April 28, 2016 by Mustang News

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Cal Poly Cat Program:

Providing homes and learning oppurrtunities Carly Quinn @carlyaquinn

Hundreds of feral cats used to run across campus, eating rodents and anything else they could scavenge from the agriculture department. By 1992, animal science senior Garret Quindimil used the overpopulation problem to fuel his senior project. This project became the Cal Poly Cat Program. The cat shelter started off with 10 feeding stations for the feral cats. It then blossomed into a fully functional shelter located near the agriculture fields. Now, these cats get the help they need to find a good home while the Cal Poly veterinarian program puts this facility to use on a different level. Cal Poly locksmith and co-director of the shelter Edie Griffin-Shaw has volunteered there since it opened. She reached out to the school’s veterinary program in 2014 to begin the lasting working relationship these two programs have. “Students benefit by having hands-on experience with all types of cats, from tame to feral, with medical and behavioral issues,” Shaw said. “The program benefits by having extra shelter help, gaining new volunteers, but most important is the enthusiasm, fresh ideas and knowledge gained from students, Dr. Staniec and the vet science staff and faculty.” Animal science lecturer Jennifer Staniec uses the cats to give her students hands-on experience that coincides with Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing motto. Whether the cats are healthy or sick, students can practice anything from vaccinations to treating wounds. Continued on page 5

GEORGIE DE MATTOS | MUSTANG NE WS FELINE FINE | The Cal Poly Cat Program has worked in connection with the university's veterinary program since 2014, providing valuable learning experience for students, from vaccinations to treating wounds.

The Anthem Poetry Slam rises above the hubbub

CHRISTA LAM | MUSTANG NE WS CLOSE CALL | Cal's three-run sixth inning kept the Mustangs from stealing a win on Tuesday night.

KATY BARNARD | MUSTANG NE WS A VOICE

| Slam poets such as Tucker Bryant expressed themselves through spoken word Monday.

Brendan Abrams @brenabrams

At 6:39 p.m. Monday, the second floor of the Julian A. McPhee University Union (UU) was bustling, as it always is, with students toting Starbucks cups as they looked for open spots to sit down and study. An insulating hubbub protected any single voice from rising above the rest. But a minute later, the vast room was dead silent. “What did he say?” one girl whispered. “A poetry slam?” Nobody had noticed the line

of people that had surreptitiously formed outside the doors to Chumash Auditorium, and by this point was snaking through tables all the way to Associated Student Inc.’s (ASI) main office. Not until that line burst into cheers at the mention of the 10th annual Anthem Poetry Slam, that is. That line became a substantial crowd once inside the auditorium, and it kept cheering (and yelping and howling) for a few voices which rose above the rest. For the uninitiated, a poetry slam is an event during which poets perform their work for an

audience with fiery passion and solemn sincerity. The poets tell stories and bring experiences to life with striking metaphors and razor-sharp descriptions. Typically, judges assign numerical scores to each performance, but just as in “Whose Line is it Anyway?”, everything’s made up and the points don’t matter. In fact, the preferred unisonous audience response to each announcement of scores was proclaimed to be a lusty “Who gives a fuck?” right from the beginning. Continued on page 2

Baseball’s upset bid comes up short against No. 24 Cal Tommy Tran @tommytran_

One bad inning was all it took for the Cal Poly baseball team to fall 5-4 to California on Tuesday night in Berkeley. The Mustangs, recently ranked No. 29 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll, looked for a strong showing in their rematch against No. 24 Cal, after losing to the Golden Bears 7-1 at home on April 12. Cal Poly took an early lead in Tuesday’s nonconference game, but poor play in a single inning cost the Mustangs the game,

and led to a repeat of the Golden Bears’ six-run fourth inning during the previous matchup. Freshman shortstop and leadoff hitter Kyle Marinconz got the game started by coming home on junior center fielder Brett Barbier’s sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning. Marinconz scored again in the third inning on another sac fly, this time by right fielder John Schuknecht, to increase Cal Poly’s lead 2-0. Cal put up a run in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the lead 2-1, but Barbier scored on a sac fly by junior third baseman Michael Sanderson in the Mus-

