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GET TO KNOW YOUR 2017 ASI PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES: Sydney Harder
Davis Negrete Biomedical engineering junior Davis Negrete takes pride in his empathetic nature, earnestly pursuing the Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) presidency and promising to make decisions that will fairly represent students. Negrete supports creating more open forums for student activists where they can work with ASI to develop plans for inclusivity and ensure that their voices are not only heard, but respected. As a resident advisor and former student assistant at the Cal Poly Multicultural Center, Negrete has plenty of exposure to minorities’ needs. He hopes to fortify their access to campus resources that support student success. To address practices that don’t promote sustainability, Negrete advocates revising Cal Poly’s master plan to maximize the university’s stand as a green campus and minimize the unnecessary destruction of land. Negrete also aims to publish a recurring memo or informational piece from ASI detailing their progress in representing and addressing students’ interests and concerns, ultimately increasing transparency between students and the organization that speaks on their behalf. “It is through dialogue where we can make functional change,” Negrete said.
@CPMustangNews
Photos by Frank Huang | Mustang News
Chase Dean
Riley Nilsen
Archie Mitchell
Chase Change
Ride High with Riley
Putting You First
Centering his platform around inclusivity and equality, political science junior Chase Dean aims to institute change that will benefit students from all walks of life. “Lots of people who keep preaching inclusivity and diversity aren’t doing anything about it,” Dean said. “I want to hear the underrepresented and marginalized students’ solutions to the problems.” Previously a resident advisor as a sophomore and currently the College of Liberal Arts representative on the ASI Board of Directors, Dean has engaged in multiple leadership experiences that have helped mold his approach to the ASI presidency. Stressing the need for campus-wide equity, one of Dean’s goals is to address the rise in food and housing insecurity by creating a program that would offer these resources for a month, allowing students time to find viable alternatives. If elected, Dean will also prioritize the development of additional mental health resources on campus and lay the groundwork for initiatives toward more sustainable buildings. Dean has his eyes set on installing solar roofing in parking lots and organizing more awareness campaigns around sustainability. “Focusing on infrastructural changes first is key,” Dean said.
Agricultural science junior Riley Nilsen has built her campaign around establishing community-wide coordinated efforts to implement lasting changes on campus and in San Luis Obispo. “I want to build student-to-student connections, relationships with administration and local government and work with them to create change,” Nilsen said. As the current ASI Board of Directors chair, Nilsen had the opportunity to pioneer the recent mental health awareness campaign “Buck the Stigma” and Sustainability Week. She is a veteran of facilitating communication and collaboration among various constituents of Cal Poly. Nilsen draws on this leadership experience, noting that she will continue to “have the hard conversations” regarding diversity and determine the source of minorities’ concerns. Nilsen plans to further educate students about their rights — should they need to take a stand against their employer or landlord — they are well-equipped to do so without fearing legal consequences. Passionate about the preservation of agricultural land, Nilsen advocates for improving San Luis Obispo’s bus system and promoting biking to campus in order to stop “parking lots from taking away future classrooms.” “It’s on us to take that initiative,” Nilsen said.
Business administration sophomore Archie Mitchell’s campaign slogan, “Putting You First,” encompasses the goals he hopes to achieve if elected. Mitchell stresses the importance of building a stronger relationship with San Luis Obispo City Council and working with residents to establish a fun and safe community for students. “Through focusing on offering incentives for people outside of greek life to get involved in the community, we can bolster that relationship,” Mitchell said. “My philosophy is when we start to work for the community, the community will start to work with us to foster better regulations.” Mitchell also recognizes the need for more sustainable practices on campus with plans to collaborate with Mayor Heidi Harmon to install more hydration stations, create more bike racks to encourage students to adopt a greener way to commute to campus, and establish a way to reduce food waste by donating unused, unexpired items to the San Luis Obispo food bank. Additionally, Mitchell advocates for the enactment of tangible changes to address “the elephant in the room: the lack of representation from people of diverse classes, cultures and religions” at Cal Poly. “We are 20,000 strong,” Mitchell said. “Together we can fight for affordability and equity.”
News 1-3 | Arts 4-5 | Opinion 6 | Classifieds 7 | Sports 8
NEWS 2
MUSTANG NEWS
Marine Mammal Center offers students a chance to save sea lions
The most common reason to rescue marine mammals is entanglements, mostly from fishing nets and packing straps or monofilament lines.
