10-27-09

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CA L I F O R N I A P O LY T E C H N I C S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y More than 500 students volunteer their time on Make a Difference Day.

Tuesday Morning Quarterback sounds off about Larry Johnson’s inappropriate tweets.

IN ARTS, 6 IN SPORTS, 12

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Volume LXXIV, Number 32

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CSU gets federal money to offer more courses mustang daily staff report

The chancellor’s office announced that the California State University (CSU) system will receive a one-time allocation of federal money totaling $77.5 million, according to a press release that came out Friday. The release said that a total of $25 million will be distributed to the CSU campuses.

Cal Poly’s Vice President for Administration and Finance Larry Kelley said that Cal Poly will receive $1.3 million from the allocation.

The chancellor recommended that the money should be spent on providing additional courses in the winter and spring quarters. Cal Poly will be taking that recommendation, added Kelley.

As of now, there is no plan in place to determine how the money will be distributed within the university, Kelley said.

“The provost is working with deans to determine how to best allocate the money based on student demand for sections and courses that reduce time to degree (completion),” Kelley said.

Money would most likely go to maintaining classes that would allow stu-

dents to graduate on time, Kelley said.

Cal Poly administrators want to graduate students more quickly in order to save the university money.

A Cal Poly representative said that Plan A Student Schedule (PASS) would not show the additional classes because the classes have yet to be determined. It is unknown when the classes will be finalized. PASS opens today.

Erik Fallis, a representative of the chancellor’s office, said that the money was distributed to the different campuses in the same proportion that money had been cut due to the deficit.

The money that is not distributed initially will be withheld by the chancellor’s office to safeguard against future financial troubles.

“The CSU will reserve the remainder of the funds against what continues to be uncertainty about the state’s fiscal condition,” Fallis said. “The use of the remaining funds will be determined using the same criteria to serve as many students as possible and preserving as many jobs as possible while maintaining academic quality and fiscal balance.”

Fallis said that the chancellor is not considering extending furloughs to next

year.

“Ultimately, any budget decision by the CSU will depend in large part on the level of state funding support for the university,” Fallis said.

The CSU budget problems are due in part to the the California budget crisis.

“We do not have a reliable partner anymore in Sacramento,” said CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed in a video taped interview with California State Student Association President Steve Dixon.

The chancellor said that he had no plans for a mid-year fee increase in the same interview but did not mention if a tuition increase would be considered for next year. How the budget will be resolved is still in the planning stages and is unclear.

“During the October meeting, the CSU Board of Trustees was presented with a budget framework that would begin to fund a critical recovery of quality and access to the university,” Fallis said.

“The CSU Board of Trustees will act on the proposed budget request during the November meeting.”

Tim Miller contributed to this report.

Terror suspect pleads not guilty Jason Trahan the dallas morning news

“Haunted Silhoette”

DALLAS — Hosam Smadi, the 19-year-old Jordanian caught in an FBI sting trying to blow up a downtown Dallas skyscraper, pleaded not guilty Monday in federal court.

He appeared before U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn on charges of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and bombing of a place of public use.

Peter Fleury, one of Smadi’s court-appointed attorneys, said after Monday’s hearing that “this is just the beginning of the process.

The government has given us a lot of material to sift through. We have a lot of work to do.”

He said the defense deposed Smadi’s younger brother, Husein, late last week. Husein Smadi is being held in immigration custody in California as a material witness and is set to be deported to Jordan.

Lynn asked Hosam Smadi, who was accompanied by an Arabic interpreter, if he understood English, and Smadi indicated that he mostly did. “I speak a little,” said Smadi, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit,

blue canvas shoes and leg shackles.

Lynn had federal prosecutor Dayle Elieson read the two count indictment in court, and the interpreter, standing beside Smadi, translated her words for him just to make sure he understood the charges.

Smadi told the judge that he had completed 11th grade in Jordan, and that he came to the U.S. “to study.” She asked he could write and read in English, and he replied, “some.”

She also asked routine questions such as whether Smadi was under the care of a doctor or was taking any medications. He said no to both.

She set a trial date of Dec. 7, but defense attorneys told her they planned to file paperwork asking for the date to be pushed until after March so that they have time to prepare.

Smadi, who had been living in Italy, Texas, and working at a roadside barbecue restaurant, was arrested on Sept. 24. According to the government, he tried to detonate what he thought was a truck bomb — it was a fake, provided by

the FBI — in the parking garage under the 60-story Fountain Place office tower in Dallas. Court documents portray Smadi as a would-be Islamic terrorist bent on waging a holy war on Americans.

According to an FBI affidavit, agents learned of Smadi months ago through their monitoring of extremist Web sites. He was approached by undercover agents pretending to be terrorists themselves.

Smadi told them that he wanted to “bring down” the office tower, which houses a Wells Fargo bank branch and several commercial enterprises, the affidavit says. He is quoted in it saying that blowing up the building would “shake the currently weak economy in the state and the American nation.” In addition, he is quoted as saying there would be “psychological impacts for the loss of this beautiful building.”

Smadi’s father in Jordan has said that when he visited his son in Texas weeks before his arrest, he noticed his son was talking about religion and politics, topics he had not previously shown interest.

Wire Editor: Jennifer Titcomb

mustang daily

Tuesday, October 27, 2009 www.mustangdaily.net

Briefs State

National

MODESTO, Calif. (MCT) — It’s a great time to be a renter and lousy time to be a landlord.

Rents are down and vacancies are up at many Northern San Joaquin Valley apartment complexes. The same is true for many private rental homes.

To lure tenants, many property managers are slashing rents and offering move-in deals.

Flip through The Bee’s classified ads and you’ll find apartment specials like “half-off the first three months rent,” “$400 moves you in” and “first month free with one-year lease.”

••• SACRAMENTO (MCT) — In the end, no records were broken. But for a few minutes late Sunday afternoon, zombies stomped out the steps of a familiar dance in a courtyard between shops at the Marketplace at Birdcage, welcoming Halloween early.

