Mustang Daily 3-11

Page 1

FILM FESTIVAL TAKES OVER SLO ARTS, pg. 5

Volume LXXVII, Number 79

Monday, March 11, 2013

www.mustangdaily.net

Update on semester conversion expected today MUSTANG DAILY STAFF REPORT

news@mustangdaily.net

University President Jeffrey Armstrong will meet with members of the President’s Semester Review Task Force on Monday to inform them about an update in calendar negotiations with California State University (CSU) Chancellor Timothy White, according to an email

sent out to task force members. In an email marked “Urgent: SRTF — Your Presence Requested,” Semester Review Task Force Chair Rachel Fernflores told members “matters were decided with some finality” early Friday night. Armstrong plans to share information on the decision with task force members Monday afternoon, prior to sending an update to cam-

pus, according to the email. Cal Poly spokesperson Ellen Cohune confirmed Sunday that the university can expect an announcement following the Semester Review Task Force meeting, but said she did not know specifically what Armstrong is prepared to disclose. “I don’t know what the campus is expecting tomorrow,” Cohune said. “I can tell you (Armstrong) is keeping the

task force apprised of the conversations with the chancellor.” Armstrong and White reportedly made their decision after collaboration with presidents at other CSU quarter campuses — a group Armstrong has been working on a presidential task force with for nearly one year. The task force meeting will be Monday at noon in the Administration building, accord-

SKATEBOARDS, SAFETY AND

‘Sweet talking’

ing to the email, though it is not listed on the “Semester Review Task Force Meeting Schedules” website. Requests for comment from the Semester Review Task Force were referred to the Office of Cal Poly Public Affairs. An email request for more information from the CSU was not returned. Sean McMinn contributed to this staff report.

CAL POLY PRESIDENT JEFFREY ARMSTRONG

Stenner fire injures one, no students

LAURA PEZZINI

lpezzini@mustangdaily.net

Skateboarders on Cal Poly’s campus pride themselves on their ability to charm their way out of a citation. “I got pulled over like once, and I kinda talked him out of it,” Cal Poly Longboarding Association of America founder and landscape architecture alumnus Cameron Turner said. “I kinda told the officer that I was a freshman and didn’t know the rules.” Turner said he wasn’t the only one who managed to sweet talk an officer into not issuing a citation for skateboarding. One friend, a “charmer” who got stopped multiple times, has never received a citation, Turner said. But skateboarding citations are something the University Police Department (UPD) takes seriously, according to Chief George Hughes. “We have an official policy, and that’s that the use of skateboards, roller skates, roller blades, coasters or similar devices on the campus is prohibited, except for special events which have been authorized by Student Life and approved by the University Police,” Hughes said. These restrictions, according to Hughes, are entirely based on safety. “The reasoning behind that is purely for safety reasons,” Hughes said. “We have such a crowded area here on campus on the sidewalks, all the walkways, the Mustang Village area and the University Union Plaza area, where it’s just so crowded with people and bicycles that just don’t co-mingle well with skateboards.” Even those who do choose to skateboard on campus can speak to its dangerous nature, though they tend to focus more on the landscape of Cal Poly. Chris Ray, a fellow landscape architecture alumnus and a friend of Turner’s, attributed the rules to the fact that Cal Poly’s campus has too many hills for safe skateboarding. “One reason is that it’s just not that great a campus for skating,” Ray said. “Mostly just the fact that the whole school is sloped see SKATEBOARDS, pg. 2 PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY NHA HA/ MUSTANG DAILY

CHECK OUT MUSTANGDAILY.NET for articles, videos, photos, & more.

SPORTS, pg. 8 Basketball teams finish regular season, move on to Big West tournament

Tomorrow’s Weather: high Sunny sunny

79˚F

NHA HA/MUSTANG DAILY

A fire broke out in a third-floor apartment in the Stenner Glen complex on Saturday, prompting 40 tenants to be evacuated. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. MUSTANG DAILY STAFF REPORT

news@mustangdaily.net

A fire in the Stenner Glen apartment complex Saturday morning forced approximately 40 residents to evacuate and caused the injury of one firefighter, according to fire officials. Firefighters from both San Luis Obispo Fire Department and Cal Fire responded to the 911 call at 11 a.m. Saturday to find a rapidly spreading fire that encompassed two of the thirdfloor suite’s six bedrooms. “The fire was well-established in a third-floor bedroom and was coming out the windows and spreading laterally throughout that whole suite,” Battalion Chief Jeff Gater said. “We were able to get two hose lines quick into that suite.” San Luis Obispo Police Department (SLOPD) officers arrived on the scene to aid in the evacuation of 20 people living in the building and nearly 20 more in the neighboring building. According to Gater, however, much of that work was already done by the resident advisers on site. “The Stenner Glen staff were very good about getting everyone out quickly, so even

before we arrived they had gotten everyone out of the building,” Gater said. The fire was under control within 25 minutes of the 911 call, officials said. Damage was contained mainly to four of the six bedrooms, preserving two of the bedrooms as well as common areas. The fire did not reach any other buildings in the complex. “I knew we had a working fire on the way there based on the 911 reporting party,” Gater said. “We had to spend a bunch of time disassembling the building to get to the enclosed spaces.” No tenants sustained injuries from the fire, but one firefighter was injured by a collapsed ceiling fan. He was transported to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center, where he was treated and released. According to Gater, the injured firefighter should be back to work within the week. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. “We know that the fire started in the corner of the bedroom by a mattress or bed,” Gater said. “What’s around there could have started the fire, and a lot of it has to do with whether the room was accessible to see FIRE, pg. 2

INDEX

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

low 48˚F partially cloudy

cloudy

foggy

windy

light rain

rain

thinderstorm


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