3-9-10

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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

Women who drink gain fewer pounds during midlife, according to a study released Monday.

International Women’s Day features discussion on women and diversity.

IN NEWS, 3

IN ARTS, 7

Cal Poly readies six eligible wrestlers for NCAA Championship.

IN SPORTS, 12

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Volume LXXIV, Number 88

www.mustangdaily.net

Wave of bike thefts hits campus Aimee Vasquez mustang daily

Cal Poly physics senior Grant Rayner used to own a red and white road bike that he and his dad built frame-up from the elite parts of his dad’s old bicycle.

“They were top of the line, like what Lance Armstrong would have rode back in the day,” Rayner said.

“I had a lot of good memories on that bike.”

And now it’s gone.

Rayner’s was one of 17 road bikes stolen on campus in the threeday period of Feb. 23-25. All of the bikes cost between $400-$2,000; most of them were taken during the day near Kennedy Library and Dexter Lawn. All except one were secured by cable locks, the flexible, plastic-cased metal coils that are a common sight at Cal Poly’s more than 2,000 bike rack spaces.

While 17 bicycle thefts in a three-day period is unusually high, University Police Department in-

vestigator Wayne Lyons said it is not uncommon for a bike to be stolen every three to four days at Cal Poly during the academic year.

That number has been on the rise. For example, between 2007 and 2009, 174 bikes were stolen on campus.

Lyons suspects the thefts that occurred between Feb. 23-25 might have been a ring of bike thieves. He based this on the high number and uniformity of the crimes.

“It’s highly likely that the perpetrators load up a van with bikes and take them to another university outside of this region, for example, to Arizona,” Lyons said.

According to Lyon’s theory, the ring would sell the bikes there, and possibly hit that university as well before continuing on to another

region.

One way to facilitate the recovery of bikes that have been taken out-of-state for resale is to regis-

cheon said that bike theft rings do exist and she wouldn’t be surprised if this was the cause of Cal Poly’s recent thefts.

Whether a concentrated theft ring or mere coincidence, 17 Cal Poly students are missing their bikes.

Business administration junior Joe Merkel’s vintage, maroon and black Trek bicycle was also stolen during the three-day period. He said the whole event for him was depressing.

—Joe Merkel “I went to class for Business administration junior three to four hours,” he said. “I came back and looked around. It was ter them with the National Bike like, ‘I could’ve sworn I parked it Registry (NBR). Licensed by the right here.’”

National Crime Prevention CounMerkel said when he didn’t see cil, law enforcement officials work his bike, he walked around the with NBR to help identify stolen business building twice feeling bicycles. panicked. Then he reported the NBR Manager Mariya Fun- theft to the university police de-

I came back and looked around. It was like, ‘I could’ve sworn I parked it right here.’

partment.

“They’re picking out good bikes, apparently,” Merkel said.

The thief or thieves did pick out good bikes, if cost is any indication. According to Lyons, many of the bikes were $1,000 or more.

The least expensive was over $400, which is the California threshold between petty and grand theft.

Grand theft is a felony punishable by fines and/or jail time, and stay on the perpetrator’s record for life.

But the thieves can’t be charged unless they are apprehended. University Police Commander Lori Hashim said the university department patrolled the area heavily the entire three days, both in plain clothes and uniform, but were unable to catch the thieves in action.

One of the reasons for this is all but one of the thefts involved cable locks. Foothill Cyclery owner Josh Cohen said that bike shops often remove locks when the owner see Theft, page 2

Cal Poly employees University Union evacuated awarded for service after student’s fire-alarm prank Anieca Ayler mustang daily

Some were here when John Madden coached the football team.

Many have seen riots and floods.

They remember how the city used to celebrate Mardi Gras. A few could have seen Chuck Liddell sitting in a classroom. They are the 267 employees who have been employed by the university for 10 or more years and whose service will be recognized during a luncheon tomorrow in Chumash Auditorium from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The annual Cal Poly Service Awards Luncheon recognizes university employees who have worked for 10-40 years.

“The purpose of the luncheon is to honor those personnel who have worked for State, Corporation and ASI,” said Karen Stubberfield, a member of the committee planning the event.

Awardees are given complimentary lunches, award certificates and special gifts donated by the President’s Office, Cal Poly Corpora-

tion, Associated Students Inc., El Corral Bookstore, University Police Department and Cal Poly Athletics, she added.

During the lunch, all recipients will have their names called and shake hands with President Warren Baker — who will be honored for his 30 years at Cal Poly — as brief descriptions of their time at the school are read

by Phil Bailey, emcee of the ceremony.

Bailey, also dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, said he has performed this job about eight to 10 times at the request of the President’s Office, including the last three years. Photographer “A long time ago, they asked me once to do it, and then seemed like every three or four years I’d do it,” he said. “I just lose track.

I’m not shy anymore like I used to be; I’ve been here a long time and I know a lot of people.”

Bailey is now in his 40th year at Cal Poly and will also be see Awards, page 8

kate mcintyre mustang daily

More than 150 people evacuated the University Union at 4 p.m. Monday after a student pulled the fire alarm as a prank. The crowd waited about 10 minutes while a member of the University Police Department checked the building. No one seemed overly anxious about the prospect of a fire; people conversed until they were let back into the building.

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Theft continued from page 1

loses the key or forgets the combination.

“There’s very few cable locks

News editor: Kate McIntyre mustangdailynews@gmail.com

mustang daily www.mustangdaily.net

that are that hard to defeat,” he said. “And the reality is there are very few U-locks that are hard to defeat either. They just take a little more time.”

