Mustang News January 29, 2019

C A L P O LY S A N LU I S O B I S P O ’ S N E W S S O U R C E

MUSTANG NEWS

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A NEW INCOME SHARE AGREEMENT COULD HELP STUDENTS AVOID LOANS

P H OTO Zachary Donnenfield Carolyne Sysmans Kylie Kowalske Alison Chavez Diego Rivera Connor Frost Maxwell Morais Intern Luke Deal Intern COPY Kelly Martinez Amanda Simonich Jarod Urrutia D ES I GN Calista Lam Director Michelle Cao Solena Aguilar Julia Jackson-Clark D I V ERS I TY Monique Ejenuko Editor PR Alyssa Wilson Dominique Morales Kaitlyn Hoyer Mikaela Lincoln Tess Loarie Intern Christina Arthur Intern SOCIAL Lindsay Morris Hanna Crowley Danielle Lee Candace Lee Intern A DV I S O RS Paul Bittick General Manager Pat Howe Print Advisor Brady Teufel Digital Advisor

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Pay Cal Poly S OLEN A AGU I LA R | MUSTA N G N EWS

BY KA I L EY O’CONNEL L A new bill pending referral in the state Legislature offers a solution to soften student loans. Rather than paying back the government, Mustangs would pay back Cal Poly.

Assembly Bill 154, proposed by Randy Voepel (R-Santee), would require California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) students to promise a portion of their future income to their university. Sophomores, juniors and seniors could pay off their debt over a period of 10 years, interest free.

However, students who earn more would have to pay more.

According to Forbes, student loan debt in the United States is up to $1.5 trillion.

Universities across the country have experimented with so-called income share agreements for years. Purdue’s Back-aBoiler program and Colorado Mountain

College’s Fund Sueños program are just a few examples of schools who provide these options to students.

Cal Poly’s Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships Gerrie Hatten said she was not familiar with the specific bill, but commented on the general idea of income share agreements.

“A lot of people like income sharing programs because students have skin in the game,” Hatten said. “It becomes a revolving fund, because that income students pay would fund grants to more students.”

Environmental engineering freshman Lauren Roide, however, does not feel the same way. Instead of requiring each student to pay a different amount based on their income, she proposed every student pay the same universal amount, “just like loans are the same regardless of major.”

“I think that this would discourage people from getting that high paying job straight out of college because they

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wouldn’t be as pressured [to pay back the loan],” Roide said.

If the bill were to pass, graduates earning $20,000 or less per year would be exempt from making payments until they pass that threshold. According to a study by the financial website SmartAsset, the average starting salary for Cal Poly alumni is $61,100.

From Hatten’s perspective, the income sharing program would not be as beneficial as simply providing grants to students.

“The question is, if the university has money, do we really want to give it to students in the form of a loan, or do we want to use it to give grants?” Hatten said.

“If we have limited resources, how do we want to use them?”

The bill, which would call on CSU and UC to launch a pilot program beginning in the 2021-2022 academic year, which could be voted on as soon as Feb. 7.

Cover:

D iversity expert Damon Williams spoke on campus Jan. 24 and announced Cal Poly’s new Inclusive Excellence Initiative.

KYLIE KOWALSKE | MUSTANG NEWS

BY ASH L EY LA DI N Cal Poly made national news in Spring 2018 after the alleged blackface incident. In the emergency town hall meetings that followed, many students said the incident was a stark example of Cal Poly’s need for a more diverse and inclusive climate. With an almost 55 percent white-identifying student body, Cal Poly is the least diverse public university in California.

Students said they did not feel listened to by administration. For many, no number of campus-wide emails sent by President Jeffery Armstrong could change that sentiment.

Mathematics sophomore Kenji Kurose said he experienced that feeling firsthand, which was one reason he chose to apply for the Student Diversity Advisory Committee (SDAC) in Fall 2018.

AUTUMN FORD

“Sometimes, it feels like after last year, we can’t do anything about this — like they’re not listening to us students and they’re the ones making all these rules for us,” Kurose said.

