Nov. 5, 2015

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94.4 percent

of CFA votes to authorize strike Katy Barnard

@CPMustangNews

The California Faculty Association (CFA) voted to authorize a strike if salary negotiations with the Cal State University (CSU) system fail.

The CFA board has unanimously voted to authorize a one-day strike at CSU East Bay and CSU Dominguez Hills on Nov. 17.

Here’s what faculty and students had to say about the decision.

Economics freshman Gabriel Klepper “I am glad that they went through with the strike, and I hope they do get their raise. As an econ major, with inflation, 2 percent is not enough to keep up with inflation, so they’re losing money by continuing to work for the CSU system. Three percent is breaking even, and 5 percent is pretty fair.”

Philosophy professor Stephen Ball “I don’t feel underpaid, personally. I do think there’s an equity issue because (as) a lot of the CSU faculty salaries were frozen, the president’s jumped up. And was he underpaid before? I’d like to see that. Also there’s a problem with the community college faculty — just because they belong to a different union. So I think there are equity issues. But no, I didn’t vote to strike.”

Business administration junior Hakeem Sanusi “If you don’t have good faculty and you don’t have faculty that are happy and that are well-paid, then how can you expect our students to do well and to learn to their full potential when the teacher can’t work to his or her full potential? So I think that, all in all, it’s important to have faculty who are paid, honestly, what they deserve — because they’re underpaid for the value that they give the students, which is an education that they will carry for the rest of their lives.”

History lecturer Cameron Jones “Traditionally what’s happened at this point, my understanding is they’ve usually negotiated something after they’ve voted for a strike. That’s what I’m hoping happens. I really don’t want to cause hardship to the students, so I’m hoping that’s what happens. But, you know, we will go on strike if that’s necessary.”

Mechanical engineering senior Sam Tucker “Everyone who doesn’t teach gets paid a lot more than the people who actually do a lot of work.

And so it’s kind of like a 1 percent fad, or a similar trend. So in terms of that, that’s not cool.”

PHOTOS BY KATY BARNARD | MUSTANG NE WS

Queer students, faculty protest at White’s open forum Tim Wetzel @timawetzel

On Tuesday, students, faculty and staff shared their concerns with California State University (CSU) Chancellor Timothy White at an open forum in Chumash Auditorium. Here are the nine questions the audience asked him, as well as concise versions of his responses.

1. What can you do as a chancellor to increase curricular and co-curricular opportunities in queer studies?

“To embed the issues that face a large percentage of our population in all of our academic areas is very important to me. So as we

think about the curriculum, I ask the faculty — and (as) we think about student support programs, I ask the student affairs professionals — to think about the importance of the academic study as well as the community support and encouragement and learning from and benefiting by really embracing diversity here broadly considered.”

2. What is your plan and process for ensuring that the tradition of meaningful shared governance is restored and subsequently maintained at Cal Poly?

“I view shared governance to be at our core. Some of you may know I prefer to refer to it as ‘shared lead-

ership,’ because ‘governance’ to me has too much of a regulatory implication to it … (but) at some point, there has to be a decision maker.

Shared leadership and shared governance is not shared decision making … on academic issues, on curricular issues, faculty are the decision makers.

Who you want to hire to be your colleagues in the department, that’s a faculty decision. But how the budget process is going to work on this campus, and ultimately how the decision of where we spend our finite resources Continued on page 3

KATY BARNARD | MUSTANG NE WS SILENCED | Students from the Queer Student Union asked CSU Chancellor Timothy White for support in creating a Women’s and Gender Studies major, but the chancellor did not commit to anything on the spot.

News... 1-3 | Arts... 4-5 | Opinion... 6 | Classifieds... 7 | Sports... 8

Thursday, November 5, 2015

NEWS | 2

Students face high-priced housing Wren Fox @thirdculturechr

Cuesta College biology sophomore Emma Kurwei begins her mornings with the sun shining down on her through a tinted pink window as she awakens on a living room couch. Then on her way to the kitchen, she steps over her suitcase and school supplies.

