fix what’s broken in the state,” said his spokesman, Matt David. “He’s proven time and again that he can get stuff done even during difficult times.”

That Schwarzenegger’s power is waning was evident last month, however, in the decision of state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg to kill the governor’s reappointment of Rachelle Chong to a six-year term on the California Public Utilities Commission without a confirmation hearing.

Steinberg cited Chong’s record as the problem, but also indicated that he was likely to reject more of Schwarzenegger’s appointees whose terms would last well into the next governor’s tenure.

“There have been pro tems who have made the decision to simply not confirm any long-term nominee in the last year of an administration,” Steinberg said. He said he would consider other appointees on “a case-by-case basis.”

The politics are straightforward.

The power to give a governor anything he might want is a bargaining chip for lawmakers. But these chits may hold more value with a governor who will have up to eight years to serve. Schwarzenegger, by con-

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trast, has fewer chances to punish lawmakers who defy him and fewer issues he can use as leverage to negotiate.

With a deal on the state’s water system completed with lawmakers in November, the only main issue around which he can still negoti-

... being a lame duck does not mean that you have to sit back and let the situation overwhelm you.

— Bill Whalen Speechwriter

ate is the ongoing state budget crisis.

Lawmakers cannot wait for another governor to resolve the problem.

Schwarzenegger may try during those talks to obtain changes to the state’s costly pension system, which he has been seeking for several years, as a last major accomplishment.

Schwarzenegger will lay out his agenda for the year during his State of the State address Wednesday.

The governor’s initial strategy for the budget appears to be an attempt to pressure the federal government for more funding that he says California needs to comply with federal laws. Schwarzenegger is expected in his budget proposal, due to come out on Friday, to demand that the state get back more of the taxes it sends to Washington, and to threaten large new cuts to social services, mass transit and other programs if U.S. officials do not provide extra money Other proof that his administration is on a downward trajectory comes from his own high-ranking

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aides, who have been streaming out the door.

In 2009, Schwarzenegger lost his legislative affairs secretary, the directors of the Departments of Finance, Transportation, General Services, Employment Development, Forestry and Fire Protection, and the head of the California National Guard. Another cluster of top advisors departed at the end of 2008.

Most of those positions have been filled internally with lowerlevel managers, given the near impossibility of attracting outside talent to jobs they would be probably lose when the next governor takes the helm. (Schwarzenegger had trouble finding a finance director willing to replace the outgoing Mike Genest in a tough budget year, eventually pressing a deputy, Ana Matosantos, into service.)

For months, some departments have had “acting” directors or vacancies at the top; the California Housing Finance Agency, for instance, has been without an executive director for a year.

Other jobs have become revolving doors. The governor has had three Cabinet secretaries in a year. He brought back Fred Aguiar, a trusted aide from the beginning of his administration, as secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency after the agency’s previous leader resigned under fire in March. In early November, he moved Aguiar into the governor’s office, leaving the consumer agency’s Cabinet-level post empty.

Some politicians find new freedom in being a lame duck, feeling unconstrained in their words and actions without an election on the horizon. Schwarzenegger for a time held his tendency for politically incorrect comments in check. But he recently publicly scolded his wife for driving without a hands-free device, sent a legislator an obscene coded message in a veto letter and wielded a knife in a video while endorsing cuts in social services and education in the budget.

Economy Continued from page 1

tackle the deficit in its next budget, in February.

Lawmakers also will have to mull an increase in the nation’s borrowing limit. Just before leaving town on Christmas Eve, the Senate joined the House in approving a short-term increase in the U.S. debt limit. But the $290 billion increase only bought the government borrowing power into February, meaning lawmakers must kick off an election year with a debate about the country’s debt. The U.S. debt ceiling now stands at $12.4 trillion.

House and Senate lawmakers will converge on the Capitol for a pro-forma session on Tuesday, but won’t get back to work in earnest until mid-month. The House will be back in session on Jan. 12 and the Senate will return for votes on Jan. 20.

With unemployment at 10 percent and with prospects for significant job growth dim, lawmakers are also poised to take up job-creation legislation.

The House cleared its $174 billion job-creation bill in December and now it’s the Senate’s turn to act. But Republicans have roundly criticized the measure and have compared it to the $787 billion economic stimulus bill signed by Obama last year. Republicans charge that the stimulus has been ineffective at creating jobs, but the White House says 3.5 million jobs are on track to be created by the end of the year.

Bank reform is also high on the congressional agenda. The House has passed its bill but the Senate hasn’t. At issue are rules that would prevent a reprise of the market meltdown that shook the world in 2008. But action is going to be slow out of the gate: the Senate Banking Committee is just beginning to debate the

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 legislation, and analysts think a final vote by the Senate may not come until spring.

November’s congressional elections will hang over everything lawmakers do this year, and since a new president’s party usually loses seats, Democrats will need to be on the lookout for Republican attempts to unseat them. All of the House’s 435 members are up for reelection, and there will be 36 Senate contests. Republicans would need 40 House seats to capture that chamber, and 10 seats to wrest Senate control from Democrats.

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Stricter airport-security measures enforced in U.S. Christopher Hinton MarketWatch

NEW YORK — Federal officials intend to increase security for international flights to the U.S. starting Monday, increasing gate pat-downs and bag searches in response to the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight over the Christmas holiday.

The “enhanced” security measures will be particularly acute for passengers traveling from nations deemed by the U.S. as “state sponsors of terrorism” or “other countries of interest,” the Transportation Security Administration said in its latest release.

Those other countries include some that Washington considers its allies against Islamist extremism, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, according to media reports. It also includes the four nations the U.S. has formally designated sponsors of terrorism:

Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria.

Altogether, there are 14 countries that the U.S. considers potentially dangerous for airlines.

“New directive includes longterm, sustainable security measures developed in consultation with law-enforcement officials and our domestic and international partners,” the TSA said in a release issued Sunday.

In an earlier release, the Department of Homeland Security said the TSA would increase patdowns and bag searches at airport security gates, as well as require passengers to stow more personal items, turn of electronic equipment and remain seated during certain portions of flights. There have also been media reports that passengers have to return blankets and pillows before their aircraft begins to descend.

In addition, TSA checkpoints will begin using the latest screen-

ing technologies as well as “threatbased” and random screening for passengers on international flights destined for U.S. airports.

On Dec. 25, a 23-year-old Nigerian man reportedly tried to destroy a Northwest flight bound for Detroit from Amsterdam by setting off an explosive device in his pants. The device failed, resulting in a fire, and the man was quickly subdued.

Fallout from the attack has been fierce, with President Barack Obama ordering a full review of security procedures in the face of legislators’ complaints. Northwest is a unit of Delta Air Lines.