The community participation dance, patterned after Michael Jackson’s 1983 “Thriller” video, drew 79 dancers, from the very young to the elderly, and a whole lot of observers.

The local performance came a day after the international “Thrill the World” event, which attracted an estimated 20,000 zombie wannabes simultaneously dancing to “Thriller” around the globe, including a reported 76 in Yuba City.

WASHINGTON (MCT) — President Barack Obama and administration officials today will announce $3.4 billion in spending projects to modernize the nation’s electric power system.

Obama will detail the so-called “smart grid” funding at a solar plant in Arcadia, Fla. White House officials say the projects will create tens of thousands of jobs in the “near term” and lay the groundwork for changing how Americans use and pay for energy.

The spending is aimed at improving the efficiency and reliability of the U.S. power supply and to help create markets for wind and solar power, officials said.They also said it would create “smart meters” to help consumers use electricity when demand is low and when rates are cheaper — for example, by running dishwashers and other energy-thirsty appliances in the middle of the night.

•••

WASHINGTON (MCT) — Federal officials announced Monday that 52 children had been saved and nearly 700 people had been arrested and charged over the past three days in a nationwide crackdown on child prostitution.

Officials of the FBI, along with representatives of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and police agencies throughout the country, said the arrests were the results of investigations in 36 cities.

News

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14 Americans die in International helicopter crashes in Afghanistan

BAGHDAD (MCT) — Iraqi authorities said Monday that suicide bombers had used two large trucks — a water tanker and a refrigerated food truck — in attacks Sunday that killed at least 155 people and wounded nearly 600, the deadliest bombings since 2007.

Among the dead were 24 children leaving a day care center, according to local news reports. Two hundred Iraqis were reported missing after the explosives-filled trucks blew up a minute apart Sunday morning outside government ministries and the Baghdad city offices.

An Interior Ministry official, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because he isn’t authorized to make public statements, said the water tanker was packed with C-4, plastic explosives, and the refrigerated truck contained TNT, a chemical compound widely used in bomb-making.

Hal Bernton mcclatchy newspapers

KABUL — Fourteen Americans died Monday in helicopter crashes in southern and western Afghanistan, one of the deadliest days for the United States in the Afghanistan war.

Ten died when a helicopter went down in western Afghanistan, and four were killed in a mid-air collision between two helicopters in southern Afghanistan, according to NATO officials in Kabul. The death toll could

climb higher, as some of the 14 U.S. survivors in the two crashes were critically injured, the International Security Assistance Force said.

Both appeared to be accidents.

“In both incidents, there is no evidence of hostile fire,” said Capt.

Mike Andrews, a NATO spokesman in Kabul.

A total of 911 American troops have died in the Afghan war, now entering its ninth year, 281 of them see Deaths, page 5

•••

KUWAIT (MCT) — “We will see more from the reservoir of AlQaeda. It is an international burden but because of the exceptionalness of the region, they will target us,” warned Abdullah Bishara, a former secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), yesterday at a lecture titled ‘The Turbulent Gulf and the Gulf Cooperation Council’ at the American University in Kuwait.

Bishara warned that because of the role being played by the GCC countries in the international arena, an Al-Qaeda attack is imminent.

mcclatchy-newspapers

Updated figures showing the death toll of NATO troops in Afghanistan.

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mustang daily www.mustangdaily.net

Lawmakers wary of some Obama bank oversight plans Kevin G. Hal mcclatchy newspapers

WASHINGTON _ The chairman of a key congressional panel Monday scaled back important parts of the Obama administration’s plan to dismantle financial institutions that are deemed “too big to fail.”

Lawmakers won’t give the independent Federal Reserve as many powers as President Barack Obama had proposed, according to a senior congressional staffer, sharing details with McClatchy Newspapers on the condition of anonymity because the emerging bill hasn’t been made public. The measure, which tackles some of the thorniest issues of bank oversight, is intended to rewrite seven decades of financial regulation.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, worked over the weekend and throughout Monday to draft the legislation. It would provide the government with first-ever authority to shut down large globally interconnected financial institutions.

Under this authority, jokingly referred to as “Death Panels for Banks,” the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would oversee the dismantling of large financial firms much as it does now when it intervenes in commercial banks that are at risk of insolvency.

Decisions about which institutions are so large that they pose a systemwide risk and must be monitored would be made by a Council of Regulators, composed of leaders from the Fed, the Treasury Department, the FDIC and other bank-oversight agencies.

This marks a shift, since Obama wanted the Fed to take the lead role as a “systemic risk regulator.” However, lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate are wary of that, not least because the Fed didn’t foresee the gathering storm in mortgage finance that led to a near meltdown of the global financial order last year.

“A lot of members thought the Fed missed it,” the congressional staffer said. see Bank, page 5

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

News

New NASA rocket ready to blast off Robert Block mcclatchy newspapers

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — For the first time in more than 30 years, Kennedy Space Center is about to launch a rocket that’s not the space shuttle. At 327 feet — 15 stories taller that the shuttle — the Ares I-X is the tallest rocket in the world. But looks are a little deceiving: it’s carrying a dummy second-stage and capsule, because it’s intended to test only a version of the solid-fuel first stage engineers hope will power the proposed replacement for the shuttle, the Ares I. The future of the Ares I is uncertain, however. A committee named by the White House to review NASA’s human spaceflight plans has recommended scrapping it, saying it simply costs too much.

“With time and sufficient funds, NASA could develop, build and fly the Ares I successfully,” its report said. “The question is, should it?”

Still, NASA is proceeding with the $445 million test as an opportunity to provide rocket designers with real data from a real rocket flight.

What is Ares I-X?

It’s a test rocket intended to show NASA engineers how a long, thin, solid-fuel rocket flies through the atmosphere. Its first stage is a version of the pencil-like solidrocket boosters that help power the space shuttle. There are no people aboard, but more than 700 sensors will collect data about everything from how much the rocket shakes to how much it bends while thundering through the sky.

Why is it launching?