Kurwei found herself in a situation that some Cal Poly and Cuesta College students know all too well. She lives on a couch in her friend’s house as she could not secure affordable housing with her intended group of roommates.

“Housing is one of the most stressful things I’ve been through.

There’s so little room available and it’s all so expensive. College tuition is expensive enough as it is,” Kurwei said.

Housing, especially anything close to the Cal Poly campus, can cost students more than $1,000 per month if they want to have

their own room. The apartments located at 1144 Walnut St. are a prime example of this. Total rent for a two-bedroom and two-anda-half-bathroom apartment is $2,600 — $1,300 a room. Many students do not have the luxury of getting their own room due to the price.

Kurwei lived in a similar apartment last year.

“It’s insane how so many apartments are advertised for four people when they’re clearly designed for two,” Kurwei said. “You just don’t have the space to be comfortable, but that’s what you have to put up with if you want a $500 or $600 rent.”

Houses, due to generally having more space and rooms, are more varied in cost than apartments.

Residents of a house on Slack Street gave details of their rent but did not want their address to be disclosed. The house they live in has room for five tenants to each have their own room at

$672 a month.

Repurposing rooms can help lower rent, local landlord Mark Schroeder said.

“It’s incredible how many rooms have been converted into bedrooms in houses near Poly,” Schroeder said. “I’ve seen some pretty sketchy setups in houses that I have almost bought. No college student deserves to live in an old laundry room.”

Schroeder went on to describe his views on local housing prices.

“Prices are high for everyone looking to rent, and that puts me in a hard situation,” Schroeder said. “Every year the price to buy a house seems to rise, so when you do buy a home to rent out you have to provide more bedrooms and raise the rent so it’s easier to offset the purchase cost. I wish I didn’t have to charge as much as I did, but ultimately I have to come out ahead in this business.”

Landlords know how important it is for students to find housing in close proximity to campus, and that there is a shortage of

FILE PHOTO | MUSTANG NE WS UP, UP, UP

| Housing prices have risen at rental apartments like Mustang Village and family homes.

housing, Schroeder said.

“I try to keep the homes that I own in a pretty good condition,” Schroeder said. “I know some other landlords in the area that just let their houses close to Poly turn into dumps. They wouldn’t let that happen if they

were renting to 40-year-olds near downtown, so I think it’s pretty unfair how some people expect college students to be happy with sub-standard housing quality.”

Environmental management and protection junior Brian Stewart lived in a local apartment complex in 2013 when it was managed by a previous landlord.

The landlord neglected many of her responsibilities, Stewart said.

“There are creepy messages painted all over the property and she filled in the pool with cement,” Stewart said. “I never bothered trying to get anything fixed from her because she would drain your security deposit for anything she could.”

Under that management, tenants like Stewart rarely saw their security deposit when they moved out, and Stewart said townhomes were “rarely ready to move into,” even though the landlord charged a small amount for a cleaning fee.

Those townhomes are now under the management of Farrell Smyth Real Estate Company. The

current price of the townhomes is per month is $2,400 or $1,200 per bedroom.

Similar complexes close to campus, regardless of their quality, have consistently seen full occupancy year after year. Many students, including electrical engineering junior Brad Geldof, think this is a result of increased enrollment at Cal Poly.

“First of all, Cal Poly wants more students so they admitted more students these past few years.

With more students comes a greater demand for housing,” Geldof said. “PCV (Poly Canyon Village) can only hold so many people so the only other option as an upperclassman is to live off campus. And with the Grand Avenue parking lot closed there’s a bigger pressure to live close to campus since it’s harder to live farther away and park on campus.”

Ultimately, demand for housing near campus is incredibly high at Cal Poly; since supply is so limited, rent prices stay consistently high.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

NEWS | 3

Students react to Chancellor White’s open forum

“

Theater Senior

Rotem Drori

“ “

Katy Barnard @CPMustangNews

“In regards to the open forum, I felt like Chancellor White did a lot of redirecting. I was asking him a question about budgeting and funding for the Ethnic Studies Department, and he kind of just redirected me to another source, our president.