“But it’s important to know there are now students working with adults directly under the president, and these campus leaders are listening to us and are willing to make a change.”

SDAC was started in Fall 2018 by the Office of University Diversity and Inclusivity (OUDI). The committee is made up of 12 students who meet once a month to offer student perspectives on Cal Poly’s climate and review proposed diversity initiatives.

They help the office tweak and prioritize certain initiatives. All their recommendations are reported to Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Jozi De Leon, who then discusses the student input with university

SONYA JINDAL

board members and senior leadership.

An advisor to the committee and program leader at OUDI, Kari Mansager, said the group mainly advises the office on the Collective Impact recommendations formed in 2017, which are gradually being implemented.

“One of the flaws with the Collective Impact process last year was that we had very little student involvement,” Mansager said.

“What we’re doing should benefit the student body, so student voices are so critical to our work. The committee is giving us a student lens of what they really want to see happen. We can see what resonates with them and ask what is missing.”

Meet three of the students on the committee, working toward having student voices heard.

OFFICER CHAD REILEY AWARDED LIFESAVING MEDAL UPD OFFICER AMONG FIRST TO RECEIVE MEDAL FOR SAVING STUDENT’S LIFE IN 2016

KENJI KUROSE

U P D | COU RT ESY

BY KY LA O SBUR N

With pink hair and a “Turn Blue” pin, environmental management and protection junior Autumn Ford said she knew she wanted to join the committee right when the application came out.

“We’ve had instances like blackface and Milo Yiannopoulos that have led to a pretty chaotic and pretty bleak community sometimes at Cal Poly,” Ford said. “But every time one of those large, catalyzing events happened, you would have this other group rise up and say, this isn’t us.”

Ford said she did not feel welcomed on campus her freshman year, but when she became a residential advisor, she realized she can help create positive experiences on campus.

“I’ve slowly worked on building out the ways I can help students here, because I kind of have this personal creed that it’s always so much better to help than to hurt.”

Ford said she is passionate about granting visibility to transgender and gender non-conforming students on campus, something she said is one of her focuses while giving recommendations in the committee.

Political science and journalism senior Sonya Jindal left Cal Poly after her freshman year.

“I hated it,” Jindal said. “I never felt like I was a minority before. I felt like people were looking at me because of my skin color, which is such a weird concept.”

Jindal came back to Cal Poly, however, after a year break. She said she returned because she wanted to help make changes on campus.

“It could be a very hateful group, something fueled by anger, but every time I go into it it’s such the opposite,” Jindal said.

“Everyone is deeply passionate, but no one is angry.”

While Jindal said it is sometimes difficult to choose hope over hate, she strives to do just that.

“I feel like if you look at a larger spectrum of hopelessness in the world, the only way to fix that issue is to start small, and the smallest thing is starting with your own college campus,” Jindal said. “It’s the advice I try to follow, and it’s what I’ve told some of my friends who hate it here — this is the best place to start making change.”

Kurose said he has never felt unsafe on Cal Poly’s campus, but he said experiencing the daily lack of diversity is hard to explain.

“There are times it feels difficult to be represented,” Kurose said. “My friend group back home was primarily Asian and most of my friends here are white, which is fine, but I want to experience and see diversity here. It makes me feel welcomed. It’s something that’s hard to describe for people of color.”

Kurose said he wanted to join the committee to help create change on campus.

“I’m a believer that change is possible in all aspects,” he said. “Not only have I been able to give my opinion, but I’ve grown a lot from listening to the other students from different underrepresented populations. I always tell people, for allyship, the most important step is just to listen — and that’s even for me, because I don’t represent every minority, so I also need to listen.”

On Wednesday, Jan. 23, the CSU Chancellor’s Office recognized University Police Department (UPD) Officer Chad Reiley and six others for saving a life while on duty at a CSU campus.

Reiley, who has worked for UPD for 12 years now, was among the first to receive the California State University (CSU) Lifesaving Medal.

On Nov. 10, 2016, Reiley saw a Cal Poly underclassman standing on the ledge of the fifth story of the Village Drive parking structure while on patrol.