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Secret Service says third uninvited person attended state dinner Kathleen Hennessey tribune washington bureau

WASHINGTON — The list of uninvited guests at a White House state dinner got longer Monday when the Secret Service acknowledged that a third person had attended the gala for the Indian prime minister last November without an invitation.

The Secret Service discovered that a third person had made it into the White House dinner as it was investigating how Michaele and Tareq Salahi, the now-famous Virginia socialites, made it past security to attend the same event.

The third interloper, who was not publicly named by the Secret Service, traveled from a local hotel with members of the Indian delegation, the agency said in a statement that was released after the incident was reported on a Web site.

The person bypassed one level of White House security, the statement said. Unlike other members of the Indian group, the person was not cleared through the Secret Service system that runs background checks on White House visitors.

But the person was subject to other screening measures on the night of the event.

“This individual went through all required security measures along with the rest of the official delegation at the hotel,” the agency said.

“At present, there is nothing to indicate that this individual went through the receiving line or had contact with the president or first lady.”

No charges have been filed in

Wire Editor: Jennifer Titcomb

mustang daily

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

mcclatchy-tribune President Barack Obama greets Michaele and Tareq Salahi during a receiving line in the Blue Room of the White House before the State Dinner with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, on November 24.

The Salahis and another unnamed person were at the dinner without an invitation but made it through security checkpoints.

either dinner-crashing incident, said Ben Friedman, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia.

The revelation is the latest embarrassment for the agency charged with guarding the president. The Secret Service has been the subject of criticism and mockery since it learned of the Salahis’ exploits by reading Michaele Salahi’s Facebook post.

The third interloper was detected in a subsequent Secret Service review of security procedures, according to Ronald Kessler, a journalist who first reported the incident Monday

on the site Newsmax.com. Kessler said agents watched videotape of the event and matched images to names on the guest list. One man could not be matched to the list, he wrote.

“Procedural changes have already been implemented to address foreign delegations under the responsibility of Department of State who are entering facilities secured by the Secret Service,” the Secret Service statement said.

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan last month told the House Homeland Security Committee see Uninvited, page 5

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NASA’s Kepler probe finds five strange new planets Mike Swift san jose mercury news

SAN JOSE, Calif. — In what astronomers called an exciting step toward detecting Earth-like planets, a spacecraft operated by NASA’s Ames Research Center has found five strange new planets, beginning to reveal how the structure of our solar system fits into the rest of the universe.

The five planets announced Monday by scientists working on the Kepler probe are an exotic bunch, one with a density as light as styrofoam. The large planets orbit so close to their stars that they may glow with the heat of a blast furnace, as hot as the melting point of iron.

“It’s certainly no place to look for life,” said Bill Borucki, the principal investigator with the Kepler mission at Ames. “That will be coming later.”

Launched in March, the 2,300pound spacecraft detects the transit of a planet across the star’s face.

These are the first new planets found by the probe.

For a smaller Earth-like planet orbiting at a great enough distance from its star to support life, Kepler will need about three years of planet transit data — meaning that NASA’s first announcement of finding “other Earths” probably won’t happen before 2012.

While astronomers first detected a planet orbiting another star in 1995, Kepler has unique abilities that may revolutionize how astronomers understand the formation and character of planets. Because of its position in space and its ability to monitor more than 150,000 stars continuously

with great precision, Kepler is the first instrument able to detect the full range of planets — from gas giants like Jupiter to rocky terrestrial planets like the Earth and Mars, and everything in between.

“We’re starting to fill in the picture of the different types of planets in ways that we couldn’t before,” said Jon Jenkins of the SETI Institute, co-investigator for data analysis for the $591 million Kepler mission.

Scientists had thought there were two classes of planets — terrestrial and gas giants. The new Kepler data, Jenkins said, hints that intermediate sized planets such as “Neptune and Uranus form in a different fashion than Jupiters and Saturns. There are finer distinctions in how these planets form.”

Kepler also had reassuring news for those who worry about the future of the source of all life on Earth — the sun. It turns out that a majority of the roughly 43,000 sun-like, “G-class” stars that Kepler observed are as stable or more stable than the sun.

That is good news for scientists who hope to find life elsewhere in the galaxy, because it indicates that there are many stars that might allow a benign environment over the long term for the evolution of complex life forms.

But it also seems to indicate, astronomers said, that our sun is more likely to remain stable into the future.

“I’m going to sleep better tonight knowing we’re in a good, safe place,” said Caty Pilachowski, an astronomer at Indiana University who reviewed Kepler’s data.

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CIA bomber may have been Jordanian double-agent Greg Miller

tribune washington bureau

WASHINGTON — The suicide bomber who killed eight people at a CIA compound in Afghanistan last week was a Jordanian who had been recruited by that nation’s intelligence service to help U.S. spy agencies penetrate al-Qaeda, according to a former senior U.S. intelligence official.

The bombing killed seven CIA employees who were apparently lured to a meeting with the supposed informant by the prospect of important new intelligence on al-Qaeda’s inner circle. The attack also killed a Jordanian intelligence officer believed to have been responsible for serving as the main point of contact with the informant accused of carrying out the attack.

The disclosure that the most deadly incident in recent CIA his-

tory may have been the work of a double-agent suggests a new level of sophistication in al-Qaeda’s efforts to retaliate against the agency responsible for an intense campaign of Predator strikes on the terrorist network in Pakistan over the past two years.

The revelations also reveal the inherent risks in the CIA’s deep reliance on Jordan and other foreign partners in sensitive counterterrorism operations.

“That’s how you do these operations — you find people who can conceivably penetrate terrorist organizations, try to turn them and run them” against terrorist targets, said the former U.S. intelligence official, who is familiar with aspects of last week’s attack but spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Obviously, this one turned out tragically.”

Another former senior U.S. intelligence official who served

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

in the region said that high-level CIA operatives from Kabul had been summoned to the remote base near Khost for what they were led to believe would be an important meeting with a wellplaced informant.

At least two of those CIA officers from Kabul were wounded, the former agency official said.

The former official said that the fact that the informant was able to enter the base with a bomb strapped to his body suggests that he had earned the trust of his CIA and Jordanian handlers.

“What this tells you is that alQaeda is now capable of running a fairly sophisticated double-agent operation,” the former CIA official said. “This guy totally had them believing, which means he had (previously) given them verifiable information, and everything see Bomber, page 5

Year begins with 4 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan KABUL — U.S. forces in Afghanistan suffered their first combat deaths of the new year, the military report Monday, with four troops killed a day earlier in the country’s violent south.

The battlefield losses came as Afghan President Hamid Karzai faced a fresh political confrontation, ordering parliament to put off its winter recess and vote on a new Cabinet lineup as soon as this weekend. On Saturday, lawmakers defied the president by rejecting two-thirds of his Cabinet picks.