Even so, there are only one to two U-lock bike thefts a year on

News

campus, as compared to the dozens of cable-lock bike thefts.

Cohen said cables can easily be cut in less than 10 seconds with a pair of cutters such as can be found in most hardware stores. Not only are they quick, the cutters are also

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

easy to hide.

“They’re about the size of a pair of scissors, the size of the palm of your hand. I mean they’re tiny,” Cohen said.

www.mustangdaily.net see Bike, page 8

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Women who drink gain fewer pounds Shari Roan los angeles times

LOS ANGELES — Women who drink moderate amounts of alcohol don’t gain as much weight in midlife as those who abstain, according to a study released Monday. However, the authors, as well as alcohol abuse experts, were quick to say that drinking should not be heralded as a new diet nor a path to better health.

The study, to be published Tuesday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, is the first to find that alcohol may curb weight gain in women. Previous research suggested that moderate drinking has no effect on women’s weight and contributes to weight gain in men.

Typically, alcohol consumption is not advised for people trying to watch their weight or lose weight. A five-ounce glass of wine contains 125 calories while a 12ounce regular beer contains 150 calories.

In the study, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston examined data from 19,220 women enrolled in the long-running Women’s Health Study. The women, all ages 39 and older at the start of the study and all originally of normal weight, provided information on questionnaires about their alcohol intake as well as other health and lifestyle information over an average of 13 years.

To assess the impact of alcohol only, researchers adjusted for other factors that are known to influence weight, such as smoking, body mass index, age, non-alcohol dietary intake and physical activity.

They found that compared with women who abstained from alcohol entirely, women who drank between 15 and 30 grams a day — the equivalent of a drink or two — were 30 percent less likely to be overweight or obese at the end of the study period.

Women who consumed five to 14 grams a day — roughly onehalf to one drink — were 14 percent less likely.

There were too few heavy drinkers (defined as consuming

Wire Editor: Jessica Barba

mustang daily

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

two to three drinks or more a day) to evaluate the effect on body weight of greater quantities of alcohol.

The effects were found for beer, red wine, white wine and spirits, although the strongest association was found for red wine.

It isn’t clear what accounts for the association, the authors said.

However, they noted that women appear to burn more calories after drinking than men do, which might provide a biological reason for the finding.

But it is also possible that at least some of the observed link between alcohol and midlife slimness is not direct and has to do, instead, with other things drinking women tend to do, the authors added.

For example, women who drank more alcohol in the study consumed fewer calories from other food sources, particularly carbohydrates. The women who drank moderately also were more likely to smoke, were more physically active, had lower body mass indexes at the start of the study and had a less healthy diet.

Still, alcohol appeared to influence weight even when researchers controlled for such factors, the authors said.

Regardless of the reason for the link, the research should not translate into advice for women, said Dr. James C. Garbutt, a professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina’s Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies.

“If the message is that by drinking some alcohol you’re going to lose weight, that’s a potentially complicated and dangerous message,” he said.

Women develop alcohol-related liver and brain damage faster than men, he said. Other studies have linked consumption of more than one drink a day to an increased risk of breast cancer.

Moderate wine intake, especially red wine, has been found to have some beneficial effects on cardiovascular health in both women and men. But, Garbutt said, “Alcohol is very much a double-edge sword. For some people, it may have benefit and for others

News

Word on the Street “How do you keep your bike safe?”

“Don’t take them to school; that’s how mine got stolen.”

“Always make sure to lock your bike.”

“Make sure it is not in one place too long or it’ll be taken by police.”

-Cal Canrell, English senior

-Kevin Miyamoto, general engineering freshman

-Cami Simma, nutrition junior

“Obviously use a bike lock.”

“Putting my bike in a well lit place.”

“Locking the front wheel to the frame so if they pop the front wheel they can’t get away.

-Connor Pompa, forestry and natural resources freshman

-Kendra Sears, English junior

-Kevin Doria, physics freshman

compiled and photographed by Jessica Barba

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News

Briefs State

National

International

SAN LUIS OBISPO (MCT)— The Morro Coast Audubon Society has received a $25,000 outreach grant that will allow it to operate a snowy plover information booth at Morro Strand State Beach this summer.

The booth is expected to open Memorial Day weekend on the beach next to the Morro Strand campground.Volunteers will hand out information about the tiny shorebirds and what the public can do to help protect them, including a “dog on leash” map that tells dog owners how to avoid disturbing plovers.

COLORADO (MCT) — A rock slide punched holes through a vital stretch of the interstate highway system early Monday, cutting off a key artery for Colorado for an unknown period of time.

The slide at about midnight Sunday closed down 17 miles of Interstate 70 from Glenwood Springs to the town of Dotsero in western Colorado. The slide occurred in narrow Glenwood Canyon, when boulders the size of tractor-trailers tumbled down the precipitous slopes and gouged parts of the elevated highway.

IRAQ (MCT) — Iraq achieved a respectable turnout at the polls over the weekend as 62 percent of registered voters cast their ballots, according to the country’s electoral commission.

The numbers exceeded expectations. Beforehand, some Western officials predicted that 55 percent to 60 percent of the 19 million registered Iraqis would vote.

The turnout was relatively disappointing in Baghdad: Only 53 percent of voters went to the polls in the capital, compared to the predominantly Sunni Muslim province of Salahuddin, which had nearly three-quarters of registered voters show up, according to the Independent High Electoral Commission.

•••

SACRAMENTO (MCT)— A Republican state senator from Bakersfield came out of the closet in a radio interview Monday morning in the wake of a report that he had been at a gay club in Sacramento before he was arrested on drunken-driving charges last week.