The aim is to see if a single solid-rocket motor can be put directly under a capsule and steered

safely as it zooms through the atmosphere. Ares I-X is the first rocket to use a solid-fuel first stage. Previous rockets — like the shuttle — used them on the side as boosters to the main liquid-fuel engines. “We want to demonstrate that we can control that vehicle.

That’s the prime objective to this test really,” said Ares I-X mission manager Bob Ess. Why not fly Ares I? Ares I is not designed yet and will not be ready to fly until March see Rocket, page 5

mcclatchy-newspapers

Graphic shows specifications of the NASA Ares I-X rocket, a future crew launch vehicle to replace the space shuttle; it is set to be test launched Oct. 27.

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Deaths this year, according to icasualties.org, a Web site that tracks casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Helicopters are lifelines for American troops in Afghanistan, ferrying supplies and people to locations that often are too dangerous or too remote to reach by road and providing aerial firepower against insurgent forces.

NATO officials wouldn’t immediately say exactly where the crashes occurred or what types of helicopters were involved. They said they wanted to wait until recovery operations were complete and the next of kin were notified.

In the southern Afghanistan collision, NATO officials said, four service members died and two were injured.

The western Afghanistan crash involved a helicopter that was carrying U.S. and Afghan forces and American civilians to a compound that was being searched for drugs. Insurgents attacked during the operation, and the resulting firefight killed 12 of the enemy forces, according to NATO officials.

As the troops were departing the area, the helicopter crashed, killing seven U.S. service members and three civilian government employees.

“Today the U.S. Embassy mourns the loss of three civilian members of our ... community and seven members of the U.S. military,” said a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan.

Fourteen Afghans, 11 American service members and one American civilian were injured in that crash.

NATO officials also reported the deaths of two American service members Sunday in eastern Afghanistan. One was killed in a bomb attack, and another died of wounds suffered in an insurgent attack.

mustangdaily.net y always something new.

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News

Word on the Street

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

“Do you plan on participating in any Halloween festivities?”

“I might try to do the pumpkin carving here. My friend and I want to make one that looks like Michael Jackson.”

“I went to the Cal Poly fall choir concert and Take It SLO sang ‘Ghost Busters’. I still have it stuck in my head.”

“I haven’t so far. I’ve thought about dressing up but haven’t decided yet.”

“No, I have a speech on Nov. 2 and I’m an electrical engineering major so I have a lot of homework.”

-Megan Navarro, architectural engineering freshman

-Andrew Musselman, computer science senior

-Melody White, business junior

-Juan Ramos, electrical engineering freshman

“Nothing so far. I’d like to gather with friends this weekend and celebrate.”

“I haven’t yet but I plan to. I will hopefully join the pumpkin carving contest if I can get my hands on a pumpkin.”

-Brian Fein, business senior

-Hallie Travis, architecture freshman

compiled and photographed by jennifer titcomb

Rocket continued from page 4

2015 at the earliest. The idea is to take information gained from this flight to help refine the Ares I design.

When will Ares I-X launch?

Its four-hour flight window opens at 8 a.m. EDT Tuesday, though NASA says there’s a 60 percent chance that clouds and showers will keep it grounded for a day. Its six-minute flight will take it due east over the Atlantic Ocean, to a maximum altitude of 153,000 feet and a top velocity more than 4.7 times the speed of sound. The first stage is supposed to separate from the dummy second stage and parachute down to a recovery vessel. The second stage and capsule will crash into the water and sink.

What does NASA hope to learn?

Basically, engineers want to know if the computer simulations they’ve devised to predict the rocket’s performance are accurate.

That’s important to determine if similar models used to design Ares I are valid. But NASA says the results can be applied to any rocket design. “They only failure on this flight is the failure to learn from

it,” Ess said.

Will it fly?

NASA managers say they are confident; the solid-rocket motor has flown safely for 23 years aboard the shuttle. But this is a test flight, they add, without all of the shuttle’s backup systems and safety checks. The U.S. Air Force will be standing by, ready to blow the rocket up if it looks like it will veer off course and threaten anybody on the ground.

What happens next?

Good question. The president’s space panel last week cast doubt on whether Ares I will be built. Some White House officials say that using commercial rockets to fly astronauts to the space station would make Ares I unnecessary. Supporters hope that a successful test will convince President Barack Obama to stick with Ares I. One official not authorized to speak for the White House said Monday that a successful flight will not guarantee Ares I’s survival _ but a failure would almost certainly doom it. NASA officials say it’s a mistake to make any decision based on a single test flight.

“Hopefully people won’t draw conclusions one way or the other from this flight. All we want to do is go learn from it,” Ess said.

Bank continued from page 4

Some independent analysts also have warned that handing the Fed new, expansive powers as the systemic risk regulator could distract it from its principal role of setting monetary policy to sustain growth and contain inflation.

“I didn’t want the Fed to have that role because I think monetary policy is too important,” said Vincent Reinhart, a former top Fed economist who’s also wary of the emerging legislation. “If all you do is a college of regulators, that’s just inviting a debating society.”

Details of the widely anticipated bill filtered out Monday as Frank’s staff negotiated final issues with the Obama administration, which earlier had issued its own blueprint for the biggest overhaul of financial regulation since the Great Depression.

One unanswered question was whether the Council of Regulators would have a first among equals who calls the shots.

“By not having a decider, they’re potentially creating an

entity that won’t be forceful enough,” said Reinhart, now a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right policy organization. “A committee without a head is an invitation to create a discussion group.”

Under the emerging bill, Congress wouldn’t set specific requirements, but would leave it to the Council of Regulators to determine how much capital banks should hold in reserve, or how much investing they can do with borrowed money. Insufficient reserves and too much borrowed money, called leverage, were primary contributors to the financial meltdown.

