11-12-09

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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

Thai artists come to Cal Poly with exchange program.

Health care bill’s passing through House of Representatives helps Pelosi’s reputation.

IN ARTS, 8

Men’s basketball head coach Joe Callero and his team hit the hardwood this weekend.

IN WIRE, 6

IN SPORTS, 16

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Volume LXXIV, Number 41

www.mustangdaily.net

ASI puts on budget debate Cal Poly’s student association will hold four days of events on Dexter Lawn starting Monday Nikol Schiller mustang daily

Associated Student Inc. will be holding a budget crisis debate series Monday through Thursday on Dexter Lawn, allowing students to voice their concerns about the economic disaster hitting the California State University system. The event may prompt an interview with Cal Poly President Baker or Provost Robert Koob regarding the feedback ASI receives from students attending the series, said recreation, parks and tourism administration sophomore Alicia Carney, who serves as ASI’s executive cabinet secretary of legislative affairs.

Dexter Lawn and the second floor of the Robert E. Kennedy Library will feature giant sandwich boards for students to write on from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Everyday there will be a new budget topic to provoke thoughts and written discussions on the “Walls of Concern.”

A major topic of concern students have regarding the budget are the professors’ mandatory furlough days.

“Since the teachers took a 10 percent pay cut, they also were supposed to decrease our workload by 10 percent so we aren’t learning everything that we should learn in a quarter. So we are losing out on academic material,” electrical engineering senior Tim Brown said.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the “vent tent” will be set up on the lawn. Students can stop in from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to talk with an ASI member about how the budget crisis is affecting them. Students will also have the opportunity to write down a question concerning the budget crisis on a whiteboard. ASI members will take a picture of the student, if he or she allows, and tape it up next to the question.

“We want to put a face to the problem,” Carney said. “Students are really frustrated, understandably, about what’s going on. We want to give students an opportunity to have their voices heard.”

Psychology junior Hannah Bauss is concerned about the number of classes that have been dropped this quarter and impacted classes.

“I think everyone has been affected by (the

budget crisis) mostly in the sense that it’s making it even harder for me to get into classes for my major. And it’s already super hard to get into them as it is,” she said.

Students who give feedback to ASI will get a cookie on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.The Board of Directors and the University Union Advisory Board will hold a panel discussion on the lawn from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. to answer budget-related questions specific to individual colleges. Students are welcome to attend and ask questions about how the budget cuts will affect their department and college.

Carney said ASI is serious about giving students a forum to voice their concerns to the university.

“We want them to know how serious this is. It’s not just sacrifices; this could decide whether or not people get a highereducation degree,” she said.

New on mustangdaily.net

Go to mustangdaily.net for scores and highlights of Wednesdays men’s soccer Big West semi-final game against UC Irvine.

Students organize run to fund PolyHouse project Katie Koschalk mustang daily

Industrial and manufacturing engineering (IME) students are hosting the second annual Fund Run to raise $2,000 for the PolyHouse project, which teaches students project planning and management skills as they restore the house of a handicapped citizen.

The 5k and 10k runs are at 9 a.m. this Saturday on campus; the event planners expect 300 participants.

Leslie Pow, the team leader of marketing for the Fund Run, said it offers students a way to support the PolyHouse project.

“It’s our biggest fundraiser, and we raise the most money during this event. It’s an easy way for students to help without actually participating in the PolyHouse project,” Pow said.

Chelsea Knighton, a graphic communication junior, is interested in signing up for the event.

“It sounds like it’s for a really great cause. I’d love to support it and come out on Saturday,” Knighton said. “That’s really cool that they put so much effort into helping somebody in need.”

IME professor Roya Javadpour started the PolyHouse project five years ago. After creating a class called technological project management (IME 556), she thought a hands-on construction project would be a beneficial learning experience for students and a way to help the community.

The students and faculty begin the process of choosing a citizen in

need by contacting local churches and community service organizations, such as United Way, and accumulating a pool of potential candidates. Criteria such as home ownership, ability to move out of the house during the construction and the extent of the disability are considered next to select the final client, said Liz Schlemer, the project’s current faculty adviser.

Last year, the client was a 16year-old girl confined to a wheelchair and adopted by her elderly grandparents, who have cared for over 20 foster children. This year’s client will be selected during winter quarter.

“It benefits the community by helping an underprivileged family with renovations on their house that they couldn’t otherwise do,” Pow said.

The number of students enrolled in the class varies from year to year. Last year, there were 42 students, but the year before that there were only 13. The students are broken into teams focusing on different aspects of the renovations, such as electrical, landscaping, bathroom and plumbing, flooring and drywall.

The students’ challenge is to plan everything from gathering materials to organizing the work schedule to ensure that the entire project can be done in four days (the second and third weekends in May).

The students receive no funding for the project, which usually has a total budget of around $120,000.

While most of the money comes see PolyHouse, page 2

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PolyHouse continued from page 1

from donations from businesses and individuals, the fundraisers also help.

In addition to being the main fundraiser for the PolyHouse project, the Fund Run provides IME students with a learning experience. It is the product of a project given to students currently enrolled in project organization and management (IME 303), which teaches students how to use skills and resources to manage a project.

The event is Nov. 14 at 9 a.m. at the lower recreation field, located in the sports complex at Cal Poly.

“It’s early in the morning, but people are pretty excited and enthusiastic about participating,” Pow said.

Participants are encouraged to wear costumes. After the races, the best-dressed participant will receive a prize along with the top finishers. There will also be a barbeque following the event.

“It’s kind of like the Bay to Breakers in a way, since everybody is dressed up. It’s pretty fun,” Pow said.

Registration costs $20. Participants can register on the event’s Web site: polyhousefundrun.org.

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

Obama adviser known for Fox News barbs will step down Peter Nicholas tribune washington bureau

WASHINGTON — In an expected development, White House communications director Anita Dunn is stepping down, after a brief tenure marked by a dustup with Fox News Channel over its coverage.

She will be succeeded by her deputy, Daniel H. Pfeiffer.

Dunn had never planned to stay long. She joined the administration in the spring with the understanding she would be gone in a few months because of family considerations.

In her short time with the Obama administration, she came to epitomize a more combative White House approach in dealing with critics. She advocated a “rapid response” to dealing with criticisms that she deemed to be meritless — a swift rebuttal that would leave no doubt as to the White House position, according to an administration official.

She also pushed for President Barack Obama to do more interviews with the press corps, the official said, who asked not to be named in order to discuss strategy.

Pfeiffer, a veteran of Obama’s 2008 campaign, also favors aggressive means of communicating the White House message.

Dunn declined to comment on her departure.

Dunn’s work was largely behind the scenes, but she found herself in the headlines when she asserted that Fox is not a traditional news-gathering operation.

Last month she told CNN that FOX is “part of the Republican Party.” She said the network’s practice is to “take their talking points and put them on the air. Take their opposition research and put them on the air, and that’s fine. But let’s not pretend they’re a news network the way CNN is.”

That touched off a small-screen feud. A FOX talk show host, Glenn Beck, aired footage of Dunn addressing a high school graduation ceremony in June and describing Mao Tse-tung and Mother Teresa as two of her “favorite political philosophers.”

Beck said on his show: “The guy responsible for more deaths than any other 20th-century leader is her favorite philosopher!”

Dunn later took a swipe at Beck on CNN: “The use of the phrase ‘favorite political philosophers’ was intended as irony, but clearly the effort fell flat — at least with a certain FOX commentator whose sense of irony may be missing.”

Dunn’s departure will diminish the ranks of women in a White House inner circle dominated by men. An exception is Valerie Jarrett, an influential senior advisor who is a longtime family friend of the Obamas.

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Thursday, November 12, 2009 www.mustangdaily.net

News

Parliament approves elections, Iraqis are ambivalent Warren P. Strobel and Laith Hammoudi mcclatchy newspapers

BAGHDAD — Obama administration officials breathed a collective sigh of relief Sunday when Iraq’s parliament, after weeks of delays, approved a law to hold national elections in January, very likely permitting a major postelection withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq.

Bayda Hussein, a 24-year-old schoolteacher, plans to vote for only one reason, however. “My uncle is a candidate in one of the lists, and I don’t want him to feel angry,” she told McClatchy Newspapers.

While U.S. officials hail the coming elections as a sign that Iraq is becoming a stable democracy, many Iraqis like Hussein are ambivalent at best about their country’s second national election.

Security is elusive, electricity still winks out frequently and politicians are held in the lowest repute, seen as obsessed with perks while ignoring people’s needs.