State Sen. Roy Ashburn has been on personal leave since his arrest early Wednesday in his state car not far from the Capitol. The arrest touched off rampant speculation about his sexuality after a TV station reported he had been at a gay nightclub just before he was pulled over by California Highway Patrol officers. But Ashburn had declined to comment.

•••

SEATTLE` (MCT) — A former Army Ranger who masterminded a 2006 Tacoma, Wash., bank robbery was sentenced Monday morning to 20 years in prison for assaulting a co-defendant in prison and plotting to kill a federal prosecutor.

The sentence was part of a plea agreement reached by Luke Sommer, who is already serving 24 years in federal prison for the bank robbery.

The men escaped with $50,000 but soon were tracked to Fort Lewis. Sommer claimed he planned the robbery to call attention to his disapproval of the war in Iraq, but prosecutors said he wanted to use the money to start his own crime family.

•••

SOUTH KOREA (MCT) — U.S. and South Korean armed forces on Monday began their annual military exercises, prompting North Korea to chastise the war games as “a foolish act of banging their heads on a rock.”

The 11-day joint exercises involving tens of thousands of troops are a routine training event designed to improve the ability to defend South Korea, according to U.S.-South Korea Combined Forces Command. The peninsula is technically still at war because the 1950-53 war ended with an armistice and not a peace treaty.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Court makes freespeech ruling on soldiers’ caskets David G. Savage tribune washington bureau

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide the outer limits of free-speech protection for protests and to rule on whether a dead soldier’s family can sue fringe religious protesters who picketed near their son’s funeral carrying signs that read: “Thank God for dead soldiers.”

Like the famous case of the American Nazis who marched in Skokie, Ill., the new case of anti-gay picketing at military funerals tests whether the most hateful protests must be tolerated under the First Amendment, even if they inflict emotional harm. In this instance, the victims were the family of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in combat in Iraq on March 3, 2006.

When his family announced his funeral would be held in Westminster, Md., a Kansas preacher decided to travel there with a few followers to protest. In recent years, Fred Phelps, founder of the Westboro Baptist Church, has been protesting at military funerals around the nation because he believes the United States is too tolerant of homosexuality.Though kept distant from St. Johns Catholic Church and the cemetery, Phelps and his followers carried signs that read “God Hates the USA,” “Fag troops” and “Pope in hell.”

There was no suggestion that Snyder was gay or that the protests even involved him directly. But after returning to Kansas, Phelps said on his Web site that Albert Snyder, the soldier’s father, had “taught Matthew to defy his creator” and “raised him for the devil.”

Snyder sued Phelps for invading his privacy and for an intentional infliction of emotional distress. A Mary-

land jury rejected Phelps’ defense based on free speech and awarded Snyder $10.9 million in damages. But a judge reduced the amount to $5 million. Last September, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out verdict, citing the First Amendment.

The protest signs were “distasteful and repugnant,” but their words were wild and hyperbolic, the judges said. They did not “assert actual facts about either Snyder or his son,” the court said.

The father appealed to the Supreme Court, noting that a family at a funeral is a “captive audience” and cannot simply turn away from a hateful protest. “Snyder had one (and only one) opportunity to bury his son and that occasion has been tarnished forever,” his lawyer said. “Matthew deserved better.A civilized society deserved better.”

The high court said it had voted to hear the case of Snyder v. Phelps in the fall and to consider reinstating the jury verdict.

It was one of two privacy cases the court voted to take up.The second involves scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif..

They raised privacy objections when they were told to answer personal questions about drug use as part of a background check.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration owns the lab, and in 2007, it extended the background checks for federal employees to all of its contract workers, including those at the Jet Propulsion Lab. A group of 28 lab employees sued, and they won an exemption from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

But the Obama administration appealed, saying this privacy ruling cast a doubt on the legality of all federal background checks. The court said it will hear the case of NASA v. Nelson in the fall.

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Tuesday, March 9, 2010 www.mustangdaily.net

News

Wire Editor: Jessica Barba

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“The Hurt Locker” wins six Academy Awards Kenneth Turan los angeles times

LOS ANGELES — Everyone wants the chance to dream, and if Sunday night’s Oscar results are any indication, the people who work in the dream factory most of all.

It takes away nothing from “The Hurt Locker,” which really was the best film of the year, or the exceptional directing job done by Kathryn Bigelow, to speculate that more than the acknowledgment of excellence was behind that film’s triumph in the hotly contested best picture race.

It seems fair to say that an almost subconscious yearning in part motivated the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to vote the way they did. A yearning for a Hollywood that once existed but doesn’t anymore, a Hollywood where films like “The Hurt Locker” were business as usual and not something that was such an aberration, so outside of current norms, that it very nearly didn’t get made at all.

But if you voted for “The Hurt Locker,” you could pretend that wasn’t so. You could vote for a dream of a better world where these films lived long and prospered. And if the film actually won, it would be so much easier to make believe that that traditional Hollywood is still here when the reality is that it’s gone, gone, gone.

For though it was made with very

modern skills, technologies and attitudes, “The Hurt Locker” at its core is a throwback to a time as far back as 1943, when “Casablanca” was the best of the 10-movie field, and the major studios were in the day-in day-out business of making smart, exciting, character-driven films intended primarily for a grown-up audience.

Equally unusual in this day and age, “The Hurt Locker” can be said to owe at least part of its Oscar success to the united front put up by critics. It achieved a rare trifecta, taking the top prize from the Los Angeles and New York critics as well as the National Society, and that sweep likely persuaded some academy members, who may have been as reluctant as the rest of adult America, to give the film a try.

