April 23, 2015

Thursday, April 2 3, 20 15

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w w w.mus t angne w s .net

THE DOMINANT DOUBLES DUO Donovan and Pang prep for Big West Tournament Keenan Donath @CPMustangSports

For the Cal Poly men’s tennis team, it was a sign of things to come.

The 2014 NCAA Tournament was a source of experience and confidence for a pair of young Cal Poly hopefuls.

Then-freshman Ben Donovan led his match against the nation’s top-ranked collegiate tennis player before UCLA clinched the overall team victory. Fellow freshman Corey Pang also held his own as the Mustangs’ No. 4 seed. The squad failed to advance, but the stage was set for 2015.

The absence of graduating seniors Marco Comuzzo and Matt Thomson leaves a rather large void in the team’s doubles lineup. If the Mustangs hope to repeat and surpass the results of the 2014 squad, players needed to step up.

Enter Pang and Donovan.

see DUO, pg 8.

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NE WS DIFFERENT STROKES | Sophomores Ben Donovan and Corey Pang have cruised through their season as Cal Poly’s No. 1 doubles team. They will be key in the Mustangs success at the Big West Championships this week.

Queer Student Union to give Cal Poly its first drag show

QUEER STUDENT UNION | COURTESY PHOTO FRANCES GRIFFEY | MUSTANG NE WS NOT ENOUGH | Many CLA faculty members are unhappy with the low pay they receive from Cal Poly.

CLA dean addresses faculty salaries Frances Griffey Special to Mustang News

Cal Poly’s College of Liberal Arts (CLA) Dean Douglas Epperson addressed staff and faculty concerns regarding payment and future budget plans in a discussion on CLA salaries and compensation in Alex and Faye Spanos Theatre on Tuesday afternoon.

“I fully agree that you need and deserve higher salaries — that is unquestionable in my opinion,” Epperson said. “I also recognize and appreciate the degree of frustration that you experience.”

As one of the lowest-paid colleges at Cal Poly, Epperson said CLA tenure-line faculty will receive almost 50 percent of the equity adjustments in step one of the four-step planned equity program. This first step is meant to address inversion and the living wage issue among lower-paid staff.

“That will help close the gap between our salaries and the salaries in some of the other colleges,”

Epperson said. “I’m not saying that’s enough, but that’s progress.”

The absence of reliable and accurate data surrounding the salary issue has contributed to staff and faculty frustration. Epperson said this is because many are getting information from the Sacramento Bee, which reports salary based on the calendar year. This skews data because the university uses the academic year, not the calendar year.

“A lot of the data that’s been distributed is either inaccurate or it’s being interpreted in an inaccurate way because it’s been de-contextualized. That then fuels frustration even more because it makes the problem look even more extreme than it probably really is,” Epperson said.

History professor and Cal Poly Academic Senator Manzar Foroohar said faculty morale is at an all-time low.

see SALARIES, pg 3.

FIRST FOR EVERYTHING | The Queer Student Union will shed light on issues often swept under the rug.

Will Peischel @CPMustangArts

In the 109 years that Cal Poly has existed, there has never been a drag show on campus.

That’s about to change.

The Queer Student Union (QSU) will host a drag show in Chumash Auditorium at 8 p.m. on Thursday. The show will take the format of a play, featuring multiple acts, group numbers and dialogue.

The new student organization has already made waves this year for organizing the “shitin” to promote gender neutral bathrooms on campus.

According to co-founder theatre and dance senior Rotem Drori, the primary goal of the event is to entertain, but there will be educational aspects as well.

“It’s just supposed to be a fun, entertaining night that people can come and enjoy for free and learn something about the world of drag and become a bit more knowledgeable about the queer community,” Drori said. “It’s not meant to be controversial or rub things in people’s faces.”

He noted that while some thematic topics of

the play could be seen as controversial, they would be addressed in a dialogue following the performance.

The production and talents are exclusively student-run. Drori wrote the show himself.

Adam Serafin, the QSU advisor and Pride Center assistant coordinator, sees the show as an opportunity for students of all backgrounds to come and learn about the club and a niche of the queer community that isn’t always clearly represented in culture.

“I think this has the opportunity to bring people in that might not normally go to a queer event. I think it can do some of that as far as raising awareness,” Serafin said. “The show also has the opportunity to educate people while they’re there.”

Drori intends for the event to draw in people of all backgrounds and remain completely inclusive.

“We just wanted to entertain everyone who would show up,” he said. “We’re telling everybody. We’re not looking for people only supportive of the queer community. We’re not keeping anybody out. Doors are open and entrance is free.”