SAVANNAH SPERRY | COURTE SY PHOTO
BAY WATCH | Marine Mammal Enterprise is a new Cal Poly course that in addition to on-campus lectures, students are required to volunteer six hours per week in the Marine Mammal Center in Morro Bay. Monica Roos Special to Mustang News
“Ready? One, two, three!” Smack! The corpse hit the metal table and the looks on students’ faces intensified. “Today we’ll be doing a necropsy on this male California sea lion,” Dr. Heather Harris, a contract veterinarian at the Marine Mammal Center in Morro Bay, said. And so began Cal Poly’s Marine Mammal Enterprise class. Mammal enterprise in the making Marine Mammal Enterprise is a new Cal Poly course, offered two quarters so far. In addition to the on-campus lecture portion, students are required to volunteer six hours per week at the Marine Mammal Center in Morro Bay. This allows them to get handson experience, tying in Cal Poly’s
Learn by Doing motto. Students gain experience working with sea lions, sea otters, elephant seals, northern fur seals, Guadalupe fur seals and harbor seals at the center. Harris worked with students to create a class that could offer a chance to work with marine mammals to those interested in animal science. Some students volunteered at the center before the class was created and later approached Harris about the possibility of integrating their work at the center with their studies at Cal Poly. “We decided it would be great to teach a course that gave [students] a lot of background in the stuff they were learning there, so disease, health issues and make it more of a scientific-based course and then they could go to the center and volunteer and get handson experience,” Harris said. Working hands-on
with animals At the center, students accompany volunteers and staff who rescue animals or treat them on site. Through their work, they learn common threats marine mammals face on a daily basis. The most common reason to rescue marine mammals is entanglements, mostly from fishing nets and packing straps or monofilament lines. Other reasons include plastic ingestion, malnutrition, maternal separation or any other injury or illness. The center is considered a triage facility and animals that are rescued are helped in its exam room. The center and its stories Walking into the center for the first time feels exactly like walking into a doctor’s office. The walls are mostly white with posters hung up showing the anatomy and bone structure of seals. Pre-
dominantly, it’s cold. There is a large examination room to accommodate mammals both big and small, as well as what the staff calls the “human room” where they hang out and wait until they get a call. There are crates and stalls for the patients to be kept in instead of a waiting room. There is a refrigerator in the exam room stocked with frozen fish for grown patients and formula for the pups. Students and volunteers are taught how to use all of the equipment and how to treat the animal. Animal science senior Tricia Khougaz took the Marine Mammal Enterprise in Spring 2016, the first time it was offered. While sifting through files of past patients, Khougaz came upon some pictures of Bilbo, an elephant seal who suffered from a shark bite injury and lacerations. “You can see there’s still a big
old scar on the back of his neck. That was wide open when we picked him up,” Khougaz said. Khougaz learned a lot through treating animals during the enterprise. She continued volunteering there even after she took the course. “I really do feel like I’m getting involved in something I want to do. I want to help wildlife, I want to be around people that also want to help wildlife,” she said. Operations Manager at the Marine Mammal Center Diana Kramer loves teaching students how to work with these animals and said it’s rewarding for them as well as herself to help out mammals in need and even to see animals that they have helped before. “We release all of our animals and they’re all tagged with a little orange tag,” Kramer said. “People think to call us when something’s wrong with the animal,
but we don’t necessarily get a lot of calls about healthy animals … it’s always great to know how our patients are doing.” Animal science senior Brittany Marnin is an intern at the center and said it is a unique experience. “You get to see things and do things that you never get to do, being the general public,” Marnin said. “You get to go through the whole process of bringing [the animal] here and having our vet look at the animal and diagnose and go through with the treatments.” The Marine Mammal Enterprise class is only offered once a year. However, the center allows anyone to sign up to volunteer year-round. “If you have any interest in coming to help out, do it. You may never get another chance like this and it’s extremely rewarding,” Marnin said.
Student who fell from Bishop still recovering Katelyn Piziali Special to Mustang News
Manufacturing engineering freshman Evan Lalanne fell 30 feet from the top of Bishop Peak in December, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. But that didn’t stop his positive attitude. Lalanne sustained spinal and neck injuries from the fall. He is in ongoing physical and occupational therapy at home in Arroyo Grande. To help pay for Lalanne’s short and long-term medical
expenses, a dinner and auction fundraiser will be held at the Alex Madonna Expo Center April 22 at 5 p.m. The event will also benefit the Southwest Spinal Cord Injury Fund. It will be hosted by Help Hope Live, a nonprofit that provides fundraising assistance to transplant and catastrophic injury patients, according to the event flyer. There will be a social hour at 5 p.m. followed by cocktails and dinner at 6 p.m. The auction will feature items donated by local people and business-
es with large prizes like trips to Hawaii and Arizona. There will also be live music by the Paisley Brothers, Lalanne’s best friend’s dad’s band. After his fall in December, Lalanne underwent multiple surgeries at Stanford Medical Center to straighten and stabilize his spine and to remove bone fragments pressing on his spinal cord, according to a GoFundMe page made to help cover medical costs. Lalanne was then transferred to Santa Clara Valley Medical Rehab facility where doctors
worked to heal his broken ribs, C-spine and sternum and to begin his physical therapy. The American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) categorizes spinal injuries on an impairment scale ranging in letters from A to E: A means the injury is complete, with no motor or sensory function. E means motor and sensory function are normal. Lalanne’s injuries have been classified in the ASIA A category, which is the most severe. “Naturally, recovering to a point where I could walk is very, very unlikely,” Lalanne said.
Despite his injuries, Lalanne continued recovery with a positive attitude, hanging out with friends and living with as much freedom as anyone else. “I’m back to doing everything on my own,” Lalanne said. “Ninety-five percent of my life is just the same as it was before. It’s not as big of a change as you would imagine.” To Lalanne, living a happy life is all in the mindset of choosing positivity. “You can kind of take it two ways,” Lalanne said. “You can either pity yourself or just move
on with life and keep going. All the support from everyone in our community and my friends and family has been super amazing and another way to keep me positive.” Lalanne plans to return to Cal Poly in the fall to continue his manufacturing engineering degree. “That’s kind of the last step to being done with this little chunk out of my life where I was diverted,” Lalanne said. “That will be the final straw to returning to things just as they were before.”