“Avatar,” by contrast, needed no such help. A splendid, well-reviewed film in its own right and one that will be enormously influential on the future of moviegoing, this 3-D epic turned out to have a drawback in the best-picture race.

For all the new ground it broke, “Avatar,” which cost more than $300 million to make and has become the highest-grossing film of all time, having taken in more than $2.6 billion worldwide. Which is why “The Hurt Locker” not only won best picture and director, it won five of the seven head-to-head clashes between the two films, with “Avatar” winning only cinematography and “Up” walking off with best score.

mcclatchy-tribune

Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Greg Shapiro with a slew of Oscars for “The Hurt Locker” at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Sunday night.

That current business, in case you’ve forgotten, values everything that “The Hurt Locker” is not. It’s a business that is about toys and sequels more than drama and character, a business where the high-tech special effects and low raunchy humor favored by a youthful demographic are the twin touchstones of box-office success.

It is also the kind of business where an audience-friendly adult

entertainment such as “Crazy Heart,” a film that won two Oscars, including best actor for Jeff Bridges, was abandoned by the studio that made it and nearly went, in the words of writer-director Scott Cooper, “straight to radio.” Only the savvy team at Fox Searchlight, who performed a similar search and rescue mission with last year’s big winner, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Yet one of the many paradoxes of

the “The Hurt Locker” situation is that the film not only survived major studio neglect, it thrived. Oscarwinning editor Bob Murawski put it in Sunday evening’s most pointed acceptance speech, “a movie made without compromise. We didn’t have any preview screenings or focus groups or studio notes. Everybody made the movie we wanted to make and it turned out great.” No wonder everyone wanted to vote for it.

tuesday, march 9, 2010

www.mustangdaily.net Always in color

arts & Entertainment editor: cassandra keyse

sex & dating column

The details on the Axe Detailer

Anyone who’s ever tried to sell anything to the 18-25 demographic would kill to have a successful viral video about their product. Rather than paying a television or radio station to run your commercial, you just release a video onto the Internet, and it will spread on its own, if it’s good enough. There are even companies that do nothing but attempt to boost the popularity of online videos.Truly remarkable viral advertising is quite rare, but recently, it has resurfaced in ads for the Axe Detailer.

In a three-minute segment that could be shown in classrooms to define “innuendo,” Axe repeatedly demonstrates that the Detailer can “clean your balls” while never once using it on a person. This double entendre is beaten into the ground over the course of the video.

One actress fondles a pair of golf balls in a way that makes me feel funny inside; there is a “big ballsack” containing a dozen soccer balls held by a black gentleman and the rather lewd elderly woman in the front row providing even more comedy. Really, watch it and try to believe they are actually talking about sports.

Even if you are virginal of mind, you could still figure out the barelyhidden message when you realize that although one of the female hosts is supposedly a tennis player, there is no talk about any balls belonging to women.Women only play with balls belonging to other men. It would be sexist if it wasn’t logical.

Balls aside, the real cleverness is that Axe is continuing to market what used to be termed “beauty products” to straight men, who are quite hard to sell that sort of thing to. Of course, to reach the straight men, their advertising repeatedly implies that using the product will make women want to have sex with you immediately.

Most companies that market toward men use this strategy, but few do it as overtly as Axe. Whether it turns you into chocolate or just emits a mysterious force, women apparently go wild the instant the scent of Axe hits them. Sex sells.This is hardly news.

Since I can’t very well complain

about a product without trying it myself, I decided to go out and purchase a Detailer of my own. I figured that $3.99 wasn’t too much to spend, even if it ended up doing nothing but make me smell vaguely like a high school boy.

Although its advertisement is ingenious, its design is less than miraculous. As I look at the Detailer itself, it is obvious that Axe has taken a basic mesh sponge and used technology popularized by the “twosided sponge” concept to affix it to another surface with a rougher consistency, which is similar to that of a loofah. It’s a simple concept, but its versatility makes it quite a spacesaver.

My expectations were pretty high, as the commercial showed the Detailer taking caked-on mud off of, well, balls. I’m not really sure who would get mud on their (nonsports) balls, so I tried it anyway.

However, as I mentioned, the Detailer itself is nothing but a combination of existing bath products, so I didn’t expect penile enhancement or anything (although such a product is probably being developed in the Axe laboratories right now).

The actual result was a bit disappointing, as my balls did not actually look “sparkly and new” as advertised.

They did look a tiny bit cleaner than normal, I suppose. But apart from my balls, the rest of my body seems to have benefited from the exfoliation that came with rubbing my body with something rougher than my hands. Getting rid of some of that old skin seems to have made everything slightly smoother. The effect was probably about the same as if I’d used a regular “loofah,” though.

In conclusion, while the Axe Detailer isn’t exactly anything new, it is an efficient combination of two existing bath products. In addition, I wholeheartedly support any ad campaign that can convince people to be even a little bit cleaner.

The Detailer might even be able to make the world smell better. Unless you use Axe body washes with it. Then the world’s going to hell.

Anthony Rust is a biological sciences junior and Mustang Daily sex columnist.

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Tuesday, March 9, 2010 www.mustangdaily.net

Arts

Arts editor: Cassandra Keyse mustangdailyarts@gmail.com

International Women’s Day celebrates women of diverse backgrounds Daniel Triassi mustang daily

Cal Poly honored International Women’s Day with a women of diversity panel. The panel, comprised of two female staff members and a professor, discussed their personal experiences with gender, racial, social and economic issues.

