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Mubarak to go on trial for shootings in Egypt training.
Cal Poly dancers hit the stage.
IN NEWS, P. 5
IN ARTS, P. 6
volume LXXV, number 127
Gonzalez heads to NCAA championships. IN SPORTS, P. 12
mustangdaily Wednesday, May 25, 2011
www.mustangdaily.net
No charges in Poly Canyon rape cases Mustang Daily Staff Report mustangdaily@gmail.com
The Cal Poly University Police Department (UPD) announced Tuesday that it will not pursue charges against the suspects in the two reported Poly Canyon Village sexual assaults. University Police Chief Bill Watton said the decision to not press charges was due to a lack of evidence for the cases. “After the investigation, we don’t have enough evidence to pursue criminal charges,” Watton said. “There is a high threshold to meet (for sexual assault). It has to be proven beyond a reasonable amount.”
Watton said that although no charges will be pressed, this does not mean the reported crimes did not occur. “This does not mean the perpetrator is or is not culpable, or that the victim is lying in any way,” Watton said. “This is just a very high standard to meet. The university will now do an investigation.” According to Watton, Student Rights and Responsibilities will now investigate the allegations and decide what, if any, action will be taken. “Student Rights and Responsibilities will look into it to see if they will pursue,” Watton said. “The discipline (if they decide to) can be any-
thing from assigning an assignment to the person, or they could be facing a possible expulsion.” Watton said he understood how the decision to not press charges could make it difficult for survivors of sexual assault to report the crime. “I know it will make it hard for survivors to come forward,” he said. “If we could pursue charges we would, but it’s just one of those things where if we don’t have enough evidence, we can’t charge them. We still encourage survivors to come forward.” Officials in charge of the investigation could not be reached for comment as of press time.
Student sues Poly after cow injures leg Victoria Billings victoriabillings.md@gmail.com
nha ha mustang daily Students in Cal Poly’s artificial insemination class, also known as an “enterprise project,” attend weekly lectures on animal safety and proper handling procedures.
A renegade heifer and an injured leg has resulted in a Cal Poly student suing the university for negligence. Dairy science junior Nicole Nelsen’s leg was crushed by a cow, tearing ligaments and damaging blood vessels, while taking an artificial insemination class at the Bull Test Unit in November 2010. Nelsen is now suing Cal Poly to help cover her medical expenses and ensure the safety of facilities is improved for other students, her legal counsel Daniel O’Neill said. Nelsen was in a breeding shed inseminating a cow when another cow passed through several open gates before breaking down the door to the shed and pinning Nelsen’s leg against the metal bars of the shed, O’Neill said. Without the help of several nearby students, Nelsen’s knee might have needed to be amputated, O’Neill said. “She had to have surgeries to repair the arteries and reconstruct her knee,” O’Neill said. Nelsen is suing for negligence and compensation to pay for medical expenses stemming from surgeries and physical therapy. In addition to costing her money, Nelsen’s injury brought her education to a halt, O’Neill said. “She always wanted to be a veterinarian, and since this has hapsee Cow, page 2
courtesy photo The Cal Poly Formula Hybrid Team built its plug-in hybrid vehicle with only $2,100, while other teams in the competition had more than $50,000 in funding.
Built for (green) speed Cal Poly student team creates hybrid race car for competition Alicia Freeman aliciafreeman.md@gmail.com
The Cal Poly Formula Hybrid Team took seventh place at the International Formula Hybrid Race Car competition, held May 1 to May 4, to show the resourcefulness of the team against multiple challenges. The International Formula Hybrid Race Car competition, sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), takes place annually at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. The competition challenges students to “design, build and race high performance, plug-in hybrid vehicles,” according to its website.
Gregg Shultz, the team leader of Formula Hybrid and an electrical engineering senior, said building a hybrid car was a challenge. In fact, out of the 34 teams registered for the competition, only 21 attended with a car. Schultz said Cal Poly’s team had its own difficulties due to budget issues — the team only had $2,100 to build the car because most of the budget went to travel expenses. Schultz said the Cal Poly chapters of IEEE, SAE and the Mechanical Engineering Student Fee Allocation Committee, which helped with traveling costs, allowed the team to attend the competition. Yet, when compared to other teams that had more than $50,000 to work with, Schultz said he felt the Cal Poly team performed very well. see Race Car, page 2