News... 1-3 | Arts... 4-5 | Opinion... 6 | Classifieds... 7 | Sports... 8

Thursday, April 23, 2015

NEWS | 2

JASON HUNG | MUSTANG NE WS COMING SOON

| Alpha Gamma Delta will come to campus in Winter 2016, followed by Delta Gamma in Winter 2018. The two organizations will become the 10th and 11th Panhellenic sororities on campus.

New sororities to join Cal Poly greek life Olivia Proffit @ojproffit

On Tuesday, the Cal Poly Panhellenic Council voted for two organizations to join Cal Poly sorority life over the next three years, with sorority Alpha Gamma Delta coming in Winter 2016 and women’s fraternity Delta Gamma coming in Winter 2018.

Fraternity and Sorority Life Coordinator Travis Roberts will send the organizations a formal invitation to join the campus that they can accept or reject. Panhellenic should hear back from the groups in about a week, according to Roberts.

Roberts expects both organizations will accept their invitations, he said.

The need to extend sorority life stems from large class sizes. For Fall 2014 Recruitment,

each sorority chapter had a pledge class quota of 83 girls, but almost all chapters had a larger class than that. Sororities became concerned that they couldn’t manage all of the new members and that the following years would be the same, according to Roberts.

“I’m glad that we voted for both of these groups,” Roberts said. “I’m glad that the community is in favor of reducing class sizes. I think that’s our main concern as the advisors — making sure our women feel safe and comfortable in their organizations. So I’m very happy with this vote.”

With large numbers of members, problems start to arise when events roll around and the sororities need to plan and reserve rooms with the intention of having the entire chapter in one space, Roberts said.

“We have seen a lot of women interested in going through recruitment, so that’s another reason why we’re interested in extending,” Roberts said.

In July 2014, administration noticed women were registering for recruitment at a higher frequency than previous years. When sorority members returned to campus for the school year, they became concerned with the amount of potential new members as well and approached administration about the possibility of extending, according to Roberts.

“In the past years, there have been a lot of growth and interest for joining Panhellenic sororities and greek life in general,” Panhellenic President and business administration junior Kristen Henry said. “By having more houses, it’s more options

for people to join and take the stress of having enormous pledge classes off of the houses that are already here.”

The organizations will be joining campus by stacking, which is when two organizations join campus within a few years of each other. The National Panhellenic Conference rules there needs to be at least two formal recruitments between each sorority’s installations to allow time for the first group to become established on campus, Roberts said.

“I think that these organizations are going to be a great asset to our community, and I don’t think they’re going to be competition at all,” Roberts said. “I think they’ll fit in because their mindset is that they want to have that Panhellenic community and Panhellenic spirit, and I think that both

groups will have that.”

When the groups come during the winter, they will hold an informal recruitment that involves weeks of interviews to establish the colony. The chapter’s headquarters will be in charge of this recruitment. The group of girls they put together will be able to participate in formal fall recruitment with the rest of the sororities, according to Henry.

Delta Gamma and Alpha Gamma Delta were specifically chosen through a mutual process. Panhellenic voted to extend the number of sororities at Cal Poly in Fall 2014. The National Panhellenic Council then sent a newsletter to all 26 national sororities regarding Cal Poly’s wish to extend. Three sororities — Delta Gamma, Alpha Gamma Delta and Kappa Delta — sent applications to

Cal Poly, which the extension committee reviewed. Invitations to visit campus were then extended to all three organizations, but Kappa Delta denied the invitation.

Delta Gamma and Alpha Gamma Delta gave presentations to the Panhellenic Council, extension committee and administration in Fall 2014.

The extension committee debriefed after that presentation and decided it was interested in inviting both groups to join Cal Poly greek life. The committee presented a proposal to Panhellenic that passed by a majority vote on April 21.

“We were really impressed by their presentations when they came to visit. I think they’ll make a really good fit and I’m excited for what they’re going to bring to the whole community,” Henry said.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

NEWS | 3

Free services you didn’t know about in SLO Maria Zelada Special to Mustang News Free? Like the sound of that, right? Well, check out these untapped services provided to currently enrolled students for little or no charge.

Diet-management services Pulse is a peer health education program that offers many resources to students. Their programs vary from information on sexual well-being to nutrition education.

HEAT, one of the programs, deals with nutrition, fitness and diet. They offer services to manage diets and stay healthy.

Isamar Hernandez, a sophomore agriculture major, tried their dietary analysis.