Kathy Chen, a materials engineering professor, began the discussion with her story as an Asian-American raised in the Midwest.

“I didn’t want to go down the stereotypical path of an Asian, but it turned out I liked science and I liked math, so I had to accept that,” Chen said.

Working in a male-dominated field, Chen said facing barriers made her stronger, helped her gain confidence and contributed to not letting things bring her down.

“Now, as an educator, I help break down barriers and encourage people to help others,” she said.

Emily Hong, a political science and biological sciences sophomore, said women have a history of being undermined in the United States.

“Women have only had the right to vote for just shy of 90 years, while white upper-middle to upper class men have had the opportunity to vote since the inception of this coun-

try,” she said.

As a student coordinator for the MultiCultural Center and the moderator for the event, Hong said it was important for diverse women to speak because their voices have been oppressed even in the present-day on campus.

One of those women with a diverse background is Maria ArvisuRodriguez, an academic advisor.

Arvisu-Rodriguez spoke about how she pursued higher education, attended Cal Poly for her undergraduate education and grew up with parents who were field workers.

Coming to Cal Poly was difficult for her, she said, with barely anyone speaking Spanish in California during the early ‘80s. During her upbringing, she was most affected by low socio-economic issues, but gender still played a role.

“Growing up, my chores list was always longer than the boys’ in my family,” she said. “I’m now married to a man raised in a traditional Mexican-American home, but he knows how to help in the kitchen and with the laundry.”

Donna Davis, also an academic advisor, was the last speaker on the panel. Davis spoke about her upbringing in Kentucky when the Jim Crow laws were active.

“I have memories of having to

daniel triassi mustang daily

From left: materials engineering professor Kathy Chen and academic advisors Maria Arvisu-Rodriguez and Donna Davis speak on their individual upbringings and how it has shaped their professional lives.

“Gold coast”

drink from colored-only drinking fountains, going to the movies and having to sit in the balcony,” she said.

With strong mentors, Davis eventually came to California and was exposed to other cultures and freedoms Kentucky didn’t have.

“If it hadn’t been for those women who saw potential and took me under their wing, I don’t know where I would be,” she said.

International Women’s Day is celebrated in over 140 different locations and 18 different countries.

The day was first observed in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. In countries like China,

Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, International Women’s Day is a national holiday.

The Obamas celebrated the day at the White House with a short ceremony. President Obama promised to continue to support and empower women’s efforts in the United States and around the world.

Noa Raz, a business sophomore, said we sometimes forget life doesn’t revolve around school.

“We’re so focused on academia, we forget women’s issues and diversity are problems on campus,” she said. “We can recognize and change these problems if we start going to more on-campus events.”

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Awards continued from page 1

receiving recognition and a gift.

As dean, Bailey is most proud of the close connection he maintains with the students of his college. He has instructed a class every quarter but two since he came to Cal Poly in 1960. He is a club adviser and has had 15 disadvantaged students live with him and his wife over the last several years.

I came here because I really wanted to be at a university where you could interact with students, and I’ve kept that going my whole 40 years.

— Phil Bailey Dean, College of Science and Mathematics

“I came here because I really wanted to be at a university where you could interact with students, and I’ve kept that going my whole 40 years,” he said. “What was most important to me was the relationships I’ve had with my students. I’m totally committed and that’s the most wonderful thing about the career.”

Bailey considers the ability to create and maintain these relationships his greatest accomplishment.

Bailey also started the 25-35 studying program and is known for the chemistry magic shows he performs for children to get them interested in science and college.

Cal Poly is still a learn-by-doing university, he said, but the size of the student body and the look of the campus are very different from the first time he stepped on campus at age 26. The biggest improvement in four decades is the presence of Cal Poly as a well-known institution, he said.

Bike continued from page 2

This factor made it possible for the bikes to be stolen in the middle of the day, when it might seem that a normal cable lock is sufficient. Landscape architecture junior Craig Cousins said that he

“The most important (difference) is our growing national reputation,” Bailey said. “All the new buildings are really cool, but what’s really cool is that we’re a respected polytechnic university.”

Bailey is one of the three attending award recipients with 40year anniversaries along with Jim Conway, communications studies department faculty member and Johanna Brown, head of library collection management.

Thirteen employees with 35year anniversaries will be honored at the luncheon, including Susan Sparling, director of Student Academic Services.

The most prominent changes Sparling noted since she first started at Cal Poly as medical transcriber at the Health Center are the advances in technology that have changed the operation of the school both academically and professionally. Specifically, she witnessed a shift to online communication and the digitization of records.

One thing that hasn’t changed, she admitted, is the lack of diversity on campus.

“I do believe more staff, faculty and students do understand the importance of an ethnically and diversity-sensitive community, but Cal Poly still has so very far to go to be responsive and comfortable for a wide range of students,” Sparling said. “Still, in many ways, I stayed here because of the work that I really care about with regard to academic success, especially for underrepresented students.”

Sparling plans to stay at the university for several more years and cherishes the family-like relationship she shares with her co-workers.

“I feel honored to be able to say that,” Sparling said. “The friendships I have through Cal Poly have clearly shaped my life.”

The presidential function is organized by a volunteer committee made up of Cal Poly employees and has been an annual event since the ‘70s. Five-hundred seats are available, with guest tickets selling for $10 that are sold out most years, Stubberfield said.

rides his bike to school five days a week. He was never concerned about it being stolen, because he always parks it in busy areas and never leaves it overnight.

But now Cousins said he intends to replace his lighter, more convenient cable lock with a Ulock.

