07-19-2012

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Volume LXXVII, Number 3

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Grad brings women’s ed to Senegal

PHOTO COURTESY OF VINCE CIMO

HILLARY KAISER

hillarykaiser.md@gmail.com

Where there’s smoke ...

Brush fire burns parts of Santa Margarita VICTORIA BILLINGS

victoriabillings.md@gmail.com

A fire that at one point spanned more than 750 acres in size is currently burning east of Santa Margarita, according to CalFire’s Public Information Officer Tina Rose.

The fire began last Monday around 11:30 a.m., Rose said, and quickly spread from 300 acres to more than 750 acres by the mid-afternoon. CalFire and the San Luis Obispo County Fire Department are both fighting the blaze, with the help of 14 fire engines, two helicopters and seven hand crews, as well as other resources.

More than 300 firefighting personnel were on the scene on Monday, but many more will be necessary to completely contain the vegetation fire, Rose said.

“This is going to be a few days for us to fully extinguish this fire,” Rose said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the fire was 65 percent contained and had shrunk to cover an area of only 640 acres, according to CalFire.

Investigators were on the scene of the fire as early as Monday, Rose said, but it will take more time to determine how the blaze started.

“The cause is under investigation, but that takes a while,” Rose said.

CalFire’s chief gave an evacuation order for residents in the area, covering homes on Parkhill Road between Highway 58 and Seven Oaks

750 Number of acres burning at the fire’s height Road, Rose said. No structural damage or casualties had occurred as of Tuesday, and that evening, CalFire opened Parkhill Road back up to residents only.

For some area residents though, such as Vince Cimo, the flames were too close for comfort, even before the evacuation order was issued.

Cimo didn’t wait for any evacuation order before leaving the area, but “beat it” shortly after he noticed the smoke, he said.

At first, Cimo said he called CalFire to find out what the source of the smoke was. He decided to leave when they explained how near the fire was to Parkhill Road, Cimo said.

“I just got as much stuff as I could and just took off, went into town,” Cimo said.

Now, Cimo is in San Luis Obispo, hoping that his home makes it through the fire — partly because he remembered he left a bag of money on the premises.

Nonetheless, Cimo is counting his blessings, he said. In the end, the only thing he could lose in the fire is propsee FIRE, pg. 2

NHA HA/MUSTANG DAILY

Fourteen fire engines, two helicopters, seven hand crews and more than 300 firefighting personnel were on hand for the fire in Santa Margarita, nicknamed the “Calf Fire.”

SPORTS, pg. 6 Cal Poly athletes excel in classroom

Today’s Weather: high Sunny sunny

see GRAD, pg. 2

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Marquel Sheree Ramirez lives in a village of 300 people. She washes her clothes by hand and hangs them on a line to dry, bathes outside every night in a bucket bath and traveling to the closest paved road takes 45 minutes by horse cart. She is living a life drastically different from her American one, but it hasn’t phased her.

“The culture shock wasn’t so bad,” Ramirez said. “We were given a lot of training culturewise by the Peace Corps to better understand Senegalese.

When I go back (to the U.S.), it will be a culture shock. (I) don’t even know what I am going to do ... it will be really weird.”

Ramirez, who graduated from Cal Poly in 2007 with a bachelors degree in modern languages and literature, is an environmental education volunteer for the Peace Corps in Senegal and the national coordinator for its program, Senegal Gender and Development (SeneGAD).

Founded in 1963, there are currently 230 volunteers working in agriculture, agro-forestry, health, environmental education, small enterprise development and ecotourism in these communities for SeneGAD, Ramirez said.

Ramirez, who has been in the country since March 2011, said she is working to educate and empower the Senegalese population about gender equality.

SeneGAD holds girls’ leadership training camps and health seminars, as well as early pregnancy and early marriage awareness days. They also hand out the Michele Sylvester Scholarship — named in memory of a Peace Corps volunteer who dedicated her life to educating Senegalese girls — to three middleschool-age Senegalese girls who show academic excellence, but are poor or from families that favor early marriages. The winners receive money to register for classes and school supplies.

One of the finalists this year was a village girl named Arame Loum.

Loum gave a face to the struggle that so many young Senegalese girls experience, Ramirez said. Loum’s dad died when she was young and she has been raised by her mom and a man she doesn’t consider her father. Her family is poor and she must work whenever she isn’t in school. Over the summer, she works to save up enough money to register for classes, a task most girls in

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Thursday, July 19, 2012

No slashed budgets for SLO Stockton files for bankruptcy MUSTANG DAILY STAFF REPORT

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JORDAN BELL/MUSTANG DAILY

San Luis Obispo has gained more revenue than expected from various taxes, putting it in good financial standing, according to city finance director Charles Bourbeau.

JORDAN BELL

jordanbell.md@gmail.com

In a time where two California cities recently declared bankruptcy, San Luis Obispo is steering clear of financial trouble.

The San Luis Obispo City Council approved the city budget for the upcoming 2012-13 year on June 19, making this year the first in four years the city has made no cuts to the budget.