NEWS 3
THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017
Walk quietly: How to avoid leaving a trace during the super bloom
REDUCING FOOTPRINT
LESLEY LEWIS | COURTE SY PHOTO
| Visitors to the Carrizo Plain National Monument for the “super bloom” naturally step on the flowers and kill them in the process, Carrizo Plain National Monument Ranger Benjamin Rickman said.
Madi Salvati Special to Mustang News
Scrolling through Instagram these days might cause runny noses and allergies, caused by what the Los Angeles Times calls the “super bloom” of wildflowers. But Carrizo Plain National Monument Ranger Benjamin Rickman said “doing it for the instagram” is not worth killing
the flowers in the process. If it’s not the drought or the desert-like conditions keeping these flowers down, it’s the visitors, according to Joseph Serna from the LA Times. When driving to these massive fields of yellow and purple, it’s considerably hard to subdue the childish urge to frolick madly about, collecting a bouquet as a souvenir of spring and snapping pictures.
“The best way [to enjoy the flowers] is to not pick them or lay in them, take only pictures” Rickman said. “We want to make sure everyone understands ‘Leave No Trace’ principles.” That includes only laying in them for a few seconds to get that quick selfie, or making a small path to get to the perfect spot. “If you lay down and disturb something, it’s going to look not the way it was before you
Tuition and fees increased by 716% in 50 years Brendan Matsuyama @ CPMustangNews
The days of tuition-free education at Cal Poly are long gone. According to the first course catalog published by the then California Polytechnic School in 1903, the school charged students $35 for books, supplies and a laboratory fee, or $921.13 adjusted for inflation. The first fee outside of books, supplies, laboratory, room and board and uniform expenses was the student affairs fee, costing Cal Poly students $7 in 1924, or $99.41 in today’s dollars. However, since the implementation of a California State University (CSU) tuition fee in the early 1980s, the adjusted cost of attending Cal Poly has been on a steady incline. Now, after the recent CSU system-wide tuition increase for the upcoming year, the total cost of attending Cal Poly is expected to be $27,153 for in-state students in 2017-2018 school year. This increase is the first CSU tuition hike since 2011 when sys-
tem-wide tuition increased from $4,440 to $5,472. This marks a 73 percent increase in tuition and fees at Cal Poly since 2004 and a 716 percent increase in the past 50 years. The total estimated cost of attending the university, including tuition, fees, room and board and other expenses in 2017 has increased by 24.4 percent in 10 years. The cost increases are not unique to Cal Poly. Overall, the university’s tuition and fees increases have mostly fallen in line with those seen from all public four year universities in California at 75.35 percent. Considering the median income of 17- to 23-year-old in the United States was $16,232.50 in 2013, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, the stress that increased costs places on college students is especially telling. Assuming a student works every week at California’s minimum wage, without accounting for income tax, they would need to work twice as many hours as a student making minimum wage who attended Cal Poly in the late 1970s
and early 1980s. The number of hours a minimum wage worker would have to work per week to pay for attending the university peaked in 2013. There has been marginal relief in recent years due to three minimum wage increases since 2014. However, a student would still have to work more than 40 hours per week to cover all expenses. The topic of cost in higher education has been an issue of contention, especially in recent years. Reactions to the CSU’s most recent tuition increase ranged from protests during Cal Poly’s Open House to proposals calling for tuition-free education in California. Preceding the decision passed down by the CSU Board of Trustees to increase CSU tuition, Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva of Fullerton introduced a bill to freeze CSU and community college tuition and fee increases until 2020. However, this did not prevent the additional $270 in tuition that will be applied to all CSU students in the 2017-18 school year.
got there,” Rickman stated. “If one person does that, it’s not the biggest deal in the world, but if everyone does that, it becomes a big deal.” Rickman also said staying on the designated road or trail helps the flowers too. “If someone already made a trail [through the flowers], stay on that trail,” he said. “Don’t make your own.” Marni Goldenberg, outdoor
recreation and adventure coordinator and professor for the department of Experience Industry Management at Cal Poly, also offered advice for enjoying the flowers without hurting them. “Take only photos, leave only footprints,” Goldenberg said. “Walk only on paths, do not pick flowers and leave them for others to enjoy. Also I encourage individuals to think how to minimize their impact by carpooling
and traveling together.” In other words, walk quietly and be mindful of the impact that trophy shot for Instagram will have. These “Leave No Trace” tips can be applied to all wild places, not just Carrizo Plain. “All of these principles should be taken into consideration anytime anyone travels into the wilderness and outdoors,” Goldenberg said.
STARBUCKS COFFEE
IN NEW LOCATIONS
Want Starbucks coffee without the Starbucks line? For your convenience, The Avenue, 19 Metro Express and Sandwich Factory are now proudly serving freshly-brewed hot and iced Starbucks coffee. Check it out and get your coffee fix fast!