“It’s basically writing down everything and how much of something that you ate in 24 hours,” she said. “You’re supposed to eat like it’s a normal day to get the best results.”

On the day of the appointment, the information is entered into a computer that analyzes nutrition intake, she said.

“It shows your calories and vitamins, but it also shows how much you’re eating compared to how much you’re supposed to be eating,” she said. “She showed me that I was eating way too much protein and not exercising enough, so I was storing it all, which is what was causing me to gain weight.”

After analyzing diets, the program goes one step fur-

SALARIES continued from pg 1.

“I have been working here at Cal Poly for 28 years,” she said. “I have never seen faculty this angry.”

Like many staff and faculty members, Foroohar questions why so much money has gone toward administration instead of faculty. She thinks the budget allocation should reflect the mission of teaching in the university.

ther: It demonstrates how to eat healthy.

“They also showed me correct portion sizes and alternatives to the unhealthy things I was eating,” she said. “Like instead of regular chips, I could eat pita chips and hummus, which have a better nutritive value than Lays.”

Even after the analysis is completed, the option for follow-ups are available. That allows you to stay accountable for what you consume, said Hernandez.

Tax services One of the most unused resources available to students, according to business administration senior and former Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) volunteer Stephanie Tomovich, is tax preparation services. Even with tax season officially over, it’s a service worth noting.

“Not a lot of students use the service,” said Tomovich. “I think it’s because they are unaware of the service or, I assume, have their families handle their taxes.”

VITA is a program run by Cal Poly Orfalea College of Business and staffed by trained accounting students in clinics on Saturdays all over the central coast.

They help represent individuals who have disputes with the IRS and other issues, Tomovich said. However, to qualify for both services you have to meet certain income requirements.

For more information about the services for next year, call (805)

756-2667.

Counseling services If students feel like they need to talk to someone, Cal Poly offers counseling services that cater to specific needs.

An appointment consists of meeting with a therapist for an initial review of a student’s situation and then placing them in a counseling environment that will fit their needs — whether individual, group or couples counseling and referrals if further counseling is needed.

The official website says it also provides RIO (Recognition/Insight/Openness), a program for students with hectic schedules that can not find the time for sessions. This allows students to complete the program on

“Budget allocation should be focused on instruction,” she said. “(It) should be focused on hiring more faculty so we can teach more students, instead of going to administration.”

Foroohar submitted a resolution to the Academic Senate yesterday, which summarized the demands of faculty concerning salary and allocation.

“Basically what we are asking for is, on one hand, changing the bud-

get allocation. Second, of course, raising faculty salary as much as possible (and) raising tenure density as much as possible — up to 75 percent in total at least,” she said.

Epperson made it clear that there are many competing needs for funds, but that faculty and staff salaries are the top priority for the new money coming in.

“At the end of the day, to get the best solution, we are going to have to work together,” he said.

JOSEPH PACK | MUSTANG NE WS H E A LT H Y L I V I N G

| H E AT, a pro g r am w it h i n P u l s e, of fe rs d i e t ar y an a ly s e s an d f it n e s s a dv i c e to C a l Poly s tu d e nt s . their own and then meet with a therapist and collaborate on what steps to take next.

Apart from free counseling, the Transitions Mental Health Association SLO Hotline is available 24 hours a day to provide assistance in emergency mental health situations.

To schedule an appointment for any counseling service offered, call (805) 756-2511.

Fitness screening services Body composition testing, blood pressure, heart rate, BMI and skin fold caliber testing are just a few of the fitness tests available through PolyFit. PolyFit is a group of students, mostly kinesiology majors, who help other students live

healthier lives.

Josh D’Cruz, a kinesiology senior and vice president of the student-run organization, said it’s a way to keep track of your fitness goals as well as getting a hold of your fitness information for a lot cheaper.

“They’ll get their body fat percentage and come back a quarter later and see how it’s changed and create their fitness goals based on that,” D’Cruz said.

It’s a service that can be used many times to monitor health and fitness levels, he said.

“A lot of students end up coming back to us over time,” he said. “They kind of use those as fitness markers.”

An appointment can be

made by emailing PolyFit at polyfit.scheduling@gmail.com.

Legal services Free legal advice and counseling is easily accessible to students through the San Luis Obispo County Bar Association’s hotline — the SLOLAWLINE. Manned by Cal Poly volunteer interns, the program provides free legal advice and referrals to the San Luis Obispo community.

They also offer callers who can not afford any legal services, steps and resources on how to access and find those means.