Several factors, including Measure Y taxes, a Transient Occupancy Tax and personal compensation reductions, allowed the city to reach this point, said Charles Bourbeau, the director of finance and information technology for San Luis Obispo.

It was not always like this for San Luis Obispo — the city had to work at the budget to make it sustainable, City Council member John Ashbaugh said.

“We were all biting our fingernails, on the edge of our seats for a while,” Ashbaugh said.

Some of the solutions to the budget problems came from employees of the city voluntarily taking changes to their contracts, Ashbaugh said. He said all city employees, except the police, have agreed to the sustainability program consisting of personal compensation reductions, though the City Council is still negotiating with the police. It is hoping for a 6.8 percent compensation reduction from everywhere though, Ashbaugh said.

“We expect great things from our employees, and in general, they do (great things),” Ashbaugh said.

“Not only do they provide a

It’s an attractive place to live and for people to come to.

CHARLES BOURBEAU SAN LUIS OBISPO DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

job, but a public service.

And they want to work hard to retain the good will from the public.”

In addition to cutting the budget, a few things have set San Luis Obispo apart from other cities, which could contribute largely to its good financial standing, Ashbaugh said.

One of these is the hard work of San Luis Obispo firefighters, Ashbaugh said.

He said the city’s firefighters are always leaders in negotiating and “set a standard” for other employees to follow suit in creating tremendous cost savings.

Another factor in San Luis Obispo’s financial solvency is the city’s tourism-orientated taxes. The Transient Occupancy Tax, or “bed tax,” for hotels, as well as Measure Y taxes — the 1/2 cent sales tax passed in November 2006 — brought in a lot of money this year.

Bourbeau said a lot of that money came from the fact that the city is a nice tourist spot with plenty of places to shop and stay the night.

“It’s an attractive place to live and for people to come to,” Bourbeau said.

The next step in the equation for San Luis Obispo is to maintain existing infrastructure and all the enjoyable qualities of the city, Bourbeau said. “(The previous budget cuts) set the stage for us to reach

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this point, to at least be stable,” he said. “We need to be able to spend enough money to sustain infrastructure.”

According to Bourbeau, this year the city is devoting $5.9 million to capital improvements, though he said this is not enough.

“We would like to put $9 million a year into these improvements,” Bourbeau said. “If you don’t maintain your roads, streets, buildings and equipment, they are going to fall apart later.

And people aren’t going to be happy. You need to spend enough money to keep that from happening.”

Fortunately for some residents, things are looking up.

San Luis Obispo resident Colby Reece commutes an hour to work every week.

“I live in (San Luis Obispo) because I love it here,” Reece said. “I work a week out at a time, and I get to just come here and live.”

The 23 year old said he feels the current financial situation of the city is more appealing than ever for someone of his age.

“I want to settle down in (San Luis Obispo) and hopefully raise a family,” Reece said. “Being nervous about jobs after college and money in general has always been a concern for me ... (but the city) is in such good shape. It’s just more incentive for me to stay here in the future.”

The city of Stockton has filed for bankruptcy after months of discussions regarding the city’s financial situation. City officials were unable to reach an agreement with the city’s creditors, leading them to file for Chapter 9 protection.

Stockton is home to 290,000 residents, making it the largest city to ever file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in the United States.

“We are extremely disappointed that we have been unable to avoid bankruptcy,” Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston said in a statement. “This is what we must do to get our fiscal house in order and protect the safety and welfare of our citizens.”

Chapter 9 bankruptcy is meant to assist municipalities to restructure debts by stopping a city’s ability to develop. With a $26 million deficit, declaring bankruptcy was the only option that city officials could agree on.

The official bankruptcy filing came from city manager Bob Deis, who said the city needed an emergency budget plan.

“This is not where any of us wanted to be,” Deis wrote in a statement.

“But absent restructuring agreements with our creditors, any other options would decimate the city.”

Cal Poly graduate and Stockton native Scott Silvey said he isn’t shocked by the recent bankruptcy of his hometown.

“It’s not really surprising,” Silvey said. “When I was younger the town was crime-ridden and it seemed really poor. The violent crime rate was so high.”

Silvey moved out of Stockton at about the same time that the housing boom started, he said.

Between 2003 and 2005, almost 8,000 homes were built in Stockton, according to a 2008 USA Today news article.

“Now, I feel like they wish they hadn’t spent so many millions of dollars, and the crime is back now because there are so many poor people living there,” Silvey said. “I read that people don’t even call the cops when they hear gunshots anymore.”

Though Silvey isn’t surprised, the recent bankruptcy announcement still upsets him because as part of the new budget, city retirees benefits are being cut in July 2013, he said.

Silvey’s mom was a social worker for the city of Stockton for approximately 15 years, and would have been affected by the cuts had she not remarried. She now has Alzheimer’s disease, and without her husband’s benefits, she would have been cut off of medical care in July 2013. “it makes me sad that the people that are going to take the brunt of all the bankruptcy issues are the people that worked for the city,” he said.