And I felt as if, in certain circumstances, the Chancellor has more power in delegating funding than our president, and there’s a reason why I went to the CSU Chancellor for these questions besides our president because I haven’t been receiving a lot of success when contacting President Armstrong.”

- Ethnic studies sophomore Jabemarvis Sanchez Williams

“I think today’s demonstration — today’s protest — and the three questions that Jabe, Matt and I got to ask was successful.

I was most disappointed in Chancellor White’s deflection of the questions and of his kind of non-acknowledgement of a lot of the issues that face marginalized students on this campus. I appreciate him taking ally training, but I’d actually like to see significant policy changes at the California State level and across the CSU system. And he really addressed and talked about none of those, which was unfortunate. So I was most disappointed in his answers, but I thought that our actual demonstration and our questions were successful in actually raising those issues.”

- History senior Sam Holzer

Fa c u lt y, s t af f an d students filled Chumash Auditorium on Tuesday, when California State University Chancellor Timothy White held an open forum. Some

“ “ “ “

attendees wore red shirts to support the California Faculty Association, while others donned duct tape and signs to show solidarity with ethnic studies, women’s and gender studies and more. Here’s what you missed.

“We want to make changes in curricular offerings at the CSU level to include women and gender studies, ethnic studies and queer studies in the CSU curriculum.”

- Political science sophomore Mick Bruckner

“I’m really excited. I haven’t been a part of something like this at Cal Poly before, and I think we have a group of people who are really dedicated to the cause. So I’m excited to see how far we can go with this.”

- Architecture freshman Caroline Ambrose

“I thought the protest went really well. Certainly, the answers he provided us were not helpful in any way, but that really wasn’t the point. The point was to raise awareness to these issues facing queer studies, ethnic studies and women and gender studies. And I think we were very successful in doing that.”

- Political science sophomore Matt Klepfer

“I’m here to support Mick and Matt and their attempt to change the way that we have ethnic studies, queer studies and women and gender studies curriculum in our school.”

- Child development sophomore Colleen Mayone

“The reason I came out today was I think it’s important that Cal Poly has more diversity and representation in their courses and what they have to offer, and I really just came to support the larger cause.”

- Psychology sophomore Sena Agbemadon

Continued from page 1

in any given year … is a responsibility that ultimately bears by the president … While it doesn’t seem like it’s perfect yet, it does seem like there’s been very good progress moving forward.”

3. What can you do to make sure our Ethnic Studies Department is able to reach its true potential and stay true to its initial goals set during the turmoil of the ‘60s and ‘70s where the themes of those struggles are still relevant today?

“I think the first thing that I can do was to have established this task force whose work has taken longer to accomplish than anyone had imagined. They’re just finished getting input … the next thing will be this report — it hasn’t been given to me officially yet … Then we will make sure that all of the presidents and provosts, and through them to the deans and the chairs, see this body of work that speaks to the importance, as you did, about how this area of study needs attention in the CSU in

order for all of our students, regardless of major, to understand these issues of a multicultural, pluralistic society.”

4. What can you do as a chancellor to enact policies, to and for your umbrella, especially when it comes to diversity?

“I think my task as chancellor is to try and get as much money as possible in the CSU system.

That money then gets distributed to the 23 campuses, and from that then it becomes a campus decision of all the competing needs of where to invest.

So I acknowledge and respect the point you raised, but the conversation isn’t with me.

The conversation isn’t with me. The conversation is with the deans, with the academic senate, with the provost and with the president. And as you prioritize all the multiple needs that are here, to make progress in programs that this campus finds important.”

5. Do you support (high out-of-state numbers) as the CSU’s future? How does

this support the CSU’s mission to educate California’s taxpayers?

“I know across the system that we have roughly … about four percent or so of our students are what I call ‘national and international students’ — students that are not California residential students … When we’ve analyzed this at a campus level and at a system level, first of all, I can tell you a student from out -of-state does not displace a fully qualified California student.