“Using his excellent observation skills he spotted someone on the ledge of the top floor of the structure, and he then used his excellent communication skills to build a rapport with the student,” UPD Deputy Chief Brenda Trobaugh said.

According to a Cal Poly news release, the student told Reiley he had already said goodbye to loved ones and that he had no reason to live. Reiley reportedly spent about 30 minutes talking with the student, until the student made the decision to step away from the ledge.

Reiley was nominated for the CSU Lifesaving Medal by UPD for his actions that evening.

Beyond talking the student away from the ledge, Reiley followed up by helping to connect him with mental health resources, according to Trobaugh. The student involved in the incident returned to Cal Poly after being on a mental health hold and was able to continue his undergraduate career, according to a news release.

In the future, the CSU Chancellor’s Office will be annually honoring officers who have been instrumental in saving a life on their campuses with the CSU Lifesaving Medal.

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MEET THE STUDENTS HELPING ADVISE ON DIVERSITY ISSUES AND INITIATIVES

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INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE PLAN COMES AT A COST

CAL POLY PARTNERS WITH DAMON WILLIAMS TO IMPROVE CAMPUS CLIMATE

KYL IE KOWA LS K E | MUSTA N G N EWS

The Office of University Diversity and Inclusion partnered with diversity specialist Damon Williams in a $243,000 deal to improve campus climate.

BY ST EP HA N I E GA R I BAY The Office of University Diversity and Inclusion (OUDI) announced a $243,000 partnership with diversity expert Damon Williams to start the Cal Poly Inclusive Excellence Action Plan, which aims to create a more diverse and inclusive environment within the university, on Thursday, Jan. 24, in Alex and Faye Spanos Theatre.

Williams is a diversity, equity and inclusion expert who helped found the inclusive excellence model, which Cal Poly adopted in 2009.

Williams has worked with more than 1,000 colleges and universities, leading to national recognition for his work in strategic diversity leadership and social impact.

According to University Spokesperson Matt Lazier, Williams and his team will work with Cal Poly for at least one year, conducting a survey in April, compiling a report and giving recommendations on what to do with the survey’s results.

Williams visited the campus in Fall 2018 to

talk to students, faculty and staff about innovation, equity and inclusion. Lazier said Williams and his team will visit Cal Poly “as needed” and will be in regular contact with the university.

There is no set date for Williams to return.

Lazier was not able to confirm where the funding for Williams’ partnership is coming from, however he wrote in an email to Mus-

for students, faculty and staff,” Williams said.

The plan includes the Campus Experience Survey to collect data that Williams said he hopes will help formulate strategies on how to create a more diverse community. A Campus Climate Survey was also performed in 2014.

“It will also be used to help create a milestone to say, ‘Hey, this is where we are in terms of

We want to work with faculty, staff and the whole community around how we all play a role in ... creating an everyday culture and experience of inclusion at Cal Poly. tang News the partnership is not being paid for by tuition, student fees, nor the general fund.

“The big picture for this project is to develop an action plan that can really build from collective impact recommendations and help the university take some really important steps forward, aggressively, around creating a more inclusive and even more supportive environment

what our community says today,’ and then we can come back to that in a year or two years and say, ‘How have we improved?’” Williams said.

The plan also emphasizes creating a leadership development that will help to understand how everyone plays a role in creating the everyday experience at Cal Poly, according to Williams.

“We are calling them inclusive excellence

SUPREME COURT VOTES 5-4 IN FAVOR OF TRANSGENDER MILITARY BAN

BY MICHAELA BARROS On Jan. 22, the United States Supreme Court voted 5-4 on the Trump Administration’s request to ban most transgender people from military service, while the court waits to consolidate lower court cases.

This decision allows the Pentagon to prohibit the majority of transgender people from serv-

ing in the U.S. Military, with the exception of those who agree to serve in their “biological sex” and those already serving openly as transgender. The transgender ban policy will not be implemented until the fourth national injunction from a case in the U.S. Maryland District Court is removed.