Western officials are worried about the weakness of the Karzai government as the Obama administration embarks on a troop buildup that will nearly double the American military presence in Afghanistan. The Afghan leader is also under pressure to form a government before a major conference of international donors in London beginning Jan. 28.

As the first of 30,000 new U.S. troops begin flowing into the country, adding to some 68,000 already deployed here, Western commanders have warned that a commensurate increase in casualties is likely. That is in part because the additional American forces will push into parts of the country that were previously under the sway of the Taliban and other insurgents.

In 2010’s first reported battlefield deaths, military officials said four American troops had been killed in a roadside bomb in the south. A British soldier was also killed in a separate explosion.

Roadside bombs are the No. 1 killer of Western forces in Afghanistan, and have become the signature weapon of the Taliban and other insurgents. Multiple fatalities in a single incident, such as the strike that killed the four Americans, have become commonplace, because members of the Taliban are using larger and more powerful improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, capable of destroying armored vehicles and killing most or all of those inside.

The military did not reveal the location of the latest U.S. deaths, but most Americans in the south are based in Helmand and Kandahar provinces, where the Taliban movement is the strongest. Those provinces are also a center of Afghanistan’s drug trade, which has close links to the insurgency.

Most of the arriving reinforcements are to be deployed in the south, where thousands of U.S. Marines have been trying to secure a key swath of the Helmand River valley. Other U.S. troops are working to quell a rising insurgent presence around the city of Kandahar, the Taliban’s spiritual center.

Fighting also has flared recently in Afghanistan’s north, where the insurgency has strengthened in recent months. Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said at least 10 Taliban fighters were killed in a clash Sunday with Afghan troops.

The Western war effort has been complicated by months of political paralysis, and the deadlock may deepen in coming days.

While parliament’s weekend rejection of 17 of Karzai’s 24 Cabinet choices was seen in some quarters as a welcome display of independence on lawmakers’ part, it has also left the government barely functioning.

Setting the stage for a potential showdown, senior aides to Karzai suggested that the president may put forth some of the same Cabinet nominees when the issue comes up for a second vote.

Among those rejected was Ismail Khan, a powerful warlord who is the incumbent minister of energy.

The support of a number of onetime militia leaders such as Khan helped Karzai win a second term in office, though the August election was clouded by massive fraud. While Karzai was eventually declared the winner, international auditors stripped him of nearly a million votes, depriving him of the clear mandate he had sought.

If Karzai is able to strong-arm his Cabinet choices through parliament, it may add to widespread public disillusionment over corruption and inefficiency in the government. But a new political defeat for the president could open the door to prolonged infighting that could render his government an even more unstable partner for the West.

Western diplomats have made it clear to Karzai they expect him to carry out sweeping reforms, but that will be difficult if the Afghan leader is preoccupied with fighting off challenges from political rivals.

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Briefs

Word on the Street

“How was your winter break?”

“It was quiet and fun. I saw a concert and went snowboarding.”

-Robert Michael, biological sciences freshman

“My winter break was fabulous. I went to Monterey and it was fun.”

-Ralph Lee, political science junior

State

National

International

SAN LUIS OBISPO (MCT) — A former Cal Poly farm mechanic has filed a lawsuit against the university claiming racial discrimination, including allegations that colleagues spat on his truck and cursed his name in writing.

Carlos Ramirez filed the suit against the university and former supervisor Gary Ketcham. The filing represents only one side of the case.

Ramirez was the only Hispanic working among a group of white employees in the university’s farm shop, where agricultural equipment ,such as tractors, is stored and repaired by staff and students, said his lawyer, David Hagan.

Ramirez worked at Cal Poly from March 2005 until November 2007 and had positive performance reviews, Hagan said.

LAS VEGAS (MCT) — At least two people have died following a shooting Monday morning inside a federal courthouse in downtown Las Vegas, authorities said. The suspected gunman was among the dead.

The gunman opened fire on a deputy U.S. marshal and a court security officer at the Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse, just south of the aging casinos on Fremont Street. The Associated Press reported that one of the wounded officers had died in the 8 a.m. PST shooting.

Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Roxanna Irwin said there was only one gunman, whose name had not been released. He died soon after the shooting.

AMRITSAR, India, and ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (MCT) — Five Americans detained in Pakistan after allegedly trying to link up with militant groups over the Internet denied in court Monday that they had any intention of carrying out terrorist attacks, their defense attorney said.

The five, all young Muslim men from the Washington, D.C., area, were arrested in early December in Sargodha, a city in eastern Pakistan.

The suspects, who range in age from 19 to 25, denied they had ties to al-Qaida or other militant groups during a court appearance in Sargodha, said their attorney, Ameer Abdullah Rokri.

•••

“It was OK. I went on vacation to Palm Springs with my family.”

-Robin Bayless, economics freshman

“It was good I travelled to Washington but there was no snow to see.”

PLEASANTON (MCT) — They brought their guns to downtown Livermore — to have a cup of coffee and demonstrate their right to literally bear arms.

A group of more than a dozen people met at a downtown cafe Saturday afternoon, some of them had unloaded semi-automatic pistols holstered to their belts with their ammunition clips readily available. The demonstration was put on by members of the “open carry” movement.

Uninvited continued from page 3

human error was to blame for the Salahi mishap. Asked if the Salahis were the only party crashers at the dinner, Sullivan said that he could

-Phebe Yip, civil engineering senior

“It was really relaxing. I went to St. Louis, Missouri with friends; it was fun.”

-Rabecca Gleason, child development freshman

“It was really fun. I saw friends and family and got to snowboard.”

-Phillip Blacklock, mechanical engineering sophomore

compiled and photographed by jennifer titcomb

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Bomber continued from page 4

had checked out.”

Still, former officials said the suicide bombing represented a serious and so far unexplained breach of security at the heavily guarded base.

A CIA spokesman declined to comment on the circumstances of the attack or the agency’s relationship with Jordan’s intelligence service. Sources who provided information about the attack cautioned that the broad details of the plot were only beginning to be understood, and that many details remained unclear.

The bomber was identified as Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal alBalawi, a 36-year-old doctor from Zarza, Jordan, the same hometown as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was al-Qaeda’s top operative in Iraq before he was killed in 2006. AlBalawi’s identity was first reported

by Al-Jazeera.

Balawi, according to the Arab news agency, was arrested by Jordan’s intelligence service more than a year ago. The service, known as General Intelligence Department, or GID, believed it had succeeded in turning al-Balawi from an alQaeda sympathizer into an asset who could be used to penetrate the terrorist network in Afghanistan.

Al-Balawi’s assignment was to

•••

WASHINGTON (MCT) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton declared Monday that Yemen is a threat to global security but warned that the Obama administration will continue accelerating U.S. aid only if the Yemeni government meets U.S. demands to take steps toward stability.