“That’s scary that people are stealing bikes,” Cousins said. “It’s

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Arts

TNT gives “Southland” new life

courtesy photo

Michael Cudlitz (left) and Ben McKenzie star as officers John Cooper and Ben Sherman in TNT’s “Southland.”

LOS ANGELES — “Southland,” the latest addition to TNT’s primetime lineup, has action, twists, heartbreak and a key rescue operation.

Viewers might also notice there’s been a lot of excitement on screen as well.

After a rocky first season on NBC, “Southland,” which chronicles the chaotic professional and personal lives of Los Angeles Police Department officers and detectives, has returned to Tuesday nights on its new cable TV home.

Marked by coarse language and a documentary-style approach, “Southland” gained unwelcome notice late last year as a high-profile casualty of NBC’s failed experiment to program its 10 p.m. slot, once a showcase for big-tent dramas, with “The Jay Leno Show.”

The series’ producers and stars were stunned when it was dumped.

That anger turned to celebration when TNT negotiated a deal to pick up the series. Since January, the cable network has ramped up to re-launch by broadcasting previously-aired episodes, and by heavy promotion, including showing extended trailers in movie theaters.

Still, the police drama’s escape from arrested development hasn’t totally erased the bitter feelings left by the

NBC ordeal. The Leno experiment infuriated many in the creative community who accused the network of abandoning scripted dramas.

John Wells, one of the executive producers of “Southland,” is putting his focus on a fresh start after the upheaval.

“It was definitely painful, but I’m delighted the way it has all played out,” Wells said in an interview. “TNT has done a terrific job of promoting the show, and it’s great to have a second chance to be seen. Now we’re hoping that people respond.”

Michael Wright, TNT’s head of programming, said “Southland” was a perfect fit for the network’s slate of franchise dramas that include “The Closer” and “Hawthorne.” The network also was eager to fill a vacancy that will soon be created by the departure of the Holly Hunter drama, “Saving Grace,” which returns for its final season March 29.

“I had been a fan of the show when it was on NBC,” Wright said.

“The morning I heard it was canceled, I called John, told him I love the show, and if possible, if he would be interested in bringing the show to us.”

Though pleased with the switch, some cast members have taken jabs at NBC. In a recent TV interview, Ben McKenzie took pleasure in the failed experiment: “I think that I’m glad it failed — not personally against Jay, but

just in general.” Regina King called the cancellation “a little sad. NBC is an iconic network. My association with them is that they were risk-takers.To see that change is sad to see.”

Earlier this year, NBC executives explained to television journalists their decision to drop the show, despite its promise. NBC’s prime-time entertainment president, Angela Bromstad, said that she “loved” the series, but pointed out that it “did fall off considerably in the ratings because of ... it’s serialized nature.”

“The truth of the matter is, I think it probably found a better home in cable,” she added. Other executives suggested the series had gotten “too dark and gritty” for broadcast television.

Wells didn’t take umbrage at the particular remarks, but added it’s going to be a long while before the painful episode fully fades.

“I have sympathy for those executives who have to defend something that was not their decision,”Wells said, but “the whole experience was not a good one, and I don’t expect the bitter taste to go away any time soon.”

Instead, Wells wants to devote his energies on securing a third season for “Southland.”

“We’re having a wonderful experience at TNT,” he said. “They like the show and love the cast. It’s nice to be in a work environment where they love what you’re doing.”

the most convenient way for a college student to get around, especially in SLO. I’d feel lost without my bike.”

The best anti-theft solution is to never leave an expensive bike unattended, even with a lock. Cohen said that students should consider buying a used or inexpensive commuter bike instead.

“The reality is that a really nice

bike is way too easy to steal,” Cohen said.

If students still want to take their road bike to school, Hashim said they should get a bike locker, which can be rented from the university police department for $40 a year.

In addition, Hashim asks that students text any suspicious behavior to the university’s Tip Mail.

The process is anonymous and will be followed up by the university police.

Further, if a student’s bike is stolen, Funcheon said they should report it to the local police department immediately. Of the millionplus bikes that are stolen in the United States each year, almost half of them are eventually recovered by the police.

Greg Braxton los angeles times

opinion/editorial

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Editor in chief: Emilie Egger Managing Editor: Alex Kacik

mustangdaily@gmail.com

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letters to the editor

Jeff Halper shared his vision for blame Israel first and only for peace in the Middle East last Wednesday.

Where is the speaker representing the other side?

If those who sponsor these socalled information sessions on the Middle East are interested in of-

mustangdaily.net y always something new.

break

video

ews ing n

s gs ow blo esh slid dio au

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fering a complete picture, they should invite someone who does not have a distinctly anti-Israel slant for once. I suggest the Middle Eastern scholars and activists Dr. Fouad Ajami and Walid Shoebat. (Shoebat has spoken at UCSB, so it is no stretch to imagine he could come here as well.) Israel is one of aselect group of Middle Eastern nations which does not persecute Jews as policy (unlike nations which do or have at one point, including Saudi Arabia, Libya, Yemen, Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Iraq and Morocco).

If land (rightly) won in wartime should never be annexed and recognized, then why aren’t the same Israel activists agitating for the secession of Texas, or better yet, agitating for Syria to remove its sticky hands from Lebanon?

It would be astonishingly naïve and ignorant not to wonder at the motives of those who lecture on why Israel should give up its land and why the United States must cease supporting Israel, to be liked by the Arab world.