“The military is one of the largest employers in the nation,” a news release from the National

Center for Lesbian Rights reads. “This ban is about employment discrimination, and as such it could have a ripple effect in every area of life, from immigration to family to law to employment and many others.”

The Administration said it is cost ineffective to pay for gender-affirmative surgeries and transgender healthcare in the military. According to the U.S. Department of Defense 2018

leadership institutes, and inside these institutes we want to work with students, we want to work with faculty, staff and the whole community around how we all play a role in delivering the collective action and how we all play a role in creating an everyday culture and experience of inclusion at Cal Poly,” Williams said.

Apart from surveys that will begin in April, Williams and the OUDI plan on creating different listening spaces to get conversations started. “[For] students, faculty and staff and different communities within, whether it’s gender, race ethnicity or nationality . . . we will create those conversation points and allow for those conversations to really inform our understanding of this experience,” Williams said.

Although Williams said he believes the definition of diversity can be broad, he added each individual group has its own approach on engaging issues.

“Each one of those identity groups is in their own historical, social, policy context so the thing I believe in is, let’s create a big tent and get everyone in the conversation,” Williams said.

The year-long initiative is meant to develop a clear action plan, create a diverse infrastructure and strategy across the campus and prepare students through diversity and inclusion workshops and training developments.

“I believe diversity is one of the issues that’s extremely important,” President Jeffrey Armstrong said. “I believe that the climate and the culture is a problem for many of our students.

It’s not just an incident that may happen, it may be the unconscious bias or just outright bias they may experience on campus or off campus.”

Students, faculty and staff will be able to take the survey beginning April 9.

“I think the ultimate north-star goal is that, if we were to flash forward 12 months down the line, folks would say, ‘I feel something different about this place,’” Williams said. “They might not be able to put their finger on it, but they can sense it. That would be a true hope and a dream from a north-star prospective.”

Budget Request, the upper estimate for annual transgender medical costs in the military amounts to a thousandth of 1 percent of the Defense Department’s annual budget.

Prior to this ban, transgender people were prohibited from U.S. Military Service until June 2016. At that time, President Barack Obama issued an order to repeal the transgender ban for members already in the military. He requested that in 2017, a year later, the ban be lifted to allow new transgender people to join the military.

The Trump Administration denied that order and proposed an appeal to reverse the original 2016 lift on the transgender ban.

Aidan McGloin contributed to this article.

TUITION WILL LIKELY NOT INCREASE FOR THE 2019-20 SCHOOL YEAR

GOV. NEWSOM’S PROPOSED BUDGET INCREASES CSU FUNDING

BY K E LLY M A RTI NEZ & RAC H E L M A RQUA RDT Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a new 2019-20 state budget proposal Thursday, Jan. 16 that would substantially increase California State University (CSU) funding.

The purpose of the budget increase is to make higher education more accessible, affordable and efficient for California students, including those of nontraditional circumstances, according to the Budget Summary.

Newsom proposed $36.4 billion towards higher education, including CSU campuses, University of California (UC) campuses and California community college campuses. This would be a 4 percent increase from last year’s higher education expenditures.

“It’s refreshing and exciting to see that Governor Newsom has dedicated much-needed funds to the community college, UC, and CSU systems — funds that will go towards further improving resources and accessibility for our students as they move towards obtaining their degrees,” Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) President Jasmin Fashami wrote in an email to Mustang News. “This budget increase is a great step in the right direction, ultimately showing the state’s dedication to higher education for students in need. I’m looking forward to the Governor’s continued support in future years to come.”

Newsom’s budget proposes a $300 million General Fund increase for CSU’s. The budget includes increased funding towards operational costs, enrollment growth and the Graduation Initiative 2025, which aims to increase graduation rates for CSU students. The General Fund expenditures would also go toward improving classrooms, expanding campus buildings and sustaining general maintenance.

In response to Newsom’s visionary budget of making higher education more affordable, the CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White announced Tuesday, Jan. 22 he will not be requesting an increase in CSU tuition for the 2019-20 school year from the Board of Trustees.