“We still have a bad security situation and bad services. I am afraid that the situation would be even worse after the coming election,” Hussein said. “Those who come to power care only about filling their pockets with money and (then) leave the country.”

Although they agreed on holding the elections, the politicians left a demographic dispute over the tense Kirkuk region unresolved, a source of unease in the months ahead.

Iraq’s independent electoral commission has less than 90 days to organize the country’s first national polls since U.S. troops withdrew from the streets of Iraqi cities last June.

The head of the commission, Faraj al-Haidari, told McClatchy

that he has to hire most of the necessary 300,000 poll workers and train, try to do background checks on candidates for parliament and make sure that Iraq’s estimated 2.8 million internally displaced citizens know where they can vote Jan. 21.

“It’s a lot of work,” al-Haidari said. “The time that we have, frankly, it’s little time.”

Al-Haidari said he’d just come from a meeting with senior Iraqi and U.S. military commanders to prepare for election security in each of the country’s 18 provinces.

Assassination attempts against candidates and other attempts by militants to disrupt the election are almost a foregone conclusion.

Time is so short, al-Haidari said, that candidates for the 275 seats in parliament will get only cursory background checks. Closer inspections will be saved for the winners after election day.

Al-Haidari recalled with a chuckle how he deliberately provoked Iraq’s Council of Representatives into action last week, warning lawmakers that the election couldn’t be held if the law setting out the rules wasn’t in place by last Thursday. Parliament acted — three days after his deadline.

He also credited U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill and European diplomats here for prodding the feuding ethnic and religious blocs in parliament toward compromise.

Kirkuk is rich in oil and emotionally symbolic to Arabs and Kurds alike. Kurds wanted to use 2009 voter registration lists for the province. Those lists reflect an influx of Kurdish residents, who their leaders say restore the region’s ethnic balance after decades of attempts by the late dictator Saddam Hussein to “Arabize” it.

The Kurds won the political battle over the lists, but a factfinding committee will audit the

voter rolls for problems after the election and issue a report in a year’s time, setting up another potential confrontation.

The outcome satisfied few.

“The law was a compromise to keep the political process moving.

It was passed according to the desire of the political blocs, whether we are satisfied or not,” said Mohammed Khalil al-Juburi, an Arab member of Kirkuk’s provincial council.

In the northern city of Mosul, which is among Iraq’s most violent places, Sagfan Mohammed, 40, a Kurd, blamed his leaders for what he saw as a sellout.

“The blame is squarely on the shoulders of the Kurd leaders who surrendered in the face of the pressures put on them,” said Mohammed, who owns a book and stationery shop. “The armed violence will not recede, it will increase, because of the political fallacy that is practiced under the dome of the parliament.”

In the southern port city of Basra, which until this past spring was under the control of Shiite Muslim militias, Ali Abdul Hussein, 41, a lawyer, predicted no

from the last one in 2005, which hardened sectarian divisions and was conducted using “closed lists,” under which voters chose coalitions, not candidates. The January elections will use “open lists” that name individual candidates.

Al-Haidari, the elections commission head, dismissed voter apathy.

“Iraqis, they are moody,” he said. “From now to the 21st (of January), they change their minds a hundred times.”

mcclatchy-tribune Faraj al Haidari says that he still has to hire most of 300,000 poll workers and train them; try to do background checks on candidates for parliament; and make sure Iraq’s estimated 2.8 million internally displaced citizens know where they can vote on Jan. 21.

letup in violence “because these insurgencies take place between those who participate in the political process.”

Still, some Iraqis expressed hope that this election will be different

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Three teens to be charged as adults in boy’s burning Robert Samuels mcclatchy newspapers

MIAMI — Three of the five teenagers accused of setting fire to 15-year-old Michael Brewer of Deerfield Beach, Fla., will be charged as adults, the Broward State Attorney’s Office said Monday.

Denver Jarvis and Matthew Bent, both 15, and Jesus Mendez, 16, were charged with one count of second-degree attempted murder.

Adult charges have not been filed against Steven Shelton, 15, or Jeremy Jarvis, 13. Those two were released from custody Monday, but prosecutors have not ruled out charging them as adults in the fu-

ture.

“This is a very active, ongoing investigation,” Assistant State Attorney Maria Schneider said. “As additional information becomes available, then we have the option to revisit our filing decision.”

The five are accused of attacking Brewer on Oct. 12 at a Deerfield Beach apartment complex, dousing Brewer with rubbing alcohol and setting him aflame.

Brewer, who was burned over 65 percent of his body, remains in critical condition at the University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Hospital burn center in Miami. His greataunt, Patti Gendron, said Monday see Adults, page 5

Thursday, November 12, 2009

News

Briefs State

National

International

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.

(MCT) — A high school football coach who allegedly shot a pregnant woman three times at her Paso Robles home Friday is expected to be arraigned today on two counts of felony attempted murder.

Steven Smith, 26, of San Miguel, is also charged with one count of first-degree burglary, officials said.

Police confirmed Monday that he is an assistant football coach at Paso Robles High School.

The woman, whose name police are not disclosing because she is the alleged victim of domestic violence, is about 36 weeks pregnant and is recovering at Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton.

The allegations against Smith involve attempted murder of the woman and the unborn child.

WASHINGTON (MCT) — An American Muslim who was captured while fleeing Somalia in 2007 accused two FBI agents and two other U.S. officials Tuesday of illegally interrogating him and threatening torture while he was allegedly held at U.S. behest in Kenyan and Ethiopian jails.

In a lawsuit filed on behalf of Amir Meshal of Tinton Falls, N.J., the American Civil Liberties Union alleged that he’d been held in “stark and inhuman conditions” and had “suffered physical injuries, pain and suffering, severe mental anguish, as well as loss of income and livelihood.”

U.S. officials “threatened Mr. Meshal with serious physical and mental abuse, told him he would be made to ‘disappear,’ and denied him access to counsel and other due process protections,” said the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court.

Jonathan Hafetz, an ACLU attorney, said his client is seeking unspecified damages. An FBI spokesman declined to discuss the case because it’s an active lawsuit.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (MCT) — At least 24 people were killed Tuesday in the third bombing in as many days in Pakistan’s militancy-plagued Northwest, as extremists continued to wreak revenge for a U.S.-backed offensive against Taliban guerrillas.

The car bomb ripped through a market in Charsadda, a town in the North West Frontier Province.

More than 100 were wounded, and the death toll may be as high as 32, according to some reports.

On Sunday, a suicide attacker targeted the leader of an anti-Taliban militia on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Peshawar, killing 12, and the suicide bombing Monday of a police checkpoint in Peshawar claimed three lives.

Islamic extremists unleashed their latest campaign early last month to coincide with an army ground operation against the Pakistani Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan.

More than 300 civilians have died in a wave of bombings and gun attacks, including an attack in a Peshawar shopping district two weeks ago that killed more than 115.

MIAMI (MCT) —The Department of Health and Human Services, not the Pentagon, shipped 300 doses of swine flu vaccine to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo for a select few among the 6,000 residents, a base spokesman said Tuesday.

The special shipment was being held at the base hospital and would be given to “high-risk individuals on the Navy station,” said Terence Peck, a public affairs officer.

The first 300 was not meant for the 2,000 or so U.S. forces working at the prison camps “nor for the prisoners,” he added.

NAHA, Japan (MCT) — The U.S. military in Okinawa Prefecture has detained a U.S. Army sergeant it strongly suspects of involvement in a fatal hit-and-run incident in Yomitanson in the prefecture.

The Okinawa prefectural police had previously seized a vehicle owned by the sergeant first class in his 20s, who is based at Torii Communication Station in the village.

The police also have searched the sergeant’s apartment in the village outside the base on suspicion that he may have violated the Road Traffic Law and that his negligent driving resulted in the death of 66year-old Masakazu Hokama.

•••

SACRAMENTO (MCT) — Starting today, travelers at Sacramento International Airport and dozens of airports nationwide will be able to surf the Web with free wireless Internet service provided

by Google.

The Internet company is providing complimentary WiFi service through Jan. 15 at airport terminals in more than 40 cities, including Las Vegas, San Jose, Boston, Baltimore, Burbank, Houston, Miami and St. Louis. During the same period, Google and Virgin America also are offering free in-flight WiFi on all the airline’s planes.

Sacramento International Airport already provides free WiFi service in terminals A and B as well as some parts of the parking garage, airport spokeswoman Gina Swankie said.The service is underwritten by advertisers who pay for the initial “splash” page users see when they log on, and Google will pick up that tab until a new contract is executed in January, she said.