Amber Diller contributed to this article.

GRAD continued from page 1

the country must do.

“She is this energetic, positive girl and hearing her story and knowing she is so smart, but that the only thing holding her back is money really solidifies the fact that what I am doing is good and this girl is experiencing a life change,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez said she hopes Loum will be able to continue her education on to high school, a feat that is no guarantee for women in Senegal. It is difficult for them to afford an education and they are all required to do house work which is a full time job in itself, according to Ramirez.

“This has helped me realize what people go through and the disparity between males and females and what people have to sacrifice here,” Ramirez said.

“Women are given so many more responsibilities than men: They cook, clean, bathe and take care of kids on top of studying.”

Ramirez has seen a lot during her time in Senegal, but she said she was prepared for all of it due to the training she underwent before being officially named a Peace Corps volunteer.

She underwent training on the Senegalese language and culture during her first two months in the country. After completing training, a huge swearing-in ceremony is held at the ambassador’s house where trainees wear traditional Senegalese clothing and are then given the privilege to travel alone and begin their mission.

Training is crucial, Ramirez said. When you look and speak differently, it is hard to get a community to listen to what you are saying, she said.

“You can’t plop into a school and expect everyone to trust you,” Ramirez said. “I go to the school often so everyone knows my face.”

Though integration is a difficult process, Ramirez said she realized the opportunity she has been given allows her to see the problems first hand and strive to solve them. An Italian organization donated an ambulance to a village, and another donated ducks — two things that these villages didn’t really have use for.

“You have to assess if this village really needs this,” Ramirez said. “Sometimes it is difficult for organizations to see village problems if they are located within a big city. We actually live in the village and we are part of the village community that speaks the village language.”

Though she spends much of her time immersed in the village life, as SeneGAD national coordinator Ramirez said she continues to organize four meetings held throughout the year where more than 200 volunteers working in Senegal get together to discuss updates in each region, share stories and compile information on what everyone is doing.

The environment education sector she belongs to works at schools and helps teach the kids to make a garden, tree nursery or teach about health-related issues like reproductive health, hygiene

FIRE continued from page 1

erty, he said.

“Could be worse,” Cimo said. “I could have gotten, like, burned to death. This is just a good reminder of, you know, how close you are to losing everything.”

Other residents in the area, though, stayed until firefighters warned them of the need to evacuate, such as Cheryl Westfall, who left her house on Parkhill Road along with her husband and four dogs.

“We just started grabbing stuff,” Westfall said. “We saw the flames right next door.”

and malnutrition. They also encourage every other sector of volunteers to teach about the importance of gender and development.

“The teaching we do and action we take, and what we say about American culture and opening up their minds we can’t see it, but hopefully the message we are sending and forging will work,” Ramirez said. “Hopefully, they will keep that information and tell somebody else.”

Ramirez is working to educate women on a global level, but gender issues exist locally, too.

Cal Poly Gender Equity Center coordinator Christina Kaviani said the center’s primary focus is on positive identity development.

During the year, they talk about stereotypes on masculinity and femininity, how to have healthy relationships and urge students to have a critical eye when watching how the media deals with gender issues. They also put on the “Vagina Monologues” and some proceeds go to building a community called the “City of Joy” in the Congo where doctors help women who have been raped to the point of bodily mutilations.

Kaviani said gender issues on the local and international level are not just a women’s issue, but a human issue, and how groups go about educating different communities is crucial. “(The Senegalese) are coming from such a different playing field, it is hard to offer a community advice,” Kaviani said.

“How she goes about educating and opening people’s minds and eyes is a wonderful thing, but it is very important how she goes about it.”

Education should be held to the highest degree, because one can truly benefit from being educated on something, Kaviani said.

“Specifically, in more rural areas, awareness leads to changes and a lot of the time it leads to positive change,” Kaviani said.

“I am glad someone is doing that work. For a student from Cal Poly to go and get their hands dirty — not literally — and go into the trenches and see what it is like shows a lot of her character and what she can do.”

Assistant professor of philosophy and women’s and gender studies Rachel Fernflores said what Ramirez is doing is absolutely crucial and is sure her training has provided her with the best plans to make positive change.

“She knows how to go to a different culture and ask them what they need and what would make things better and in a genderspecific way,” Fernflores said. “I don’t think she would have challenges she couldn’t overcome.”

Donating money or necessary goods has immediate gratifications and visible results, but in terms of volunteering and teaching, it is a waiting game that is life, Fernflores said.

“Pretty much any project worth taking on, that’s how it goes,” Fernflores said. “All you can do is make sure you are making decisions and choices you are willing to accept responsibility for and that you really did put your best effort into it, and I’m sure she is.”

Firefighters put up yellow tape around the neighborhood to indicate the evacuation, and officers were yelling for residents to get out as quickly as possible as they left, Westfall said.

Though this isn’t the first fire Westfall has seen living east of Santa Margarita, it is certainly the most frightening she’s seen in years, she said.

“This one seems gnarlier because it’s coming down our side (of the street),” Westfall said.