Arts... 2-3 | News... 4-5 | Classifieds... 7 | Sports... 8

tangs’ next chance at bat. Meanwhile, freshman pitcher Bobby Ay was dicing up Golden Bears’ bats in his first collegiate start, allowing only one earned run and three hits in five innings pitched. However, a pitching change in the sixth inning quickly shifted the game to Cal’s favor. Freshman pitcher Thomas Triantos gave up a two-run home run to Cal junior second baseman Robbie Tenerowicz, tying the game at 3-3, then gave up back-to-back doubles to surrender the lead. Continued on page 8

Thursday, April 28, 2016

ARTS | 2

Film review: ‘Midnight Special’ not exactly special Greg Llamas @CPMustangNews

Greg Llamas is a journalism junior and Mustang News film columnist. Usually, I like it when someone suggests a movie to me. So when a friend of mine suggested that I go see Midnight Special, I was more than willing to see it. After all, we generally have the same taste when it comes to movies, and I’d seen that it had some pretty good reviews. But after watching it, I don’t think I’ll be taking suggestions from my friend ever again. Midnight Special, written and directed by Jeff Nichols, isn’t a total abomination of a film; in fact, it’s got a really good premise. But after I left the theater, I couldn’t help but feel that it had a lot of wasted potential. Nichols starts off Midnight Special in an interesting way. We’re thrust into the story immediately. Michael Shannon stars as Roy, a former member of a religious cult known as The Ranch. He is on the run from The Ranch with his 8-year-old son Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), who’s revealed to have supernatural powers, and childhood friend Lucas (Joel Edgerton). Along with Alton’s mother Sarah (Kirsten Dunst), they try to hide him from the religious cult. Believing that Alton is a sort of

Continued from page 1

Content and spirit were valued far more than points. Saying that everything is made up might be a bit misleading. The professional poets who visited Monday night may have creatively written their pieces, but the material refers to entirely real and startlingly personal experiences. Take Doc Luben. With a fervency suggesting that he might jump right out of his very stylish pants, he first encapsulated his struggles with mental illness into a pseudo-story about the “mistakes” video game developers leave behind in their code. “I’m a hacker!” he explained, referring to an incident when

savior, The Ranch sends two of its him the most likable character in members to take him back from the film. Sevier was shown to be a his parents. character that is quirky and awkAfter learning that Alton can ward, yet kind, and more underdecode government secrets with standing of Alton’s dilemma than his powers, government agencies, the rest of the government agents. led by Paul Sevier (Adam Driver), Unfortunately, Sevier was one also become involved in searching of the only characters that I truly for him. liked. A running theme with MidIt’s an intriguing story that I had night Special seemed to be wasted at least some interest in seeing. potential, and no character suffers While I didn’t care for Midnight more with this theme than Roy. I Special as a whole, there were really wanted to like him, and the some good elements to the movie. setup was there to make him likThe acting was decent, but Li- able and interesting. He’s a guy on eberher and Driver were both the run, taking his kid away from exceptional in their roles. Alton a cult that he used to be a part of. wasn’t my favorite character, It sounds really compelling, right? but Lieberher managed to But he somehow manages to breathe a little bit of life be one of the less compelinto the film, making ling characters. The Alton one of the film completely more interesting glosses characters. over his Lieberher past reconve yed lation“I’m not sure if I spent Alton’s pain s h i p well, whether with The more time watching it was physical Ranch. the actual film or or emotional, T h i s and at the same wou ld’ve my watch.” time was able to been a great GREG LLAMAS show how much opp or tu n i Alton cares for ty for him to his family. confront his The best character in the film past and to add some tension to was NSA agent Paul Sevier. Driv- the film, but we don’t really get a er, known for his role as Kylo Ren, feel for what his life was like while was great in his role as Sevier, pull- a part of the cult. ing off a performance that made Sarah, who is also a former doctors “tried to unprogram the handfuls of pills I installed.” If that seems like a jarring comparison between inconsequential computer stuff and a terrifying real-life experience, that’s because it’s meant to be. The artistic license afforded by poetry gives unprecedented power to these stories which would otherwise be lost in the hubbub of all the other problems in the world. Sometimes poetry slams acquire a reputation for being a haven to loud and eloquent complainers, but that was far from the truth at The Anthem. The poets were there to give a voice to everyone who shared in their hardships and to everyone who cared for their causes. They enveloped the room with verses everyone could engage in, even if their realism could at times be uncomfortable. It might not have been easy to listen to Rachel Wiley repeat the hurtful lines that have been directed at her due to her struggle with obesity, nor was it easy to hear Tonya Ingram confront the reality of her Lupus diagnosis