•••

•••

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Thursday, November 12, 2009 www.mustangdaily.net

Pelosi continued from page 6

great ideological differences, must pass a bill, and then a conference committee must meld the House and Senate bills. Depending on what emerges, it may be difficult for Pelosi to get her troops to sign off on a final version, particularly given the Democratic resistance on the first vote.

Pelosi’s big moment arrived at 11:06 p.m. Saturday in Washington, when she stood before her colleagues to announce the margin of victory: 220-215. Thirtynine Democrats, or 15 percent of the majority party, had voted against their leader. She still managed to eke out the win, however — and even picked up one Republican vote.

“The bill is passed,” said Pelosi, who then pounded her gavel.

Shortly before midnight, Pelosi got a congratulatory call from one of her biggest fans, President Barack Obama. At a Democratic fundraiser in San Francisco last month, Obama called Pelosi “one of the best speakers imaginable,” joking that she “is subjected to constant criticism and griping — and then there’s the other party.”

He said that Pelosi had “steely determination” and that her toughness was the main reason Congress would pass a health care bill this year.

“Let me talk to you — Nancy Pelosi is tough,” Obama said at the fundraiser. “I want everybody to know that.”

Pelosi prevailed in July, keeping her delicate Democratic coalition intact when members of the Blue Dog coalition rebelled against the public option. One of the biggest ironies: Pelosi had produced a winning strategy by helping recruit many of the conservative Democrats to run in Republican-leaning districts in 2006 and 2008.

Before the House voted to approve her bill, Pelosi had angered many of her fellow Democratic abortion-rights supporters by allowing a vote to ban public insurance plans from offering abortion coverage. Pelosi made the call after it became clear that allowing the abortion vote was the only way to get the broader bill passed.

Wire Editor: Jennifer Titcomb

News

5

Word on the Street “What do you think about ASI’s budget crisis debate series? Will it have an impact?”

“I’d say it’s a good idea; it will give all students the chance to speak out. Hopefully our administration will listen.”

“Ultimately I think decisions are made before it’s open to student body but maybe they will take it into consideration for future decisions.”

“I think it will answer people’s questions if people go to it.

I think they will listen to it in the future if people show up to the event.“

“I think we just have to suffer through, read what they don’t teach. The event is good for students to let off steam.“

-Viren Patel, aerospace engineering sophomore

-Matthew Robinson, political science junior

-Sherilyn Fitch, social sciences junior

-Michael Groileye, engineering graduate student

“To be honest there has been a lot of outrage and been lots of student organizations but it seems like nothing is going to change. The crisis is what it is. It will raise awareness but I don’t think change.”

-Aarti Garg, business freshman

“I think it will let our concerns be heard by people who can make changes. I think having an outlet is always good.

Hopefully someone will listen.”

-Shannon Glendenning, environmental management and protection junior

compiled and photographed by jennifer titcomb

Adults

continued from page 4

he is recovering nicely.

Skin from a cadaver has been grafted onto his arms and legs, and the hair on his head has started to grow back.

“A lot of his frustration is not being able to talk to us,” Gendron said. “It really bugs him.”

The family has chosen not to comment on the legal case except to note that they hope “God and the law will do the right thing.”

According to the Broward Sheriff ’s Office, Brewer owed Bent, a classmate, $40 for a video game. To get even when he didn’t get the money, Bent tried to steal a $500 custom bicycle owned by Brewer’s dad. The Brewer family reported the incident to the sher-

iff ’s office. Sheriff ’s deputies arrested Bent, who spent the night in a juvenile facility.

Neither Bent nor Brewer, who was afraid of retaliation, went to school Oct. 12. But just before 3 p.m., Brewer ran into Bent and the four other teens at an apartment complex.

Investigators have said that Bent ordered the others to set Brewer ablaze with rubbing alcohol. Denver Jarvis poured the rubbing alcohol, while Mendez used a lighter to set Brewer on fire. The others watched and did nothing as Brewer, burning, ran to a nearby swimming pool.

Denver Jarvis, Bent and Menendez will be transferred to the juvenile section of the Broward County Jail. They are likely to be arraigned next week, the state attorney’s office said.

mcclatchy-newspapers

Jeremy Jarvis, 13, left, and his brother Denver Colorado Jarvis, 15, center, appear in juvenile court with Matthew Bent, 15, right, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, at the Broward County Courthouse. The boys were charged with aggravated battery for participating in setting a 15-yearold boy on fire.

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

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Personally and politically, Pelosi won big on health care

mcclatchy-newspapers

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) addressed the staff of Swedish Medical Center with Washington Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), left, and Washington Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) in Seattle, Washington.

Rob Hotakainen mcclatchy newspapers

WASHINGTON — Love her or hate her, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is at the peak of her political power, and she seems to be reveling in the high drama of the moment.

Last week, as she searched for the 218 votes required to pass a mammoth health care bill, the San Francisco Democrat made

her view of the stakes clear: “We have an historic opportunity ... It is something that many of us have worked our whole political lifetimes on.”

On Saturday night, after the House of Representatives passed Pelosi’s bill with two votes to spare, no one was smiling more broadly than the 69-year-old Pelosi.

It won’t be known for weeks whether Pelosi can help get a bill through the Senate and to the

president’s desk and whether the compromises the House made on abortion and other issues will help or hurt that effort, but she had much to celebrate with her preliminary victory, including her own political survival.

For starters, she’d withstood withering attacks and TV impersonations and had overcome many doubters, laying her reputation on the line as she guaranteed that the House would pass a health care

bill.

She stood firm, predicting from the beginning that the House would include a public option as part of its bill, even when the prospects appeared to be fading fast in August.

Leading one of the hottest domestic debates to hit Washington in years hasn’t come without a price, though.

Pelosi’s job approval ratings have sunk dramatically this year, even in her home state of California, as she gets much of the blame for public dissatisfaction with Congress and the gridlock on Capitol Hill.

The latest Field Poll, released last month, found that only 34 percent of Californians gave her good marks, compared with 44 percent who disapproved of her performance. The poll found that her approval rating had declined by 14 percentage points in a seven-month period.

Always the lightning rod, Pelosi is hearing from both sides of the aisle.

While many Democrats are offering their praise after watching Pelosi’s high-wire performance, Republicans are calling the health care bill “PelosiCare,” warning that it will lead to higher taxes and job losses.

Mayor David Cicilline of Providence, R.I., the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Mayors health

committee, said Pelosi showed “extraordinary leadership and fierce determination” in getting the bill through the House.

The Communication Workers of America, a labor union, commended the speaker, saying that her bill “will provide enormous benefits to our nation.”

On the Republican side, Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, said Pelosi had finally got her wish — “a government-run health care experiment” that will increase the deficit and hurt Medicare.

And Chris Chocola, a former Indiana Republican congressman and the president of the conservative Club For Growth, said the bill’s price tag is “shocking, but not surprising to anyone familiar with the liberal extremism of the House Democrats.”

“PelosiCare is a disaster,” he said.

As Congress heads to a possible finish line on health care this year, Pelosi is hoping to deliver the largest expansion of health care since Congress created Medicare in 1965.

She has much work to do before she can claim success, however, and there will be plenty of opportunities for opponents to derail the House bill.

First the Senate, where there see Pelosi, page 5

Former astronaut pleads guilty to lesser charges in attack on rival Sarah Lundy and Willoughby Mariano mcclatchy newspapers

ORLANDO, Fla. — The former astronaut arrested in an attack against her romantic rival pleaded guilty Tuesday to lesser counts.

Before a packed courtroom, Lisa Marie Nowak, 46, pleaded guilty to counts of third-degree burglary of a conveyance and misdemeanor battery. She was originally charged with more serious counts of attempted kidnapping and burglary with assault in addi-

tion to misdemeanor battery.

Prosecutors dropped a count of attempted kidnapping.

Orange County Circuit Court Judge Marc L. Lubet sentenced Nowak to two days in Orange County Jail with credit for time served and one year of probation.

She must stay away from victim Colleen Shipman and has to write a “sincere” letter of apology to her within 10 days.

The deal ends a bizarre drama that preoccupied national news outlets and supermarket tabloids alike for nearly three years.

Nowak, a mission specialist on Discovery’s flight in July 2006, was charged in a confrontation with romantic rival Shipman at Orlando International Airport on Feb. 5, 2007.

Shipman was dating Bill Oefelein, an astronaut at the time and Nowak’s former lover. Orlando police say Nowak drove from Houston to Orlando and attacked Shipman in the airport parking lot. She’s accused of blasting Shipman with pepper spray — but her defense has challenged whether Shipman had any contact with the spray.