Any Philo-Semitic reader should have found offense at Dr. Foroohar’s statement, as quoted in the Mustang Daily, that since Halper is a Jew, his word against Israeli settlements should be golden. Judge a person on their merits, not their religion; religion absolutely should not have been a factor.

— Susannah Kopecky English graduate student

mustang daily The voice of Cal Poly since 1916

9

needs to get back to basics”

Nice article. To be a journalist in today’s world requires more out of anyone than ever before. It requires having and understanding the uses of your Web site, a blog and social media.

My late brother-in-law and “Nightline” executive producer Leroy Sievers understood these emerging technologies very well and communicated through his very popular blogs. He even blogged throughout his cancer experience and shared his feelings with the world… a real journalist to the end.

Now, write your blog!

— Roger In response to “BLOG: A different kind of class” Aaron, thank you for this wonderful critique (or as the marxist communist karl marx in his marxist “communist manifesto” would say “kritik”) of the islamomarxist communist left-hegelian marxist agenda of our marxist communist president barack obama and his marxist communist domestic policies.

— Anonymous In response to “The government

WHAT’S YOUR

RANT YOU WRITE IN

.

WE INVESTIGATE. mustangdailywire@gmail.com

What happens to a society when education is left to the wayside? Though you are correct in your assertion that education is not regarded as a right in this country, that fact merely begs the question of why not. After all, in any system — our social system included — the composite is only as strong as its constituent parts.

— Anonymous In response to “Join the statewide protests today on Dexter Lawn and Marsh St.” While it’s great that she is doing that, and that it is spreading awareness … this is not a new idea. http://hungryforamonth. blogspot.com/2006_11_01_hungryforamonth_archive.html Also it made me laugh that people got SO concerned. Most of the world lives on less than $1 a day for food!

— Melissa In response to “Student survives on $28 for 28 days” 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. No overcapitalization, please and watch the exclamation marks!

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Tuesday, March 9, 2010 Volume LXXIV, No. 88 ©2009 Mustang Daily “Keep up ... the work.”

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Tuesday, March 9, 2010 www.mustangdaily.net

Wrestling

Ramirez

continued from page 12

continued from page 12

A sophomore who has had knee surgery in the last two years, Smith never knows what to expect.

“It’s a difficult situation to stay motivated when there is so much up in the air,” he said.

Until Wednesday, when he finds out if he will be joining his five teammates at the NCAA conference, Smith anxiously waits, not wasting a minute to condition in case he gets good news.

“I need to keep my head on straight, keep reinforcing myself.

I’m going to keep training hard, as if I am going to the nationals,” Smith said.

Identical in weight and height, brothers Boris and Filip Novachkov have always shared a passion for wrestling, especially during matches.

“There’s something about competing together that makes it so much better,” Boris said. “I would say we try harder, supporting each other. When one of us does well, the other one’s gonna do well, too.”

In high school, the two won state-level titles together. They hope to win nationals together, too, Filip said.

Boris, who was sick last week and is taking a break from the mat, said the team came together this year.

“I want to win a lot more this year than I did last year,” Boris said.

The NCAA selection show will take place today at 3 p.m.

would be going to Taiwan for an exhibition series.

It's at this point his entire demeanor changed, maybe someone advising him it might be best to keep his mouth shut about eliminating the Dodgers from future contract talks and toutin g a drink best not mentioned.

Insiders say he's working as hard or harder than ever, more balanced at the plate and understandably concerned about proving himself worthy to play somewhere else next season.

That's why it makes no sense for him to go to Taiwan, although reporters have been told there are money-making opportunities for him there, as if a $20 million salary isn't enough.

The trip, if only for the 30 hours of flying, are sure to take a toll on him, Ramirez the same age as Garret Anderson, and Anderson now considered too old to be as effective as he once was.

In the best interest of the team on the field, he should have been told to remain behind with most of the other key performers the Dodgers will be counting on this season.

"He's the one who wanted to go," says GM Ned Colletti when asked if there was some dispute regarding Ramirez going to Taiwan. "All things being equal I'd rather have him here. I want him to concentrate as fully as he can, and maybe he can with the flight

sports

there and back, but if it was up to me, he'd be here."

Who knew Ramirez's desires trumped those of the team's general manager, but then it's always been about not upsetting the temperamental hitter, who has been known to just go into a funk without explanation.

Ramirez has always been more sensitive than anyone might imagine given his bluster and confidence at the plate, and like so many others he's probably wondering too what kind of player he's going to be this season.

He's been the one in control of the room, his laugh, jokes or music setting the tone, but when you aren't the same player you've been, other voices become louder.

Maybe that explains why he's already become withdrawn, spending most of his time with a select group of players while telling everyone to go talk to Ethier and Kemp, always a little truth in every crack he makes.

Dodgers fans probably only care if Ramirez can hit and drive in runs, but Ramirez was at his best two years ago when he arrived without seemingly a care in the world. He changed the way fans look at the Dodgers.

He had everyone laughing, every day a new yuck to keep everyone as loose as he appeared to be, the ball flying off his bat. If his reputation had taken a serious hit in Boston, in L.A. he became an overnight sensation, loved by everyone.

Last year, Manager Joe Torre talked about how hurt Ramirez

mcclatchy-tribune

Despite missing 50 games due to a suspension, Manny Ramirez hit .290 with 19 home runs and 63 RBIs last season. was after disappointing so many with his drug suspension, Ramirez returning to swing the bat as if corked with all of his troubles.

So it's probably not a good thing to find Ramirez in a funk two weeks into spring training, withdrawn and already thinking

about where he might be playing next season.