or Joshua Merchant relive the dysfunction his sexuality caused in his relationships with family members. The important part is that everyone listened and empathized. We all undergo, in one form or another, versions of the pain that these poets know all too well. Those that have seen the most have the most to say and so those brave voices were given a chance to speak for the rest of us. Perhaps some of the occupants of Chumash Auditorium were inspired to speak up for themselves, while others were motivated to confront their own issues in a similarly bold and spirited manner. Either way, everyone left with an elevated eagerness to live with purpose and panache, galvanized by the scientifically inexplicable power of the medium. Ruben put that newfound desire most succinctly into words in his closing lines. “I want to be a great story to tell,” he said. Of course by then he had already proven himself to be exactly that.

member of the cult, suffers this same problem. We don’t really get a sense of their previous lives as a part of The Ranch, making the two of them shallower characters. Speaking of The Ranch, it’s probably the most interesting part of the film, but also happens to be the most neglected. It mainly appears only near the beginning when the FBI investigates Alton’s connection with it. After that scene, the only time The Ranch plays a decent-sized part is when the two members are searching for Alton. While this scenario could be tense or exciting, we only see them pop up briefly from place to place, and they feel so detached from the rest of the film that what we get of them isn’t that interesting. In fact, as the climax of Midnight Special comes into view, The Ranch drops out of the picture entirely and with very little closure. In a film riddled with disappointment, perhaps the most disappointing part comes from the climax. In what is supposed to be a thrilling emotional ending, I felt only one thing: nothing. I legitimately didn’t care what happened during the ending, and this is one of the few films I’ve seen recently where I had almost zero investment in the main characters. It wasn’t just the characters that made me not care for the ending; it was also the plot setup. To be fair, I know that writing and di-

GEORGIE DE MATTOS | MUSTANG NE WS

recting the same film isn’t easy at all, but the ending that Nichols created was just a ridiculous and overall unsatisfying conclusion to a disappointing film. I really wanted to like Midnight Special and thought it could’ve been really good. It has a great premise, and it stars Adam Driver. He’s the man and I love seeing him act, but I don’t want him to be one of the only bright spots to a film that could’ve been executed much better. It’s impressive that

something that’s only a bit over 100 minutes could feel like it was longer than something like The Lord of the Rings. I’m not sure if I spent more time watching the actual film or my watch. If I have one big issue with Midnight Special, it’s not because of shallow characters or weird plot points; it’s because it wasn’t that interesting to watch. I wouldn’t call it a train wreck of a film, but it’s a sad case of wasted potential.

Thursday, April 28, 2016

ARTS | 3

Exploring Southeast Asia: From majestic waterfalls of Laos to the tragic history of Cambodia PHOTOS BY REBECCA EZRIN | MUSTANG NE WS ‘CIT Y OF TEMPLES’

Rebecca Ezrin @ezrinrebecca

| Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world at 1.6 million square meters in size. Located in Cambodia, the temple is the country’s main tourist attraction. Rebecca Ezrin is a journalism junior studying abroad in Chiang Mai, Thailand. With many class field trips and personal trips planned, her adventures are virtually endless. She aims to share her authentic experiences and what she has learned. Recently, she spent a week traveling through Laos and Cambodia.

