June 8, 2017 by Mustang News

Thur sday, June 8, 2017

Mikaela Duhs @ mikaeladuhs

Warren J. Baker Center for Science and Mathematics (building 180), Faculty Offices East, the research facility that will soon be full of laboratories for undergraduate research, the “Study 25-35” campaign, the DREAM Center: these are all Cal Poly legacies credited to one man: Phil Bailey. The College of Science and Mathematics (COSAM) dean will retire in June after 48 years of service to Cal Poly. To say goodbye to the university, he will give a commencement speech at graduation, as he too is “graduating.” “There has been no greater champion of Learn by Doing than Phil Bailey. Through decades as a dean at Cal Poly, he has continued to teach chemistry classes almost every quarter. His love of teaching, of helping his students along to that big moment of discovery, is palpable both to those of us who work with him and those who learn from him,” President Jeffrey Armstrong said. “It is impossible to overstate the positive impact he has had on Cal Poly and on the thousands of people he has mentored and inspired to greater things over his nearly 50year career.”

w w w. m u s t a n g n e w s . n e t

C a l P o ly, S a n L u i s O b i s p o

E s t a b l i s h e d 1916

Dean Phil Bailey to retire

BAILEY continued on page 2

BYE BYE BAILEY

ILIANA ARROYOS | MUSTA NG NE W S

| Phil Bailey came to Cal Poly in 1969 as a professor of chemistry and later became the College of Science and Mathematics dean. After 48 years on campus, he will retire in June.

Cal Poly’s first Chicana professor Gloria Velasquez retires

GLORIA VEL A SQUEZ | COURE ST Y PHOTO

SPIRITUAL | Velasquez meditated with her students and created assignments to promote compassion.

Shanti Herzog @ CPMustangNews

Gloria Velasquez wanted her 31st and final year as a professor at Cal Poly to be a spiritual one. To accomplish this, the internationally recognized author and poet began meditating with students in her Spanish and Chicano/a studies classes and created an assignment to promote compassion — a take-home quiz where students were to perform an act of kindness. “I’ve tried to teach students to have compassion,” Velasquez said. “I always ask them, ‘How are you giving back to your community?’” VELASQUEZ continued on page 5

Ted Scranton: Living the legacy Michael Frank @ frankmichaelss

For Ted Scranton, Cal Poly was the only option. His parents, aunts, uncles and cousins all went to Cal Poly. Almost all of his family members who went to Cal Poly played a sport: his father played football for the Mustangs, one uncle played baseball and another competed in track. Even his sister, sophomore Allison Scranton, transferred to Cal Poly and competes in discus. It’s a family tradition. When Scranton was cut from the baseball team his junior year of high school, he had some free time. He was an awkward kid who gained 90 pounds and grew six inches over the course of a few years. Football became his sport and he planned to play in college.

Scranton decided to try out a new sport in the spring to replace baseball: track. “[In track] you can be awkward as long as you’re fast or strong,” Scranton said. He was Petaluma High School’s best sprinter and best discus thrower going into his final season, but still wasn’t good enough to compete at the college level. Yet. With two weeks left in his senior track season, Scranton showed his potential. He made it to the state championship for discus, throwing it an extra 10 feet past his personal record at just the right time. Four years and several new events later, Ted Scranton became the Big West Conference decathlon champion. SCRANTON continued on page 8

EMILY MERTEN | MUSTA NG NE W S

HEARD ‘ROUND THE WORLD | Davies has taken his choir to countries like Hungary, Czech Republic and France to sing in renowned venues.

Conductor Thomas Davies retiring in June Emily Merten @ CPMustangNews

After 34 years of teaching and conducting, Thomas Davies, the director of choral activities and vocal stud-

ies, will be retiring in June. During his time at Cal Poly, Davies conducted three student choirs: University Singers, Polyphonics and Early Music Ensemble. Looking back, Davies said

his close relationships with students and faculty made his work worthwhile. He said that although a lot changed during the past three decades, the passion and drive of his students remained consistent.

“It has really come to me in this last year what an influence you can have as a teacher on a person’s life,” Davies said. DAVIES continued on page 5

LEGACY

MATT LALANNE | MUSTA NG NE W S

| Ted Scranton’s father and two uncles were Cal Poly athletes.