#HEALTHYHACKS Pick up a freshly-prepared Grab & Go salad for a convenient and nutritious meal. At just under $5, it’s the easy choice for health nuts on a budget. (Registered Dietitian approved)
HOME COOKING RECIPE CONTEST Campus Dining is bringing a taste of home to Cal Poly. Submit your favorite home cooking recipe to campusdining@calpoly.edu by April 30 for a chance to have your dish featured in 19 Metro for one week. Our chefs are excited to review your recipes!
PASS ON PACKAGING Lessen your foodprint and save money by buying your grocery items in bulk. It’s a great way to cut costs and cut down on packaging waste at the same time.
ARTS 4
MUSTANG NEWS
New shows at the PAC
HANNA CROWLEY | MUSTA NG NE W S
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE | New additions to the PAC’s show schedule include illusionist Jay Owenhouse, “Elmo Makes Music,” comedian Lewis Black and several dance performances by local troupes.
Sabrina Thompson @ sabrinaswriting
With only a handful of weeks left in the 2016-17 season at the Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center (PAC), new shows have been added to wrap up the school year. These shows include an appearance by Sesame Street’s Elmo, a magical illusionist and even more musical guests.
This year, the PAC has been the center of culture in San Luis Obispo this year with shows such as “RENT,” Live MET Operas and theater and dance department shows. However, the season is far from over. A magical night out Jay Owenhouse “The Authentic Illusionist” will perform at the PAC April 21. Critically acclaimed, the
escape artist and magician, whose tricks focus on fooling the audience, will be in San Luis Obispo for one night as part of his “Dare to Believe!” live show. Everyone’s favorite little monster Coming right off the screen of a well-known children’s show, Elmo and Big Bird will be at the PAC for a family-friendly show, complete
with a meet-and-greet May 9 and 10. The show, “Elmo Makes Music,” is about how Elmo and his friends discover ways to make music after their instruments go missing. This new addition to the season’s line-up is perfect for little kids. Comedy and politics As part of his Rant, White and Blue tour, comedian Lewis Black will spend Friday, May 12 giving
his spin on the current political and social climate. He is known as the king of rants, as his shows often touch on the hottest topics of today. Can’t stop the feelin’ Just a week into summer, the Coastal Dance and Music Academy will perform a theater and music showcase Saturday, June 24. The show will feature a variety of
dance styles and feature performances by Synergy Dance Company, Dance Out Loud, Coastal Chamber Youth Ballet and Coastal Youth Theater. “One of our objectives going into this season was to increase the number of shows booked in the facility, whether they’re outside promoters or local organizations,” PAC marketing coordinator Kristen Teufel said.
Country Line Dancing Club performing at Stagecoach Mikaela Duhs @ mikaeladuhs
The Cal Poly Country Line Dancing Club (CLDC) is set to square dance at Stagecoach Country Music Festival April 28 to 30 as part of the festival’s formal entertaining group. CLDC is the only college dance group at the event and members get free admission in exchange for their performance. The opportunity stemmed from CLDC adviser Leslie Rebik, who performed at Stagecoach last year. When the festival’s coordinators caught word that she instructed a group of college dancers, they jumped on the opportunity to hire them. According to Rebik, square dancing rarely attracts young people. “Stagecoach wants to freshen their entertainers,” Rebik said. “They want a larger demographic of entertainers from the twenty-somethings.” Though the festival and Rebik thought the the team would be a good fit, the students weren’t as sure. Booking a festival as big as Stagecoach is a huge time commitment, as the team had to
take time off of class, learn the steps and fundraise to pay for costumes and transportation. However, Rebik remained positive. “It’s been a challenge,” she said. “I think it’s been a good challenge.” In mid-January, the students agreed to perform and preparation began. CLDC had exposure to square dancing at barn dances thrown by the club, but not many members had formal practice or training. CLDC had a weekend crash course to prep the members. “We had the concept that because these are fast learners, we could do what’s called a blast class,” Rebik said. “We did one weekend [with] five sessions. They were able to dance, integrated into a local square-dance, in one weekend. It’s phenomenal. They are like sponges.” Though the crash course was difficult, it proved to be effective. “Over three days we had 12 hours of nonstop lessons,” construction management junior and CLDC President Trey Garcia said. “We were on our feet all day, grinding. It was a lot, a lot of work to put in. It was a great time though.”