On our way to the zip lining site, we were welcomed onto a boat on which multiple locals lived. They were singing, dancing and insisted on giving us beer. Hours later, after we had finished our day, they were still celebrating.

Before entering the Kuang Si Waterfall, just south of Luang Prabang, Laos, is a bear rescue center known as “Free the Bears.” Several black bears residing here have been rescued from illegal wildlife trade. The center is funded by Free the Bears Fund, which works to protect bears in multiple Asian countries. In China, many bears are rescued from bear bile farms, which takes bear milk and uses it for traditional Chinese medicine.

Located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, are the ‘Killing Fields.’ In 1968, the Khmer Rouge became the ruling party of Cambodia. Allying with Northern Vietnam, the Khmer Rouge was a communist party. Pol Pot led the Khmer Rouge and led the Cambodian genocide in 1975, which killed 3 million of the 8 million Cambodian people. Pol Pot killed anybody he deemed threatening to his power. The Khmer Rouge believed that it was better to accidentally kill the innocent than accidentally spare an enemy. The Tat Kuang Si Waterfall is 50-60 meters tall, and tourists must hike to reach the top. The waterfall is famous for its turquoise color and tropical rainforest surrounding. The pools under the waterfall are accessible for swimming.

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Thursday, April 28, 2016

NEWS | 4

Not their first rodeo:

The Cal Poly Rodeo Team Michelle Zaludek @michellenistic

a national level in the past. At this year’s Poly Royal, she placed first in the goat tying event and second in the general women’s all-around division, among other honors in the West Coast Region standings. She said part of her success was due to her familiarity with the culture. Rice grew up on a ranch with parents who were both involved in rodeo. “Rodeo’s a very different sport,” she said. “It’s hard — it’s really hard — for people to actually understand … For me, going and saddling a horse after school to gather cattle was normal, and that’s not normal to a lot of people.” Rice said she can spend the whole day, from early dawn to late night, honing the skills of her and her horse. “What a lot of people don’t un-

The smell of dust, kettle corn and mud pies was thick in the air. And while the clock’s perpetual ticking was perhaps lost on some spectators, members of the Cal Poly Rodeo Team had to account for every second. In a sport where seven seconds on a bull is one too short, but 19 seconds on a horse is one too long, team members have one constant opponent: time. (wait aren’t those two different sports? bull riding and horseback riding?) Cal Poly alumnus and rodeo team coach Ben Londo is familiar with the concept; he’s a three-time rodeo champion for the Columbia River Circuit. Since taking over coaching for Cal Poly’s team in 2013, Londo said he has seen it grow from approximately 20 members to approximately 65. The team only had 15 athletes when it was first established in 1939, according to the rodeo team’s website. “We’ve gone from kind of a rag-tag setup to something pretty state of the art,” Londo said. “And that’s thanks to a lot of the students who donated labor and time, and some donors who doAgricultural communication junior nated materials to make our KATIE RICE practice facility what it is now.” The rodeo team has earned more than 40 national titles since it started, making it one of derstand is, you can play basketthe most winning teams in the ball, you can play whatever, and National Intercollegiate Rodeo your practice goes from 2 to 5,” Association (NIRA). she said. “Ours is all day long. We come out at 6 a.m., practice, Cowboys and cowgirls then we feed the horses. Then we Agricultural communication ju- run to class, then we come back. nior Katie Rice has competed on I clean the stalls and do another

event. I’m here until 9 o’clock at night at least three days a week.” As with most sports, team members have to keep fit. The high-impact, high-intensity demands of the sport require they stay in shape and flexible. Rice said she runs to keep up with the physical demand on top of everything else. For anyone who doesn’t see rodeo as a real sport, Londo said, simply: “I would suggest they come out and give it a shot, and see if it takes athletic talent.” Clowning around Team members aren’t the only people in the ring who have to be ready to take a hit. JJ Harrison, a rodeo clown of eight years who performed at Poly Royal, stays on the ground for the duration of the event. He keeps spectators interested and helps subdue the animals. He said it’s terrifying, yet thrilling. “You know, I think it’s one of those things that’s about respect,” he said. “Because the bull’s running at you and one of two things is going to happen: You can run away or you can get run over.” Harrison was a middle school teacher before taking a sharp turn on his career path to follow the rodeo circuit. An integral part of his job now is to help minimize injuries on the field — he said having the opportunity to keep everyone a little safer is one of the main reasons he stays with it. “There’s a calm that comes over me (while facing a bull), knowing that I’m protecting that cowboy,” he said. “So yeah, I’m going to draw attention to myself. I’m gonna throw my hat, I’m going to