Secondly, because they pay about three (times more) on their tuition, plus the fees that residential students pay, is that they are putting more money into the campus — not into the system, but into the campus — that it costs to educate that student … It is a revenue stream that actually educates Californians, as well as these students from other states and other countries.”

6. When we don’t agree, where do the professoriate have the right to determine what’s happening on the department or

History Senior

Sam Holzer the college level?

“I come out of the R1’s (Research Institutions), and if it was an R1 environment I actually have very strong feelings about that. One of the things I learned with the Senate Executive Committee is there’s a big difference between heads and chairs. And there’s some cultural issues that vary across the campus, so for San Luis Obispo, I don’t know the answer.

So for me to hazard a guess would probably be unwise for you and unwise for me. I just don’t understand the question well enough to proffer a reasonable response, and I’m sorry for that.”

7. We need your help (with raising low salaries).

“We have been able, with new leadership on campuses — new faculty, new staff — a better economy, much better relationships with our elected officials who are our primary funder to reverse those declines in a short number of years. But we’re still $200 million below where we were at the beginning of the recession … (My job) is to get

better relationships, to tell our story of why we are good for California’s economy and social fabric, and we make progress every year in steps.

I commit to you to continue that progress, I will go to the mat for my faculty and my staff for their compensation, I’ll go to the mat for these facilities, I’ll go to the mat for our students. But I can’t reverse a decay that occurred in the (seventh-worst) economy by myself … There isn’t enough total funding to deal with the salaries that confront us in an inflationary society, but we’re taking a multi-year, every year approach to trying to solve that.

And some years we’ll do better than other years.”

8. How can the CSU better serve undocumented students?

“It’s going to require a private giving sometimes for scholarships. If they can’t get federal or state aid … We’ve had huge fundraising on the outside given to a third party, who could then give those scholarships to students who go around some

of the legal constraints we face back in those days.”

9. What is it you do that benefits Cal Poly students and Cal Poly faculty?

“First of all, we established the first Title IX program for the system and insisted that each campus create a much higher level awareness and programs to prevent sexual violence against our students and against our women faculty and staff members ... We have a legal department that has saved us in legal litigation in this last year alone over $160 million by winning cases that, when we started, nobody said we could win. That’s $100 million that now is in play in the campuses.

I understand the spirit of your question, but I also want you to understand, and you all to understand, that there are amazing compliance requirements with the federal government and with the state that requires somebody to do this. And it is more efficient and more effective to do some of this at system level than it is to have the 23 campuses do it less efficiently.”

Thursday, November 5, 2015

ARTS | 4

Cal Poly Kahanee promotes Indian culture through Bollywood dancing Madi Salvati @MadiSalvati

This is the second installment of Mustang News’ “Let’s Go Clubbing” series exploring various Cal Poly clubs.

It was 9 p.m. on a Monday night and the sounds of vibrant Indian music echoed through the Poly Canyon Village parking structure.

A series of elegant moves ensued as a handful of girls swayed and turned in time to the music among the parked cars beneath cement ceilings.

Journalism junior and co-captain of Cal Poly Kahanee (the university’s Bollywood dance team) Arinee Rahman stood before the group of girls, counting steps and assisting in choreography.

“Bollywood is such a mesmerizing type of dance,” Rahman said.

“It’s a part of our culture and a part of us.”

Cal Poly Kahanee is an official club at Cal Poly through the Indian Student Association (ISA), Rahman said.

“We wanted to start this team because there hasn’t been one before and the Indian Student Association itself is getting bigger and bigger,” Rahman said. “This is the perfect time to do it.”

Three years ago, Rahman and her co-captain, computer science junior Shefali Saboo, met at an ISA meeting, Saboo said. They both shared the same passion for Bollywood dance and decided to start the club.

“We bonded over our passion for dance and sharing our art form,” Saboo said. “So we decided to start our own dance team.”