During Tuesday’s hearing, a tearful Shipman said she was certain Nowak meant to kill her.

Shipman said she lost her job in the U.S. Air Force because of the attack, and that it caused her medical problems such as high blood pressure. Her family has lost money taking time off work to support her through the trial, she said.

Now, Shipman has nightmares, she said, and is always looking over her shoulder.

Nowak’s attorney Donald A. Lykkebak introduced into evidence several letters of support from members of the military. He described her record as “exemplary,” and reminded Lubet she had no criminal history. He argued that she should not be adjudicated guilty.

Then Nowak apologized to see Astronaut, page 7

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News

Gulf Coast veterans displaced

by Katrina anxious to go home Maria Recio mcclathcy newspapers

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of residents who were evacuated from Armed Forces Retirement Home in Gulfport, Miss., after Hurricane Katrina destroyed it are looking at their last Veteran’s Day in Washington.

For almost all of them, it couldn’t come too soon.

In four years, they’ve adapted — or not — to life at the beautiful Washington campus of the Armed Forces Retirement Home. With 10 months to go before the rebuilt facility reopens on the Mississippi Coast, however, the veterans talk of little else but getting back to Gulfport.

Most don’t plan to attend Veteran’s Day events in the Washington area, either saying that they’ve been to Arlington National Cemetery before or that they find it too difficult to get around. All say they appreciate the recognition, though.

Irene Smith, 85, the most talkative of a group of 10 former Gulfport residents gathered in the lobby of a residence building, grew emotional talking about Veteran’s Day. “I thank God every day that I joined the Navy,” said Smith, a Navy WAVE in World War II. Asked if she wants to return to the Gulf Coast, the good-natured Smith said bluntly, “That’s not a very good question.” Laughing, she said, “Gosh, yes.”

Smith loves a lot about the 272acre Washington campus, which boasts historic buildings, including the Lincoln Cottage, where President Abraham Lincoln spent his summers and wrote a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation; the Old Soldier’s Home and a special perk — a nine-hole golf course.

“I think the grounds are wonderful,” Smith said. “I’ve met a lot of nice people, but there were a lot of nice people in Mississippi.”

“I would not want to live here,” she said. Her complaints, echoed by many, are that they’re much more isolated than they were on Gulfport’s 11-acre oceanfront building, with D.C. stores and restaurants hard to get to and city driving a challenge.

To the evacuees, Gulfport is “heaven on earth.”

Frances Scott, a Mississippi Coast resident for more than 40 years before retiring to the Gulfport facility, said simply, “I’m going home.”

“I miss the weather very much,” she added, referring to the mild winters. Scott and others were well aware that Tropical Storm Ida just skimmed the Gulf Coast, but this hurricane-tested group was unconcerned.

Of the 414 residents in the Gulfport retirement home when Katrina hit in 2005, about 350 were evacuated to Washington — many on 10 buses provided by the Armed Forces Retirement Home.

There are 202 Gulfport residents remaining in Washington, said retirement home spokeswoman Sheila Abarr. At least 170 are on

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

the list to return to Gulfport.

“D.C. is a lovely city to visit,” said Henry Pike, 85, a Gulfport resident from 1985 to the 2005 evacuation, “and then get out of Dodge.”

A veteran of three wars — World War II, Korea and Vietnam — Pike said that Washington “is too crowded to enjoy most of it.”

Pike keeps close tabs on the new Gulfport building and its living quarters, which at 450 square feet will be nearly five times larger than what he had before. Even with the original 92 square feet, he said, “I was perfectly happy.”

Air Force veteran Bill Williams, 79, originally from Fort Worth, Texas, spent 21 years of his retirement driving around the country in an RV before settling in the Gulfport facility in 2003. He’s ready to go back, but unlike the others, he said, “I love it here.”

A skilled carver, Williams has a workshop in the basement where he makes wooden cowboy figures

and carves scenes into moose antlers that decorate the walls.

Southern food is a pull for the Gulf Coast, too, with many residents craving fried mullet and string beans with fatback.

Bill and Sally Blythe, 87 and 86, respectively, and one of the few married couples at the facility — individuals must qualify separately with their military service to live at an Armed Forces Retirement Home — lived on the Gulf Coast in Long Beach, Miss., before moving to the Gulfport residence. Of the Gulf Coast, Bill Blythe joked, “We retired there twice.”

J.W. Hickman, it turns out, is counting the days to return to Gulfport, and said he’s been in Washington “four years, two months and 10 days.”

“I haven’t been thrilled since Sept. 1, 2005,” when he arrived in the city he hates, the Navy veteran said. “I’ve got 10 months and 20 days to go.”

mcclatchy-newspapers

Residents from the Armed Forces Retirement Home who plan to return to the “sister” home in Gulfport, Mississippi pose in Washington, D.C.

Astronaut continued from page 6

Shipman.

“I am sincerely sorry for causing fear and misunderstanding and all the intense public exposure you have encountered,” Nowak said.

Lubet barred Nowak from contacting Oefelein.

“No books, no messages, no poems, no nothing,” Lubet said.

Nowak remains in the U.S. Navy, but is no long in the astronaut corps.

Shipman is now living with Oefelein in Alaska.

mcclatchy-newspapers

Lisa Nowak, 46, former NASA mission specialist on Discovery’s July 2006 flight, plead guilty Tuesday to counts of third-degree burglary of a conveyance and misdemeanor battery during a pre-trial hearing at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Florida.

thursday, november 12, 2009

arts & Entertainment editor: cassandra keyse

University Art Gallery hosts Thai exchange artists Nikol Schiller mustang daily

The University Art Gallery will feature the work of three Thai artists who have been invited to Cal Poly as part of a university artist exchange.

Cal Poly’s exchange program with Silpakorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, gives faculty members at both universities an opportunity to travel overseas to visit and create art

at other campuses. The Thai artists will create different pieces that fit a theme, ultimately producing an entire gallery of work for Cal Poly to display.

The exchange began this summer with three Cal Poly faculty visiting Silpakorn University to create art that fit the program’s ‘water’ theme.

Returning Silpakorn’s hospitality, Cal Poly is hosting the Thai artists for one week.

This year, the hospitality extends further than sharing the university campuses due to budget cuts. Instead of staying at a hotel as artists have in past years, the visiting artists are staying with faculty members to cut down on costs, art department Chair Sky Bergman said.

Art professor and exchange coordinator Michael Miller said that hosting the artists makes the experience “more intimate.”

Miller, who visited Thailand in the summer, said that the American and Thai group created the theme together.

“We felt like just the exchange in general, cultural exchange, is kind of elemental or essential to people in the globe getting along,” he said.

Part of creating a global unity is understanding other cultures. Miller said that he had to get used to the different style of Thai art.

“It takes time to understand the work. Just like if you’re listening to rap music. When you first listen to something that’s different, it looks all the same, sounds all the same. Then when you start to pay attention and you become friends with someone,

it really starts to broaden out and it’s unique in many ways,” he said.

Artists in the West shy away from using symbolism, Miller said, while artists in the East heavily use symbolism in their work.

For one particular piece of art, Silpakorn project coordinator Sasivimol Santiratpakdee explains the different levels of wisdom in terms of a lotus flower being below or above water. The deeper a lotus is beneath the water, the more ignorant it is.

As the lotus emerges above water, it achieves a deeper understanding and ultimately becomes wise.

Beginning last week, the artists see Artists, page 11

nikol schiller mustang daily

Above, Prasert Pichayasoonthorn works on his watercolor paintings next to Nawin Biadklang’s six-foot sketch of his face. Sasivimol Santiratpakde and Nawin Biadklang put together Sone Simatrang’s “Save Water” demonstration (below).

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Arts

Arts editor: Cassandra Keyse mustangdailyarts@gmail.com

9

‘Modern Warfare 2’ entrenched in controversy Brian Krecente kotaku.com

Incensed politicians, angry fans, boycotting retailers: What might be the biggest video game launch in history has more than its share of controversy.

But in the eye of the contentious hurricane that swirls around the upcoming launch of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” developer Infinity Ward appears unfazed.

“It’s very exciting,” said Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling, whose title changed from community manager to “creative strategist” as the buzz began to swell for “Modern Warfare 2.” “I’m fully expecting it to do very well. I’m expecting good things.”

And he should be. Set in modern times, the first-person shooter has already broken the record for most pre-orders, according to national retailer GameStop.