Rodeo’s a very different sport ... It’s hard — it’s really hard — for people to actually understand.

MOLLY LACEY | COURTESY PHOTO MISCONCEPTIONS | Contestant Brody Gill ropes in a steer. Though animal welfare groups oppose the sport, the rodeo team follows strict rules that demand they treat their animals as humanely as possible.

make noise.” Dealing with those animals might not be such a big deal for those involved, except many of the animals that team members ride, rope or wrestle is up to chance. “Luck of the draw is a huge factor in rodeo because so much depends on the speed of your run or your score in the riding events,” Londo said. “When half of the factor that can go into whether your (time in the ring) will win you money depends on the stock, I think you have to go at it with the mentality that you can win on anything. You can’t, but you still have to face it that way.” All fun and games until someone gets hurt While common injuries for people involved in the sport include concussions, broken bones and injured joints, some animal welfare groups, such as the Amer-

ican Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) who openly oppose the rodeo, say it is the animals that are more at risk. However, there are deeply ingrained misconceptions about how the animals are taken care of, according to Londo. The animals are greatly respected, he said, and are given highly nutritional diets packed with vitamins, kept up-todate on vaccinations and are often only worked for a short amount of time each day. “I invite anybody to come out and see how the stock is taken care of, but they’re treated maybe the best out of all of the stock animals,” he said. “To have productive practice we need practice stock that feels good and squirrely, just like I would want you or me to feel good in the field.” Additionally, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), which Londo has been

a member of since 2003, details strict rules regarding humane treatment of the animals. All of that work from different people, all of the time and the possibility of injury, goes into a shot for victory which lasts only a few short seconds. It sounds like such a blip in time for such a high-stake goal, but the Cal Poly Rodeo Team has continued to rack up valuable points in the West Coast Region standings. The women’s division captured first place, and the men’s division took fifth. The most impressive thing may not be the accolades, but how team members can wear the chaps as well as the many hats they are required to wear outside the ring as Cal Poly students. “Really, this is something these students work at every day while juggling academic schedules, jobs and a social life,” Londo said. “It’s something to be admired.”

Thursday, April 28, 2016

NEWS | 5

ASI sees slight increase in voter turnout Naba Ahmed @nabaahmed

More than a quarter of the student population voted in the Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) president and Board of Directors representatives elections. According to ASI Recruitment and Development Committee Chair Seth Borges, 26.2 percent of eligible students (enrolled students who have paid the ASI fee) voted. “I was super pleased with the voter turnout,” Borges said. “We actually had increased by 3 percent from the year before, so that made me super happy.” ASI President-elect and agricultural science junior Jana Co-

lombini received 3,861 votes. Her opponent, mechanical engineering senior Isaias Diaz, received 1,325 votes. ASI received 99 write-in votes for president. Eighty-five of those votes were from individual students, “Bernie Sanders” or “Donald Trump.” The final spot on the Board of Directors for the College of Science and Mathematics has not yet been confirmed. One student did receive enough writein votes and has registered her candidacy to fill the fifth seat. The final 2016-17 Board of Directors list were announced at the April 27 Board of Directors meeeting.

This year’s numbers:

Jana Colombini 3,861 votes

Isaias Diaz 1,325 votes

HANNA CROWLEY | MUSTANG NE WS TURNOUT | Isaias Diaz (center), who ran for ASI president, received 1,325 votes during this year’s elections.