Many pieces of Obama’s plan already have moved through Frank’s committee, or are about to do so. These include curbs on executive compensation in the financial sector, the creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, first-ever rules for complex financial instruments called derivatives, first-ever registration for secretive hedge funds that invest on behalf of the mega-wealthy and new rules for credit-rating agencies that shirked their duty in the run-up to the financial crisis.

tuesday, october 27, 2009

arts & Entertainment editor: cassandra keyse

Make A Difference Day compels more than 500 students to volunteer ryan sidarto

mustang daily

Hundreds of Cal Poly students gathered in Chumash Auditorium to sign up for various volunteer opportunities around San Luis Obispo County Saturday morning (left).

Students assist in maintenance and planting at Growing Grounds Farm in downtown San Luis Obispo. This was the first year that Cal Poly Community Center was involved with Make A Difference Day, an event which nationwide draws millions of people to volunteer at various local and national charities.

Sean Hanrahan mustang daily

More than 500 Cal Poly students and county residents sported working gloves, power drills and dirt-covered sweats to volunteer their time during various Make A Difference Day events Saturday.

Make A Difference Day, one of the nations largest single-day volunteer events, enlists students and community members to participate

each year at environmental cleanups, senior centers and women and children’s shelters in local communities.

In San Luis Obispo County, organizations such as United Cerebral Palsy, Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County and 48 others benefited from the volunteers’ efforts.

Dominating the crowd of volunteers were 10 Greek fraternities and sororities including Delta Chi, Alpha Phi Omega, Sigma Kappa, Pi Kappa

Alpha (PIKE) and Alpha Epsilon.

Make a Difference Day is recognized nationally and organized locally by the Cal Poly Community Center. The center’s program assistant Heather Demosthenes coordinated this year’s event. “(We) want to get students involved in volunteer opportunities that give back to the surrounding community,” Demosthenes said.“We copied off 500 volunteer forms and had to run back and make more.”

Kinesiology senior Dylan Conrad said his fraternity, PIKE, participates in the Make a Difference Day event every year to give back to the community. The greek system’s often negative representation inspired PIKE to demonstrate that it cares, the fraternity’s community service chair Michael Jones said.

“I’m personally excited to see almost all of PIKE here today,” Conrad said. “We are out here to make a difference in our community.”

Growing Grounds Farm, a notfor-profit wholesale nursery in San Luis Obispo, invited volunteers to assist in grounds maintenance and planting as part of Make A Difference Day. “We hardly have the time to do anything other than planting,” said Wayne Tyo, staff member at Growing Grounds. “The impact of these

volunteers (was huge. It means we can get things done that we can’t normally do.”

San Luis Obispo residents Mardi Hall and Christine Escartin heard a radio segment about Make A Difference Day that sparked their interest.

“I’ve lived in San Luis Obispo for six years and I’ve wanted to volunteer,” Hall said. “I’m finally here this year with my sister … we’re ready to plant a garden.”

Hall and Escartin decided to volunteer at Growing Grounds because they often support the nursery by purchasing plants and flowers.

When they were spotted covered in dirt planting tulips Escartin said “it’s going to be fun to one day come back and buy the same tulips we are planting and continue to support this garden and what it does for the community.”

ryan sidarto mustang daily

Students rally in Chumash Auditorium on Make A Difference Day.

mustang daily

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Arts

www.mustangdaily.net

sex & relationship column

Nobody likes a zombie in the sheets

I got a call the other day from my best friend of seven years informing me that her long-time boyfriend had just broken up with her. If you have ever been in this position, then you know the fight-or-flight feeling that goes straight through your body. I grabbed my keys and put on my sweatshirt with every intention of driving down to Santa Barbara and comforting her, knowing I would have to leave at some ridiculous hour of the morning to make it back for class the following day.

As I walked out the door, I realized I only had a quarter of a tank of gas and two dollars in the bank. My Jeep and I weren’t going to make it to Santa Barbara tonight. I would have to become an instant therapist over the phone.

A three-year relationship was over and both partners now had to move on. It was interesting to look back in time on all the events of their past as she told me of their relationship and how it had morphed over the months and years.

They began as everyone else does — giddy, sexually curious and excited even at the touch of a hand on the back. Although they began happy to be together, over the past few months, their affection faded. The word love wasn’t even uttered anymore, the excitement had ceased and there hadn’t been any sexual festivities in months.

As they were rather religious, sex wasn’t a huge deal for them. But as I walked through their relationship on the phone with my friend, I couldn’t help but think about how sex changes throughout a relationship and how the actual focus of the relationship changes as well. How is it that we can go from sex-obsessed, unable to get enough of it for the first six months of a relationship and then have it just spiral downward from there on out until foreplay becomes a foreign word for both parties?

There seems to be this destined timeline that suffocates relationships.

You can have the most amazing sex, be extremely satisfied and have the most fun with this same person monogamously for quite a few months before you begin to see this lack of interest take over in the bedroom.

Almost everyone who has been in

a serious relationship can relate to this unfortunate feeling. It’s the one where you are laying there in the dark making out, yet thinking about a million other things rather than your partner’s super-nice body, or even how the making out feels on your lips — it turns almost into this instantaneous disinterest.

Is there a way to beat this? Is it that your partner just isn’t visually as appealing as you need? Or is it that you are, in fact, bored and probably not going to make it in the dating world?

Most people in this situation just fake the rest — they fake the ‘ohs,’ they fake the ‘ahhs,’ they fake the after-sex discussion about how good it was.They fake all of this because they would rather just pretend that it is just this night, or just this week rather than confront the situation at hand.

They might even use the sex in many different ways, such as to relieve their stress, to distract themselves from life, to make their partner happy or even just so they can ignore the issues going on in their relationship instead of enjoying it like they used to.

This is disappointing. Sex should be comforting and pleasurable — lovers shouldn’t feel like a zombie when the clothes come off!

Although I hate to say it, lack of interest in sex is a pattern when it comes to long-term relationships.

It might mean a couple of different things. Maybe the relationship has come to a standstill or maybe one or both partners is extremely busy and stress overcomes sexual intimacy.

No matter what the timing is, partners should ask themselves if this pause is a reflection of their relationship or if it’s just the unfortunate outcome of not having the time for physical intimacy at the time.