Clinton signaled a growing administration focus on the beleaguered Arabian state, saying Yemen has become a launching pad for terrorist attacks on distant corners of the world.

BEIJING (MCT) — Web users reported an outage of China’s strict Internet controls, known as the Great Firewall, for several hours Monday morning, allowing them brief access to banned Web sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

Cautious excitement spread on some social-networking platforms as hope flared that Internet freedoms suddenly were being expanded after months of intensifying scrutiny.

“It’s finally unblocked, reasons unknown,” wrote a blogger named EFanZh. “I hope nothing gets blocked anymore. I can’t take it any longer.”

comment in detail only in a closed hearing.

“But I believe that I can satisfy you in explaining that there were no other people there that night that should not (have been there),” he said.

Kessler said the review of video-

tapes occurred after Sullivan’s testimony.

A spokesman for the House Homeland Security Committee said the committee had been in contact with the Secret Service on Monday and was expecting more information.

help track down al-Qaeda No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, also a doctor, according to the Al-Jazeera report, which said that the bomber had fooled his Jordanian and CIA contacts for more than a year.

Evan Kohlmann, a counterterrorism expert, said that al-Balawi was also a “notorious al-Qaida cyberactivist” known for extremist postings on sites tied to the terrorist network. Kohlmann said in an email that al-Balawi’s online moniker was “Abu Dujanah al-Khorasani,” and that “he had announced he was leaving to go join the fight in Afghanistan, and was trying to inspire others to follow in his footsteps.”

The Jordanian intelligence officer killed in the attack was identified as Sharif Ali bin Zeid. Jordan’s King Abdullah II was present when Zeid’s casket arrived in the country, according to a report by Jordan’s news service, which said only that Ali “fell as he performed his humanitarian duty with the Jordanian contingent” in Afghanistan.

U.S. officials said that the bombing is unlikely to have an impact on the CIA’s work with its Jordanian counterpart. The agency’s relationship with the GID is “probably the most solid one we have” in the Arab world, said a former high-ranking U.S. intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

The relationship dates back to the 1950s, officials said, and ex-

panded in the aftermath of the Sept.

11, 2001, attacks as the CIA worked closely with Jordan. Human rights groups have accused Jordan of involvement in CIA interrogation and rendition operations.

The CIA also collaborated extensively with Jordan, as well as other Arab allies, on a program launched after the Sept. 11 strikes to identify recruits in the Muslim world who could be used to gather intelligence on al-Qaeda. One former high-ranking U.S. intelligence official said the effort was dubbed the “baby terrorist program,” because its aim was to identify individuals who could pass as Islamic militants and be turned against terrorism targets.

“The theory behind it was that right after the attacks we were looking to recruit sources who could penetrate terrorist organizations,” the former official said. “We worked with friendly services, and certainly the Jordanians.”

The disclosure of Jordan’s ties to the attack came as CIA Director Leon E. Panetta and other agency officials traveled to Dover Air Force Base for the arrival of the bodies of the seven slain agency officers, according to George Little, a CIA spokesman.

Among those killed were four CIA officers and three contractors hired to provide security.

(Sebastian Rotella in Washington contributed to this report.)

•••

tuesday, january 5, 2010

arts & Entertainment editor: cassandra keyse

High school senior gains national recognition for music video Nicole Brodeur

Valentine’s Day: An Early Warning

the seattle times

SEATTLE — So Ashton Kutcher and Ben Stiller were tweeting the other day. You know. Down in Hollywood.

Ashton says to Ben: “Wish YouTube existed when I was in high school.”

And Ben says, “We are all going to be working for Javier Caceres in five years.”

Javier Caceres. You know. The filmmaker.

If you haven’t heard of him, you will. He’s the senior at Shorewood High School in Shoreline, Wash., who helped conceive, choreograph and shoot “Shorewood Lip Dub”— a music video of Hall and Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come True” that was shot forward but is shown backward.

The 6 minute, 37 second, how’d-they-do-it video went up on YouTube Dec. 17. On. Dec. 22, it was featured on “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC. On Dec. 23, it was the focus of a story in the Los Angeles Times.

And now Ashton and Ben are all atwitter, along with Nickelodeon powerhouse producer Dan Schneider, who The New York Times called “the Norman Lear of children’s television.”

“It’s amazing, unbelievable,” Caceres said the other day. “I just never thought it was going to be this huge. I’ve just been in a daze, taking it all in.”

mcclatchy-tribune

Javier Caceres has received national attention for his music video of Hall and Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come True,” which was shot forward, but is shown backward.

Even better for Caceres would be if the video was seen by Michel Gondry, the French director behind “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” and Caceres’ idol.

“If he ever watched the video, I would lose my mind,” said Caceres, 18. “He’s the epitome of creativity.”

The Shorewood lip-dub was a response to one made last month by rival Shorecrest High School to OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” Shorecrest’s video-production class produced a continuous, onetake video involving hundreds of students dancing and singing

through the halls. There’s a banana in a wheelchair, the grim reaper and a topless Scot, and people lending sugar and shakin’ it like a Polaroid picture. (You know what to do.)

The whole thing was captured by student cameraman Kollin O’Dannel.

Shorewood saw it, and the challenge was on.

There was talk of using the Beatles’ cover of “Twist and Shout,” but Caceres thought it was too slow.

So he and video production see Caceres, page 8

You have 50 days until Valentine’s Day. Why am I giving you so much notice? Well, you might need it. If you believe the media, you probably should have started planning months ago.

Valentine’s Day used to be about sending cards. It’s only in the past 50 years or so that the range of gifts expanded to flowers, chocolate and jewelry. These are more expensive, which is all the better for the florists, chocolatiers and jewelers, but bad news for you.You can expect to drop $125 at the very cheapest on this trifecta, which doesn’t even include dinner.

This is a lot of money, especially for students, but advertisements make certain promises that might tempt us to buy. Buying something as expensive as jewelry must mean that it is true love, and of course, in every commercial chocolate is shown practically causing orgasms. Flowers aren’t really portrayed as having any sort of special powers, but they are such a staple (who doesn’t get 12 roses?) that they barely need any ads at all.

What it comes down to is that society (i.e. companies that sell Valentine’s gifts) want you to forget about all the love and feelings and stuff and just buy your girlfriend what everyone else is buying.

And yes, I said girlfriend, because I have never seen an add that promises guys any sort of Valentine’s Day gift, except sex as a direct result of the other gifts he has bought.

Sexism and prostitution aside, there is no way to succeed in this kind of system. Sure, you bought flowers, chocolate and jewelry, but that’s just the basics. To truly create a fairy-tale Valentine’s Day, you will need to at least throw down $500 an hour for a horse-drawn carriage, to say nothing about the trained doves and string quartet. Even a fairly basic romantic dinner is not only fairly pricey, but can easily fall through if you don’t make reservations soon. So why do we even try?