How to get involved:

Buy a $15 T-shirt

Adopt or foster a car

Donate money online or via mail Continued from page 1

GEORGIE DE MATTOS | MUSTANG NE WS BUDDIES | The program rescues, treats and releases feral cats, but it also offers adoption and fostering options.

The class sometimes performs their work at the shelter. But when a more serious problem is presented, the Cal Poly Veterinary Clinic is right across the street. A few months ago, there was a ringworm outbreak among the cats at the shelter. This provided a perfect opportunity for stu-

Volunteer

Donate cat-related items

dents to learn how to treat this illness. It also allowed students to learn about shelter medicine and how to manage sick animals in a populated area. “I think the main goal is understanding that this has been not only a resource for the students, but also the cat shelter,” Staniec said. “We’ve found it as a mutual collaborative relationship between the two.”

The amount of feral cats that wander around campus and in San Luis Obispo has significantly decreased, according to Cat Shelter volunteer Ellen Notermann. “The community doesn’t realize how bad the cat problem would be if we hadn’t started to spay and neuter these cats we get,” Notermann said. “All cats deserve a good home.”

Thursday, April 28, 2016

NEWS | 6

The strangest political column ever Brandon Bartlett @CPMustangNews

Brandon Bartlett is an English sophomore and Mustang News conservative columnist. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints and editorial coverage of Mustang News. OK everyone, brace yourselves. I’m about to violate every rule when it comes to commenting on politics. Are you sitting down yet? Because I’m about to admit that I don’t have enough information to form an opinion on an issue. (GASP!) Everyone still OK? Because it’s about to get even worse. My ignorance is not concerning some random issue, it’s about a hot-button, race-to-your-guns, my-way-or-the-highway issue. That’s right, I don’t know what we should do about transgender individuals and bathrooms. Upon analysis, there seem to be five options, and none of them are very good. The Target option Per Target’s new controversial policy, we could allow individuals to use whichever bathroom fits their gender identity. And while in theory this seems like a great idea, it has one obvious problem: There is no way to verify someone’s gender identity. Consequently, this gives people the ability to go into whichever bathroom or changing room they want. Yes, that sounds like fear-mongering. But I don’t think that is what it is, not fully. Take, for instance, the recent case in Seattle where a man, with no signs of appearing transgender used a public women’s locker room while young girls were changing for swim practice. When told to leave, he merely said “The law has changed. I have a right to be here.” But to specifically address those on the left: If rape culture is even half as problematic as it is claimed to be, is it really a stretch to assume that this rule would be abused? I would think not. In a society where women have to fear walking alone at night, it seems blatantly unwise to allow men into secluded areas with women in substan-

tially more vulnerable states than usual. The rule of thumb It seems as though the worst of this could be avoided if we simply allow people to go into the bathroom in which they appear to belong. But this carries nearly the exact same problem: the abuse of the few. There are already cases of men dressing as women in order to watch or film women and young girls on the toilet, according to The Daily Wire. Of course, this would still be illegal, but that is not quite the point. By codifying this rule of thumb, one takes away the potential safety net of a woman seeing through the disguise. But more to the point: For those who are not filming, and are content merely watching in more subtle voyeuristic ways, we have now taken away all recourse for their victims. Imagine the aforementioned Seattle incident, except the man is in drag. And for the unconvinced liberals, remember rape culture. Unisex Seemingly, this sidesteps the

There is no way to verify someone’s gender identity. Consequently, this gives people the ability to go into whichever bathroom or changing room they want. Brandon Bartlett issue all together. But, unfortunately, it fails in a predictable way. Take the example of University of Toronto, reported on by The Daily Wire, where they had to re-gender several bathrooms after multiple incidents of male students recording showering female students. Once again, we must assume that this rule will be exploited at least to some degree by

feelings. And to those who would attribute this suicide rate to their “psychological sickness,” take into account the fact that the suicide rate goes down by a third for trans individuals who are accepted by their families; conversely, the rate nearly doubles for those who experience physical or sexual violence while at school. So even if it is true the trans community naturally has a higher suicide rate (as can neither