It seems harsh to say, but at some point everyone will hit a similar dry spell in their relationship. When you reach that point you will need to decide if you’re okay with a once-a-week blowout, or if your hormones are simply not ready to give up the rigorous regimen that the first four months of the relationship put in place.

Cassondra Becking is a liberal studies junior and Mustang Daily sex and relationship columnist.

www.mustangdaily.net

Arts editor: Cassandra Keyse mustangdailyarts@gmail.com

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25 years in the making: Rock superstars to headline silver anniversary induction ceremony

mcclatchy-tribune

Metallica is one of the bands set to take the Madison Square Garden stage as a part of the 25th anniversary of the first Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Glann Gamboa newsday

NEW YORK — The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony is generally one of the year’s swankiest, most exclusive affairs — marked by once-in-alifetime collaborations, stunning arguments and $1,500-a-plate dinners at the Waldorf-Astoria.

Sure, you could watch much of it unfold on VH1 or Fuse, but there is something about having that much rock royalty in one place that is hard to capture without seeing (and hearing) it in person. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first induction, the Rock Hall is bringing its wildly ambitious party to the people this week.

“When we put this event together, we were trying to do something similar to the way our induction ceremonies go, when you have disparate inductees playing music together that created something different,” says Joel Peresman, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation’s president and chief executive. “There’s not too many shows where you can see Aretha Franklin and Metallica on the same stage.”

True enough. For its anniversary shows at Madison Square Garden Thursday and Friday, Rock Hall organizers will have Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Stevie Wonder, Simon & Garfunkel, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Friends headlining the first night and U2, Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin and Metallica the second.

In turn, many of the headliners will have special guests as well, as they all aim to tell the story of rock and roll so far. In addition to the E Street Band, Springsteen will have Sam Moore and Darlene Love on hand. Wonder will team with Smokey Robinson, B.B. King and John Legend. Simon will not only play with Gar-

funkel, but Dion and Little Anthony & the Imperials. Clapton will be joined by Jeff Beck and Buddy Guy for what could shape up to be a guitar lovers’ dream.

Franklin will be joined by Annie Lennox and Lenny Kravitz.

Ozzy Osbourne will join Metallica. Crosby, Stills and Nash’s “friends” list will include James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne.

Rock ‘n’ roll pioneers Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard also have signed on, though it’s still not clear where they will be used in the show. After all, the element of surprise during live performances has always been a major part of the rock and roll experi-

ence — yet another reason for spending nearly two years planning the massive event.

Peresman says each of the headliners has been building their individual sets, choosing songs and special guests, by collaborating with the concert’s curators — an A-list list on its own that includes Tom Hanks and his production partner Gary Goetzman, Rolling Stone founder and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame chairman Jann Wenner, Hall of Famer Robbie Robertson from The Band, and director Cameron Crowe.

“Each of them will cover dif see Induction, page 8

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Arts

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Michael Jackson’s career lives on after death Steve Knopper newsday

mcclatchy-tribune

Michael Jackson, shown performing in 1988, died June 25 in his Los Angeles Home.

Like Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Kurt Cobain and Tupac Shakur, Michael Jackson is just beginning his career as Pop Star Who Will Never Really Die. His movie “This Is It,” based on rehearsal footage for the tour he was supposed to begin in July, comes out Tuesday night, and his first posthumous album, the movie soundtrack, is also out. Four months after his death, he’s one of the most active performers in the music business, and he’s up for five American Music Awards, too.

MORE MUSIC: “This Is It,” a lovesick ballad — co-written with Paul Anka — with slinky funk guitar and strings, is Jackson’s first “new” song since he died. And it just happens to share a title with the movie. The song is actually one of the hundreds of unreleased tracks he left in the vaults, according to estimates from Sony Music executives, and surely just the beginning of a flood of new releases. Before his death, Jackson recorded with R&B star Akon and the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am, among other hot producers, but it’s unclear when that music will reach the public.

THE FILM: A 12-minute clip for the film was previewed for the media last week, showing Jackson practicing and singing in fine form, according to The Associated Press.

Though the King of Pop looked frail, he playfully danced with a woman as he sang “The Way You Make Me Feel” and was shown warming up during a performance of “Human Nature.”

REALITY SETS IN: Before Jackson’s death, ex-Jackson 5 singers Jackie, Jermaine, Tito and Marlon were filming the A&E reality show “The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty.”

Induction continued from page 7

ferent bases of the history of rock ‘n’ roll,” says Peresman, adding that the concerts will be edited down into a four-hour HBO special to air Thanksgiving weekend. “The mission for them is to tell their story through their own music and through the music of artists that were really inspirational to them and the genres that helped shaped them.”

With the wide range of artists, concert organizers hope to cover every major rock development in the past 55 years. Genres that might not be fully covered will likely be profiled in one of the

It’s still supposed to air in December — and is likely to be a bigger ratings bonanza than it was before June 25.

The preshow drama: Will Jackson’s three children — Prince (12), Paris (11) and Blanket (7) — appear? A&E reps first said “no” but later pleaded too-soon-to-tell.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Speaking of Jermaine Jackson, the singer is still planning a tribute show, “In Memory of Michael Jackson,” in London next June. “Several leading artists” will participate, Jermaine writes on thetribute2010.com, and the still-to-be-announced venue will hold 70,000 people. If this thing actually comes together, here’s hoping Pia Zadora will show up to revisit “When the Rain Begins to Fall,” her smash 1985 duet with Jermaine.

ESTATE BATTLE: The battle for Jackson’s estate remains in limbo.

On one side, his court-appointed executors, attorney John Branca and music-business veteran John McClain, have made massive deals worth $100 million, much of it from the “This Is It” movie. On the other, Jackson’s mother, Katherine, has been complaining that her family lacks “a seat at the table,” and has been shuffling attorneys to help her gain more control in L.A. courts.