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

NEWS 2

MUSTANG NEWS

BAILEY continued from page 1

About Bailey Bailey came to Cal Poly in 1969 and never left. Starting as a professor in chemistry, he was surprised by his consideration for the position of associate dean in 1973. In fact, he was in the restroom when he got the news. He took the position, but said with utmost certainty, “I’ll do this, but I do not want to be the dean.” Bailey’s goal was never to be in leadership, but to remain on the level of professor so he could be in closer contact with students. When former COSAM Dean Clyde P. Fisher died, Bailey’s name came back into conversation. Although he didn’t want it, Bailey reluctantly took over the position of interim dean for two years and became the official dean of COSAM in 1983. Even after becoming dean, he continued to teach for many years. “That’s why I came to Cal Poly in the first place,” Bailey said. “If I didn’t teach, I couldn’t be in the lab. The lab is where you get to know students and get a better scene of the student body,”

LEARN BY LISTENING

Influencing students Since the day he came to Cal Poly, Bailey promoted student success. At the beginning of each academic year, Bailey waited in the Muir Hall for incoming freshman, just so he would get to meet them and make them feel welcome. One of these students was Stephanie Lee. Recently, at a banquet for students receiving their single-subject teaching credential, Lee received her credential ten feet away from Bailey, who she said was the first person she met at Cal Poly. Bailey took an interest in student’s personal lives as well. He used to meet with freshmen and sophomores for their first two quarters at Cal Poly and would often talk to them about studying, being safe, the importance of sleep and the difference between memorizing and learning. He is known for giving out his personal phone number to students that he is close with or those in need of emotional support. “We have all types of Cal Poly grandkids. All the way from Sweden, Turlock to Vietnam,” Bailey said. It’s not just Bailey who feels this way. Current students and alumni have memories of Cal Poly that

are unique because of him. “Phil is more than a professional role model to me. He taught me that actions are stronger than words. He taught me about integrity, love, family, work ethic, charity, wine, how to make rice, living on the edge, even though sometimes he went beyond the edge. With Phil and Tina [Bailey], it was a family in more ways than you can imagine,” chemistry alumni Victor Vilchiz said in the Cal Poly Intersections Magazine. People say Bailey made everyone feel included whether they were staff, students or faculty. “Phil and Tina [Bailey] are the most generous people,” Chris Lancellotti, previous administrative assistant to Bailey, said. “They had students live with them who needed help financially. It was truly a pleasure coming to work everyday. I had such awe for them. They are some of the most dedicated to student educators that I have ever come across in my time at Cal Poly.” Bailey has also done work for the undocumented students of Cal Poly. Being a central advocate for their rights on campus, he has relationships with many undocumented students and helped them get access to things they

needed. He was also influential in establishing the DREAM center — a safe place for undocumented students. “They don’t see themselves as any different from you. They see this as their country just as it is your country,” Bailey said. “Undocumented students are hard because they can’t get what they need if they don’t have the paperwork. Even if you have the money.” Building the campus Beyond his emotional and personal impact, Bailey has had a large physical impact in regards to the science buildings that he helped construct and plan. A personal pride for Bailey is his involvement in the construction of three major buildings on campus — Warren J. Baker Center for Science and Mathematics, Faculty Offices East and a new building set to open in 2021 that will contain laboratories for undergraduate research. “It’s extremely difficult to get one building to be built, much less three!” Bailey said, laughing. When Bailey began teaching as a professor at Cal Poly, faculty offices were designed inefficiently with two or more people

sharing offices. “Unacceptable,” he thought. Bailey walked outside his office, found an architecture student lying in the grass and asked the student to draw a mockup of the new idea of a faculty offices building. Because the building was state funded, it had to go through many rounds of proposals and processes to be approved by the California State University system. Despite this, Faculty Offices East was constructed faster than most buildings at Cal Poly, taking only seven years from conception to completion. As it was his first time trying to complete a new building, Bailey was blissfully unaware of the possibilities of potential failure. “At the time, I wasn’t smart enough to know that it could fail. I just kept believing,” Bailey said. The most recently completed, largest building on campus sits in the center, its red bricks bright in the glaring sunlight that shines directly overhead. It is beautiful and unlike the others, regal amongst less beautiful buildings in terms of age and architectural complexity: Baker Science. An ambitious Bailey first proposed the state-of-the-art science center in 1993 to then-President