Truth is, advertizing doesn’t only work on the guy who has to buy all this stuff.Whether they like it or not, everyone’s expectations have been raised by these ridiculous ads. I don’t care who you are, if you’re expecting dinner at a fancy restaurant and a diamond necklace, and you get Pita Pit and a ring pop, you’re going to be a bit disappointed.

The secret to having as little of

that disappointment as possible is, of course, communication. Try to figure out what each person in the relationship expects from the day. It would be classy to not do this the day before. There are many different ways you can celebrate Valentine’s Day and you shouldn’t feel pressured to celebrate in a way neither of you really wants.

If your relationship is relatively young, Valentine’s could be fraught with even more trouble. If you are still infatuated with each other, it won’t be very healthy to listen to the day’s message of true love, marriage proposals and happily ever after. You will probably still want to celebrate it, but make sure that you’re having fun, and not in a restaurant surrounded by couples who have been together for years. It’s probably too soon to be thinking that far down the road, especially when you should be focusing on each other and not on what society thinks you should be feeling.

And if you find yourself on Valentine’s Day with nobody to celebrate with, it is of course a perfect time to celebrate “Singles Awareness Day” with friends. Just try to do things that will place you far away from the happy couples, as that defeats the purpose of celebrating your singleness and your right to celebrate even if you aren’t seeing anyone.Watching a movie while eating ice cream is a traditional favorite, but don’t pass up a fun (not romantic) dinner or something more wild (sex toy party?).

There are endless possibilities.

Another benefit of Valentine’s Day is that if you do feel lonely, it’s likely that others feel the same way.

While it would be unlikely to start a relationship with someone while under that sort of pressure, hooking up with someone might be just the thing to remind you of the fun of single life. Just be sure that you don’t expect anything more than fun from it.

In short, whatever your situation this Valentine’s Day, don’t let your day be dictated by our consumerist culture. For hundreds of years, it was a holiday about love, and that should be your focus, not whatever you are supposed to buy to prove that you have love. As long as the day is special, who cares what you buy or get?

Anthony Rust is a biology junior and Mustang Daily sex columnist. Quibbles or queries? E-mail him at arust@calpoly. edu.

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Tuesday, January 5, 2010 www.mustangdaily.net

Arts

Arts editor: Cassandra Keyse mustangdailyarts@gmail.com

7

Professor decodes Starbucks’ secrets to success in new book Luciana Chavez mcclatchy newspapers

Temple University professor Bryant Simon believes he knows the Starbucks secret.

And it’s not the caramel macchiato or the 86,999 other drinks the international coffee purveyors sell us.

It’s the lifestyle we buy with that $3 cup of joe.

Simon, 48, wanted to show how Americans communicate with their purchases.

So, for his book “Everything But the Coffee: Learning about America from Starbucks,” he visited 435 Starbucks in the U.S. and 10 other countries, analyzing everything from the flooring to the signage and everyone from the customers to CEO Howard Schultz.

“I listened to Alanis Morissette more than anyone should have to,” Simon says.

In the book, the UNC-Chapel Hill graduate explains how Starbucks became a Wall Street favorite by making its customers feel environmentally aware, upwardly mobile, connected and cool by welcoming us, by name, into their clean, urban-chic stores, pumping hip music, and selling us (some) fair-trade coffee in cups made of 60 percent recycled materials.

We got all that in one cup of coffee? At least the illusion of it, Simon says.

Simon spent five years researching, thinking and writing about the global business phenomenon that is Starbucks, a company that serves 50 million customers per week.

Then he “avoided it like the plague” until his book was published in October.

While he worked, Simon chatted up people at Starbucks and organized focus groups. He talked to interior design experts and monitored message boards on Web sites such as www.ihatestarbucks.com and www. urbandictionary.com.

He dragged his wife to Guadalajara, Mexico, to meet a Starbucks fan he’d met online.

“Everyone had something to say,” he says.

“It became kind of tedious, but I’d end up in the bathroom scribbling down notes on napkins.”

Reading the store Simon found clues to Starbucks’ success

all over each shop he visited.

During a recent stop at Starbucks on Peace Street in Raleigh, N.C., Simon pointed out two big, royal purple chairs positioned in one corner. The comfy chairs offered a chance for respite; the royal purple color and velvety fabric oozed opulence and affluence.

At the store at the corner of Maynard and Chapel Hill Road in Cary, N.C., Simon explained how the napkins, featuring a message about recycling, give customers a stake in the do-good Starbucks image.

A sign asserted Starbucks as a coffee expert, featuring a photo of coffee cups on a burlap coffee sack and asking, “Can you spot the coffee made with the top 3 percent of the world’s best coffee beans?”

Another sign advertised a caramel brulee latte, adorned like a holiday dessert. The message? You deserve this gift.

They work. Customers told Simon they went to Starbucks to treat themselves.

One of Simon’s former students from the University of Georgia told him she bought Starbucks’ Ethos water because the company donated some of the money to clean water projects overseas.

Others said they went because the relatively expensive drinks were affordable ways to have a taste of a better life.

Getting all of that for $3 or $4 is a steal.

It’s also the American way, Simon says.

“It’s us,” he says. “We want these things and we want them as easily as possible.”

Reaction Simon had to rewrite the book to explain how Starbucks got off track in 2007, long before the current recession.

“Starbucks is selling status, which is a different model than say Wal-Mart, which is about selling more,” he says. “When we saw Starbucks pursue the selling-more model, it cut into the status-making that had been so successful. Wal-Mart is about value. Starbucks has never

“The drive by”

been about that.”

Writing about the coffee titan left Simon wanting. He tired of seeing the same piece of artwork in every store.

He told his former Georgia student that she was paying an extra 35 cents for the privilege of buying Ethos water. Starbucks gives 5 cents from each bottle to water projects.

Ethos water costs about $1.80. Other bottled water of that size are in the $1.40 range.

“I pointed out that they charged her extra to help people,” Simon says. “She was like, ‘Oh man.’ I felt bad because she was so earnest about it. She read the sign and thought, ‘I’m doing something to help.’”

He noted how at one Starbucks he recently had to ask for a ceramic cup in order to avoid a paper cup. Then, that same day see Starbucks, page 8

mcclatchytribune

Bryant Simon visited 435 Starbucks locations in 11 different countries to gather information for his book, published in October. an

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Caceres continued from page 6

teacher Martin Ballew, 36, settled on the poppy Hall and Oates song, which was featured in the recent film “(500) Days of Summer.”

They were inspired by director Spike Jonze’s video for “Drop,” by The Pharsyde — also shot forward but played backward.

But doing that meant Caceres had to listen to the song hundreds of times, backward, to figure out the mouth movements for students to lip-sync. Played forward, it looks like they’re singing the lyrics perfectly.