DEATH CAN’T STOP HIM: Jackson has sold 5.9 million solo albums since his death — provoking sad flashbacks to 1982, when “Thriller” all but pulled the record business out of a recession. “Without a doubt, (Jackson’s death) helped the music industry,” says Silvio Pietroluongo, Billboard’s charts director. “But the lifeblood of the music industry is new acts, and you can’t rely on these kinds of occurrences to sustain an industry.” Jackson is likely to be the best-selling artist of 2009; album sales overall are down 20 percent, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

numerous concert films that will be shown between sets.

One could argue that there are no rap-rock or punk acts on the bill, at this point, though U2 may tap into its love of punk for the show.

Peresman says organizers are used to these kinds of criticisms.

“We hear it all the time with, ‘Why isn’t this one inducted yet?’” he says. “I think people will understand that we can’t fit everything in — these are going to be long shows as it is. I think people will understand the spirit of these shows.”

Proceeds from the concerts will go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, which funds the Rock Hall museum in Cleveland,

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as well as the Rock Hall Annex in New York’s SoHo. It’s part of a bigger fundraising and awarenessraising effort for the Rock Hall, which includes the new “The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The First 25 Years” by Holly GeorgeWarren, which collects induction speeches and photos from each of the ceremonies, and the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live,” a threeDVD set that arrives in stores next week and includes performances from the ceremonies and from the museum-opening concert in Cleveland in 1995.

“We wanted to do something that would really celebrate what rock ‘n’ roll is all about,” says Peresman. “That’s what we’re always trying to do.”

mustangdaily.net

opinion/editorial Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Editor in chief: Emilie Egger Managing Editor: Alex Kacik

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9

U.S. debt a growing problem The nation should stop digging its grave deeper

The United States has been living outside its means for quite some time now. I think most people are probably aware of this to some extent, but I’m not sure everyone understand the consequences. The numbers are astounding; our national debt is approaching $12 trillion which comes out to roughly $39,000 per citizen. The increase to our debt for this year alone is estimated to be $1.8 trillion. To put our debt into perspective, the gross domestic product (one way to try to calculate the final value of all goods and services from a nation) for 2008 was $14.4 trillion.

What are we spending so much money on? Let’s look at some of the largest budget items for the calendar year to date: Medicare and Medicaid top the list at $609 billion, followed

by Social Security and the military at $550 billion and $516 billion, respectively. I don’t know about you, but I find this figure particularly hard to wrap my head around. The interest on our debt is $311 billion for this year so far. There are so many numbers, and if you’re looking for more I’d encourage you to visit www.usdebtclock.org, but for now I think I’ll give the numbers a rest.

The most apparent consequence of our debt is the interest we have to pay on it, just like the interest an

individual would have to pay on a loan.

We’re beyond that though. I’m referring to what’s called the “monetization of debt” to put it nicely, or the inflation of our currency to put it more bluntly. Monetizing debt is when the U.S. issues bonds for people or governments to buy to support our debt and when the Federal Reserve buys those bonds. In other words, the U.S. government asks people to loan it money and instead of accepting money from outside sources, it hands itself that money.

This is possible through inflation, which is increasing the money supply, which is accomplished by printing the money. The consequences for this are widespread and potentially disastrous. Inflation devalues the dollar; just last week the dollar hit a new low when compared to

foreign currencies for the year. Inflation is also somewhat of a hidden tax as it redistributes wealth from the private sector and shifts it towards the government, without actually taking money directly from anyone.

This allows reckless spending at the federal level because rather than collecting money for taxpayers to pay for services, the government instead devalues all of their current dollars so that it can fund its programs without direct taxation.

I own a $100 trillion dollar bill — seriously — that’s from Zimbabwe. I bought it for less than $10. How did the $100 trillion dollar Zimbabwe notes become worth less than $10 in the U.S.? It’s called hyper-inflation.

Imagine the U.S. dollar having its value plummet to a fraction of what it’s worth today.The Zimbabwe dollar has done just that over a period

of only a few years. At the height of the hyper-inflation in Zimbabwe, which was November 2008, prices doubled every 24.7 hours.

Knowing all of this, it’s scary to see that we’re still headed in entirely the wrong direction. The debt is growing and not shrinking. There are entitlement programs galore and they’re only being expanded; this is the welfare state that I referenced last week. We can’t afford more than what we have now because we can’t even afford what we have now. I know we’re the United States and we’re a superpower, but the fact of the matter is that superpowers don’t last forever; they have their limits.

The U.S. is like a kid on a spending spree with too many credit cards.

It needs to stop and the sooner the better. We’re only digging our hole deeper with each passing day. I wish the United States the best, but that doesn’t mean I blindly believe in the nation to the point where I think it can do anything. The U.S. isn’t infallible and I think it would prove wise to not forget that. We are living beyond our means and it is not sustainable. I fear for our future as the path we are headed down now is not a pleasant one.

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

Sustainability: Easily done in daily routine Many students wonder what they can do to help save the environment, without first ruining it themselves. They may not have the power to influence politics or can afford to drive a hybrid, but there is a way to affect positive change by paying more attention to the way we do everyday routines.

While sometimes students might feel helpless or too busy to help the planet, most forget to utilize our greatest power, the power of the consumer.

The power of the consumer gives us the power to vote with our dollar every time we spend money.

Stimulating the emerging green economy is especially important now, as many companies will be seeing how consumers respond to their new green products. If a lot of people are buying them, then they are more likely to continue making eco-friendly products and will in turn become more sustainable in their practices. Michael Pollan encourages to “vote with your fork,” and be conscious of the choices you make in purchasing food, which can be done three or four times a day.

If consumers were more likely to buy products with the fair trade or USDA organic label, then more companies will want to become fair trade or organic certified. If consumers stop buying bottled water because they realize it is waste-

ful and bad for the environment, then those companies will go out of business. Companies simply cannot survive if people are not buying their product and vice versa.

Because there’s money behind this power, it is arguably more powerful than the right to vote.

Therefore the more students use this power, the more we can affect change. Businesses move faster than government and respond quicker to the wants of the people.

If we put in as much time researching the companies that we support as the politicians we vote for, the world would be a much different place.