Warren J. Baker. “Baker has changed our campus. It’s the second most popular place on campus to study. It has really set the standards for other buildings to be built in the future,” Bailey said. Recently, several photo prints and displays by Cal Poly professor Brian Lawler were added to Baker, as was a diversity mural in the third floor foyer. Bailey has developed many creative artworks to provide a welcoming atmosphere to students and faculty. Cal Poly’s newest uncompleted building was also touched by Bailey. With the monetary donations of Bill Frost — the Cal Poly alumni donor who recently gave COSAM $110 million — Bailey was able to promote and push for more undergraduate research, scholarships and a newer building before his retirement: a stateof-the-art laboratory that will be equipped with 18,000 assignable square feet filled with labs and classrooms. It will be installed between English (building 22) and Baker Science in the open area grass space. CONTINUED ONLINE mustangnews.net

ANDRE W EPPERSON | MUSTA NG NE W S

| The new residence halls are named after the Northern Chumash tribal sites. Chance Daniel created the Yak Community application to help students with the pronunciations of the halls.

App helps pronounce new residence hall names Emma Withrow @ CPMustangNews

A new application was recently created to help Cal Poly students pronounce the names of the residence halls currently under construction in Student Housing South — yakʔitʸutʸu. Computer engineering senior Chance Daniel took matters into his own hands after noticing students had difficulty pronouncing the new housing

names. Daniel designed and produced a new app called Yak Community that allows the user to listen to each residence hall’s name and hear the correct pronunciation. “I wanted the new students to learn how to actually say [the new dorm names] and then also be able to copy and paste them into text messages and social media,” Daniel said. Cal Poly decided to name the new residential facility

yakʔitʸutʸu in recognition of the Northern Chumash Tribe. The student housing complex consists of seven residence halls named after Northern Chumash tribal sites throughout the Central Coast. “A task group comprised of faculty, staff and students has been established to develop a robust campaign to educate the campus, all future incoming freshmen and external partners ... to increase understanding and

awareness around the naming of the yakʔitʸutʸu community,” Assistant Director of Housing Outreach & Communications Nona Matthews said. According to Matthews, Cal Poly is aware of the Yak Community application and is considering ideas on how they might collaborate. According to Daniel, Yak Community has already been downloaded approximately 100 times despite only being

released May 29 and only taking a day to create and design. “Once I had the sound files and generated some artwork for the buttons, I was able to put it together fairly quickly,” Daniel said. Daniel has not yet reached out to Cal Poly, but is considering transferring Yak Community to them or seeing if they would be interested in pulling the functionality into the current Cal Poly application.

“When I read the new dorm names, I originally thought it was a computer glitch and the page wasn’t loading the names properly. Then I read the article and I realized that was the language of the names,” Daniel said. “I didn’t think it was a good idea at first, but I quickly realized that these names are here to stay and the Cal Poly community needed something to help with the pronunciation.”

Board of Directors denies proposal to create social justice committee Sydney Harder @ CPMustangNews

At the Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) Board of Directors meeting May 31, a bill to amend the ASI bylaws and create a Social Justice and Equity standing committee was voted down. According to College of Science and Mathematics representative for Board of Directors and statistics junior Gianna Ciaccio, hesitancies regarding the bill stemmed from the sheer novelty of this type of committee. Additionally, the formal process outlining the creation of a new standing committee within ASI requires that an ad hoc commit-

tee be formed, something ASI did not have. Co-authored by Ciaccio, political science junior Chase Dean, business administration senior Hannah Poplack and political science junior Rita Elfarissi, the bill aimed to provide a more equitable and effective platform for underrepresented students on campus to talk about their experiences as minorities and discuss more ways to develop diversity and inclusivity. “Movements toward equity on campus haven’t been consistent,and that’s not enough to solve any large issues,” Ciaccio said. Ciaccio said the idea for the bill gained momentum during her

work as Dean’s campaign manager during the ASI Presidential elections, where she spent time talking to students from a variety of backgrounds about their walks of life. She described the push for the bill as a “grassroots” pursuit. Political science junior and Queer Student Union president Matt Klepfer initially brought the bill to the attention of the Board of Directors at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year, but the measure did not come to fruition. Unlike other ASI standing committees typically composed of voting ASI members, the Social Justice and Equity committee would have consisted of two co-chairs, one of whom is an ac-

tive and elected member on the Board of Directors and the other a non-voting ASI member. The latter would be a representative from the Office of Inclusivity and Diversity, a cultural fraternity or the Cross-Cultural Center. Ciaccio said this unique format would encourage more open communications between minorities and ASI, establishing a medium for compromise and resolution. Though the bill was met with reluctance and skepticism, Ciaccio and Elfarissi plan to further pursue this proposal in the next academic school year. “I don’t think the conversation has to end here,” Ciaccio said.