Rebik is confident in the team’s having 75,000 attendees per day said. “There is a lot of pressure on ability to try new things and at last year’s festival, Stagecoach is us, especially because we are repbroaden their talents. the third-highest grossing festival resenting our college and young “Our line dancers are not afraid of any kind in the world, trailing people all together. to try new styles of dancing,” Rebik Coachella and Outside Lands, acWorries aside, many CLDC fans said. “They are not afraid to get in cording to the Los Angeles Times. are eager to see the team perform. there and be a little silly, dress up in Architectural engineering junior Garcia said CLDC is the only colUnlike square dancing, line danc- traditional square dancing clothing Allie Fernandez said pressure on lege group performing at Stageing is usually choreographed and and they are going to look great.” the team’s performance comes coach, so word has circulated about the group knows the exact Still, some appre- from the high level of talent that the team’s debut. moves for each song. hensions remain has taken the stage at the festival “Darren, our practice caller, Square dancing for the team. in years past. said people up in Canada heard is another ballGrossing “We are going to be performing about us and want to come see They are not afraid game. Square $21.9 mil- with people who have been square us perform,” Garcia said. “It will to get in there and be dancers memlion and dancing [for] a long time,” she be pretty cool.” silly, dress up in orize several traditional square steps before the dance clothing... dance. During the dance, a LESLIE REBIK designated caller announces a move to the dancers that they complete on the spot. The dance relies heavily on partners and group participation. “[With] square dancing you have to be aware of everyone else in your square,” computer engineering sophomore Christian Johansen said. “[With] line dancing you do have to have awareness of the people around you, but you can just jump right in. You can try to learn a line dance right there. With square dancing it’s a little bit harder to do that. If you mess up often, the rest of your square will as well. It’s really a team sport.” Though attempting a new MIK AEL A DUHS | MUSTA NG NE W S dance style can be daunting, ONE, TWO, THREE| A designated caller announces a move that the square dancers complete on the spot.
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ARTS 5
THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017
SLODOCO to add new location Krista Hershfield & Shanti Herzog @ CPMustangNews
Rejoice, doughnut lovers. Student hotspot SLO Donut Company (SLODOCO) is expanding, though owners said
GROWING UP
they haven’t decided where. The shop’s current location on Foothill Boulevard already expanded to add more kitchen space and an area for large events, but staff manager Amber Clark said that’s just the start.
“This location in particular has seen a ton of new growth within the last couple years,” Clark said. “It’s expanding so much that why not another location?” Definitive plans are not
yet clear for expansion as SLODOCO’s owner is analyzing data to determine which location will be the most successful. Currently, SLODOCO is considering Monterey and Santa Barbara
SAMMI MULHERN | MUSTA NG NE W S
| SLODOCO has grown exponentially by adding a new position to create custom doughnuts and host community events.
as top choices. Either location would be named after the respective city followed by “Donut Company.” SLODOCO recently released online surveys to Monterey and Santa Barbara residents asking their opinions on details such the street for the new doughnut shop. SLODOCO’s interest in a college environment is their main motivation for considering a location in Santa Barbara, particularly in Isla Vista, a beachside community that many University of California, Santa Barbara students traffic. “If we build in Santa Barbara, we are looking to either build in residential or close to the campus,” SLODOCO manager Nina Vo said. “But with the success of SLO’s being near campus, I feel that [the latter] would be the better option.” Because Isla Vista has a more concentrated student population than San Luis Obispo, SLODOCO management said choosing that location would mean considering nightlife culture in the area and possibly changing the way the shop caters to customers. Clark also said SLODOCO
receives a lot of business from families with young children and Sunday morning church-goers. This is the motivation for considering a Monterey location. “If we did Monterey, it would be a lot more chill and family-oriented,” Clark said. “This idea [of the expansion] has been figuring out which of those groups we want to target.” SLODOCO’s success has grown exponentially with their blossoming music scene featuring local artists, addition of new staff positions and designating one position solely to creating custom doughnuts. “I think that’s what makes us different from other doughnut shops is that we do have our events and activities,” Clark said. While expansion plans are still being discussed, the main focus for management is deciding which kind of environment they want to create. Whether it be a shop for college students in Santa Barbara, one for families in Monterey or a combination of the two, like SLODOCO, Clark remains confident that the expansion will be successful. “Maybe one day we’ll have all three,” she said.
DYL AN RING | MUSTA NG NE W S
MATERIALS | Common materials used in witchcraft include candles, herbs and crystals. Knapp said people like to have the four elements — earth, fire, water and air — represented when practicing witchcraft.
Exploring witchcraft in San Luis Obispo Monica Roos & Savannah Sperry Special to Mustang News
“Everyone on this earth is a witch, they just don’t know it yet.” Erica Hamilton Kwid owns Blackwater, a boutique located in downtown San Luis Obispo. Though some may think witchcraft is a dated, even mythical practice, Kwid is one of many people who practice witchcraft in present day. She’s been doing it for a while “It feels really natural, it feels like it’s something I’ve always kind of done and then I heard the name for it and realized that I was already kind of doing those things,” Kwid said. “Witches are just people who are in tune with their energy and can use their energy to influence things.” A common practice Tall black pointed hats, big black robes, wooden broomsticks and big cauldrons are just a few of the accessories that come to mind when one thinks of the term “witch.” However, in modern times, these are purely stereotypes and nothing more. “A lot of the time people do practice it in solitude and you don’t hear much about it, but it is still very much there,” anthropology and geography senior Eden Knapp said. “I think it’s a lot more common than even
I know.” A practicing witch, Knapp said witchcraft need not be pinned to a specific religion or type of practice; it can be used by anybody, no matter what his or her beliefs are. “Witchcraft is just using these tools and these ideals to show respect for what you believe in or may not believe in, it just depends on the person,” Knapp said. “It’s very easy to tailor-make it to your own needs, so it can look very different in different lifestyles.” Some common materials used in witchcraft are candles, herbs and crystals. While explaining the different kinds of spells, Knapp lit a candle and began a spell. “Often people like to have the four elements represented as well, so earth, fire, water, air. The air and fire have to be present with the candle flame, but I usually have this cool rock I found on the beach for earth and it has a spot in it that can hold water,” Knapp said. “If you want some extra ‘umph’ in a spell, then you can have crystals.” While modern day witches aren’t throwing live animals into bubbling cauldrons, there are still some present day misconceptions about witchcraft. Knapp described an outsider’s perspective of witchcraft as “some kind of old outdated thing that only old crones in the middle ages practice[d] in their cottage.”