And industry analyst Anita Frazier says there’s a very good chance it will break “Halo 3’s” record for 3.3 million copies sold at launch.

“The previous best-selling ‘Call of Duty’ games (across all platforms) in its launch month is a tie between (“Modern Warfare”) and ‘COD World at War’ with 2.3 million units including those generated by PC sales at retail,” said Frazier, who tracks sales numbers for the NPD Group.

“For the title to exceed ‘Halo 3’ first month sales, ‘COD: MW2’ would have to best its previous best launches by 43%.

“That’s a big number to increase, but is it possible?Yes, with what is being reported about pre-sells and the general level of buzz that this game is generating, it’s possible. There are also a number of high-interest special edition SKU’s launching for this game as well.”

But all of that buzz, and those millions of pre-orders, means a lot of people are paying very close attention to what developer Infinity Ward is doing this time around with the game.

Fans have been carefully tracking every bit of information dropped about the game, from the night vision goggles that will be included with some special editions of the title, to plot twists and the way the game will be handled on different platforms.

“We have come to a realization

with this game that anything that can leak will leak,” Bowling said. “When our night vision glasses went into production, the guys making them figured out what they were for and put them on and took pictures of them.”

The leaks have reached such a fevered pitch that Bowling recently advised gamers to avoid the internet altogether if they wanted to have a pristine experience playing through the game.

Soon after, word and video hit of a level in the game that seems to involve player-controlled terrorism.

Despite the game being weeks from release, Australian politicians were up in arms about the notion and eventually publisher Activision released a statement defending the game and saying players will have the option to skip it.

But that short lived controversy was nothing compared to the ire raised by the developer’s approach to the PC version of the game. When news hit that PC gamers would have less control over the way they play online it ignited a firestorm of seething disappointment, online petitions and, in at least one case, a cash donation to a competing video game.

Bowling and the company defend the decisions made to make the PC game more accessible.

“We have protected what our veteran gamers love about the game, but are also catering to different play styles and rewarding those different play styles,” Bowling said. “Accessibility was a major focus for ‘Modern Warfare 2.’“ And Bowling denies that Infinity Ward and Activision are more focused on making the console versions of the game than a solid PC version.

“We make a fantastic PC game,” he said. “‘Modern Warfare 2’ is our most feature-rich PC game yet.”

When asked if the next “Modern Warfare” would be on the PC, Bowling said he doesn’t even know yet what Infinity Ward’s next game will be.

Bowling believes that the outcry against Infinity Ward’s design decisions by some PC gamers is a case of a loud minority, and not the sentiments of the majority.

“We have 14 million players on ‘Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare,’“

by Patrick Fina

“The Drinking Tree”

he said. “The hardcore gamers make up a smaller core of that, and PC gamers are the smallest group of that core.

“It is a very vocal community and they are all online.”

The outcry is perhaps also the offshoot of a game developer being so engaged with their community.

“Our community gets so invested in our games,” Bowling said.

“Therefore they feel, and rightfully so, that we should justify every design decision to them. I think that it’s very important to understand that you should be very involved in your community and work with them, but not to be held prisoner to their

demands.

“We know our game very well.

Some of the stuff you have to put in there and have faith in your design.

Some things don’t sound good out of context. You don’t see the beauty of them until you experience them for yourselves.

“It’s a very fine line.”

10

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

Arts

Students for Justice and Peace in the Middle East show documentary Film that details day-to-day life in Iraq was screened to raise awareness of war-torn country Will Taylor mustang daily

“Iraq in Fragments,” an Academy award-nominated documentary about the war-torn country, was shown Monday night by the Cal Poly group Students for Justice and Peace in the Middle East. It was an effort to raise awareness about an issue the club feels is currently being overlooked by the media.

The student-run club, which was founded in 2007, focuses on “creating awareness, promoting peace and advocating justice in the Middle East,” according to their Web site.

The film is by American documentarian James Longley, who gained critical acclaim for his film “Gaza Strip” in 2002. For “Iraq in Fragments,” he was nominated for three awards at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006 prior to his nomination for the Best Documentary Feature at the 2007 Academy Awards.

Longley’s documentary is unique in that it has no narrator, no one asking questions and no planned interviews. Longley also funded

the project himself. He spent two years documenting the three predominant religious factions in the country: the Kurds, the Sunnis and the Shiites. The movie was divided into three sections covering each of these groups.

History professor Manzar Foroojar, who is from Iran, said that Longley did a good job portraying the intricacy of Iraqi politics and religion, although she said it was a little long and that it might be hard for students who have no history of the situation to understand.

“It basically showed the complexity of the situation because (Americans) have a tendency to bunch all Iraqis together, either good or bad or Muslim or whatever,” she said. “It showed different factions, different ethnic groups, and how each one of them views the occupation differently.”

Foroojar promoted the show to the students from her HIST 214 class, political economy of Latin America and the Middle East, by offering two points of extra credit for attendance.

“If it encourages them to come and learn, why not?” she said.

“They might not be able to understand what exactly happened, but at

...(Americans) have a tendency to bunch all Iraqis together; either good or bad or Muslim or whatever.

—Manzar Foroojar history professor

least they’ll understand that there’s much more happening than what’s seen on the news.”

The documentary closely follows characters in each of the three parts. The viewer sees many of the day-to-day activities of Iraqi citizens and the events surround-

ing them. The first-hand accounts by the Iraqis are used as a tool to give perspective to people outside the situation. Electrical engineering senior Haroun Idris, secretary of Students for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, felt the method was very effective method.

“When it’s narrated you get a spin or a bias, even from the most unbiased person,” Idris said. “Getting the information from the people themselves helps me understand what their true feeling is what’s really going on and why Iraq turned out to be like that.”

Idris introduced the film and gave a 10-minute synopsis beforehand to familiarize students with the Iraqi situation and so they would understand the film more clearly. He explained the three factions and discussed how Americans are viewed by each.

The Sunnis don’t like Americans because they were the leading class before American intervention and now they have lost much of their wealth. The Shiites were excited for American intervention, but the prolonged war and the struggles that came with it have led them to

resent American ‘occupation’. The Kurds see Americans as liberators because of their repression under Saddam Hussein but are still wary of potential occupation.

The Kurd and Sunni sections of the film concentrated on young boys and how they were affected by the war and occupation. Emmet Woods, environmental science senior, feels this is important for the future of not just the Middle East, but anywhere.

“The perspective from the young boys; growing up and not going to school, that’s important to see,” he said. “We always say children are the future. You have a situation like war and occupation, you’ve got to think what’s coming down the line.”

This movie is important because of the ongoing conflict in the area that is being overlooked by the media, Idris said. The movie is successful in portraying the continuing state of conflict in Iraq.

Students for Justice and Peace in the Middle East will show “Persepolis,” a film about Iran next Wednesday in the Science Building room B-05, at 6 p.m.

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food column

Snack to fill up, not stay hungry

It’s 3 p.m. You have an hour break before your next few classes and you’re pretty hungry. You wander around The Avenue staring at the chips, trying to decide what kind you should get. If this situation sounds familiar, you may want to pay close attention. Although the chips sound good at the time, they will most likely leave you hungry or with an upset stomach.

We are all educated enough to know that a piece of fruit or some nuts would be the better option, but when we’re hungry, who really wants an apple over a bag of Doritos? The main reason why you should choose the apple is to feel satisfied and well energized. Processed and fried foods like chips and donuts are filled with preservatives, salt and fat, which cause you to feel tired, lazy and still hungry — which really defeats the purpose.

When my stomach is rumbling after sitting through a long biochemistry lab, my first instinct is to head over to Topango’s for chips, salsa and guacamole (and believe me I have many times in the past and will no doubt do it occasionally in the fu-

ture). I then add salt to the chips and start dipping.Yes, the fried goodness of a crisp tortilla chip combined with the perfect amount of salt, mildly spiced salsa and “I can’t believe it’s Campus Dining” guacamole sounds like the ultimate snack after a long class. After I’m finished though, I tend to feel weighed down, tired and ready for another serving.

The simple explanation is that fried foods make you feel bad and nutritious foods tend to make you feel good. Snacks to avoid when hungry include cookies, french fries, donuts and pretty much anything else fried or loaded with sugar.

Fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes are foods we should consume every day but often replace. It’s time to push the cookies aside and let more nutritious foods take the reins.

Fruits and vegetables are filled with tons of vitamins and packed with fiber; nuts and legumes have protein and essential oils.

These are all essentials we must consume, so why not incorporate them not just into our meals, but also into our snacks?