The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and can be reached by calling (805) 548-8884.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

ARTS | 4

Transgender activist Jessica Lynn to speak in UU Thursday Annie Vainshtein @AnnieVain

Public speaker Jessica Lynn will hold a workshop at Julian A. McPhee University Union (room 220) at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Lynn is the president of Your True Gender, an organization that serves to educate communities about transgender issues.

Lynn came into the limelight after a long battle with the state of Texas, where she was stripped of her parental rights after her sex change. After numerous attempts to retract the decision, Lynn decided the best thing she could do was to educate and empower as many people as she could.

Hosted on behalf of the Pride Center, the session will cover subjects often ignored and broaden awareness about various trans issues. Students who attend will have the opportunity to hear Lynn’s personal story and ask questions.

“The whole goal is to help educate,” Lynn said. “The session is for anyone that’s curious.”

Pride Center assistant coordinator Adam Serafin said these talks hold great value.

“I think there’s a lot of students that have little or no knowledge of trans-competencies, trans-experiences, or trans-identity,” he said. “Some of that is just hearing

JESSICA LYNN | COURTESY PRIDE | Jessica Lynn holds workshops to open up gender discussion.

Jessica’s story.”

Students could stand to learn a lot from the talk, he said.

“Gaining some sort of empathy can hopefully translate into sparking action,” Serafin said.

In terms of campus climate and creating any sort of change, fostering an inclusive environment is essential.

“Jessica sets the stage for beginning the conversation and raising awareness for folks,” he said.

Lynn emailed every professor at

Cal Poly in the hopes of garnering interest and awareness. She’s visited high schools, churches, colleges and everything in between.

Eventually she hopes to travel all around the nation.

“People need to understand that we are not freaks — we’re every day normal people that are just born a little bit different,” she said.

“It’s such a dark thing — the most difficult thing you could imagine facing, especially alone.”

The session will start at 6 p.m.

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Thursday, April 23, 2015

ARTS | 5

‘While We’re Young:’ Friendly, funny and tastefully critical

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MISS out JOSEPH PACK | MUSTANG NE WS PATHALOGICALLY HAPPY | “While We’re Young” captures adulthood struggles in an accessible way.

David Llamas @CPMustangArts

“While We’re Young” opens with 40-somethings Josh (Ben Stiller) and Cornelia (Naomi Watts) struggling to make sense of their friends’ newborn baby — and adulthood in general.

Just entering middle-age, Josh and Cornelia are dealing with childlessness and Josh’s own occupational angst as a documentary filmmaker. Their lives are shaken up by the self-diagnosed “pathologically happy” Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried).

The younger couple lead a life which appears totally spontaneous and genuine, complete with old-timey typewriters and Darby’s homemade ice cream.

Jamie and Josh share a passion for documentary filmmaking, and the two quickly develop a friendship that is both personal and professional. Moved by the liveliness of their new 20-something friends, Cornelia takes hip-hop dance classes and Josh begins wearing a fedora — a questionable decision at any age.

“You’re an old man with a hat,” quips one of Josh’s friends.

More than fedoras and homemade ice cream, “While We’re Young” looks at the generation gap which separates the two couples. Thrilled at first by the sincerity and energy which come so easily to Jamie and Darby, Josh and Cornelia become suspicious of the qualities that first drew them in. When Josh and Jamie begin working on a documentary together, their age gap continues to be highlighted for laughs, but tensions rise as the

differences in their filmmaking philosophies become apparent.

In several scenes, quiet moments between characters are interrupted by Jamie, holding his GoPro camera close to the drama. Moments like these act as a running gag, but also cast doubt on Jamie’s sincerity, and cause the viewer to ask if he and his ilk are as genuine as they appear, or if they are just experiencing as much as they can so that it can be documented. Jamie defends these and other actions, saying, “We all want stuff. It doesn’t mean we’re douchebags.”

Moviegoers may better remember director Noah Baumbach for the pair of movies he’s co-written with Wes Anderson: “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” Both Baumbach and Anderson share a love for dysfunctional, eccentric characters.

But without all the stylistic charms — or killer soundtrack — of a Wes Anderson film, Baumbach’s protagonists can come across as outright unlikable.

While Anderson lets us see his characters’ antics in the prettiest possible way, Baumbach — like Stiller’s Josh — is more documentary, letting the weight of selfish or hurtful actions be felt.

(And that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.)