Witchcraft is a practice anyone can participate in, but there is another aspect that can come into play — Wicca. Based on pagan beliefs, Wicca is a religion sometimes referred to as “Pagan Witchcraft.” While some Wiccans practice witchcraft, the two are not mutually exclusive. Regardless, witchcraft is a very malleable and transformable practice. According to Knapp, being a witch has different definitions to different people. “Some people say a witch is a Wiccan, some people say it’s someone who practices witchcraft, some people practice witchcraft and wouldn’t want to be called a witch,” Knapp said. “So it’s all very depend[ent] on the perspective.” When Knapp became interested in witchcraft, she realized it wasn’t something that had to be tied to religion, but rather the elements. “I started looking more into what witchcraft was and it was very much using nature and the Earth in your practice or worship. It doesn’t always have to be super religious though,” she said. “That really seemed comfortable to me and that seemed like what I wanted to do … I picked up along the way that witchcraft was mostly a connection to nature and to the powers you feel.” While the idea of witchcraft may conjure images of potions and cauldrons, the true practice is more modest.
FACULTY AND STAFF MIXER
THURSDAY, APRIL 20 4:00 – 6:00 PM Join your colleagues to mingle and enjoy a special tasting of Myron’s spring seasonal menu featuring tequila grilled shrimp skewers, roasted strawberry salad, croque-monsieur and harvest pasta plus beer and wine for a cost of $5 per guest. For more info, visit calpolydining.com/myrons.
OPINION 6
MUSTANG NEWS
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In response to ‘Return to rationality’ Austen Ford is an environmental management and protection freshman. Letters to the editor do not reflect the viewpoints or editorial coverage of Mustang News. To submit a letter to the editor, review Mustang News’ submission policy and guidelines online. Send your letters to editor@mustangnews.net
Austen Ford Special to Mustang News
I would like to take this opportunity to discuss the “rationality” of the most recent opinion column in Mustang News. While the words expressed may not represent the opinions or beliefs of Mustang News, setting the precedent for an article so illogical and unfounded in rationality is a dangerous statement. While I respect the opinions of the author, I’d like to examine [the] statements and arguments made in this article. The author utilizes a false equivalency fallacy. In comparing drinking age to homosexuality, he breaks one of the cardinal sins of rationality and logic. Lowering the drinking age is an example of a public safety argument. While I may agree with the author that a high drinking age may need to be rethought, implying the argument for lowering the drinking age is somehow like the desire of two (or more) queer persons loving each other is frankly ridiculous. Inside this false equivalency fallacy there is yet another logical leap largely looked upon by
rational thinkers as a slippery slope fallacy: “No matter where the border is drawn, there are always those below the border just as responsible as those above … once we lower [the drinking age] to 20, then the same logic demands we lower it to 19, then 18, and so on.” In an article that decries the use of a slippery slope in the article title, I find it unreasonable for a “fan of rationality” to publish something so irrational. My second critique of this piece is to discuss its thinly veiled bigotry. In utilizing another false equivalency fallacy by equating the arguments for homosexuality to arguments for incest, the author compares two radically different ideas. Incest is a biological and moral dilemma, while homosexuality is a sexual orientation. The comparison to incest makes me, a member of the queer community, feel ostracized and looked down upon as a freak, as some might look upon incestuous relations. That’s not the kind of message [Mustang News] should be pro-
moting in [the] paper. Whilst again, it is an opinion piece, looking through the eyes of a reader it seems as if the paper doesn’t care to critique pieces written for them before publication, instead giving free reign to columnists to write whatever inflammatory rhetoric they believe.
identifying as mythical creatures (Otherkins), or laws, such as in Portland, allowing furries to mate and defecate in public dog parks.” This statement is sourced from an article on “Real News Right Now,” a satirical website with hard-hitting investigative journalism such as “United Airlines Passenger Given Parachute and Ordered to Leave Plane MidFlight” and “Man Who Had Near-Death Experience Claims Heaven is ‘Overrun by Dinosaurs.’” It’s an atrocity that such a blatantly ridiculous statement was not examined by the editor, let alone published and touted as fact in an article that could already be construed as controversial. It removes all credibility from the piece and some from the paper that hosted it. (After writing this letter but before sending it, reference to this specific example was removed, yet the point still stands.) Editor’s note: The correction explaining this mistake can be find on the online article. It reads, “Correction: A previous version
It’s an atrocity that such a blatantly ridiculous statement was not examined by the editor. The most glaring of errors on the part of the editor is the spreading of a false narrative based on a satirical article. The author made a statement near the conclusion of the original article: “This includes people
of this article included the reference, ‘laws, such as in Portland, allowing flurries to mate and defecate in public dog parks,’ from a satirical article without saying it was satirical. The reference has been removed due to its lack of credibility.” As a queer student at Cal Poly, I’ve enjoyed the main page articles written by the paper over the last few quarters, but as the opinion columns become more and more diluted with unverified information and illogical arguments, the statement “The views expressed in this column do not reflect the viewpoints and editorial coverage of Mustang News,” starts to feel less impactful as any newspaper should at least take cursory glances at their articles to know if they’re spreading false information. In an era of fake news, I’m worried about the spread of disinformation on campus and hope Mustang News takes initiative to combat falsehoods and uphold Cal Poly’s duty as a center of learning.