Though relatively new to Cal Poly, Bollywood dance is a popular art form at numerous other schools.

“It’s a huge big deal at Berkeley, Davis and Santa Barbara,” Rahman said. “Cal Poly Kahanee is the first time Cal Poly has had a Bollywood dance team.”

Cal Poly Kahanee is a co-ed team, but currently does not have enough men for their routines. For now, the team consists of all women.

However, Rahman encourages anyone who wants to learn about Kahanee to come and try out.

“Anyone can join,” Rahman said.

“It’s not just South Asian people; we welcome everyone.”

“Kahanee” holds a special meaning to the Bollywood dance team and their culture.

“Kahanee means ‘story,’” Saboo said. “It is the story of where we come from and our culture.”

Bollywood dancing is more than just the dance, according to Saboo.

“With Bollywood dancing, there are a lot of different factors other than dancing,” Saboo said. “There’s expression and singing to the music while the dancing is happening and there’s the added emotion of the music.”

Factors such as these are what help Cal Poly Kahanee tell a story through their dancing.

“There’s always a hidden meaning behind the music,” Saboo said.

“We tell a story and dance at the same time.”

In expanding cultural diversity and awareness, Cal Poly Kahanee has also participated in a number of showcases on campus for the ISA. The club will be performing Saturday, Nov. 7, for the Diwali Banquet — a celebration of Indian

Kahanee means ‘story’. It is the story of where we come from and our culture.

SHEFALI SABOO

JASON HUNG | MUSTANG NE WS THIS ISN’T HOLLYWOOD | The Indian Student Association started Cal Poly Kahanee as an expressive space to practice Bollywood-style dancing.

culture featuring food, music and dance, according to the banquet’s Facebook page.

Rahman said that Cal Poly Kahanee is extremely important to the expansion of cultural diversity on campus.

“It’s important, especially now at Cal Poly, because the campus is getting more and more diverse,” Rahman said. “And for us to be able to spread that culture to others on campus is mostly why we started this.”

Many Kahanee members have been dancing for years. Biological sciences sophomore and Cal Poly

Kahanee member Raadhika Shah recalled her first encounter with Bollywood dancing.

“I think my mom forced me to join a Bollywood dance team because it was a big part of our culture,” Shah said. “I didn’t know if I would be any good at dancing since I was kind of pushed into, but I came to love it.”

Rahman said it started out as a hobby.

“It’s what I’ve always loved to do since I was 5 years old,” Rahman said.

For Saboo, Bollywood dance has always been a way to unwind.

“I fell in love with the ability to destress and let everything go while I dance,” Saboo said.

In addition to being an important factor in the lives and culture of the women who are a part of Cal Poly Kahanee, Shah explained why students should care about this dance team.

“It’s important in promoting cultural diversity and awareness, as well as dance and art,” Shah said. “Especially at a polytechnic university.”

Cal Poly Kahanee hopes to participate in national competitions in the future such as Bollywood

America and Bollywood Berkeley, Rahman said.

With those goals in mind, Cal Poly Kahanee also looks to maintain what is important to their culture.

“Cal Poly has a very small amount of Indian students,” Saboo said, “so having a solid group of people who share the same culture and background and passion is nice.”

Sharing this passion for Bollywood dance with others at Cal Poly is key in keeping their culture alive on campus.

“We get to be a part of something so much bigger than us,” Shah said.

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Thursday, November 5, 2015

ARTS | 5

Epiphanies while (almost) naked and afraid in Germany Will Peischel @CPMustangNews

Will Peischel is a journalism junior and Mustang News study abroad columnist.

I woke up the other day and realized I wasn’t in the United States.

The moment of clarity creeped through the morning haze of stillwet underwear off the clothesline and trying to read the newspaper in a language I didn’t understand.

It took me months longer than it should have to sink in, but maybe I should know by now that my most epiphany-receptive state is in damp underpants. I’m in Germany, they politely reminded me.