Caceres can speak the gibberish on demand.

Still, he shies from the credit and couldn’t say enough about Ballew, or the others in his class who managed five different teams of students.

They shot during fifth period on Dec. 16, wading through some 600 students from 19 classes. They did five run-throughs in 100 minutes.

Ballew not only shepherded the whole project along, he followed Caceres through the school during the shoot, wearing a backpack/boombox that was blasting the song. (He makes a cameo in a knitted hat; Caceres does, too, wearing a crown of balloons).

And get this: Not one student did anything untoward or obscene.

“No one wanted to be the person who ruined it for everyone,” said Ballew.

If anything, it made Shorewood

a tighter community.

“There are teachers who have been here for more than 20 years, who said they had never seen the school so excited,” Ballew said. “It really brought everyone together.”

And while it may have put a little heat on the ShorewoodShorecrest rivalry, well, it will never get that hot.

Ballew has been friends with Shorecrest video production teacher Trent Mitchell since middle school, when they started making videos together. They were in the same program at Central Washington University and now teamteach a video-production class for students at both high schools.

“It’s a thrill that we are where we are now,” Ballew said. “And we all have tremendous respect for each other.”

So do others.

MSNBC’s Maddow, who aired both videos, called Shorecrest’s “’Glee’ meets Andre 3000 meets Robert Altman.”

And she gave Caceres a shoutout for figuring out the phonetics and teaching his classmates how to sing them: “Dude, if that is not the first item on every college application you ever fill out,” Maddow said, “You are totally blowing it.”

Caceres still can’t believe it.

Six years ago, he was new to this country, having moved here with his parents and brother from Peru.

Now, he’s a Running Start student, taking classes at Shoreline Community College, and dreaming of being a director.

And when the video debuted in the packed, gym, Caceres got a standing ovation.

“I’ve run out of adjectives,” he

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Arts

2010 brings new trends around the food industry Joan Obra mcclatchy newspapers

With the end of the year upon us, it’s time to try predicting next year’s hottest food trends.

Everyone from the National Restaurant Association to food bloggers get into this game. Here’s a look at five of these trends.

More information, please: As consumers hunger to know more about their food, manufacturers and retailers will provide it.

“It’s everything from looking for mercury-safe seafood to wanting to know that humane treatment was given to farm animals,” states The Food Channel, a Web site that tracks food trends. “It’s about no hormones in meats, and organically grown fruits and vegetables.

It’s about Fair Trade chocolate and spices.”

Also, there’s the California law

Starbucks continued from page 7

employee at the Morning Times, an independent coffeehouse in downtown Raleigh, asked him the same question.

“That one gesture is more important than boasts (of environmental friendliness),” Simon says.

Starbucks responds Simon ran afoul of the company before he finished the book.

He says Starbucks initially agreed to talk to him if it could have final say over what he wrote. Simon said no. He said Starbucks did not respond to his weekly e-mails for two years.

He traveled to Seattle once to do interviews scheduled through Starbucks but several were canceled. Another Starbucks employee wrote Simon saying the company felt he had “a hidden agenda.”

that requires chain restaurants with at least 20 locations to provide nutritional information. It’s part of a trend dubbed “maximum disclosure” by New York advertising agency JWT. During 2010, such restaurants will gear up for the next phase of the law:They must print calories on menus or indoor menu boards as of January 1, 2011.

More local food: The top two restaurant menu trends are “locally grown produce” and “locally sourced meats and seafood,” according to a national Restaurant Association survey of more than 1,800 chefs.

More local wine and beer: As restaurants add local food to their menus, it makes sense for them to add local drinks. This is the fifth top trend in the National Restaurant Association’s survey.

Here’s good news for your waist-

line: bite-sized desserts, the No. 4 trend for restaurant menus in the National Restaurant Association’s survey.

As for types of desserts that will be popular, epicurious.com’s blog (called the epilog), has high praise for the sandwich cookies known as whoopie pies.

Evidence of this trend is in the upcoming book “Whoopie Pies: Dozens of Mix ‘em, Match ‘em, Eat ‘em Up Recipes!,” by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell (Chronicle Books, $16.95) and the carrot-cake whoopie pies from Recchiuti, the San Francisco chocolatier.

Black garlic: These black, savorysweet garlic cloves contain twice the antioxidants as regular garlic — and don’t cause bad breath, JWT says.

You’ll find them at upscale restaurants and gourmet food shops, but at $28 a pound, black garlic isn’t cheap.

A spokesman says Starbucks agrees with Simon that “coffeehouses play an important role in communities.”

“In fact, Starbucks was founded nearly 40 years ago with that same vision, and we’ve been committed to facilitating public dialogue at the local and global level ever since,” the spokesman wrote in an e-mailed response. “We believe that every community is unique, and we’re creating places — both in our stores and online — where diverse groups can connect.”

Simon feels the company still speaks through its signs, ads, etc.

“That speech was carefully considered with its audience in mind,” Simon says. “They’re not reticent in their own self-promotion, so in the end I don’t feel the book lacks for their response.”

from McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts, Simons says Starbucks is not about to drop off the face of the earth.

One of its cultural and business triumphs was creating a legion of coffee drinkers.

“I think it will always serve an emotional need for predictability,” Simon says. “You always know what you’re going to get at Starbucks.”

Simon will next jump into the lion’s mouth during a trip to Seattle on Jan. 14. He’ll be signing his book at the Elliott Bay Book Company, a mere 1.3 miles from Starbucks corporate headquarters.

(Simon will also sign books and talk to readers at the Bull’s Head Bookstore on the UNC campus Feb. 4.)

“I don’t know what the reaction will be (in Seattle),” he says.

“Will I get Starbucks defenders? It would be interesting. I’d encourage and welcome the debate.”

Aftermath Despite backlash from some consumers and more competition

opinion/editorial Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Editor in chief: Emilie Egger Managing Editor: Alex Kacik

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9

War is no excuse to surrender right to privacy It seems the Christmas “underwear bomber” has shined the spotlight back on the War on Terror, and I’ve been disappointed to say the least about the rhetoric I’ve been hearing from both parties on the subject.The differences in their strategies for the war seem to have been withering for a while, and now we’re at a point where it’s difficult to

barry maguire newsart

discern any real differences in their approach. Back on Oct. 27, 2007, Obama said the following: “I will promise you this:That if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war.You can take that to the bank.”

However, time has shown that he has not lived up to this promise and if anything, is actually expanding the War on Terror.

One thing that bothers me greatly about the war is people’s desire to give up their rights for “safety.”

As Benjamin Franklin said, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

With the underwear bomber incident, I’ve heard many say that we need full-body imaging at airports to ensure the safety of air travel.