NEWS 3

THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 2017

Muslim students ask for accommodations during Ramadan, are turned down BREAKING THE FAST

PHOTO ILLUSTR ATION BY CHRIS GATELE Y | MUSTA NG NE W S

| With the overlap of the school year and Ramadan, Muslim students are going to be fasting during finals. When they break their fast, it is tradition to do so with a date and water.

Charles Rice @ CPMustangNews

As the end of Spring 2017 draws near, students begin preparing for finals. But for Muslim students on campus, finals week overlaps with their holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and in 2017 goes from May 27 to June 26. It is expected that every Muslim fasts from sunrise to sunset every day during this month, with exceptions for children, elderly people and pregnant women. The fast involves going without food and drink along with other things such

as lying or cursing. This leaves many Muslim students feeling weak, and at many times, disadvantaged when taking their final exams. “Obviously it is a choice that we make because we are followers of this faith, but at the same time that should not be a reason that we are at a disadvantage here at this school,” English junior and Muslim student Ibrahim Zobi said. “Despite being surrounded by people in higher academics and people who are supposed to have studied other religions and cultures, many faculty members seemed to not know or even mention it. And of course no one is really comfortable asking for

any sort of accommodations. It’s just something that would be appreciated.” The Muslim Student Association drafted a letter to President Jeffrey Armstrong to see if there were any accommodations for students fasting during finals. Ultimately, Armstrong said the Academic Senate came to an agreement not to single out any group or their holidays, according to Zobi. “...I believe [this] is an issue because Cal Poly has identified that they have a diversity problem. But when a group of students [bring] up Cal Poly’s issues and has said, ‘Hey, so this is what’s going on and here are

some ideas.’ They don’t have to do them all, but the main thing is just to acknowledge that this is going on and to have faculty on board. It would just be nice if people were just aware of this,” Zobi said. Several ideas were presented in the letter written to Armstrong, including accommodated test times and more meal options later at night. However, the letter also stated they were thankful for any help and ideas the university was willing to offer. Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) took steps to help students who felt disadvantaged due to cultural differences. Recently, a bill was presented to ASI that would

create a Social Justice and Equity Committee. However, it did not pass. The bill would have created a standing committee within ASI to discuss how to provide a more equitable and holistic campus for students, Board of Directors chair and ASI President-elect Riley Nilsen said. “It would also provide them with a platform to discuss different issues that our students might be facing and it can be anything from diversity to mental health to veterans; those were kind of the ideas that were thrown around with the creation of the committee,” Nilsen said. “But unfortunately, the bill did not pass because a

lot of the students, including students that are marginalized and do come from those represented groups, didn’t think that this is the best way for ASI to approach this issue.” While the bill didn’t pass and there are not going to be any campus-wide changes specifically for Muslims during Ramadan, the idea behind the bill will move forward. “So they urge for next year the board take more time to investigate and explore opportunities for us to best represent all students on campus and especially the individuals who feel that they don’t have equal representation,” Nilsen said.

Aero Hangar Machine Shop continues to serve students’ need to create Cassandra Garibay @ CPMustangNews

Nestled between the baseball fields, seemingly out of place, sits one of Cal Poly’s oldest still-functioning buildings. It houses everything from computer-automated machinery to Beverly shears made in 1936. The airplane-hangar-turned machine shop was built in 1947 and served students’ need to create ever since. “[The Aero Hangar Machine Shop] is [an] actual embodiment of Learn by Doing, which

of course Cal Poly is all about, so it’s amazing,” mechanical engineering senior and shop technician Gus Holz said. “It has been such an insanely educational experience.” The shop was originally built for the aeronautical department, now the aerospace department, to have a designated area to build airplanes. According to mechanical engineering professor Glen Thorncroft, Cal Poly students built countless biplanes in smaller workshops that have since been demolished. The hangar

functioned as a licensed service station beginning in the late 1920s. What is now baseball fields was once a runway. Unfortunately, a fatal biplane crash occurred during the 38th Poly Royal and put an end to Cal Poly’s ability to test and fly student-built planes, Thorncraft said. Since then, the shop was repurposed as a machine shop,