I sat in the kitchen, made European by the lack of garbage disposal, inconspicuously hidden refrigerator and complete absence of a dryer anywhere in a 10 kilometer radius.

The lapse of profundity didn’t last long. I looked up from my burnt toast and Nutella sandwich, through the front window and across the street to the edge of campus. Half a dozen German college students gazed at my vulnerability, then to each other between cigarette drags. Nearly naked and very afraid, I went into my room.

This was not the first time this happened. At this point I have my suspicions that there’s an on-campus voyeurism club that meets every morning across the street from my house. 8 a.m. sharp. I am an important American, after all, a prime specimen and so on. But a free show? I don’t think so.

Germany is weird. The second burnt toast and Nutella sandwich of the day brought more specula-

tion. There are thousands of little nuances and characteristics that form the cultural essence that they don’t tell you over TripAdvisor message boards or subreddits. For example, some time ago Germany collectively decided that nothing besides restaurants would remain open on Sundays. This is fine if you’ve grown up in the culture, but not fine if you wake up on the Sabbath hungover without food or money because the you from last night decided to blow it all on this headache.

If you jaywalk on the way to the ATM around the corner, an elderly German woman will materialize to make you feel like a bad role model for younger humans.

It should also be noted that in this very different place, bicycle bells serve an actual purpose. At this point when I hear one, my body prepares to leap and my eyes cover as many directions as possible.

Just wait until you’ve had a stress dream about being flattened by a bicycle.

There are also more discreet nuances to this strange place that take more to notice. In Germany, a secret war is being fought over lightpole sticker space. The electric box in front of McDonald’s is a no-man’s land of logos wilted and crisp; hardly a bus stop sign stands without ideological, band or graphic design student affiliation.

Some of the stickers are cute and creative, some are blunt. Probably half are political. “Essen mehr Nazis,” (eat more Nazis) smiles a bright blue, cartoon hamster. Several feet away is the slightly more concise “fuck Nazis.”

There is one sticker series you encounter on every hungover ex-

pedition, no matter the European city. The print is an electric yellow, contrasted against a black background, which in turn contrasts against the almost exclusively gray concrete or metal environment it’s stuck to. Above the shining silhouette of a running family are block letters that spell “REFUGEES.” Under the family: “WELCOME.” The sticker comes from an organization that tries to help facilitate housing for asylum seekers from tumultuous parts of the world like Syria, Afghanistan and North Africa. About 1.5 million are expected to come to Germany this year alone. The sticker has become more than just the group’s callsign, an illuminous bread crumb for the weary and scared that says help isn’t so far away.

Yesterday, I saw the remains of a “Refugees Welcome” sticker. The bits left weren’t wilted. Someone removed it, rather than natural sticker death of inclimate weather. As the number of new people entering the country becomes greater and greater, the debate is shifting from corners of the public eye to an open forum. Angela Merkel, the German head of state, faces increasing pressure from her party to close the borders. Still, most Germans view the situation with open arms.

Germany is in the thick of the greatest wave of immigration it’s seen since the end of the second World War, with a bubbling internal struggle over how to bear the weight. It sticks out to me as something instantly relatable in America: learning to accept the influx of a new group. American or German, both mirror each other in their struggle to come to terms. Despite the strange,

WILL PEISCHEL | MUSTANG NE WS

WILL PEISCHEL | MUSTANG NE WS STUCK | The streets of Germany are littered with stickers, many of which promote political messages.

beautiful, scary old lady nuances of German culture, the realities Germany grapples with are similar to the ones we have in the United States. The most striking of those in immigration, which apparently still scares people in 2015.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned (so far) on this over-privileged manboy experience abroad is how similar humans are to each other, even if on the surface their cultures don’t seem to be. That doesn’t mean you’re not missing out if you’re content behind the fence of your own backyard.

We’re more capable than we think of identifying with foreign cultures, because the people who populate them are more relatable than we give credit.

I would bet that Germans are more similar to Syrians than either would suspect, that Americans are more like Germans than we give credit and that the people across the street from my house probably aren’t voyeurists.