Whatever the reason, and he's not talking, if this is what Boston fans predicted Dodgers' fans would eventually get from him, then the last laugh will be on Ramirez, who blew a really good thing here.

mustangdaily.net Tuesday, March 9, 2010

SPORTS

sports editor: Brian De Los Santos

mustangdailysports@gmail.com

MUSTANG DAILY

Wrestling gears up for NCAA championships Sean Hanrahan mustang daily

Cal Poly’s wrestling team’s energy was diminished after a defeat by Oregon State in the Pac-10 conference championships last month.

Still, championship titles are within reach for more Mustangs than ever before.

This is what you train for all year — 15,000 fans, the big arena, a collegiate crowd. The atmosphere is very electric.

—John Azevedo Cal Poly wrestling head coach

Sorting out the dissapointing aftermath of defeat, Cal Poly is preparing six wrestlers for the final showdown at the NCAA Division I National Championships, scheduled for March 18-20 in Omaha, Neb. The Mustangs placed third in the Pac-10 conference this season and placed second in 2004 and 2006. But never has the team

produced so many NCAA-eligible athletes in a single season.

“Every year I’ve been head coach, we’ve taken multiple guys,” head coach John Azevedo said.

Last year they sent two, Boris Novachkov and Chase Pami, who wrapped up last year’s conference with a 1-2, 5-2 record, respectively.

“We are working to get these guy’s bodies back feeling good, minds staying sharp, keep them healthy,” Azevedo said.

With less than two weeks to finetune, Novachkov — who captured the Pac-10 Conference championship this year at 133 pounds as a sophomore — will join the others on March 18: his brother Filip Novachkov, Nick Fisher, Pami, Ryan DesRoches and Ryan Smith, who is currently a wildcard, awaiting confirmation.

Cal Poly was in first place after a second session of the Pac-10 championship. But Oregon State captured its 18th Pac-10 team championship and Cal Poly finished third.

“It was a rough weekend, a lot of emotions,” Fisher said.

Fisher said the team didn’t warm up enough or didn’t warm up right.

He said the consolation matches shook his team up.

“We’ve never experienced this low, but we are trying to get our heads straight and focus on the nationals.”

Azevedo understands the emotional hurdles his men are facing this week.

“This is what you train for all year — 15,000 fans, the big arena, a collegiate crowd. The atmosphere is very electric, intense and fun,” he

ryan sidarto mustang daily file photo

Cal Poly finished (8-4, 5-2 Pac-10) in dual meets this season and placed third in the Pac-10 championships. said.

But that excitement doesn’t always help you focus.You have to be ready, Azevedo said.

“As cliché as it is, we got here through hard work and preparation,” assistant coach Mark Perry said.

Proper nutrition, ensuring

meals are in at the right time and maintaining a healthy routine are difficult challenges for anyone to uphold, “but especially a college athlete. Wrestling is an extremely demanding sport,” Perry said.

Cal Poly will send more than half the team to nationals — six of 10.

“The guys have done a pretty good job,” Perry said. “I’ll say not everyone; that’s why some of the guys are where they want to be and others aren’t.”

Smith is not where he wants to be, despite qualifying for nationals. see Wrestling, page 11

It’s not a laughing matter anymore for Manny Ramirez T.J. Simers los angeles times

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Nine months or so later, it's hard to say if maybe it's just a side effect of the women's fertility drug Manny Ramirez was caught using, or as some predicted from the start, he's gone back into his Boston shell.

He's just not the same guy, the life of the party for the better part of two years in L.A., but now it's almost impossible to get a word out of him.

"Write whatever you want," is all he would say when asked about his transformation from clubhouse clown to uncooperative grump.

Maybe he's worried about

how he might perform this season without medical assistance, a reasonable concern given his dramatic decline after returning from a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's performance-enhancing drug policy.

Maybe his act is no longer finding a receptive audience in the Dodgers' clubhouse, many of the Dodgers' key contributors now confident in their own abilities as Major League players and needing no validation from Ramirez.

Maybe he needed to show the baseball world that he wasn't as much trouble as portrayed earlier in order to win a big contract, getting that contract from the Dodgers so now it's back to being the guy who lived in his own world in Boston.

Whatever the reason, he shut it down about a week ago after arriving, telling everyone to talk to Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, and then chirping about this being his last year with the Dodgers. It was typical goofy Ramirez, going for the joke, a hint of truth included, but the timing inappropriate.

Two years ago everyone might have laughed it off, but Ramirez's margin of error shrunk with the revelation he was one of baseball's cheaters. So a day later, after dis-

missing the Dodgers with a whole season yet to play, he walked through the clubhouse telling reporters he had five more years to play, three here and two in Japan.

A few days later Ronnie Belliard joined the team, and Ramirez interrupted reporters talking to Belliard while holding an energy drink in his hands. Who better to promote an energy drink than a guy who will go to any lengths to get an additional boost?

Ramirez told reporters he was endorsing the drink, but the name of the drink is so vulgar, it cannot be printed in the newspaper.

That didn't stop someone from tweeting its name, the name of the drink linked to Ramirez and quickly making its way around the Internet.

It was embarrassing, a year after he had become a national embarrassment, and it probably wasn't the fresh start he had hoped for in starting a new season.

About the same time he was letting it be known he was endorsing the energy drink, word coming later from agent Scott Boras' office that he really wasn't, there were indications Ramirez was going to join the Dodgers who see Ramirez, page 11

mcclatchy-tribune

On Feb. 22, Manny Ramirez said the upcoming season will be his last in a Los Angles uniform. After finishing his first full season as a Dodger, Ramirez enters his final season of his two-year contract with the team.