Currently Westfall, like others who live east of Santa Margarita, is just trying to plan her next move, she said.

“Hopefully, hopefully, our house doesn’t burn down,” Westfall said.

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What goes around comes around: alumna pursues social change project KELLY COOPER

kellycooper.md@gmail.com

Imagine a society where people are rewarded by strangers every time they perform a random act of kindness — like opening a door for a person with one too many books, paying for someone’s coffee or covering a shift at work.

That’s Chaz Daum’s vision for her project Karma Flows — helping people recognize when karma is truly at play.

The token for reward is a shiny stainless steel bracelet decorated in two simple ways: “KARMAFLOWS. ORG” written on the front and a unique set of numbers on the back.

But this isn’t an ordinary piece of jewelry. In fact, Daum said the bracelets aren’t for keeping.

“It’s a vehicle for a social movement; it’s not about people buying the bracelet,” Daum said. “It’s about encouraging positive acts.”

While the main point of the project is to pass along the bracelet to someone who does a good deed, the set of numbers on the back adds a larger meaning to the action. People who receive the bracelet can track where the bracelet has been online, why it was given and post their own story, thus creating an online community of positive thinking. “(The bracelet) is supposed to be on a constant journey,” Daum said.

The June graduate started scheming two or three years ago when a speaker from Design Ignites Change program visited one of her entrepreneurial classes. The speaker discussed using graphic design to spur social move-

COURTESY PHOTO

Chaz Daum and Clayton Cole are currently working with US-based manufacturers for production. Above is a prototype which will be stamped with “KARMAFLOWS.ORG” on the front and engraved with a set of numbers on the back. ment, something that Daum said immediately appealed to her, especially while pursuing a double major in business administration and graphic communication.

“I thought, ‘God I would love to do something like that,’” she said.

Giving it a little thought, Daum said she tossed around the idea of giving away a bunch of bracelets to people just to see where they would go, mainly as an art project.

But she said the project really took shape at the beginning of the year.

“I made a list at the beginning of this year of things I wanted to finish before I

graduate,” Daum said.

Karma Flows, the name of the project today, was on that list.

Daum said she was able to start planning in Cal Poly associate professor Jon York’s Planning and Managing New Ventures course. Although the purpose of the class was for students to assist a local entrepreneur on his or her project as an intern, Daum did just the opposite — she used the class as an opportunity to be mentored and guided through Karma Flows.

York, who is the co-founder and director of Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) said the

class had a mix of students working as interns and exploring their own projects.

York said Daum will be well connected to the CIE as an alumna because of the strong networking and contact ties.

“We have alumni who are connected from around the country with the idea to help each other as they proceed on any new ventures,” he said.

In York’s class, Daum was paired with local entrepreneur and founder of Simple Shoes, Eric Meyer, who said he liked Chaz’s idea more than his own.

“When you’re working on someone else’s projects you don’t really care that much

to an extent, but when you’re working on your own you’re more interested,” Meyer said.

Meyer said he admires Daum’s goal of helping others, and that he’s noticed a common theme of social awareness among college students.

“Her idea of rewarding a good idea with social props is the new ego reward. You don’t get props for buying a new car; you get props from helping someone,” Meyer said.

Meyer said he also encouraged Daum to connect with friends with skill sets she lacked to reduce costs while building a network. Taking Meyer’s advice to heart,

Daum has been working closely with biomedical engineering alumnus Clayton Cole, who graduated in June, on the design and manufacturing of the bracelets.

Cole said Daum decided on stainless steel as the material at hand for a number of reasons — it minimizes the chance of allergic reactions, can’t spread diseases and it’s easy to clean.

“Chaz wanted to use metal because it gives you more of a sense of worth than maybe silicon like the LIVESTRONG bracelets. If it’s metal, it feels like it’s worth something,” Cole said.

Cole said he’s been talking to a few U.S.-based manufacturers and is in the process of getting a quote. A challenge, however, is doing the job for $10 per bracelet which involves shaping, stamping and laser engraving. And after a Kickstarter campaign that fell through because of a change in policy, the two said finances have been a challenge.

Despite the upfront cost, Daum and Cole are both optimistic about the project and are hoping to release the bracelets to groups in San Luis Obispo by fall. Daum said the big vision in mind is, contrary to producing the bracelets, to make the movement self-obsolete.

“My vision for it, which sounds a little insane, is to turn into this viral global movement where people would appreciate random little things in their lives,” Daum said. “Eventually you wouldn’t need a bracelet to think about when a person does a good deed.”

For more information visit karmaflows.org.

Bare Feet continues to grow as headliners at SLO Brew SAMANTHA SULLIVAN

samanthasullivan.md@gmail.com

Alternative reggae band Bare Feet has been rocking out at San Luis Obispo Brewing Company (SLO Brew) for four years now, and are finally becoming regular headliners.

Opening for bigger bands taught Bare Feet quite a bit, Leif Garrovillas, one of the band’s bassists, guitarists and vocalists said. He said they gained experience and looked to see how the bigger bands handled certain situations.