Our philosophy is that if you want to come in here and learn every tool in the shop, we will teach you every tool.

housing a number of different workspaces for engineering clubs and students alike. “Our philosophy is that if you want to come in here and learn every tool in the shop, we will teach you every tool,” shop manager George Leone said. The shop is now open to any and all students who go through a shop safety training. But that was not always the case. In early 2000, the engineering department decided the shop should be available to all majors. Since then, the shop’s technician staff has grown

GEORGE LEONE

FR ANK HUANG | MUSTA NG NE W S

EVOLUTION | While its original purpose was a place to build airplanes, the Aero Hangar Machine Shop is now a place where students can work on their projects.

from about six students to 50, and more than 500 students are certified to use the machinery. “Engineers become better engineers if they work with people who are art majors or business majors and history majors because they get to see different perspectives,” Leone said. To accommodate the rise in the shop’s demand, the College of Engineering has been designing a more modern building to house Cal Poly’s machinery. The idea for a new shop began in the mid-1990s and is finally building traction.

In what Thorncraft referred to as the “maker movement,” now more than ever, students need a space where they can access a wide range of machinery. The current shop is simply being outgrown, Leone said. “[The shop] is sort of a victim of its own success,” Thorncroft said. Though the department is still in the early stages of finding sponsors to fund the development of a new workshop, Leone is hopeful that alumni will give back to what made their experience at Cal Poly valuable.

ARTS 4

CIRQUE DE PIPPIN

MUSTANG NEWS

CAL POLY ARTS | COURTE SY PHOTO

| “Pippin” tells a capitvating story of a boy trying to find meaning in his life, while also dazzling the audience with magic tricks, death-defying stunts and circus performances.

Review: ‘Pippin’ captures the uncertainty of entering adulthood Sabrina Thompson @ sabrinaswriting

Bringing the Cal Poly Arts season to a close, Apex Touring’s “Pippin” tells a story everyone should hear. The Broadway musical is about one young man’s journey of becoming extraordinary. In a performance filled with magic tricks, death-defying stunts and circus antics, “Pippin” is a show that dazzles and amazes while telling a very important story. As graduation approaches, many students wonder what will come

next and who they will be once they finish school. The character Pippin, a recent university graduate, wonders the same things. However, he is determined to find a meaningful path for himself. In his search for satisfaction, Pippin tries his hand at the glory of war and the power of revolution. Still unfulfilled, Pippin moves on to a life in politics, overwhelming himself with decisions. After a stint in government, hope seems lost for Pippin and he takes on an ordinary life as a helping hand to a widow named Catherine. There he falls in

love with Catherine and struggles to decide whether to settle down or continue his pursuit of glory. Naysh Fox gives Pippin his boyish curiosity and charm with a melodic tenor voice. Fox acts hesitant as Pippin enters each phase of his journey, but as Pippin’s confidence develops throughout the show, so does Fox’s. Fox embodies Pippin’s newfound maturity of a young man discovering sexual pleasure for the first time with hungry, longing looks at dancers enticing him as they walk by. As issues of politics overwhelm Pippin, Fox brings out the stress

decision-making causes, with his body hunched from exhaustion. Pippin’s story is told by a mysterious performance troupe led by the Leading Player (Housso Semon). From the beginning of the play, the Leading Player manipulates and encourages every one of Pippin’s efforts to find fulfillment. The Leading Player also promises a big finale the audience will be sure to remember. Semon is a powerful actor and commands every moment she is onstage. From her booming voice to her fiendishly dazzling smile, Semon helps move

the story along and provides vital information about the feelings of each character. An ensemble of gymnasts, dancers and circus performers join the Leading Player, changing characters in each act. Each member finds a way to stand out although no lines are spoken, whether they are soldiers with masterfully choreographed fighting or villagers roaming about. However, where the group shines most is in their stunts. Some spun on cloth draped from the ceiling while others balanced on one another’s shoulders, sometimes three people tall. Each dangerous trick came with a moment of silence, followed by thunderous applause. Almost every character was involved in a circus-style performance. Even Pippin’s

grandmother Berthe (Emilia Brown) dangled from the ceiling with the help of an ensemble member during “No Time At All.” Brown’s portrayal of a sweet, funloving grandmother is adorable. Despite demanding trapeze work, Brown stays in character, mimicking the voice and posture of an elderly woman. Despite some minor technical difficulties with the sound operations, the show appeared flawless with each stunt and trick. No accidental falls or slips occurred, making the performance all the more magical. The cast and crew of Pippin reminds the audience that it’s OK to not know what is next and while we may not always find glory, there is magic in life to be learned and explored.