Before watching Baumbach’s last two movies — “Greenberg” and “Frances Ha” — I expected safe-but-quirky romantic comedies about crazy-yet-lovable people, but found something entirely different. Instead of smiling as the credits rolled, I felt a pit in my stomach — you know, the kind of catharsis that

goes with movies that aren’t ‘90s teen comedies.

But “While We’re Young” is different. Baumbach has found a middle ground between more outright happy-buddy movies and past comedic character sketches. Without glossing over the harshness of his characters, Baumbach has created a more traditional comedy, which manages to avoid the contrived misunderstandings which take the place of actual conflict in lots of comedies.

The joy of the film lies not only in the generation gap between characters, but between its two male leads as well. The days of “Meet the Parents” and “Zoolander” far behind him, Stiller is graceful as the object of jokes throughout the film while still more than convincingly comedic himself. (Wouldn’t Derek Zoolander cry if he saw the fedora stuck on Ben Stiller’s head for half of “While We’re Young?”)

At the same time, Adam Driver’s quirky line deliveries and distinct cadence endear him to the viewer just as his character charms Josh and Cornelia. While their characters find themselves alternately at odds and in agreement with each other, Stiller and Driver anchor both the comedy and the generational difference of “While We’re Young.”

Through the movie, Baumbach doesn’t strong-arm the audience into accepting the viewpoint of either generation. And though the film questions the sincerity of the younger generation while showcasing the aimlessness of its older cast, it never feels cynical or disdainful toward either.

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Thursday, April 23, 2015

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Thursday, April 23, 2015 Publishing since 1916 “That doesn’t make you look anymore ethnic.”

Can the golf industry stay on par?

Amelia Parreira @AmeliaParreira

Amelia Parreira is a journalism junior and Mustang News sports columnist.

These views do not necessarily reflect the opinion or editorial coverage of Mustang News.

Almost every weekend for about a year, I prepared and set up a buffet luncheon at the event center of one of the local golf clubs. Around noon, I’d stand by as dozens of hungry golfers poured into the building after spending hours on the green.

With their faces as red as sundried tomatoes and beads of sweat smeared on their skin, the golfers sported looks of satisfied exhaustion as they feasted and awaited the final tournament results. Just another typical afternoon.

I thought I had golf society all figured out. But I really didn’t know as much as I thought.

Over the past couple of years, it seemed to me that golf was becoming a more prevalent sport. From peer discussions to news coverage, golf is surrounding me more than ever before. I can’t even turn on a big television network like CBS on Sunday mornings without catching a live tournament.

But is the world of golf really spreading throughout modern society?

Nope. It turns out to be one giant illusion.

In fact, The National Golf Foundation reported that the amount of golfers has decreased by 13 percent in the past five years, an all-time low.

A 2014 article from CNBC places much of the blame on Tiger Woods, who was formerly known for his “Best Male Athlete” awards and other achievements.

The article claims Woods’ successful career sparked an increase in public interest in the sport. However, people began to turn their heads once he hit a personal

crisis that left them skeptical.

While this may have had some effect on golf popularity, it’s time to look at the bigger picture.

One sport contains thousands of participants. To put that much emphasis and supremacy on one of them alone is just silly.

Instead, let’s look at the three things that play a big part in the golf world and its decreasing popularity: money, time and mere interest.

Economic affluence has played a major role in golf from the time it kicked off in the late 1800s. Long story short, it all started when a bunch of rich guys, including John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, decided to put their wealth toward big club developments that would eventually serve to make an even bigger profit.

From memberships to equipment, golf is undoubtedly an expensive sport, which is why it is more common for upper- and middle-class citizens to actively participate. The National Sporting Goods Association reported that, in 2011 alone, a total of $3.56 billion was spent on golf equipment, though that equipment only had a total value of $2.5 billion.

When the recession hit in 2007, those who could afford club memberships before were forced to give up that luxury. It wasn’t until 2011 when the game picked up pace once again, contributing $70 billion to America’s economy in one year. Even though many big golf clubs have slashed their prices by thousands of dollars, there are still a fair amount of people who cannot afford it and therefore do not play golf as frequently.

Now let’s look at the second reason why golf presently sees a decline in popularity: time.

Completing an 18-hole round of golf takes a minimum of four hours.

That’s more time than I spend sleeping most nights.

Now let’s say you’re competing in a

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NE WS

tournament with a couple hundred people. That could take as much as an entire day.

Maybe that doesn’t seem so bad if you literally have nothing else to do (or just don’t care about doing anything else).

But in today’s society, more people need to tend to family, friends, loved ones and tasks that request their attention, especially young and middle-aged adults.