“The support from everyone we work with and our fans drives us to keep going,” Garrovillas said. “Without them, we wouldn’t have anything to work for.”

Bare Feet consists of Cal Poly alumnus Garrovillas, Jacob Rocha (guitar/vocals/ bass), Justin Davidson (guitar/vocals/bass), Nathan Towne (guitar/keyboard) and Chris Racz (drums). Garrovillas said all the members are songwriters.

The band is no stranger to SLO; all five band members went to school together back in Orcutt. Now Garrovillas works as the assistant events coordinator for SLO Brew, he said.

Garrovillas graduated from Cal Poly this past June with a bachelors degree in graphic communication. Last year, Garrovillas worked as the music supervisor for Associated Students, Inc. (ASI), booking bands — though he wasn’t allowed to book himself.

Garrovillas said his major has probably helped with the band a lot, as well as his work with ASI. Being a music su-

pervisor allowed him to make a lot of useful connections, he said.

“College is great for musicians because you get to meet other musicians and network,” Garrovillas said.

Jacob Rocha is currently attending Cuesta College. He said the public relations aspect of his major has helped him with Bare Feet and networking. He said as a band they meet a lot of people.

Rocha was the one to come up with the name Bare Feet, he said. It was before their first show, a high school talent show, when he came up with the name.

“I just said it,” he said. “We thought about changing it, but people like it because it’s original.”

Rocha said the name was appropriate because their sound is very stripped down, saying it had “no shoes and no

COURTESY PHOTO

Bare Feet headlines at SLO Brew on July 27. From left: Jacob Rocha, Justin Davidson, Nathan Towne, Leif Garrovillas and former drummer James Timmons.

socks.”

Bare Feet has a big reggae influence because Rocha said that’s what the band started out playing. Now, however, the band has gone for a more alternative rock sound, with a little bit of funk and jazz influence, he said.

“We got it all,” Rocha said.

Garrovillas said he’s been playing and singing since he was young. He said he met Rocha and Davidson in the

fifth grade and the three have been in a band since they were 16 years old.

“It helped to have Davidson and Rocha with me to keep it going,” Garrovillas said.

“Otherwise, I would have gone a different route.”

In the future, Garrovillas said he expects Bare Feet to be spreading their music and touring. He also hopes to be see BAND pg. 4

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Former professor “upgrades” life writes graphic novel, releases at Comic-Con 2012 SAMANTHA SULLIVAN

samanthasullivan.md@gmail.com

Former Cal Poly mechanical engineering and education technology professor Louis Rosenberg wrote the screenplay “UPGRADE” which has been adapted into a graphic novel. The novel was released in June and announced at this year’s Comic-Con. “UPGRADE” tells of a futuristic world where humans upgrade their gadget and themselves. The people are driven to upgrade their lives not because the new technology is something they want, but because they don’t want to be left behind, Rosenberg said. The people are upgrading and becoming less and less human, yet they have no other options, he said.

Steven Stern, president of Storyboard Graphic Novels, wrote the graphic novel adaptation. What attracted Stern to the story was the high concept it embodied, he said. The story is unusual, well executed and very timely, he said.

“It’s extremely cinematic and I knew it would make for a wonderful graphic novel,” Stern said.

Having a technology background gives inspiration for sci-fi and a real sense of what it’s like in hightech labs, as well as a good sense of what the future might be like.

LOUIS ROSENBERG “UPGRADE” AUTHOR

Rosenberg called the story satirical, almost absurd. Fiction was something Rosenberg’s always been interested in, he said. While at Cal Poly, he took time off at the end to write screenplays.

The first screenplay he wrote generated a lot of interest so he got an agent and manager, he said.

“I decided to pursue writing full time because it was going so well,” he said. “And it’s a lot of fun.”

Rosenberg wrote the screenplay for “Paper Trail,” a film currently in production at Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, as well as “Mindplay,” also in production at Echo Lake Entertainment. Both screenplays were co-written with Joe Rosenbaum.

COURTESY PHOTO

Rosenberg left Cal Poly in 2010 where he was teaching mechanical engineering and education technology. Currently, he is a full time screenwriter and has two movies in production.

Rosenberg’s background is very much in technology, beginning with his doctorate in robotics from Stanford University. Rosenberg had a joint appointment with the College of Engineering and the School of Education for six years while at Cal Poly before leaving in 2010.

He spent a lot of his time talking about the impact of technology on society, he said. What always struck Rosenberg was how engineers and scientists create “cool new things” because it’s exciting for them, but not necessarily for people or society as a whole, he said.

“Having a technology background gives inspiration for sci-fi and a real sense of what it’s like in high-tech labs, as well as a good sense of what the future might be like,” Rosenberg said.

The process of adapting any script begins with a graphic novel adaptation, Stern said. Stern starts with the screenplay then personally writes the graphic novel script. Once the author approves the script, Stern said the next step is to attach an artist to the project. Stan Timmons was approved by Rosenberg to illustrate the comic, Stern said.