Politics and businesses theoretically ultimately answer to the needs and wants of the people. It is up to us to tell them what we want and to support those that we agree with using the power of our dollar.

I would like to recognize that yes, we are college students, and

buying from businesses that use more sustainable practices are usually more expensive. But it is important to at least be conscious of the decisions you make and companies you buy from. Many cheap products are made though externalizing costs by exploiting labor or are subsidized within our current system. But when companies and governments start to see that this is no longer being tolerated and that there is more money in sustainable practices, they will start to make a change It’s also important to ask questions and give feedback so that the needs of the consumer can properly met. Ask your local grocery store why they don’t carry organic food or encourage them to provide more fresh food from local farmers.

Otherwise, they will continue to carry the same products, and will not realize that there is a market for other sustainable products.

Here are some things you can

do to be a smarter more responsible consumer: 1. Buy local to support the local economy and reduce transportation impacts.

2. Buy goods with less/recycled packaging.

3. Buy in bulk to save money and embodied energy.

4. Buy used clothing, books and other products, or find someway to get them for free.

5. Buy fair-trade products, which pay workers a fair wage and support local economies.

6. Buy non-toxic cleaning materials and organic linens.

7. Buy from businesses that make a commitment to being green.

8. Buy eco-friendly products.

Many times these options are already available to us. Try checking out places like Natural Foods on Broad St. that offers healthy, local food and Evos, a healthy and sustainable fast food chain. Sustainability is not specific to any one industry; it applies to all.

Remember that you as the consumer have the power to make a change everyday, requires little extra effort, and maybe a little more money. It’s time to act responsibly and influence positive change with the power of our dollar.

Sean Basalyga is a earth sciences senior and Mustang Daily columnist.

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Pink Day will be on Oct. 29 (Thursday) in honor of all women and men who have had Breast cancer. We are trying to get a huge demonstration on the Cal Poly Campus to show our support in the fight against breast cancer.

11

mustang daily

Tuesday, October 27, 2009 www.mustangdaily.net

Controversy

Quarterback

continued from page 12

continued from page 12

inability to win the starting job before Monday “let him develop that hunger, let him get excited if (he) gets an opportunity again, let him develop some confidence,” coach Mike Singletary said Monday. “I don’t think it’s the same old Alex. He’s matured, grown and is ready to play.”

Russell needs a similar wakeup call. But the NFL’s impatient society, bred by millions in guaranteed contracts, forces this 24year-old bonus baby to mature faster than he can.

Raiders coach Tom Cable claimed Russell was “out of sorts” from the get-go Sunday. What can be done to prevent that from reoccurring at the next get-go?

“That’s the million-dollar question,” Cable responded.

Is Smith the answer to the 49ers’ offensive woes? Don’t be silly, just be cautiously optimistic. He provided a spark against a Houston Texans defense protecting a hefty lead.

Smith is still stuck with a suspect offensive coordinator, a raw receiving corps, an iffy offensive line, a run-oriented and unproductive scheme and an unfavorable history on his side. Plus, Smith reclaims his starting role just in time to face the unbeaten Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning, the same matchup that overwhelmed him in his first career start in 2005.

So much for hope.

in between).

His career seemed over, until he signed with the one team that provides sanctuary for all NFL players with a criminal record, the Bengals.

Now, if there’s one thing that everyone has learned from dealing with an emotionally unstable ex, it’s not to piss them off or have them feel that they’ve been slighted.

Somehow the Bears did just that. Benson told the media last week that he thought Chicago had blackballed him, trying to prevent other teams from signing him by ruining his good name.

Unfortunately for the Bears, they were unable to convince him otherwise before the start of the game on Sunday. Benson looked like the second-coming of Jim Brown, running over any defender in his path en route to 189 rushing yards and a touchdown.

The other Johnson in trouble with Twitter While Chad (formerly Johnson) Ochocinco is generally known as the king of Twitter in the NFL, Kansas City running back Larry Johnson is making a run at the crown.

“My father got more credentials than most of these pro coaches,” he tweeted.

That in itself is pretty innocuous, but then he goes on to attack his own coach, Haley.

“My father played for the coach from 'Rememeber the Titans’.

Our coach played golf. My father

sports

played for the redskins briefly. Our coach. Nuthn.”

I wish that I was making the spelling up, but those are the actual tweets, word-for-word.

But you have to wonder how Haley became an NFL coach having never played football, even in college.

Well, I did a little investigative journalism (actually just looked him up on the Internet) and found that Haley’s first NFL job was as an assistant in the scouting department for the Jets in 1995. Coincidentally, Haley’s father was director of player personnel in New York at the time.

So I’m thinking had papa Haley not pulled some strings in 1995, the Chiefs might not be in such a poor situation right now.

That, or Larry Johnson could just shut his mouth and try to gain more than 2.7 yards per carry this season. Who’s right? I’ll let you decide.

Quinn losing money weekly The saddest storyline comes from perhaps the most pathetic team this year — the Cleveland Browns.

Browns quarterback Brady Quinn was due to make an $11 million incentive if he took 70 percent of Cleveland’s snaps this season. With the team still in rebuilding mode and Quinn looking to be the team’s future, it seems like a no-brainer. That is, unless you’re Eric Mangini.

Instead of getting Quinn some valuable playing time, Mangini has instead decided to start Derek Anderson for the last three weeks after giving Quinn all of two games and a couple of quarters.

The only problem is, Derek Anderson is the lowest rated quarter-

mcclatchy-tribune

In six weeks, running back Cedric Benson has rushed for more yards than he ever did as a Bear in a single season. He has 720 yards this season. back in the entire league.Yes, lower than Russell.

Anderson is completing 43.8 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and seven interceptions. Meanwhile, Quinn completes 60.8 percent of his passes with one touchdown and three interceptions.

Although Anderson has 63 more passing attempts than Quinn, he has just 205 more passing yards.

Mangini told reporters after Sunday’s 31-3 loss to Green Bay that he never considered replacing Anderson, despite him being 12 of

29 for 99 yards with an interception and two fumbles.