EDITORS & STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Celina Oseguera MANAGING EDITORS Gurpreet Bhoot, Olivia Proffit BROADCAST NEWS DIRECTOR Chloe Carlson DIRECTORS OF OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT Cara Benson, Hannah Avdalovic NEWS EDITOR Naba Ahmed ARTS EDITOR Gina Randazzo SPORTS EDITOR Ayrton Ostly BROADCAST SPORT PRODUCER Clara Knapp BROADCAST SPORTS DIRECTOR Allison Edmonds SPECIAL SECTIONS COORDINATOR Kristine Xu PHOTO EDITOR Chris Gateley OPINION EDITOR Neil Sandhu HEAD DESIGNER Zack Spanier COPY CHIEF Bryce Aston OUTREACH COORDINATORS Hayley Sakae, Claire Blachowski WEB DEVELOPER Alex Talbott STAFF REPORTERS Sydney Harder, Megan Schellong, James Hayes, Connor McCarthy, Elena Wasserman, Allison Royal, Cecilia Seiter, Brendan Matsuyama, Austin Linthicum, Sabrina Thompson, Nicole Horton, Carly Quinn, Greg Llamas, Olivia Doty, Frances Mylod-Vargas, Mikaela Duhs, Tyler Schilling, Erik Engle, Michael Frank COPY EDITORS Quinn Fish, Andi DiMatteo, Monique Geisen DESIGNERS Kylie Everitt, Aaron Matsuda, Tanner Layton OPINION COLUMNISTS Elias Atienza, Brendan Abrams, Brandon Bartlett, Abbie Lauten-Scrivner PHOTOGRAPHERS Matthew Lalanne, Sophia O’Keefe, Hanna Crowley, Samantha Mulhern, Andrew Epperson, Christa Lam, Kara Douds, Iliana Arroyos ILLUSTRATOR Roston Johnson
Apology from the editor: On ‘Return to rationality: Homosexuality and the slippery slope’
ART DIRECTOR Erica Patstone PRODUCTION MANAGER Ellen Fabini MARKETING MANAGER Ross Pfeifer ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS Clara Howley, Levi Adissi, Trevor Murchison, Carryn Powers
Celina Oseguera @ CPMustangNews
ADVERTISING DESIGNERS Jacqui Luis, Habib Placencia, Kelly Chiu
Celina Oseguera is a journalism senior and Mustang News editor-in-chief. Everyone has an opinion. Though opinions can fuel debate and conversation, they can hurt people as well. The Mustang News staff and I realize the opinion piece “Return to rationality: Homosexuality and the slippery slope” did more harm than start a conversation. Publishing this opinion piece has caused this campus and the marginalized groups in it a lot of pain and we are deeply sorry. And I’ll be transparent, this piece has angered and hurt many of those on my own staff. Neither the opinion piece writer, opinion editor nor myself intended this piece to cause the pain it did. Its only intent was to reanalyze the arguments sometimes used to support the LGBTQIA community, arguments used to encourage others to accept the sexual orientation as a social norm instead of taboo. It was not meant to target the LGBTQIA community, but to examine the arguments themselves. We as a staff now realize how naive we can be when addressing issues that affect groups of people with whom we don’t share the same experiences. That was ignorant on our part and we apologize. The opinion editor and I did our best to make sure the opinion piece had a clearly formulated argument. We have a strong protocol for how stories are pitched and edited, but “Return to rationality: Homosexuality and the slippery slope” should have received much more attention on our end. For example, there was a factual error that was in the newspaper version that has since been corrected online.This mistake has taught us to be more vigilant than ever. You, our audience, deserve that. To ensure this sort of harm does not occur again, we will add one
ADVERTISING MANAGERS Maddie Spivek, Kristen Corey
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Dylan Ring FACULTY ADVISOR Pat Howe GENERAL MANAGER Paul Bittick
Publishing this opinion piece has caused this campus ... a lot of pain and we are deeply sorry.