WILL PEISCHEL | MUSTANG NE WS

Thursday, November 5, 2015

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Thursday, November 5, 2015 Publishing since 1916 Volume M, Issue 13

“I was gonna move to Canada, but they just elected a liberal. Now I gotta find another country.”

Are our faculty striking out?

Liana Riley @liana_riley

Liana Riley is a political science junior and Mustang News columnist. These views do not necessarily reflect the editorial coverage of Mustang News.

I’ve personally never been subjected to the educational equivalent of capital punishment, but I hear 7 a.m. classes are pretty terrible.

Day in and day out, both staff and students report for duty at the ghastly hour of 7 a.m. Since obviously no one is choosing this schedule willingly, there must be logistical issues at play that are responsible. Cal Poly, a public institution, simply does not have the resources at its disposal to hire more faculty. And if they did have said resources, the administration would decide to use them to build an all-inclusive spa for visiting parents.

Our school has not always been fiscally responsible, and often fails at concluding what financial endeavors will serve the most utilitarian purpose.

For example, building a shaded area at the Recreation Center pool in lieu of raising professors’ salaries.

When the school administration disregards the values of teaching and importance of pedagogical advancement, they are essentially sending the message that they’re much more interested in the profits of fundraising and endowments than the wellbeing of their staff.

As a liberal arts student, this may be more abundantly clear to me than it is to students in other

departments. I see firsthand the caliber of our professors, but the resources of a small, underdeveloped university. No department should be treated like they are secondhand staff and students.

I don’t know the administrative logistics of distributing raises and benefits, but I know so much as to infer that we do have the means to do so, we just neglect the less profitable branches.

One potential explanation is that business administration and engineering professors have more marketable skills that can translate directly to higher paid corporate jobs. At risk of losing these valuable assets, Cal Poly’s administration is forced to make teaching in the business and engineering departments more lucrative.

But almost all staff and faculty are starting to engage in the rising resentment towards salary expenditures.

With a possible strike looming, professors have begun to publicly address their qualms with the inflated salaries held by the administration. Currently, the California Faculty Association (CFA) is asking for a 5 percent salary bump, due to the high cost of living expenses. Their current pay is simply not sufficient.

Political science professor Ronald Den Otter is an advocate for the 5 percent bump.

“Five percent is still too low, but it’s better than 2 percent, and the bills don’t pay themselves,” he said.

With the university firm on a 2 percent bump, talks of walkouts are becoming a last resort for frustrated professors. When a strike is the only way faculty can grab the attention of the school

administrators, the system is clearly broken.

Additionally, a strike would mean serious hindrances on courses and student achievement.

“I feel as if the faculty strike could seriously set me back in most of my classes, no matter how long it lasts,” biological sciences senior Max Levine said.

So do we blame the faculty for jeopardizing their relationship with the university, or the administration for not conceding to higher wages?

Faculty salaries have remained stagnant for the past decade and this phenomenon is not unique to Cal Poly either. All of the California State schools have seen ambivalent attitudes towards faculty salary expenditures over the last 10 years.

Another message is being sent to the faculty about their value is by the amount of faculty hired on temporary appointments as opposed to permanent tenured positions. The California State University (CSU) system has raised this number of faculty members by 46 percent since 2004.

I see this as a failure on behalf of the CSU system. I acknowledge that we are a network of underfunded public institutions, but when funds are knowingly being allocated to the vice presidents, associate vice presidents, assistant vice presidents, provosts and associate provosts’ salaries instead, it makes it hard to perceive this as an unfortunate budgetary issue.

I mean when was the last time you sat down with one of these administrators and had your

pop and circumstance education enriched because of them?

So this begs the question, what can Cal Poly do if the whole CSU network is caught in a cycle of neglected faculty and underpaid professors?

They can readjust their priorities. Embody the “best CSU” title

by putting the work done in the classroom first.

One would assume that it would be in a university’s best interest to provide their employees with at minimum a decent living wage, and keep frivolous spending to a minimum, but hey, I’m no financial strategist.