MIDNIGHT BREAKFAST

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STUDENT FAVS AND RAVES “The Mongolian BBQ at 19 Metro is one of my favorite things to eat on campus. I love how they cook it right in front of you!” Annie Brunello, 1st year business major

PLU$ DOLLARS AND SENSE We are now 63 days into school! Students in residence halls should have about $300 Plu$ dollars left to spend this quarter and apartment students should have about $229 Plu$ dollars left.

@ CPMUSTANGARTS

ARTS 5

THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 2017 DAVIES continued from page 1

According to Davies, more than 90 percent of students in the choir program are not music majors. They come from all over campus, often quarter after quarter, to take a break from the books and sing. “I get to know them really really well by the time they come in as 18-year-olds and leave as 22-year-olds,” Davies said.

FA RE W ELL SHOW

“There’s a big change.” History senior Rebecca Willis has been in University Singers since her freshman year. Her last concert at Cal Poly will be Davies’ farewell spring concert, “With Thanks to All.” Willis said she is glad she will celebrate Davies’ work at Cal Poly the same year she is graduating. “I’m glad I get to commemorate that,” Willis said. “It feels special because he’s a big part of my Cal

Poly experience. It’s kind of nice to say goodbye at the same time, especially for my parents because that’s a big part of their life together as well.” Willis’ parents are Cal Poly alumni, as well as alumni of the choir program. As students in the late 1980s, Karen and Dave Willis’ relationship bloomed through Davies’ choir class. Years later, Davies attended the couple’s wedding.

Willis followed her parents’ footsteps and joined Davies’ choir upon coming to Cal Poly. “[Davies] genuinely gets to know his students, loves them and keeps in touch with them,” Karen said. “I feel like that’s one of the reasons we have such a large alumni gathering that’s also coming to honor Tom and sing.” More than 100 alumni will gather to commemorate Davies’ work and sing with the student choir group at

his farewell concert June 11. The farewell concert will not be the end of choir for Davies, however. He will continue to conduct a community choir in San Luis Obispo. Davies will also travel to England and Wales with his choir students this summer. The choir will sing in castles and renowned venues in the United Kingdom. The choir has been to Hungary, Czech Republic and France, along

with other countries. “Those are things that are very memorable: taking the students to other places where they get a chance to sing in very beautiful locations,” Davies said. Davies will then hand the conducting baton to Scott Glysson, who will conduct the choir starting in the fall. “I am looking forward to watching the program grow more and more in years to come,” Davies said.

EMILY MERTEN | MUSTA NG NE W S

| Davies will conduct his final Cal Poly concert on June 11, when over 100 alumni will join him and the student choir group to commemorate his time at the university.

VELASQUEZ continued from page 1

Pay it forward Velasquez told her students to treat the class like a family, making them work together to spread empathy. “We emphasize community, so we are a family,” Velasquez said. “We are not competing with each other in the classroom, we work together. I think when you serve and you help others, then you are building compassion and you’re able to feel better about yourself and your own life.” Velasquez said she was delighted by the responses of her students. She remembered one student who collected sea glass and rocks from the beach, but chose to return the rocks because he said they belonged to Mother Earth. Another student filled someone else’s parking meter that expired, while another forgave a friend whom she had a falling out with. However, Velasquez said some of her students felt self-conscious that their act of kindness would seem small or insignificant. “A lot of them said, ‘It was just this small thing that I did,’” Velasquez said. “So I explained to them that it’s not about the size or the quantity. Kindness is unmeasurable because it comes from the heart. You can’t measure love, you can’t measure the love in the heart.” A spiritual experience Velasquez’s Navajo and Chicana heritage inspired her to be spiritu-

al in her classes by teaching literature from a spiritual perspective. At the beginning of each quarter, she draws a circle on the board to represent the belief of many Navajos and Mexicans that life is cyclical, meaning life and death are one. Velasquez began meditating with her students as a way to destress from the fast pace of the quarter system and the current political climate. “Given the current political situation, there’s more fear and stress,” she said. “Meditating and helping others is a way of slowing down and being aware.” Her students told her that they feel more relaxed and find themselves appreciating life more because they were able to slow down for a moment and reflect. “I love meditating in class,” communications senior Ashley Lekkerkerk said. “It helps me slow down and realize that life should not be spent stressing out. I want to meditate more outside of class since it has helped me calm down and feel ‘tranquila [calm].’” The first Velasquez said she takes pride in being the first Chicana professor on Cal Poly’s campus, back in 1985. She’s also been active in the Chicano Civil Rights Movement and United Farm Workers organization. Velasquez was born to MexicanAmerican farmworkers amidst the racism and poverty of the 1950s and became the first in her family to attend a university.