Illustrating a graphic novel takes some back-and-forth between the artist and author, Rosenberg said. The author makes sure the artist is getting the tone right and understanding what’s intended, he said.

“The artists are amazingly skilled and have to be really fast,” Rosenberg said.

According to Stern, it’s difficult to determine how a project will be received.

However, with the right publicity, “UPGRADE” could be very popular both as a graphic novel and a film, he said.

Agriculture engineering junior Dan Schricker, said “UPGRADE” sounded interesting, and if he has time, he might give it a look.

COURTESY PHOTO

A futuristic satire, “UPGRADE” tells the story of a world in 2058 where citizens “upgrade” their lives. Yet the upgrades aren’t necessarily a good thing.

In 1987, Stern created the comic book “Zen the Intergalactic Ninja,” where he celebrated the novel’s 25th anniversary at Comic-Con. In addition to writing “Zen,” Stern has also written more literary graphic novels such as “Beowulf,” published in 2007 by Markoisa Enterprises, Ltd., a British publishing company. This year, that same company published Stern’s graphic novel “A Christmas Carol,” based on the Dickens’ classic.

“The whole graphic novel field also includes literary works,” Stern said.

Stern said he established Storyboard Graphic Novels in March 2011 as a service to screenwriters, directors and producers with screenplays they wanted to move forward

BAND continued from page

making music the way Bare Feet likes it.

“We want to expand our music as much as we can while staying as original as possible,” Garrovillas said.

In the past, Bare Feet has had a slow growth, Rocha said. He hopes things will pick up a bit and spread out.

“We want to grow with SLO and the Cal Poly community,” Rocha said.

John Towne, general manager of Bare Feet (and Nathan Towne’s older brother), decided to manage the band because he believes Bare Feet has great potential. He said at first, it was just his little brother in a band having fun playing with his friends. Now, however, he said Bare Feet has grown into a “really goodsounding band.”

Towne graduated from Cal

with. People contact the company and discuss what it takes to adapt a screenplay into a graphic novel. Rosenberg went through this process and decided he wanted to move ahead.

Stern graduated from the University of Miami with a bachelors degree in English, he said. He said he was interested in comics as a young boy and knew early on he wanted to be involved with the industry. He said majoring in English not only refined his writing skills, but also exposed him to the world’s great literature.

While at school, he took an intensive Shakespeare class which taught him the importance of dramatic structure, he said.

“If you are going to be suc-

cessful, you better know about dramatic structure,” Stern said. “I doubt I would be where I’m at today if I hadn’t done that.”

Rosenberg’s advice for writers? It’s just about writing. He said to keep writing about things that you’re excited about because you’re going to be writing about it for a long time. Screenplay writing is interesting, he said, because it’s smaller than a novel so you think it’d go faster. However, he said a lot of people get involved so you end up rewriting and rewriting. Rosenberg said you wind up writing a draft for the agent, producer and director.

“If you’re gonna write something, be excited about the material,” he said.

College is great for musicians because you get to meet other musicians and network.

LEIF GARROVILLAS BAND MEMBER

Poly in 2009 with a bachelors degree in business administration. He said he concentrated in management and technology, which allowed him to get a broad aspect of business. He said the entrepreneurship classes he took help him the most now.

“A lot of things I learned in class was theory that I put into practice now,” Towne said.

As for the future, Towne hopes Bare Feet will put out a full-length album soon and land a record deal. He said in a few years Bare Feet will be around more, doing more shows all over California.

“The sky’s the limit for these guys,” Towne said. “In a couple of years you’re going to see a bunch of rock stars come out of the Central Coast.”

Bare Feet recently released a self-titled EP and are working to put it up on iTunes. Their song and video “Revolutionaries” can be found on YouTube.

Bare Feet headlines at SLO Brew on July 27 with Santa Cruz-based reggae rock band Thrive. Tickets for the all-ages show are available in advance for $10 and $12 at the door with doors opening at 7:30 p.m.

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Thursday, July 18, 2012 Volume LXXVII, Number 3

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Emphasis in education may be shifting to critical thinking The following editorial appeared in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday, July 15: The people of a large and mighty nation wonder why their schools can’t do more to imitate those of another large, powerful nation across the Pacific Ocean. But this time it’s not the United States seeking to emulate the schools of an Asian country — it’s China seeking to emulate ours, at least to some extent.

China is pushing for more emphasis on building creative skills and less on high-stress, high-stakes testing, according to a recent article in the New York Times. Under the existing system, a single entrance exam determines whether students attend college, and which one.

Talk about teaching to the test: The last year of high school is often given over to cramming for the exam. In at least one classroom, students were placed on intravenous drips of amino acids in preparation for the test, in the belief that it would help their memories and provide an energy boost; in another sad case, a girl was not told about her father’s death for two months to avoid disrupting her studies.