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Thursday, November 5, 2015

SPORTS | 8

Diggin’ it: Volleyball enjoys its best season in years

ANDREW EPPERSON | MUSTANG NE WS ACES

| The Cal Poly volleyball team went 8-1 in October and finds itself second in the Big West Conference standings. With seven matches left, a strong November could create an exciting postseason.

Ayrton Ostly @AyrtonOstly

Last season, the Cal Poly volleyball team won nine games.

The year before, the team won 12 games.

In 2013, Cal Poly won four games.

The 2015 season, however, is a completely different story.

With seven games left in the season, the Mustangs (16-5, 8-2 Big West) stand tied for second in the Big West Conference. They’ve won eight of their last nine games and dropped only six of the 32 sets in that span. If one ignores a 3-2 loss to Big West powerhouse CSU Long Beach, Cal Poly went 24-3 in eight wins in October.

The most dangerous part of this team? Good luck deciding on one single strength.

A strong answer could be its

youth — 11 of the 15 players on the team are underclassmen — and last year’s promising class of freshmen are now sophomores with a full season of experience.

8-1 OCTOBER MATCH RECORD FOR THE TEAM

That group of sophomores includes last year’s standout outside hitter Raeann Greisen, who’s averaging 12.3 kills, 2.2 digs and over one block per game this season. Fellow sophomore setter Taylor Nelson is dishing nearly 40 assists per game and leads the

team in digs (11.35 per game).

And regular starter middle blocker Savannah Niemen fills every role the team needs; she’s fourth on the team in kills, second in aces and second in blocks.

“They’re certainly a lot more experienced, just going through last year,” head coach Sam Crosson said early in the season. “I think that they as a collective group decided they need to put more work in, which happened a lot during the summertime, and we hit the ground running in August and fall camp.”

But beyond the recruiting class of 2014, one huge factor in the turnaround is freshman outside hitter Adlee Van Winden.

The 6-foot-1 phenom wasted no time making her mark. She’s topped 300 kills on the season and has been on a tear in October, averaging 16 kills and nine

digs a game. Her ferocity when attacking often keeps the team in games and helps the other players stay focused.

“No matter the score, we keep pushing,” said Van Winden after a 3-1 home victory against UC Santa Barbara. “We play our game and don’t focus on the scoreboard, looking on our side of the net.”

Simply looking at the Mustangs’ side of the net reveals another advantage Cal Poly has in most games. Greisen, Nelson, Niemen and Van Winden are all at least six feet tall. Add in regular starters senior libero Nicole Kessler and junior middle blocker Taylor Greunewald to the equation and the average starting Mustang is more than 6 feet tall.

That size advantage doesn’t stop when the usual starters

sit — nine of the 15 players on the roster check in at six feet or taller. Most teams can’t compete with the size and blocking prowess the Mustangs trot out on a nightly basis.

Another strength is the veteran leadership present on the team. Though upperclassmen are few in number, Kessler and senior outside hitter Hannah Schleis have many years of experience in the college ranks and often come in clutch when the pressure is on.

With the season entering its final month, the team will need that veteran leadership to help pull through, especially in the crucial home matchup against Big West Conference frontrunner Hawaii (20-1, 10-0) on Nov. 19.

“We talked about a lot in our locker room that we are 95 per-

cent more concerned with where we are at both mentally and tactically,” Crosson said. “We spend as much time on ourselves as we do our opponents.”

Last Thursday’s 3-1 victory against UC Santa Barbara (6-15, 2-8) gave the Mustangs a win to close out October with an 8-1 record. It marked the first season sweep of the Gauchos since 2008 and the first win in Santa Barbara in five years.

No matter the opponent, no matter the venue and no matter the situation, the Mustangs’ combination of youth, size and experience give them a solid shot at victory every night. With another strong showing in November, Cal Poly could have a great chance at making the NCAA tournament or, failing that, a promising future with a talented core of standout players.