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sexual predators. Show us what you’ve got Now we get to the conservative solutions. What if, instead of segregating based on gender, we segregate based solely on biology; whatever sex organ you have, that’s the bathroom you use. Well, now we start running into a different problem. Because of the cost and complications of going through sex reassignment surgery, many transgender individuals either cannot or do not have the operation done. Consequently, this would require individuals who appear to be women to use the men’s bathroom, and vice versa. This raises its own set of problems: discrimination. According to USA Today, trans people are one of the most highly discriminated against communities in the world, and this obviously causes great amounts of physical and psychological suffering. And while I am usually not a fan of “feelings oriented politics,” when the attempted suicide rate among trans people has reached 10 times higher than that of the general public, it seems that it is time to pay attention t o

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kayla Missman MANAGING EDITORS Celina Oseguera, Benjy Egel BROADCAST NEWS DIRECTOR Leah Horner DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT Melissa Nunez NEWS EDITOR Jen Silva ARTS EDITOR Frances Griffey SPORTS EDITOR Eric Stubben BROADCAST CONTENT PRODUCER Michelle Logan BROADCAST SPORTS DIRECTOR Allison Edmonds SPECIAL SECTIONS COORDINATOR Suha Saya PHOTO EDITOR Georgie De Mattos OPINION EDITOR Liana Riley HEAD DESIGNER Jordan Dunn SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Cara Benson OUTREACH COORDINATORS Hannah Avdalovic, Reilly Roberts WEB DEVELOPER Jon Staryuk

Return to rationality be proven nor disproven), this rate is clearly hyper-inflated by the way society treats them. Consequently, forcing trans individuals to publicly “come out” every time they need to use the bathroom not only puts them in places where they are likely to be discriminated against (as has been reported ny ThinkProgress), but also stands as a symbolic testament to how society has systematically rejected them. And if that isn’t enough, let us look to the fact that even in very liberal and tolerant U.S. cites, nearly 1 in every 10 trans individuals has experienced some form of physical or sexual assault in a bathroom, per ThinkProgress. Show me your birth certificate And, finally, we could decide based on the way people were born. But, as you may imagine, this raises every problem listed in option four and applies to more people (those who have gone through surgery). Not only that, but this leaves open the question of more than 5 million individuals in the U.S. who were born without a clear biological sex, per the American Journal of Human Biology.

So what should we do? I honestly do not know. My only idea rests in attempting to figure out which of these options hurts the least amount of people. Not only would calculating such a number be utterly untenable (how could you assign a value to discrimination or the discomfort of woman who know that they are potentially changing with a man in the room?), but the necessary statistics do not exist. Even when considering objective facts, there is no clear way to know, especially not at this point, whether going with option one or two would decrease sexual assault crimes when compared with four or five. At best, our choice is between putting a large population at a low risk or a small population at a high risk. And I don’t like either of these options. Yet, a policy decision must still be made. And I am glad that I do not have to make it. And thus concludes our strange experiment in political commentary: humility. I hope it wasn’t too dissettling for anyone. And don’t worry, my firmly confident persona is scheduled to reappear in the next installment.

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Cal tacked on another run in the bottom of the seventh inning when senior designated hitter Devin Pearson was hit by a pitch, got bunted over to second and came around on a single up the middle. The Golden Bears held onto the 5-3 lead until the top of the ninth inning, when Cal Poly freshman first baseman Cooper Moore scored on a fielderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s choice to draw the game to its final score.

Cal Poly left seven men on base throughout the game, while Cal left three. The Golden Bears relied on a carousel of seven pitchers, none of whom threw more than 2.1 innings. The loss ended the Mustangsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; six-game winning streak and dropped their record to 2514 overall. However, they still remain at the top of Big West Conference standings at 7-2. Cal Poly will look to bounce back this weekend in a three-game series at Long Beach State (22-16, 6-6 Big West).

CHRISTA LAM | MUSTANG NE WS ROAD WARRIORS | The Mustangs will resume Big West Conference play on Friday, when they hit the road and take on Long Beach State. Long Beach started off the season hot but has lost four of its last five games.