If you have the desire for some

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11

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

salsa and guacamole, try dipping carrots or celery instead of a greasedrenched chip. If the craving is for sweet foods, try some honey-roasted peanuts instead of a cookie. If you are really hungry, dip an apple into peanut butter. Other great options on campus are pita and hummus, fruit smoothies, a Power Bar, frozen yogurt for calcium, mixed nuts, a single portion of cereal and so much more.

Even though delicious chocolate chip cookie may taste good, it will not fill you up and will probably give you a small sugar high that may leave you crashing later. So next time you are pacing around the chip section at snack time, turn around and look at the bright nutritious fruit that’s just calling your name, because you know it will be your friend while you are eating it and while you are digesting it.

Hey, I know it’s a tough thing to do, and I am not one to tell you to never eat chips and salsa or ice cream for a snack. We all need treats every once in a while, and we should never deprive ourselves of something; we should just limit our intake. So maybe share those waffle fries with a friend and eat an apple on the side.

That way, you will get the best of both worlds, which is really what life is all about.

Bethany Abelson is a food science senior and Mustang Daily food columnist.

Artists continued from page 8

brought their supplies to the gallery and began working on their pieces, which relate to Earth’s elements.

In the gallery, a 6-foot sketch of three serious-looking faces with empty eye sockets are placed cheek-to-cheek, waiting for artist Nawin Biadklang to fill in the empty space with his acrylic paints.

Santiratpakdee said that his piece, titled “Impermanence,” represents the elements of his soul.

Another artist sits on the ground next to Biadklang’s giant faces, focusing intently on a watercolor he’s painting. Colorful images of war protests, hands pulling back slingshots and political figures bleed on the thin pages scattered around Biadklang.

He’s chosen “Wisdom” as his elemental theme and as the title of his work.

Watercolor artist Prasert Pichayasoonthorn explains in Thai to Santiratpakdee that he plans on wrapping the papers around wire, creating paper lanterns. The lanterns will hang at different levels to show the different levels of wisdom, the lower lanterns being less wise than the higher ones.

The third artist and first female faculty member invited on the exchange in the past 12 years, Prapakorn Sukonhamanee, has been weaving a colorful, tra-

ditional fishing net to hang in the gallery. Santiratpakdee said that each color takes about a day for Sukonhamanee to weave. The yellow, light pink, dark pink, red and blue layers on the 12-foot, webbed net mark the five days she’s worked on her creation, “Drop of Water.” She plans on adding more layers.

The day after the artists arrived in San Luis Obispo, Santiratpakdee gave a lecture in the art department on the facilities at Silpakorn University. More than 50 faculty and students showed up to the lecture. After the talk, Miller hosted a meet-and-greet with the artists over traditional Thai cuisine in the glass courtyard. Students lined up to try the noodles and curry. Miller tossed the noodles in the air, putting on a show for the art enthusiasts, and individually served each faculty member and student.

“It’s to get the students to meet the artists because food brings people together,” Miller said. “In the U.S., communities are so absent. It instantly creates a group of people (where) it interrupts their day; they talk and they have a good time.”

Miller hopes that every aspect of the exchange, including the gallery and the noodle gathering, will bring people from different cultures together. He especially hopes that the students will learn something from the Thai visitors.

“We’re really focusing on student involvement so seeing students come to these talks, seeing students eating is really important because really this is for the students.”

The University Art Gallery will be hosting an opening gala event on Nov. 12 beginning at 6 p.m.

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Thursday, November 12, 2009 Volume LXXIV, No. 41 ©2009 Mustang Daily “Hippie, come back to me.”

opinion/editorial Thursday, November 12, 2009

Editor in chief: Emilie Egger Managing Editor: Alex Kacik

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12

Federal health care reform should not be allocated toward abortion funding I felt the achievement Saturday when the House health care reform bill passed with bipartisan support. I was especially proud of Rep. Ahn “Joseph” Cao (R-La), who crossed that perilous, dubious isle separating the left and right to cast a vote that will save countless American lives.

Interestingly, Rep. Cao, a former Jesuit seminarian, said that he joined the Republican party because of its opposition to abortion, according to the AP. Abortion is a hot button issue of the Republican party during elections and it’s also their hook into the Christian community, which comprises a large portion of their base.

And yet, people who are anti-abortion should be pro-health care reform too, because passage of the health care reform bill could result in sharp reductions in abortions - and, surprisingly, not because of the Republicans.

Because of a Democrat who adhered to the law.

The Hyde Amendment, which the House passed in 1976, forbade the use of federal funds to pay for abortions, except in cases of rape or incest, or when the mother’s life is in danger. Because of this amendment, a House or Senate health care reform bill that uses federal funds to pay for abortions is unlawful.

Knowledge of the Hyde Amendment led Rep. Bart Stupack (D-MI) to put forward his own amendment, which states that no funds authorized

letters

to the editor Health Center ineffective during flu season How is it that the Health Center can be closed due to being at “maximum health care capacity?” What the hell does that mean? I mean seriously and when they told me this there were two I repeat two patients sitting in the health center, and I guarantee not every doctor or nurse they have there was working with a patient in the back.

Come back after 2, they told me. Well it’s now 3:40 the same day and I come walking in and

or appropriated by the House health care reform bill may be used to pay for “any abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any plan that includes coverage of abortions,” except in cases of rape and incest, or if the health of the mother is in danger.

There is a loophole in the Stupak Amendment, which states that a woman may choose to purchase supplemental coverage for abortions, as long as no state or federal funds go toward that supplemental insurance. This idea is already in practice with Medicare for seniors. Seniors have government subsidized health insurance, and then they can also buy additional coverage through a private insurer.

There’s also a crafty idea within this loophole. If abortion is a procedure obtained in an emergency situation, why would a woman seek a supplemental insurance plan that covers abortion?

An abortion can cost anywhere between $500 and $10,000 depending on the trimester, according to Feminist Women’s

Health Center, so without private insurance, cost could be a limiting factor for many women in deciding to get an abortion.

Many are arguing that the amendment would greatly reduce abortion rates in America. Sen. Boxer (D-CA) has said she believes the amendment will fail in the Senate, and President Obama said this week that while he doesn’t want to sneak in funding for abortions, he does not want to effectively change the law. For both personal and political reasons, I hope that Democrats join with the moderates in the party and keep a form of this amendment in the Senate version of the health care reform bill.

As a born-again Christian, I believe that life begins at conception and that except in cases of rape, incest, or the health of the mother, abortion should be illegal.

I also believe that it should be very easy to both adopt babies and to put them up for adoption, and society should provide much more support for pregnant women and mothers. Pregnancy

the same individual was working who told me they were at ”maximum health care capacity” earlier.

This time she says they wont see me because they’re going to be getting ready to close pretty soon.

Are you kidding me?! So, you’re still open but you can’t see me because you close in 20 min.? What kind of bullshit are these people pulling? I’ve got some kind of flu thing going on, probably swine flu. Today is Tuesday and I literally haven’t slept since Saturday night.

It also makes me mad to see all of you wearing those stupid pig ear headbands like it’s some kind of celebration that I have swine flu.

Take those things off and treat the people who pay you.

These are just some of the things on my mind while I sit here coughing and miserable

with swine flu as I get ready for another sleepless night without medication. Thank you Death Center! For all that you don’t do for me!

Patrick Smith horticulture graduate student Safety on and around Cal Poly should be readdressed I am going to jump back to readdress some of the WOW issues that arose with the community, but with a new perspective. Recently on the weekends the police presence on the streets surrounded campus has been superfluous and everywhere I look there’s another squad car driving up and down the street. Although this is for the

shouldn’t be such a scary idea that it compels women to turn to an escape route like abortion.

Support for more antiabortion ideas also seems to be growing, according to an October Pew Research Poll. In 2008, Pew found that 54 percent of those questioned believed that abortion should be legal in most cases.

In 2009, the number dropped to 47 percent. In 2008, when asked whether abortion should be illegal in most cases, 40 percent responded affirmatively. In 2009, that number jumped to 45 percent.

I must mention that abortion rates are not as high as I thought.

According to a study by the Alan Guttmacher Institute in July 2008, only about 2 percent of women ages 15-44 get an abortion. The institute also shows in a graph that the number of abortions has been dropping since 1981, when abortions peaked at around 3 percent.

However, as the abortion amendment pans out in the Senate, it’s important to remember that because of the 1976 Hyde Amendment, abortion can not be federally funded. Any bill produced that does not include a public option and does not include a type of the Stupak Amendment is not one I would count as a success. Public option health care is achievable and obligatory, but it should also be done in a legal fashion.