So who really has the time and energy for that?

That brings me to my final point: Golf presents a conflict of interest, mainly based on age.

Golf is peculiar when it comes to its viewers and participants. The majority of golfers are over 50, yet professional golf receives more attention if the all-stars are young. However, many youngsters

become uninterested in the game since they all think the sport is meant for older generations.

Basically, it’s one big circle of dissatisfaction.

This past year, a whopping 200,000 golfers under the age of 35 dropped their place in the sport. If this trend persists, it will be even less possible to gain rising stars such as four-time major champion Rory McIlroy or 2015 Masters champion Jordan Spieth.

For now, golf remains in a rut, but it’s up to our future generations to keep it from sinking deeper in the sand.

It’s up to our young golf lovers to turn the sport around so it becomes more of an interest and less of a hassle for players and viewers.

Would you be up for that challenge?

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Thursday, April 23, 2015

SPORTS | 8

You either have it or you don’t, and I think me and Ben have that.

COREY PANG

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NE WS VERSATILE | While their presence as a doubles team is massive, both Pang (left) and Donovan (right) are crucial in the Cal Poly men’s tennis team’s singles lineup. Both players have winning records in their sophomore campaigns.

DUO continued from pg 1.

So far this year, the sophomores have amassed a 16-2 record playing together with an unblemished 5-0 record in conference play.

In addition to collecting crucial doubles victories, Donovan has a record of 19-12 on the year, usually at the No. 1 slot, while Pang is not far behind him at 15-12. The duo’s doubles play has been the anchor for a No. 54 team in the nation.

Looking at Donovan and Pang, they aren’t exactly two of a kind, let alone potentially the most successful doubles team in the school’s history. Pang is conservatively listed at 6-foot5 on the team’s roster, while

Donovan is listed at 5-foot-10.

They may not be clones of each other, like famed American doubles partners (and identical twins) Bob and Mike Bryan, but their games complement each other in a way that is conducive to producing results on the court.

“It’s not something you can make,” Pang said. “You either have it or you don’t, and I think me and Ben have that.”

Donovan grew up in several states, following wherever tennis took him, spending time in New York, Tennessee and tennis academies in Texas and Orange County before he took his talents to San Luis Obispo.

The gritty player is known for his relentless returns.

Pang, on the other hand,

dominated the public school circuit in the Bay Area, making his name for himself as a top-ranked recruit with a cool demeanor and a nasty serve.

The level-headed Carlmont High School product helps keep an often fiery Donovan level headed in the game’s most tense situations.

“I definitely lose my mind out there on the court and when we are playing doubles,” Donovan said. “He is the one who calms me down.”

Though wildly different, their unlikely chemistry doesn’t seem to stick out among an uncommonly tight team.

Pang’s strong serve and Donovan’s fine return tactics have morphed together to create an immovable obstacle for Cal Po-

ly’s opponents. While the height difference doesn’t seem out of the ordinary for them, it does present a challenge for unfamiliar opponents.

“I think its a mental thing,” Donovan said. “They see Corey go out there and pump four quick serves, and when we are returning they see me cracking returns right back at them.”

The height difference has an effect that mirrors the personality difference.

“They balance each other really well out there on the court,” Cal Poly head coach Nick Carless said. “Corey’s kind of a laid back guy, but if you see him on the court he has some fire to him as well. I think they have a lot of confidence, so that allows them to play really loose and

aggressive doubles.”

They make up the nucleus of a team that also boasts sophomore Garrett Auproux (19-11) and steady senior Naveen Beasley (15-15) as other key contributors. The pair has arguably established their place at the top of the Big West, despite going just 3-2 in conference play this year.

A good crop of young talent led by Carless, the reigning Big West Coach of the Year, points to future success for the Mustangs’ tennis program.

Currently one of the school’s best athletic programs, the Cal Poly tennis team will start to demand more and more attention as they creep further and further in the postseason. As this year’s team hopes to make a

run in the NCAA Tournament, look for Donovan and Pang to provide critical victories as well as the kind of emotional momentum that is needed in the pressure-packed sport of NCAA tennis.

The Big West Tournament at Indian Wells Tennis Garden is the final stepping stone to a repeat appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Pang and Donovan will likely be the catalysts for the Cal Poly squad in its first matchup against UC Riverside, set to begin at 9 a.m on Thursday.

“We are focused on keeping our energy up so courts 2 and 3 can feed off of it,” Donovan said. “That’s the mentality we want to have for the culture of this team.”