The recent backlash against the tests includes complaints that students are being fed facts by rote rather than being taught to think critically and create. Two years ago, Premier Wen Jiabao lamented the failure of Chinese schools to turn out innovative thinkers with strong analytical skills. “We must encourage students to think independently, freely express themselves, get them to believe in themselves, protect and stimulate their imagination and creativity,” he said. He even quoted Albert Einstein’s

famous line about imagination being more important than knowledge.

This isn’t the first time that a nation with a top-ranked education system has sought to reproduce some of the qualities that have long marked American schools. Ten years ago, Japan embarked on a series of major reforms to reduce stress, de-emphasize memorization and foster more creative thinking. It shortened the school calendar (from six days a week to five) and adopted curricula that encouraged children to create their own projects. More control was placed in local hands, a move away from centralized authority. A few years earlier, Singapore took similar steps.

The reason these nations are concerned isn’t just that they want their students to feel fulfilled and happy. The ability to innovate, and to analyze and solve problems, is seen worldwide as crucial for adapting to the fast-changing global economy. But it is all part of a long-standing tension between the need for academic rigor and the need to foster creativity.

The pendulum swing between the two has been particularly wide in the United States. During the 1990s, Americans lamented the lower academic standards here, especially when compared with nations such as Japan. The sense that American children were falling behind in the developed world — bolstered by international test results in which the United States ranked as mediocre, and given a sense of urgency by the numbers of disadvantaged and minority students who were leaving school without even basic skills — resulted in the 2001 passage of the No Child Left Behind

Act, with its heavy emphasis on standardized tests and rigid benchmarks of progress.

Now, even though academic performance among U.S. students is still lagging, many parents and educators are complaining that the push toward a standard curriculum and standardized tests is bleeding lessons of liveliness, and that schools do too little to foster creativity and analytical thinking. They’re not entirely wrong. In keeping with the tests, which are mostly multiple choice, schools have assigned less writing and project work. Teachers have tried to make sure they go over every speck of material that might be on the tests, and because the approved curriculum tends toward the broad and shallow, there’s a lot of short-answer information to cover but not much depth to explore.

Aiming higher on academics

shouldn’t have to mean leaving deeper or more open-ended thinking skills behind. No one in the American school reform movement ever told teachers they had to abandon their own creative instructional skills or drop critical-thinking lessons from the school day, but the relentless emphasis on covering tested material obviously pushed them in that direction.

The switch over the next few years in many states, including California, to the so-called com-

teacher evaluations, but they pay too little attention to enabling teachers and students to take academic risks — considered essential to building creativity — while ensuring that vital academic material is still covered. It’s not easy to figure out how schools can balance creativity with academic rigor, productive thinking with knowledge. The nations that do so will have the competitive edge in the future.

m o n core standards, which emphasize learning f e w e r things in greater depth, should help somewhat but still falls short.

State and federal officials endlessly debate the role of test scores in

NEWSART

Tea party, occupy movement have little impact in November MICHAEL DAWIDZIAK Newsday

The primaries are over and, as we await the hoopla of the national conventions, the political waters appear calm.

Under the surface, campaign pros are busy with analysis, targeting and numbercrunching. The official start of silly season is the Tuesday after Labor Day, by which time campaign plans must be ready.

In looking at different issues and interest groups in my work, I’ve found something surprising. Two groups that have generated headlines over the last couple years aren’t positioned to have a big impact on the November elections.

I’m talking about the tea party and the occupy movement.

Why will they fail to have an impact when it comes to the

main event? Several reasons.

For one, both movements are extremely loose coalitions of grass roots organizations all over the country. There is no national leadership or spokesperson for either. Inevitably, this means that their strength is going to vary geographically. Both groups are stronger where their natural demographic bases live — places where the groups will merely amplify electoral tendencies in ways that won’t change outcomes.

The tea party is much stronger and better organized in conservative-leaning red areas, while the occupy movement is centered in the more liberal blue urban centers.

This is also borne out by polling data: 71 percent of tea party members describe themselves as Republican.

While the transient nature of

the occupy movement makes its members much harder to accurately poll, data supports the conclusion that they lean left. Graham Nash and David Crosby are appearing at occupy rallies, not Chuck Norris or Ted Nugent.

Both movements have handicapped themselves by failing to articulate attainable goals. They are far better at saying what they are against than what they are for. The occupy movement is against social and economic inequality. While those are admirable stances, adherents haven’t been able to delineate particular demands or proposals for achieving the movement’s ends.

The tea party opposes taxes, more government borrowing and bigger federal deficits.

The only way to advance those three causes at the same time

is to cut spending, which neither major party has shown the courage or political will to do.

Still another reason both movements won’t have much impact in November: this is a presidential election year, and neither seems enthused with either major party or the parties’ nominee. A weak Republican field contained some tea party favorites who either dropped out early (Herman Cain, Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann) or decided not to run at all (Sarah Palin) or couldn’t excite enough Republican primary voters (Ron Paul).

Lastly, neither movement is talking much about what the American voters care about most. Polls show overwhelmingly that economic development and cutting unemployment rank as the top issues on

voters’ minds this year.