She was also a part of political activist Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzáles’ “Crusade for Justice” in Denver, Colorado during the 1960s and 1970s. “We raised hell,” she said. Velasquez reflected on times during her 31 years teaching Chicano studies when her curriculum was met with racism and backlash from conservative students. While lecturing about Cesar Chavez in the 1980s, she remembers some students making disrespectful remarks and

THE WRITER

insulting Latino classmates. In the last five years, Velasquez has noticed more openness in her students. “You young people— the future— you are becoming more progressive-minded, more open-minded, more aware of diversity and the beauty of diversity,” Velasquez said. Though Velasquez said she recognizes a diversity problem at Cal Poly, she thinks her presence on campus is a way to combat that “There have been very few peo-

ple of color faculty members here at Cal Poly, but that’s OK because that’s one of the reasons why I’ve never left. I felt I was needed here,” she said. Velasquez likes to refer to herself as “la tia mama,” or “the aunt mom,” of Cal Poly. Many students, especially Latino/a students, see in her someone who cares about them and someone they can relate to. “I’ve had students come to my home,” she said. “They’ve brought their aunts and uncles to

my home. They’ve even brought their grandparents on occasion, because I tell them that concept of ‘familia.’” Velasquez said she hopes to use her retirement to keep working on her series of young adult novels, called the “Roosevelt High School Series.” She plans to keep in touch with her students and to continue to inspire compassion and social change. “My life reflects the pursuit of social justice. Always,” Velasquez said.

GLORIA VEL A SQUEZ | COURTE SY PHOTO

| Velasquez’s third book, Tommy Stands Alone, is about the story of a boy struggling with his sexual orientation.

OPINION 6

MUSTANG NEWS

OPINION

Hunter White @ CPMustangNews

Hunter White is a history junior and Mustang News columnist. The views expressed in this column do not reflect the viewpoints and editorial coverage of Mustang News. Just as some predicted in July of last year when Kevin Durant began his next chapter, the Golden State Warriors waltzed their way into the fourth game of the NBA Finals, having faced a single half of actual competition. They fulfilled every monstrous prediction that a 73-win team who added the second best player in the league could have been met with; they are simply unbeatable. They are as top heavy as the 2013 Heat and as deep as the 2014 Spurs. Facing the Warriors became certain death, and nothing short of a bad meniscus could conceivably slow them down. They are the Darwinian monster of the NBA super team ecosystem formed atop the corpses of B oston and Miami; they are so extreme that their hypothetical roster would have seemed utterly ludicrous if someone dreamt it up before it happened. However, unlike their predecessors, there is something especially wrong in this new assembly of free-flying superhuman talent. A sense of futile exhaustion hangs over their circus-performances-masquerading-as-competition. When the arguably second greatest basketball player of all time and perhaps the most athletic human being since Achilles has been reduced to a Washington General, one cannot help but feel as if we are being cheated out of some great course of history. The difference between the super teams of the past and the Warriors of today comes down to the nature of their formation. Both the “Big 3” Celtics and the Lebron-era Heat were crafted out of the mud. The Celtics united long-suffering and talented veterans to fulfill over a decade of searching. The Heat created one of the most fascinating hypotheticals in sports: What if a great player built his own team? They were both filled with drama and emotion. Sides were chosen and heroes and villains were born. The Heat started wearing all black and Boston was Boston: perhaps the most hateable city