WRITE A LETTER Mustang News reserves the right to edit letters for grammar, profanities and length. Letters, commentaries and cartoons do not represent the views of Mustang News. Please limit length to 700 words. Letters should include the writer’s full name, phone number, major and class standing. Letters must come from a Cal Poly email account. Do not send letters as an attachment. Please send the text in the body of the email. EMAIL editor@mustangnews.net ADVERTISING EMAIL advertising@mustangnews.net MAIL Letters to the Editor Building 26, Room 226 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
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more step to the writing and editing process for opinion pieces or articles that involve sensitive topics — speaking to groups or people whom an opinion piece can potentially affect. We did not reach out to any individuals that are part of or connected to the LGBTQIA community to read “Return to rationality: Homosexuality and the slippery slope” and give us feedback before we published, and for that I also apologize. We will take steps to build stronger relationships with different communities on campus in order to receive feedback on opinion pieces that may affect them. And we encourage any group on campus who feels they can teach us to be more inclusive and informative in our writing on these sensitive topics to please contact me at editor@mustangnews.net and pitch me your ideas for how you would like to make this happen — we are open to ideas such as diver-
PETER GONZALEZ | MUSTA NG NE W S
| Pictured above is Celina Oseguera, the editor-in-chief for Mustang News.
sity workshops for reporters or a session on how to sensitively write about LGBTQIA issues. Though we have members on staff who have these experiences and can teach us, I feel learning from our audience is necessary since we serve you and would like to hear your voices, not our own. You can email me about things beyond just possible workshops or sessions. You can contact me about any concerns you have. If you would like to write a letter to the editor in response to the opinion piece or anything that is on your mind, my email is open. I understand not everyone feels safe publishing their name in this way. If that is the case, you and I can meet and talk about your thoughts and we can discuss how to publish your story/thoughts another way. If you choose to write a letter to the editor concerning the opinion piece, we will add it to the ongoing list of letters to the editor that are on www.
mustangnews.net right now. There is a post on our website dedicated to the letters concerning “Return to rationality: Homosexuality and the slippery slope” that many of you have already sent in. Though the opinion piece has caused harm, we will not remove it from the website as many of you have requested. We have a no-takedown policy here at Mustang News. We only take down articles that are potentially libelous or have such egregious factual errors to where the entire premise of the article is invalid. We have never taken an article down in the time I’ve been here (four years) for this reason yet. Instead, if there are errors, we have corrected them and made notes on the online article so people understand the mistake, our retraction and the process. For “Return to rationality: Homosexuality and the slippery slope,” we made some factual errors, but we have both corrected them and have written
this editorial to explain the situation. We aren’t keeping the opinion piece up just because of this policy. We are also keeping it up as a reminder to both ourselves and you, our readers, that we could have done so much better. It will remind us of what to never do again and it will remind you that you have every right to question and call out your media. My email, the newsroom phone line and newsroom itself is open to anyone who would like to talk about the opinion piece and the pain it caused. We are here to serve you and that means being transparent and listening to what you have to say. Once again, we apologize, and we are ready to do what we can to regain your trust as a reliable news source. We realize this may take some time, but we strive to amend our relationship with everyone we hurt.
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CORRECTIONS Mustang News takes pride in publishing daily news for the Cal Poly campus and the neighboring community. We appreciate your readership and are thankful for your careful reading. Please send your correction suggestions to editor@ mustangnews.net.
NOTICES Mustang News is a “designated public forum.” Student editors have full authority to make all content decisions without censorship or advance approval.
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SPORTS 8
THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017
Mustangs trample CSU Bakersfield 10-2
R ACKING UP RUNS
MATT LALANNE | MUSTA NG NE W S
| With the win Tuesday night, the Mustangs have won six of their last eight games by a combined 61-29. The win puts them in third place in the Big West halfway through the season.
Ayrton Ostly @ AyrtonOstly
The Cal Poly baseball team scored early and often in a 10-2 win on the road against CSU Bakersfield (19-13) Tuesday night. The Mustangs (16-19) started off the game with a solo home run by sophomore center fielder Alex McKenna in the top of the first inning. Junior left fielder Josh George later singled up the middle to plate freshman third baseman Bradley Beesley and sophomore shortstop Kyle Marinconz scored on a balk to give the Mustangs a 3-0 lead
early on. Beesley hit a line drive out to center field to score freshman catcher Myles Emmerson in the top of the second. Marinconz later scored McKenna on a sacrifice fly to push the Mustangs’ lead to 5-0 through two innings. Cal Poly continued its breakneck pace in the third inning starting with junior first baseman Elijah Skipps scoring a run when McKenna was hit by a pitch. Beesley then tripled to right center field, scoring McKenna, Emmerson and freshman second baseman Scott Ogrin. Marinconz flied out to left field
This win marks the sixth win in the past eight games for the Mustangs.
to bring Beesley home. The Roadrunners had little answer to the Mustangs’ prolific scoring. Garrett Nimmo gave up nine runs in two and onethird innings and was pulled for Isaac Meza, who had little success, as well. Cal Poly junior pitcher Kyle Smith struck out three in five and two-thirds innings pitched in his first win of the season. CSU Bakersfield finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth as David Metzgar scored on a fielder’s choice. The Roadrunners notched another run on an RBI walk that scored
Max Carter in the bottom of the eighth. It was too little too late for the home team as the 10-2 deficit remained for the rest of the game. This win marks the sixth win in the past eight games for the Mustangs. They’ve now won all three of their conference series and sit third in the Big West at 6-3 behind Cal State Fullerton (23-12, 5-1) and Long Beach State (22-13, 7-2). The Mustangs have their biggest series of the season this weekend as they host No. 8 Fullerton starting Friday night at 6 p.m. at Baggett Stadium.