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STRIKE? Mustang Family Weekend Edition
CSU faculty voting on whether to authorize strike
Tara Kaveh @TaraKaveh
From Oct. 19-29, faculty members at the 23 California State University (CSU) campuses will be voting on whether to permit their labor union to call a strike. The vote called by the California Faculty Association (CFA) is in response to stalled salary negotiations with the CSU system. Faculty will decide on the issue of authorizing a strike or other protests if the contract talks remain unsuccessful. CSU faculty statewide are asking administrators for a 5 percent salary increase along with a 2.7 percent pay bump based on years of service. The university is offering raises of 2 percent. “Think of it as a cost of living increase in place of inflation,” CFA SLO chapter president Graham Archer said. “The 5 percent is a very small amount
that we’re asking for. I think the true deficit is closer to 20-24 percent.” The CFA represents more than 25,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches. The union has been negotiating with the Cal State system since May on the pay raises union members will get this year. The union is in the second year of a three-year contract with the CSU. The contract reopened for the CSU administration and the union to discuss pay raises in May, but negotiations completely collapsed by July. The process went to mediation, which ended a few weeks ago without resolve. “The administration is showing that they have absolutely no interest in paying us even close to what we think we deserve,” said Archer. “That leaves us with very few options — and a strike is one of them.”
No dates have been set for a possible walkout, and the earliest that one would happen is in January. According to a recent press release, CSU spokesperson Toni Molle said that the raises the union is seeking would cost $69 million more than has been budgeted. The money has already been pledged to hiring more faculty and increasing enrollment and graduation rates. If the vote passes in favor of the strike, the worst-case scenario would be that all 23 campuses shut down and faculty refuse to go back to work until the issue is resolved. “To be honest, that’s the opposite of what a faculty member would want,” Archer said. “We’re here to teach and we would be essentially withholding our labor. But that’s really what it seems to be coming down to.”
MUSTANG NEWS FILE PHOTO NO TEACHING | If the majority of CSU faculty members authorize a strike, all 23 campuses could shut down.
Cal Poly athletics set for busy homecoming weekend
LISA WOSKE | COURTESY PHOTO A MIXTURE OF MUSIC HANNA CROWLEY | MUSTANG NE WS RUN IT | Quarterback Chris Brown will square off against FCS powerhouse Portland State on Saturday.
Eric Stubben @EricStubben
Cal Poly sports teams will participates in a myriad events leading up to and through this homecoming weekend. Kicking off the weekend — both literally and figuratively — women’s soccer plays at home against UC Irvine at 7 p.m. on Friday in Alex G. Spanos Stadium. In an attempt to break the current NCAA single-game regular-season attendance mark, the Mustangs are holding “Break the Record Night.” The previous record was set last year when L.A. Memorial Coliseum hosted 10,128 fans for a match between USC and UCLA. A sold out Alex G. Spanos Stadium can accommodate 11,075 spectators. With fan support, the Mustangs (5-6-5, 1-4 Big West) look to snap their three-game losing streak against a struggling Anteaters squad (6-8-1, 2-2). The women’s soccer team also bookends the weekend when they host UC Riverside (9-7, 3-2). The Mustangs will look to
end the Highlanders’ hot streak as Riverside has won three of their last four matches in conference play. In the middle of a busy weekend at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, the Cal Poly football team (2-4, 1-2 Big Sky) hosts Portland State (5-1, 2-1) on Saturday in a pivotal Big Sky Conference matchup. At the beginning of the season, this matchup looked like an easy win for the Mustangs as most pundits selected Portland State to finish near the bottom of the conference. But, with wins over FBS Washington State and FCS No. 19 Montana State, the Vikings have become a top team in the Big Sky Conference. Homecoming royalty will be introduced at halftime of the football game near midfield. Kickoff is at 6:05 p.m. Women’s golf hosts their Lady Mustang Invitational at Cypress Ridge Golf Course in Arroyo Grande. The 15th annual tworound, 12-team tournament takes place on Friday and Saturday. In their three previous tournaments this season, the Mustangs have finished third,
fourth and fifth, respectively. Athletic teams will be active away from San Luis Obispo this weekend as well. The Cal Poly volleyball team (14-4, 6-1 Big West) looks to extend their six-game winning streak when it takes on CSUN (4-14, 3-3) on Friday. Following Friday’s matchup, the Mustangs head to Long Beach State (15-5, 5-2) in a crucial Big West Conference matchup. The matchup features the No. 2 (Cal Poly) and No. 3 (Long Beach State) teams in the conference. Last, but certainly not least, the Cal Poly men’s soccer team (8-3-3, 3-1-2 Big West) finds itself in a rematch with UC Santa Barbara (9-5-1, 4-2-0) after the Mustangs won 3-2 in an overtime thriller in Alex G. Spanos Stadium last weekend. The Gauchos are hanging on to the top spot in the Big West Conference North Division standings with 12 points, but Cal Poly trails by just one point. Though almost 15,000 fans will see the match in person, the match will also be televised nationally through Fox Sports Prime Ticket.
| Las Cafeteras incorporates both hip-hop and latin sounds into its music.
Las Cafeteras to celebrate Dia De Los Muertos with vibrant traditional sounds Madi Salvati @MadiSalvati
Cal Poly is celebrating Dia De Los Muertos on Sunday, Oct. 25 with the sounds of Latin alternative band Las Cafeteras. “The show is vibrant and exciting,” said Denise Leader Stoeber, programming specialist for Cal Poly Arts. Stoeber has seen them perform once before and said “they are terribly exciting to watch.” Las Cafeteras is a group of
young musicians who have taken the hip-hop sound of East Los Angeles and married it to the music heard south of the Mexican border, Stoeber said. “Students should come because they are a group of people your age,” Stoeber said. “They are young people who are making a career out of what they love to do.” According to the Cal Poly Performing Arts website, Las Cafeteras will celebrate Dia De Los Muertos by honoring those
who have passed with dance and songs. The Cross Cultural Centers is partnering with Las Cafeteras in celebration of Dia De Los Muertos. They will have altars set up outside Spanos Theater on the patio to honor ancestors. The show is on Sunday in Spanos Theatre at 7 p.m. Tickets are available online at pacslo.org. Student rush tickets will be available for $10 starting at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Tom Papa to perform sold-out show at Cal Poly Brendan Abrams @brenabrams
As mothers and fathers file into San Luis Obispo this weekend, a different kind of Papa will take the stage at the Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center (PAC). Comedian Tom Papa will provide Mustang Family Weekend entertainment with his 8 p.m. show on Friday, Oct. 23. Continued on page 3
TOM PAPA | COURTESY PHOTO
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