Stephanie England is an English senior and Mustang Daily political columnist. benefit of safer partying over the weekends, in my English class we have been talking about the other dangerous incidents that have occurred much removed from campus. We discussed the 15-year-old girl being physically assaulted as well as the person who was jumped in bubble gum alley. These are central locations in San Luis Obispo and somehow there is still limited response time by police and cases going unsettled. So I ask, how come I can find three cop cars patrolling one street on Hathway on a weekend night but none when I am walking through the dark streets around San Luis Obispo at night?

Matthew Ready business freshman

Thursday, November 12, 2009

13

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op/ed

In the battle between freedom and security, The choice is up to American voters

at Fort Hood last week. According to CNN, 13 soldiers were killed and 42 injured on base last Thursday. Though it is a valid question to ask how shootings like these can be prevented in the future, an equally important consideration is how to stop these shoot-

new

sar t

of Canadian health care. As former House Representative Bob Barr, R-Ga. reports, it takes four and a half months to see a primary care physician in Canada.

The choice for freedom over security could have made a significant difference

joh nk ra us

The age-old dichotomy between individual freedom and security from government control is the root issue surrounding the limits on government power.The government exists for the sole purpose of providing some type of security in an insecure world. In order to obtain this security, citizens must give up some of their rights to the freedom found in Thomas Hobbes’ state of nature. Freedom must be handed over to government for the purpose of security. Thus, the question becomes how much freedom does one relinquish? The surrender of some rights is necessary to avoid the terror of anarchy, but the American people have relinquished far too much freedom.

The freest nation on Earth was asked to pick between freedom and security this past Saturday; we answered in favor of security.

The House voted 220-215 in favor of health care reform in what President Obama called a “historic vote.” The president was right. The vote was historic in the sense that it was the first manifestation of the major shift in American values that has been in the works for decades. This vote is the actualization of Obama’s goal to bring us closer to the European forms of government, against which our forefathers so adamantly fought. In choosing to provide a heath care safety net, we have given up the freedom to choose our own insurance and make medical risk judgments ourselves.

Behemoth government is full of red tape, bureaucratic procedures and useless forms that inhibit efficient and timely operation. Socialized government programs also lack monitory motivation, arguably the only real mover of our greedy race. Timeliness is a serious issue that cannot be effectively addressed by big government. Take, for example, the slow-moving pace

ings while they are occurring.

Though we will never be able to read the thoughts of future killers, we do have the opportunity to stop killers from killing once they have begun, limiting the magnitude of attack.

Though military police responded to the incident at the base and eventually wounded the shooter, they did not respond soon enough.To their credit, they were not able to. The only effective way to immediately stop these killing sprees is to arm the people present: average citizens, or in this case, soldiers.

It may seem strange to say this, as the rifle is a soldier’s best friend, but strict gun control laws limit the availability of weapons on military bases. As General (Ret.) Barry McCaffrey stated on MSNBC, “Even there, there is ferocious gun control measures on soldiers and families on a military installation. Single soldiers in barracks, [are] never allowed access to their weapon, they have to sign them out.”

Giving up the freedom to carry a gun, the soldiers of Fort Hood supposedly gained the security of a weapons-free environment. Strange then, how it was two hand guns that killed and wounded 33 people. These soldiers would have been safer if they had kept their freedom and their guns. Perhaps only one person would have died instead of 12.

Next time you visit the polls or cast your absentee ballot, consider what freedoms you are surrendering and what securities you receive in return. You cannot have both complete freedom and complete security.

Nathan Tsoi is a computer science senior and Mustang Daily political columnist.

On gay marriage, empathy is a two-way street Rod Dreher the dallas morning news

Once again, state voters — this time in Maine, hardly a conservative stronghold — have voted down same-sex marriage. Leaving what she thought would be a victory party after last week's balloting, an emotional Cecelia Burnett said, "I don't understand what the fear is, why people are so afraid of this change."

That's a big part of the gay marriage side's problem: They cannot imagine why, aside from bigotry, anyone would disagree with them.

To be sure, anyone on the traditional marriage side who doesn't understand that denying marriage to same-sex couples imposes a serious burden on them is either willfully ignorant or hard-hearted. The thing is, empathy should go both ways.

Leaving aside that there is undoubtedly a significant number of people who vote against gay marriage because they flat-out don't

like gay people, there are serious and important reasons to vote against same-sex marriage — and these deserve to be taken seriously.

For starters, gay marriage represents a cultural revolution, a fundamental redefinition of what marriage means. Until the past 10 or 20 years, no society had ever sanctioned marriage between same-sex partners. It was unthinkable outside of a small radical fringe. Now, in the twinkling of an eye, it's coming to pass in a few countries, though the vast majority of humankind still finds it unthinkable.

That's not an argument against gay marriage, but it is an explanation for why gay marriage remains unpopular in this country. Culture precedes politics. If you cannot change culture, you're reduced to arguing, as same-sex marriage supporter Linda Hirshman did in the wake of the Maine defeat, that people shouldn't have the right to vote on the definition of marriage.

Along those lines, gay marriage

backers often say that civil rights shouldn't be submitted to a popular vote. If blacks in the Jim Crow South had depended on a majority vote to gain their civil rights, justice would have been a long time coming. That makes sense to people who see no moral or philosophical difference between race and homosexuality.

But it is by no means clear that the two categories are interchangeable.

For traditionalists, it's a category mistake to say that they are.

Which brings us to another reason majorities oppose gay marriage: the belief that its supporters are all too willing to force their own particular view of marriage and its meaning on an unwilling society. It's simply not true that their viewpoint is neutral. To believe that same-sex marriage is the equivalent of heterosexual marriage is to accept that the essence of marriage is fundamentally different from what it has always been.

Perhaps society will embrace that new understanding — but that's ex-

actly what it is, and traditionalists should not be faulted for intuiting that the moral and cultural implications of this shift are likely to be far-reaching and imperfectly understood. At a time in which the traditional understanding of marriage, its duties and its obligations, has been breaking down under a variety of cultural assaults, it should surprise no one that most voters are afraid of radical change.

And thoughtful traditionalists understand that legalizing samesex marriage almost certainly would bring about serious restrictions on freedom of speech and association, particularly for churches and religious organizations. Nobody is going to force pastors to marry same-sex couples, but legal scholars, including prominent gayrights advocate and law professor Chai Feldblum, have plainly said that there is an irresolvable conflict between religious freedom and gay civil rights — and only one side can prevail.

It is amazing that Campus Dining is doing this with the excess food that is still edible. However, what about the kitchen scraps?

Half eaten plates? Left over foods?

This is also food (maybe not for you, but for soil microbes and worms!) and it is either being land filled or composted really far away from campus!

Cal Poly needs to be proactive and create a campus-wide composting system so that we can keep the money within the school, create student jobs, generate organic fertilizer for use in our agricultural fields and more.

Students, faculty, and staff, Listen up: think before you throw away your food, look out for composting bins and signs, request them at your events if they are not there, then ask for them!

If you lead, they will follow.

Real patriots build soil.

—Anonymous In response to “Campus Dining does its best not to waste food” We can’t have complete freedom and complete security. We can fence ourselves in, but we can never fence the world out. So when I go to the polls, I will vote in a way that I think has the best odds of improving my quality of life, like universal health care. I will not vote according to the — though tragic — statistically unlikely event that was Fort Hood.

Thinking looser gun laws will improve security really is giving up freedom and giving into fear of the sensational.

—David In response to “Freedom or security, you choose: Food options at Cal Poly are a whole lot better than what they offered a few years back. The biggest issue food services should tackle now is to cut back on the salt they used for cooking. I can’t believe how much worse it’s gotten over the last year. All the hot food being sold is way too salty.

The variety of the food has gotten better but it’ll kill you with the amount of sodium.

—Anonymous In response to “Campus Dining spices up menu” I merely ask the column I read about football be more informative than what I can find in the various box scores all over the Internet. If anything, all I am getting from your column is what happened last season, and then the score of the game from this season. I believe you would agree with me that a football columnist should go more in depth than that.

—Anonymous In response to “Redemption Week” 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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Basketball continued from page 16

nick camacho mustang daily file photo

Senior guard Lorenzo Keeler (12) was the team’s leading scorer in 2008-2009 season. He averaged 12.7 points per game.

continued from page 16

The Mustangs try to rebound from consecutive Great West losses, including last week’s disappointing loss to UC Davis — Cal Poly’s first loss of the Golden Horseshoe since 2005.