I shudder at the thought of being vir tually undressed every time

I want to fly somewhere; that’s quite a severe invasion of privacy. I’d argue that even if you prioritize safety over freedom, that it’s still not the best way to go about things.

Isaac Yeffet, former head of El Al Airlines (known as the world’s most secure airline), recently did an interview on Fox News in which he was asked if he supports body scans. His answer: “No, totally no.” El Al’s security has prevented any terrorist incidents for the past 30 years, and they provide an excellent level of security with minimal impacts to the passengers.They achieve this through many different measures, many of them requiring high levels of training for their staff rather than purchase expensive equipment. All El Al passengers are interviewed individually before boarding and their identities are checked against information from the FBI, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Scotland Yard, Shin Bet and Interpol databases.

An interview requires very little of passengers, but it can be invaluable when it comes to security. Also, considering the fact that the United States spent $75 billion on intelligence last year, you’d think we could successfully integrate that knowledge at airports so screeners would be able to spend more time on notable suspects and perhaps deny them access to flights.

I think it’s important to not get so caught in up reactionary policies.

There was the shoe bomber and now we remove our shoes during airport screenings. Since the underwear bomber, there has been a push to, well, look beneath underwear (using body-imaging screening). Who exactly is winning this war?

Beyond security measures, at airports and in general, is the underlying problem of “terrorism.” It would be rather nice if there weren’t people coming to the United States to try and kill us in the first place. The War on Terror is a complicated war, and I don’t claim to be an expert, but I wonder what might have happened if Obama had made good on his promise to bring our troops home, and I mean all of them.

Osama bin Laden’s stated goal is to bog us down in an unwinnable war in the Middle East and bankrupt us; we sure seem to be falling into that trap.

One final thought: Exactly one week before Christmas, Obama ordered an airstrike in Yemen. Estimates are that 120 people were killed, of whom roughly 30 were al-Qaeda members. A statement released by al-Qaeda indicated the attempted underwear bombing was retaliation for the recent offensive in Yemen. We seem to be slaughtering al Qaeda members left and right and it’s not my understanding that there are a whole lot of them, so I have to wonder if the family members of the civilians we have killed become new al-Qaeda recruits. In this recent airstrike, roughly 90 civilians were killed. Perhaps the air strike made things worse for us, despite the fact that we killed roughly 30 of our enemies. U.S. actions are having consequences that we are not paying attention to, and I fear many more lives will be lost before we come to our senses.

Aaron Berk is a computer engineering junior and Mustang Daily political columnist.

Iraq gradually becoming less deadly los angeles times

Whenever we see a report on the declining violence in Iraq, we’re reminded of the old book title, “Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me.” Take, for instance, the report that the civilian death toll fell in November to the lowest level since the 2003 U.S. invasion: 88 fatalities. That was after October bombings in Baghdad killed 155 people, and just ahead of December’s two rounds of multiple car bombings in the capital that left at least 136 dead and hundreds wounded.

Don’t get us wrong. This is far from the height of the civil war in 2006-07, when thousands of civilians died each month and every day was a struggle for typical Iraqis to get their children to and from school, go to work, do their shopping and stay alive amid attacks by ethnic death squads and car bombings. By that measure, even as doz-

ens of pilgrims were killed and more than 150 wounded by sectarian insurgents, the Shiite Muslim holiday of Ashura last month was relatively peaceful.

Iraq is experiencing what has been called a “creeping normalization,” which is not to say that life is normal for most Iraqis. The daily and monthly death tolls are still unacceptably high if the country is to rebuild its economy and public life. The al-Qaeda-affiliated group known as the Islamic State of Iraq has claimed responsibility for several of the recent bombings, although Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also has blamed remnants of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party.

The bombers appear determined to show that Maliki’s U.S.-backed government cannot provide security in place of American troops — now largely confined to bases and scheduled to pull out this year — and are doing what they can to reignite the embers of sectarian

strife. The violence is expected to increase in the run-up to national elections on March 7, as Iraq’s Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities vie for power.

The United States can continue to provide the Iraqi government with intelligence and other support to battle extremists, as well as advice for strengthening governance. But it is up to the Iraqis now to finish the business of political reconciliation. Besides holding another fair election, they must build an impartial judicial system, continue to integrate disaffected Sunnis into the Shiitedominated military and political process, and figure out how to divide power and resources between the central and provincial governments, particularly in the Kurdish region. This is what will bring the death toll down even further and prevent the country’s return to civil war.

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“Right now Cal Poly is recognized as an outstanding school in California, but is completely unknown in regards to the rest of the nation.

If we do start to become more of a national draw, with it will come national recognition. Thus will give our graduates a much better chance of landing better jobs outside of California ... The problem is that this action serves with total disregard to the CSU’s fundamental root.”

—Anonymous Response to “Cal Poly ups out-of-state recruitment effort” NOTE: The Mustang Daily features select comments that are written in response to articles posted online.

Though not all the responses are printed, the Mustang Daily prints comments that are coherent and foster intelligent discussion on a given subject.

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Tuesday, January 5, 2010 Volume LXXIV, No. 54 ©2009 Mustang Daily “I feel like pickles bring mixed emotions.”

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sports

The man with no reputation nears end of his career Daniel Brown san jose mercury news

ST. LOUIS — Isaac Bruce said he wanted to be remembered in the NFL as "a man of no reputation." So it was appropriate that he practically snuck out Sunday.

Bruce started the game, took part in one running play and then called it a day, perhaps a career.

Only later, when he was dressed in sweats and back on the sideline, did he get a proper sendoff. A shot of him on the scoreboard prompted cheers of "Bruuuuuuce" from the Rams fans and hugs from his reverential 49ers teammates.

"I can control my emotions. If I was going to cry, it nearly came, but it didn't come all the way out," Bruce said. "I was touched, truly touched, by the gesture."

Bruce continued to hold back on a retirement decision. Earlier in the week, he said the odds of walking away from the game were 75 percent. Asked if anything had changed, he said, "Now it's 76 percent."

If he steps away, Bruce, 37, retires as the NFL's second all-time leading receiver. His 15,208 yards trail only Jerry Rice (22,895).

Bruce's production this year was minimal, just 21 catches for 264 yards, but he is beloved as a mentor to the 49ers young receivers.

"His character far exceeds the type of player that he is," coach Mike Singletary said.

Based on this season's finish, the 49ers' opponents for 2010 are set.

At home, they will face the Raiders, Broncos, Buccaneers, Saints, Arizona, Seattle, St. Louis and Philadelphia.

On the road, they will face Green Bay, San Diego, Kansas City, Carolina, Atlanta, Arizona, Seattle and St. Louis.

Several news outlets raised the possibility that one of the 49ers' "home" games would be an NFL showcase game in London. The Sacramento Bee, citing anonymous sources, reported that the 49ers might face the Eagles overseas in October.

