Mustang Daily 3-13

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What to eat, see and do in SLO this week

ARTS, pg. 5

A WHOLE NEW LOOK Plan in works to renovate Mott Athletics Center SPORTS, pg. 8 Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Volume LXXVII, Number 81

Sequesters 101 From unappealing contingency plan to an inevitable reality, the topic of sequestration has launched a surprise range of budget cuts on the United States. But how exactly will this national issue affect Cal Poly?

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UPD called to library Student alarmed by man watching porn on computer

SEAN MCMINN

smcminn@mustangdaily.net

The sequester: a scary word for some, simply confusing for others. The end of the world, maybe, or a political dance move. Somewhere between political exaggerations and party blaming lies the truth about exactly what effect the $85 billion in federal cuts ordered earlier this month will have for Cal Poly students. But two weeks later, experts still say not much is certain. What is the sequester? Though the sequester was originally devised as a series of cuts so unappealing Congress would have no choice but to find a way to avoid them, it became a reality after political gridlock stalled real action. The sequester cuts, which were split equally between defense and non-defense programs, came after Congress failed to agree on a way to cut $1.5 trillion in a span of 10 years. Republicans refused to accept a plan that included increased taxes, and Democrats said they would only agree to cut spending if it was coupled with tax increases. Neither was willing to budge. With little movement from lawmakers near the end of February — despite pressure from President Barack Obama — Congress let its deadline pass on March 1 and triggered the sequester. Technically, Congress could still vote to replace funding in the areas cut by sequestration, but there does not appear to be a plan emerging; Republicans and Democrats are already preparing for another political battle later this month. Despite conservative legislators’ accusations that the president exaggerated the sequester’s scope to gain political leverage, Obama criticized Republicans in the hours after Congress’ deadline passed. “We shouldn’t be making a series of dumb, arbitrary cuts to things that businesses depend on and workers depend on, like education, and research, and infrastructure and defense,” Obama said at a White House press briefing. “It’s unnecessary. And at a time when too many Americans are still looking for work, it’s inexcusable.” The sequester’s implications span the country’s federal programs, from airport security to military research to higher education. Like with many other across-the-board cuts, no official announcement has been made on exactly how much funding higher-education programs will lose. But a January report by the Student Aid Alliance, a coalition of 77 organizations that support

Our students will have hundreds of thousands of dollars less to spend on education. That’s less money to spend on books, housing, things like that. — LOIS KELLY CAL POLY DIRECTOR OF FINANCIAL AID

SEAN MCMINN/MUSTANG DAILY

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ARTS, PG. 4

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SEX COLUMN: Do you. Literally.

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Economics junior Derek Rieger posted the above photo on his Facebook wall, after he noticed the man looking at a dating website featuring nude women. MUSTANG DAILY STAFF REPORT

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Police escorted a man from the third floor of the Robert E. Kennedy Library on Saturday after a student notified them of a suspicious individual viewing pornographic material on a library computer. The male was looking at a dating website that had pictures of naked women, which students found disturbing, University see LIBRARY, pg. 2

Sexual assault report filed near campus MUSTANG DAILY STAFF REPORT

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San Luis Obispo police are investigating a report of sexual assault near Cal Poly’s campus earlier this month, but the department is reluctant to release information because of the involvement of a minor. Police received a sexual assault report during the afternoon of March 1 from the 100 block of Grand Avenue, according to police logs. Lt. John Bledsoe said detectives have not yet determined if a see REPORT, pg. 2

see SEQUESTER, pg. 2

Tomorrow’s Weather: high Sunny sunny

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEREK RIEGER

75˚F

INDEX

Opinions/Editorial..............6 News.............................1-3 ClassifiedsComics..............7 Arts...............................4-5 Sports..................................8

low 50˚F partially cloudy

cloudy

foggy

windy

light rain

rain

thinderstorm


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