The upset featured Tony Smith showcasing a season-high 67 percent completion percentage, paired with 120 yards, spread across six different receivers. Dominique Johnson led the team with four receptions.

Smith has led a sluggish passing offense this season that ranks 110th in the FCS. Behind a triple option rushing attack that ranks 14th in the nation, Cal Poly has proven to be a one-dimensional offense. That offense failed to deliver in the second half in four games this season, falling victim to four second-half rallies.

“The bottom line is we’re not playing as well in the second half as we did in the first half,”Walsh said.

In those four second-half blemishes, the Mustangs have been outscored 67-6.

“When you get to the fourth time it has happened, don’t think it’s not the back of the players mind and sometimes it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Walsh said. “You try to force the action and that’s not a good way to play any game.”

Late-game rallies or not, Cal Poly’s defense has not played as well as it had at the start of the season.

In the first four games the Mustang defense scored 21 points; excluding a home game against Division II opponent Dixie State, the

Mustang’s haven’t scored since.

“The amount of plays we’re playing is taking its toll on the effectiveness of us,” Walsh said. “Being on the field for 75-80 plays is too many plays for us to play week in and week out.”

That defense is lining up against a South Dakota offense that has scored 275 points this season with a 31point-per-game average.

Quarterback Noah Shepard has aired out 2,071 yards this season with 16 scores. Wide receivers Tom Flanagan and Ben Oberle combine for 873 yards receiving and seven touchdowns.

The Coyotes threaten with a three-pronged rushing attack featuring Chris Ganious, Isaac Newton and Shepard, who have accumulated 1,751 yards and 18 scores.

Last year the Mustangs put away the Coyotes 49-22, but this year Walsh thinks it’ll be an even contest.

“I think South Dakota is a muchimproved team,”Walsh said. “We beat Sacramento State and Dixie State pretty good; every other game has been a great game and that’s what we expect this week.”

Kickoff is set for 6:05 p.m. Saturday.

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drills and sending out late-night tweets about a great scrimmage during practice. He also sees a significance in a coach having the flexibility to move between nice coach, and rough coach.

“You have to have the flexibility to know when it’s the time to prod and when is the time to back off and praise. There’s times that it’s a kick in the rear and there’s times that it’s a pat on the back,” he said. “I think that most people respond a little bit more to the pat in the back but I’m not afraid to use the foot either.”

In the end, the way the players feel stretches back to his praise and his obvious support in everything they do. Forward David Hanson appreciates not only the hard work and the focus Callero demands, but also the hands-on role all the coaches put forth.

“He did a really good job bringing in guys that know basketball and they’re fun and knowledgeable.

We’re behind him and he’s behind us. He demands a lot,” Hanson said.

“But at the same time, he’s right there with us.”

sports Football

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Callero has developed a lot of his energy, spirit and philosophy from being involved in basketball for more than 30 years and from his basketball icons: his former basketball coaches in high school and college. But Callero’s greatest basketball influence is his dad who taught him to prioritize responsibilities.

“He was raising 16 kids and still found time to coach our Catholic Youth Organization teams and coached with a passion,” he said. “My dad was in love with the game but never allowed sports to take a greater meaning than what it was really about.”

This constant balance check became an idea Callero has carried with him throughout his professional coaching career. To Callero, it’s the small things that matter. He sees an importance in coaches coming to practice dressed in practice shorts, physically blocking players during

15

mustang daily

Thursday, November 12, 2009

mustangdaily.net

Thursday, November 12, 2009

SPORTS

sports editor: Brian De Los Santos

mustangdailysports@gmail.com

MUSTANG DAILY

New season, new coach: Meet coach Joe Callero Leticia Rodriguez mustang daily

Joe Callero likes Twitter. He tweets about the amazing Central Coast weather and getting a hot dog with his daughter, but mostly, he praises the Cal Poly men’s basketball team. Callero, the new men’s basketball head coach, strives to reform the team on and off the court.

In his unsolicited high praise, Callero demonstrates that he coaches to a beat few coaches have ever heard.The beat drums to the sound of dribbling

We want guys that are selfless that are willing to do whatever it takes for the team to be successful.

—Joe Callero Men’s basketball head coach

basketballs and hits high notes similar to shoes skidding on a court. It encourages strong competitiveness, hard work and discipline. But it also pushes for encouragement and personal de-

velopment. Callero wants his players to know he cares.

“These aren’t basketball players we care about, these are people that we care about, I’m coaching the players as people,” he said.

“They’re our guys.They’ve gotta know that we believe in them, that we’re going to support them, that we see their improvement.”

And when Callero wants improvement, he makes sure the team and the coaches work hard to make it happen.

In previous years, the men’s basketball team has struggled with academic ineligibility and a weak team chemistry. In an effort to build a team that is more than just teammates, Callero makes a point to look for recruits that not only show talent on the court, but also good character.

“We want guys that are selfless, that are willing to do whatever it takes for the team to be successful. We’re not selling you an all-star game, we’re selling you a team,” he said.“We’re saying ‘this is who we are, this is our family and if you choose not to be a part of our family then that’s fine, you know, we don’t need you.’”

Guard Charles Anderson specifically points out Callero’s recruiting style and the team’s natural desire to spend time together on and off the court as factors that will help them this season.

“He did a great job of recruiting a set of guys for the team. The guys he brought in were easy to get along with,” Anderson said. “We don’t have any individual players who are out for themselves.”

In order to remind players the real

not putting enough effort into their school work or hasn’t earned a 3.0 for at least two consecutive quarters, mandatory 7 a.m. study hall is in his future.

Callero personally oversees the early Monday morning study hall because he said he wants to start out the week with the right emphasis and the right priority.

“It’s not the result, it’s whether you have the effort.

reason they’re attending Cal Poly, Callero is accepting nothing short of 100-percent effort academically.

If a player misses class,shows up late to class, is

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They have to understand that the academic priority is there,” he said. “My goal isn’t to follow you around and check your

class; my goal is to make sure you graduate.”

In addition, the coaches have been known to surprise their players by poking their head into their class to make sure they’re present. Guard Lorenzo Keeler laughed when asked about the coaches’ surprise visits but is glad for the change from coaches he’s had in the past.

“You have some coaches that strictly focus on basketball and our coaches now are focused on life,” he said. “For them to show up at our classes and take time out of their day and for coach to show up at 7 a.m. study hall really shows that they care.”

It’s that passion for people and academics that has helped guide most of Callero’s professional coaching career and it has led his teams to success. At his last coaching position at Seattle University, Callero helped guide the team back to Division I status after being dropped in 1980. Last season the Redhawks earned the best record of any Division I team (21-8) and Callero left the university with a 117105 record. On the other side, the Mustangs men’s basketball team had a dismal 7-21 record for the 2008-2009 season and were dead last in the Big West Conference.

“I’ve always enjoyed going into a program and bringing a new energy, a new philosophy, a new spirit,” Callero said. “My ultimate goal here is to have a team that gets to the (NCAA) tournament and every one of those seniors graduate.” see Basketball, page 15

Hoover, Grinstead Mustangs host South Dakota and four others earn in final home game of season Big West accolades mustang daily staff report

With two games left in the regular season, the Mustangs have lost their chance at playoff contention and a Great West Conference title, plus their shot at the Golden Horseshoe. But to head coach Tim Walsh, that’s irrelevant.

“We’re playing for a football

game ... and if you don’t (play for the sake of football), you’re disrespecting what the whole game is meant to be played about,” he said at Monday’s press conference.

But Walsh and his players are not ready to throw in the towel on the 2009 season.

“These guys chose to play the game of football a long time ago, I

chose to coach the game of football a long time ago and we’re going to be passionate about the game we play — period, end of statement,” Walsh said. “I don’t care what we’re playing for.”

In the preseason coaches’ poll, Cal Poly was selected by the five Great West Conference coaches to repeat as conference champion. With the mounting expectations and a newly revamped coaching staff, the Mustangs couldn’t live up to the hype.

Cal Poly, sitting at fourth place in the Great West, will host conference opponent South Dakota Saturday night. see Football, page 15

nick camacho mustang daily file photo

Cal Poly’s Coral Hoover was named goalkeeper of the year and Julianne Grinstead was named the top defensive player, by a vote of Big West Conference coaches. Freshman forward Cici Kobinski (20) earned an honorable mention. Overall, Cal Poly had six players earn all-conference honors.

nick camcho mustang daily file photo

Slot back Jono Grayson has rushed for 295 yards off 49 carries with a 6.0 yard per carry average. He is one of many Mustangs who have rushed for 1,521 yards this season as a team.