Running back Frank Gore scored on a pair of short runs, giving him 10 rushing touchdowns for the season.

That ties the 49ers record for rushing touchdowns previously shared by Derek Loville (1995), Ricky Watters (1993), Billy Kilmer (1961), J.D. Smith (1959) and Joe Perry (1953).

Gore also rushed for 107 yards Sunday, his 20th 100-yard game.

That ties Perry for the most in franchise history.

"It's great," Gore said. "It's been an up-and-down year for me."

He came close to the end zone one other time against the Rams.

He took a screen pass 22 yards to the cusp of the goal line. That set up Moran Norris, the fullback and close friend of Gore, who scored his first career touchdown.

"That's why I got tackled at the

mcclatchy-tribune

49ers wide receiver stands as the NFL’s second all-time leading receiver. With most of those numbers coming from his tenure in St. Louis, he has accumulated 1,024 catches for 15,208 yards in his career.

1-yard line," Gore joked.

Alex Smith's final stat line: 225 of 372 (60.5 percent), 2,350 yards, 18 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and an 81.5 quarterback rating.

The 49ers finished 5-1 in the NFC West. Their only division loss

was a 20-16 flop at Seattle on Dec. 16.

Shane Andrus, signed because kickers Joe Nedney (hamstring) and Ricky Schmitt (groin) were injured, was 4 for 4 on extra points and did not attempt a field goal.

The 49ers allowed 97.0 rushing yards a game this season. That's their best since 1997, when they allowed 85.4 rushing yards.

The last time the 49ers finished at .500 was in 1967, when they were 7-7.

mustangdaily.net Tuesday, January 5, 2010

SPORTS

sports editor: Brian De Los Santos

mustangdailysports@gmail.com

MUSTANG DAILY

Men’s and women’s basketball sweep UC Irvine to begin conference play

ryan sidarto mustang daily file photo

Building on a 42-26 lead at the half, the Mustangs defeated the Anteaters 95-81 in their first Big West conference game of the season. Senior guard Lorenzo Keeler led the Mustangs (4-8, 1-0 Big West) in scoring with a career-high 38 points. Cal Poly had surrendered three straight contests before posting their second road win of the season against the anteaters. Freshman guard Kyle Odister was the next Mustang behind Keeler with 23 points.

ryan sidarto mustang daily file photo

Junior guard Rachel Clancy posted a new career high with 24 points in a 73-61 win against UC Irvine Monday night. Cal Poly (8-4,1-0 Big West) posted its third win in a row, while also recording its first conference win of the season. Junior forward Kristina Santiago posted her second double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Three Anteaters scored double figures against the Mustangs.

Conover named track and field/cross country director mustang daily staff report

After coaching the men’s cross country team to its seventh straight and 10th overall Big West Conference Championship last fall, Mark Conover has been named the new Director of Track and Field / Cross Country for Cal Poly.

Conover replaces previous director Terry Crawford, who resigned last summer after 18 years at Cal Poly in order to accept a position with USA Track and Field as director of coaching.

“Mark emerged as the right candidate for this position among a very talented pool of candidates,” Cal Poly Director of Athletics Alison Cone said. “Mark has demonstrated his ability to recruit and develop elite athletes and has a vision for continuing the success and tradition of the Cal Poly track and field program.”

Conover is currently in his 14th season at Cal Poly and has led the Mustangs to 11-consecutive appearances at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, six of those as a team. He has coached the men’s team to four top-20 finishes, including 13th in 2003, 10th in 2004, 13th in 2006 and 11th in 2007.

“I am honored to be selected as the director of track and field and cross country at Cal Poly,” Conover said. “To be in the position to lead

the program into the next decade is a coach’s dream. Cal Poly offers everything that is necessary when it comes to having a successful program due to its prestigious academic standing and the ‘learn by doing’ experience that is offered to the student-athlete in a setting that is second to none.”

Conover has been named the Big West Conference Men’s Coach of the Year eight times and the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) West Region Coach of the Year twice (2000 and 2003).

“I am thankful to Alison Cone for providing me with this opportunity, which I view as the byproduct of hard work, passion, dedication, commitment and loyalty to the university,” Conover added.

During his tenure at Cal Poly, Conover has coached a pair of twotime All-Americans in both track and cross country. He has coached 23 NCAA West Region men’s and women’s track and field qualifiers and 28 individual NCAA All-West Region men and women in cross country.

“I look forward to providing a positive environment that will allow the student-athlete to obtain academic and athletic excellence. I also look forward to recruiting and coaching bright, energetic and passionate young men and women who

seek the outstanding education and athletic opportunity that Cal Poly offers.”

Conover also has coached 26 Big West Conference individual champions in track and cross country, produced three Big West Conference Track Athletes of the Year, seven Big

I look forward to providing a positive environment that will allow the student-athlete to obtain academic and athletic excellence.

—Mark Conover Cal Poly track and field/cross country director

West Cross Country Athletes of the Year, two Freshman Track Athletes of the Year and six Freshman Cross Country Athletes of the Year.

He has coached 27 men and women to Cal Poly top-10 all-time track and field marks, including the school record-holder in the men’s 5,000 meters and women’s steeplechase.

The women’s cross country team, which he assisted before assuming

full duties, had its highest conference finish in eight years in 2009 (third).

Women’s cross country also earned NCAA All-Academic team honors in 2007 and won the 2004-05 and 2007-08 Big West Conference team GPA awards.

“Cal Poly has a long-standing tradition of excellence in the sports of track and field and cross country, with numerous All-Americans as well as alumni who went on to become Olympians,” Conover said.

“That fact, combined with the number of successful coaches who came before me and the number of alumni who are currently successful high school and collegiate coaches, truly make it special to be the director of track and field and cross country at Cal Poly. The program has a special place in the hearts of many alumni and fans of the sport who have been associated with Cal Poly.”

Conover coached the Cal Poly athlete of the year in 2007 as well as the Big West Conference scholarathlete of the year in 2005 and the Cal Poly scholar-athlete of the year in both 2005 and 2008.

Conover was a nine-time AllAmerican distance runner at Humboldt State and earned the rare distinction of becoming an AllAmerican in all three NCAA divisions (I, II and III). He was the national champion in the 10,000

meters in track in 1981 and in cross country, also in 1981.

In 1988, Conover was the Olympic Trials Champion in the marathon and went on to run at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He competed professionally from 1984-96 and was a four-time U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier.

A graduate of Miramonte High School in Orinda, Calif., Conover earned his bachelor’s degree in natural resource planning and interpretation at Humboldt State in 1983 and earned his master’s degree at Cal Poly in city and regional planning in 1989.

Conover was inducted into the Humboldt State University Hall of Fame in 1993.