While occupiers have shown almost no political involvement (and therefore no clout), the tea party has been good at picking its spots. Tea party activists helped force a primary challenge to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and helped defeat Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., in a primary.

Don’t count on either movement to go away. Many tea party leaders tell me that their organizations are shifting away in frustration from national issues to focus on local ones. History tells us that nascent movements, like Occupy Wall Street, often learn how to transition into political activism.

What both groups can claim credit for is sparking a national debate on their respective issues — and that in itself is an accomplishment.

©2012 Mustang Daily “Does anyone else eat ketchup with their steak?”

NEWSART

MDsports 6

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Cal Poly Athletics puts student before athlete

BRIAN DE LOS SANTOS / PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

“Our athletes know that if they don’t get it done in the classroom, they’re not going to be able to compete in their sport,” assistant athletic director of academic services Shannon Stephens said.

STEPHAN TEODOSESCU Stephanteodosescu.md@gmail.com

It’s summer and most of Cal Poly’s student body is taking a reprieve from school. While the same can be said for many Cal Poly student-athletes, once school begins in the fall,

it will be time to hit not only the books, but the field or court as well.

Cal Poly is often regarded as an exceptional academic institution with an athletics program to rival many on the West Coast. The Mustangs helped foster that image even

further on June 29 when 23 athletes were named to Big West Conference winter and spring All-Academic honors.

The list was highlighted by nine total selections from the men’s and women’s track and field teams — five from the men’s and four from the wom-

en’s squad.

“The fact that we’ve had a very successful graduation rate and a team (grade point average) and individual accolades academically is very reflective of the quality of the student-athletes that we’re bringing into Cal Poly,”

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u t S

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track and field director Mark Conover said in a phone interview.

A student-athlete must have maintained a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.2 while completing one full year before the award was given. The student also must have played in 50 percent of the team’s contests throughout the season to be considered for All-Academic praise.

To help the athletes stay on top of their game in the classroom and in their respective sports, the Cal Poly Student Academic Services office stresses the importance of academic success, according to Assistant athletic director of academic services Shannon Stephens.

Stephens said there are a myriad of resources available to all student athletes, such as tutoring, the Learning Center in Mott Gym and study halls with coaches to help them balance academic work with their busy athletic schedules.

Stephens is tasked with reporting academic statistics like degree progress and GPA to the NCAA each quarter to strictly monitor athletes’ pursuit of graduation and eligibility.

“Our athletes know that if they don’t get it done in the classroom, they’re not going to be able to compete in their sport,” he said.

Some athletes require more monitoring than others, Stephens added. But in his five years at Cal Poly, Matt Titchenal certainly didn’t.

Titchenal, a former guard for the men’s basketball team, was no surprise for conference All-Academic billing this past season. His 14-time Dean’s List honoree mark at Cal Poly ranks as one of the best in school history. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and a cumulative GPA of 3.89— good enough to pursue graduate studies at Stanford University in the fall.

Titchenal noted that his ability to manage his busy schedule was the key to his success. There was little time for indolence.

“Everything was like a basketball practice,” he said. “It would be quick and clean. I would have goals when I was studying like what I was going to do; then I would do it.”

The Sonoma native also earned the Academic Excel-

lence Award and Cal Poly Male Scholar Athlete of the Year on top of other distinctions handed out by the Big West Conference.

But, despite daily threehour long workouts, game days during the week, film study and a tremendous course load, Titchenal found time for activities that he loved outside of school, such as fishing and surfing.

He added that he had to coordinate with professors weeks beforehand if he were to miss a test or a lab assignment.

Sometimes he’d do homework on the road or after emotionally draining games, and even make up exams in office hours days after they’d been administered to the class.

Some professors are a bit more understanding than others when it comes to making up important assignments, Titchenal said.

Assistant professor of biomedical engineering Kristen O’Halloran Cardinal is one of those professors, perhaps because she is in a unique situation of interacting with athletes. As a former Cal Poly volleyball player, she was once in their position. Now, as a faculty member, she’s an invaluable advising resource for many student-athletes that were in her scenario as an undergraduate.

She admitted that her dayto-day life while in school was on a tightly regimented, yet manageable schedule.

“For me and a lot of people I played with, we were actually the most well balanced during season when you have to stay on top things constantly and you can’t let up for a second,” Cardinal said. “I lived and died by my (daily) planner.”

As an ex-player she understands the time commitment that playing an NCAA sport involves. Admittedly, Cardinal holds athletes to a higher standard than other professors might, but is conscience of letting them turn assignments in when it most makes sense.

She also believes that Cal Poly’s outlook on sports and academics adds merit to a student-athlete’s degree.

“Our athletes here do a really good job, as do the coaches, of recognizing that they are students and athletes,” she said.

“And I don’t think you find that at every school. At some schools they’re just athletes.”

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Preston C. Allen Interim Vice President for Student Affairs MUSTANG DAILY FILE PHOTO

Cal Poly shortstop Mike Miller was one of 23 athletes to receive Big West Conference winter and spring All-Academic honors.