This has me more confused than when people try to explain “Lost.”

What exactly is it going to take?

Even Russell finally got pulled from a game, despite Al Davis threatening to disband the team if Gradkowski took the field.

Obviously Quinn could not possibly hope to succeed in Cleveland at this point, which is probably why he put his house on the market a few weeks ago. But in this economy, in Cleveland, good luck with that.

SPORTS

mustangdaily.net Tuesday, October 27, 2009

sports editor: Brian De Los Santos

mustangdailysports@gmail.com

MUSTANG DAILY

Tuesday Morning Quarterback commentary

Trick or tweet Scott Silvey o n t h e n a t i o n a l fo o t b a l l l e a g u e

I

f your favorite team lost an NFL game on Sunday, chances are you’re embarrassed about it. Some teams were falling behind faster than Dixie State did on Saturday when Cal Poly scored 21 points in what seemed like 10 seconds (OK, so it was really about three minutes) during the third quarter.

The average final score of an NFL game on Sunday was 34-13. If the cash for clunkers program had been extended to football games, the government would probably be looking for a way to cancel the program before it went bankrupt.

In what proved to be the best game of the day, Houston held off a huge late rally by San Francisco.

Down 21-0, 49ers head coach Mike Singletary benched Shaun Hill after yet another ineffective outing and brought in Alex Smith.

Smith led a furious rally that uncorked a controversy about the starting job in the Bay Area. Personally, I never would have guessed that a No.1 overall pick would outplay

mcclatchy-tribune

After a 37-7 loss to the Chargers, running back Larry Johnson questioned head coach Todd Haley’s credentials on his Twitter page. an undrafted, free agent, eighthyear journeyman quarterback if actually given a real opportunity on a team that finally has some offensive talent.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Monday that Smith will be the starting quarterback this Sunday. According to the article, Singletary said that the main reason for the benching was his “urge to

kill someone while Smith was in the game faded.” Well, that and he thought Smith would give them the best chance to be competitive.

The 49ers aren’t the only Bay Area football team with a quarterback controversy. If I were Oakland, I’d probably be starting Jeff Garcia right about now. Oh wait, they cut him … right. At least Bruce Gradkowski only turned the ball over

once. Sadly, Gradkowski’s passer rating of 72.3 in two games is almost double the rating of JaMarcus Russell.

Could the Raiders possibly be any more bipolar? They follow up a stunning win with possibly the worst game for an NFL team this season.

Benson blackballs Chicago Speaking of bipolar, maybe only

a diehard Chicago fan like me remembers Cedric Benson crying his eyes out on draft day after the Bears took him with the No. 4 pick. Just a few short years later, Benson was cut after all kinds of legal troubles and fights with cops (not to mention some horrible football games see Quarterback, page 11

Quarterback controversies headline Bay Area teams

mcclatchy-tribune

Two former No. 1 overall picks are moving in opposite directions with their careers in the Bay Area.

Cam Inman contra costa times

Alex Smith Version 2.0 represents the Bay Area’s best quarterback hope, and that is more scary than soothing, more of a trick than a treat.

No knock on Smith, who’s attempting a Plunkett-arian rebirth, but the 49ers and Raiders are in quarterback trouble once again.

Each franchise’s fall from grace is traced to instability and ineffectiveness at quarterback. That ground

remains as liquefied as ever.

So they’re desperately squeezing every last once of potential from their one-time top overall draft picks: Smith (No. 1 in 2005) with the 49ers and JaMarcus Russell (No. 1 in 2007) with the Raiders.

Smith, on the rebound from rock bottom, officially reclaimed his starting job Monday. Russell remains in free fall, gallingly doing so without a hint of accountability.

Sunday’s respective losses by

the 49ers (24-21 in Houston) and Raiders (38-0 to the New York Jets) showcased the tangled webs that exist on their quarterback depth charts.

Russell’s first career benching Sunday exemplifies how poorly the Raiders and 49ers developed their No. 1 draft picks. He’s taken Smith’s path to bust-ville rather than the one less traveled.

Russell hit a new low, however, when I asked him postgame at his locker if he or the team was responsible for his disappointing development.

“I don’t think it’s me personally.

I really don’t,” Russell responded.

“It’s a bad combination of one guy doesn’t do something right one time. I personally don’t think it’s me. Do you think so?”

“At times,” I responded.

He didn’t sneer. His eyebrows peaked, he smiled and said, “All right.” End of interview.

He accepted my retort in the cool, laid-back nature that’s drawn criticism throughout his 7-16 record as a starter.

Russell most definitely is at fault when he can’t line up his team in the right formation, feel a pocket collapse and thus yields another fumble on a sack (see: Sunday’s first snap). Same thing when his maligned mechanics and decision making result in dumbfounding interceptions (see: Sunday’s pair).

But he is not to blame all the time. His supporting cast deserves

flogging: young receivers who drop passes, offensive linemen who couldn’t care less about protecting him, and coaches who can’t get through to him.

Al Davis’ lack of a supporting cast with personnel decisions could be the biggest root of this evil. But that is letting the players off too easy, allowing them to escape without any accountability, as Russell is attempting.

He personally doesn’t think he is to blame? What true franchise quarterback would say that instead of falling on the sword for his team? Oh yes, the Raiders quarterback would do that, because he knows the Raiders’ dysfunctional record can back up his claim. Plus, he knows Bruce Gradkowski is no threat to his starting job.

A.D. Football Inc. devoted this season to solving Russell’s worth.

Amazingly, that sorry answer has come before the season’s halfway mark, leaving nine games for him to pull a rabbit out of that ski cap he wears on the sideline.

What’s dooming Russell also wrecked Smith’s first foray as the 49ers quarterback: a lack of leadership skill, a dizzying rotation of offensive coordinators, head-coaching chaos, a dearth of play-making receivers and no sight of Pro Bowl linemen.

A shoulder injury put the brakes on Smith’s downward spiral. His see Controversy, page 11