KD is not nice

(or good for basketball) in the known sports universe. Legacies dangled over the abyss before our eyes and both experiments teetered on the edge of destruction thanks to the shoulders of Dwight Howard and a crafty German, respectively. Even the pre-Durant Warriors had a chapter of this sort. Those Warriors were a wrecking ball of such unexpected and monstrous proportions, they seemed destined to change the nature of the game itself , despite standing in the shadow of the prodigal son seeking deification. It was a drama of epic and poetic proportions, a clash of old and new, finesse and power, the individual and the collective. They battled and drew blood, a deciding showdown of mythic proportions seemed destined. Then, with an ending as unsatisfying and abrupt as when Rose threw the Heart of the Sea into the f**king sea, the greatest regular season team of all time traded their worst starter for the second best player in the league and histor y was preemptively rewritten. “It’s just a business,” they say. “Who w o u l d n’ t take a job that guaranteed future success?” This is a true statement and a fair defense of Durant’s “hardest road,” but it also proves exactly why his decision has left such a sick taste in the back of our throats. Professional sports leagues (including the NCAA, but let’s not get into that hornets nest) are businesses which must conceal this fact. They must present themselves as connected to a city and to broad American ideas in order to keep the illusion that they are culturally important. They sell us a myth in the same way Don Draper would have marketed the Iliad. In exchange for Kia commercials and overpriced tank tops, we get to lay some claim on history. We bear witness to century-long curses being overturned through the willpower of a team. We witness, in glorious high definition, the cost of greatness and an expression of American values far more convincing than stories of chopped cherry trees. With every team relocation and blatantly self-serving action, from teams and players, the façade becomes all the more transparent and the industry’s churning profit motivated machinery, which wrings our hope and loyalty into yachts

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and villas, becomes all the more obvious. In a perceived meritocracy, sports provide an ideal image of the American Dream filled with failure, determination and, hopefully, the proverbial mountaintop. Some make it, some do

not, but never before has someone so close to the top given up the struggle and instead decided to tag along for the ride. Every championship tells a story and the Durant Warriors tell us one we already know. The rich get richer and hard

work and loyalty are already long obsolete. Without Durant, the Warriors might have become the greatest team of all time; with him, they were before the ball ever touched the court.

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MUSTANG NEWS

I was so nervous because I had never done [a decatholon] before. TED SCRANTON

HERE WE GO

MATT LALANNE | MUSTA NG NE W S

| Senior Ted Scranton never competed in the decathlon until he came to Cal Poly. Four years and many injuries later, he finished the track and field season as the Big West decathlon champion.

SCRANTON continued from page 1

College years Scranton’s huge throws at the high school regional and state meets caught the attention of Cal Poly’s assistant track coach Jenni Ashcroft. Ashcroft immediately wanted to recruit Scranton, but realized it was too late to recruit him as he was a senior. She learned that Scranton was already attending Cal Poly for business administration, and asked him to join the team.

Scranton’s high school coach recommended that Scranton try out the decathlon, an event that is actually 10 different events in one. The Mustang coaching staff agreed. As a freshman, Scranton tried it for the first time. “I was so nervous because I had never done one before,” Scranton said. “The only thing I had heard about it was that it was really, really hard.” But it went well for Scranton. He stuck with the event and started to love decathlon. As time went on, Scranton got

stronger and faster, becoming consistent in every event. He knew that he wouldn’t win tons of events, but he could be in the top five in every event, except for pole vault, his worst. “Consistency is really important in the decathlon,” Scranton said. “I can throw the same throw every time. I can jump the same jump. I can run the same time every time.” Injuries started to plague Scranton and hurt his chances to win the Big West championship. As a junior, Scranton injured

his elbow, preventing him from throwing the discus and javelin as far. Patella tendinitis, or “jumper’s knee,” has been a problem for most of his college career. Ailments continued this year as Scranton developed bone calluses on his knee, forcing him to take time off. He even got pneumonia, losing 20 pounds in the process. He lost about a quarter of his regular training this year, and going into the conference championship meet, he wasn’t feeling his best. Scranton listened to his reg-

ular pump up song, “Look Ahead” by Future and started the meet. The other decathletes also weren’t 100 percent and Scranton saw an opportunity to win. He was consistent. He was solid. He didn’t choke. He stuck to his guns and he came out on top. Scranton won the meet by a decent margin, and qualified for regionals in the javelin. He finished the year ranked 37th in the countr y in decathlon. When asked why he would

want to do ten events instead of just focusing on one, Scranton’s answer was simple. “If I just did one thing, it’d be boring,” Scranton said. After a successful collegiate track career, Scranton hopes to give back and coach track at a local high school. For now, Scranton spends his time cooking elaborate meals and his homemade curry. From time to time, he even plays piano in the music building, showing his large array of skills. He’s a jack-of-all trades on and off the track.