“You heard me right - tuition is off the table,” White said at a CSU board of trustees meeting in Long Beach.

This is the second year that CSU tuition will be frozen at $5,742. Though Fashami believes this is a step in the right direction, she said she thinks it is important to look at the bigger picture.

“As a student who has struggled financially at points throughout my college career, knowing that the cost of tuition will not be increasing is very exciting and quite a relief,” Fashami wrote. “However, rather than solely focusing on tuition, I think it is important to acknowledge the total cost of living as a student of the CSU system. For example, the cost of housing,

C A R OLY N E SYS MA N S | MUSTA N G N EWS

food, and healthcare — which are all considered basic needs — need to be better addressed. Students pursuing an education must have a college experience that is holistic of their needs beyond their time in a classroom.”

When asked about the tuition freeze, University Spokesperson Matt Lazier said it was too early to know how this will impact Cal Poly.

“Given that the governor’s proposed budget is still proposed and not yet adopted, it’s too early for Cal Poly to speculate on possible impacts,” Lazier wrote in an email to Mustang News.

However, the budget proposal will have no effect on the approved Cal Poly Opportunity Grant (CPOG) and Cal Poly Opportunity Fee (CPOF), according to CSU Chancellor’s Office Manager of Public Affairs Elizabeth Hetherington.

“The Cal Poly Opportunity Fee is a campus-based fee, which is managed by the campus and separate from systemwide tuition,” Hetherington wrote in an email to Mustang News.

This tuition freeze will also not affect enrollment growth, as Newsom’s proposed budget includes $62 million to raise enrollment by 2 percent.

“The announcement was made in response to the budget proposal, which was generous to CSU’s. The budget plan includes funding for

enrollment growth, so it is all very positive,” Hetherington wrote.

The budget especially puts emphasis on helping student-parents succeed. A proposed $121.6 million would go towards Cal Grant Access Awards for student-parents. Additionally, funds are allocated to expand on-campus child centers.

Additionally, the budget proposes a $15 million General Fund to address hunger and homelessness among students and a $7 million General Fund toward immigration legal services, including funding for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

The General Fund also boosts an increase of $250,000 for Project Rebound, which helps formerly incarcerated persons to enroll in the CSU system as students.

The notion that any student can succeed in higher education, regardless of any obstacles they may have faced, or may come to face, is the crucial driving force behind Newsom’s budget.

“The California Dream – the idea that every person can achieve a better life, regardless of where they start out – is central to who we are as Californians,” Newsom said. “As elected representatives of the people, it’s our job to make the California Dream real once more.”

5 TUESDAY • JANUARY 29, 2019 | NEWS | MUSTANG NEWS

Computer engineering senior and Navy serviceman Matt Bailey said he benefited from his time in the service and that it is unfortunate many people will not be able to do the same.

“I personally used [the military] as a stepping stone to get to a place where I felt more comfortable with my life and to better myself,” Bailey said. “I think that’s a great opportunity that should be available to all people. I think that it’s unfortunate that the Administration decided to go forward with [the Trump Administration’s] guidance because I feel like if someone would want to use that experience to do whatever with their life, that should be available.”

Bailey also said the military does have the end-say on decisions like this, whether or not he agrees with it.

“At the exact same time ... the military isn’t available for everybody, and that is their ability to say what they can and cannot allow,” Bailey said. “You cannot join the military if you have diabetes. You cannot join the military if you have asthma and things like that. I don’t think that being transgender should exclude you from that. I don’t think that that is one of those conditions. But they do have the end say, and I find it unfortunate that as someone who had a great experience in the military and bettered themselves immensely through it, I would like that to be available to everybody.”

The Cal Poly Army ROTC program declined to comment and redirected Mustang News to the Department of Defense, who did not respond for comment.

San Luis Obispo senior resident Jamie Woolf, who is involved with both the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA) and Tranz Central Coast (TCC), wrote in an email to Mustang News that she found the recent Supreme Court decision very frightening.

“I felt a combination of frustration, anger and fear,” Woolf wrote. “Frustration, because so many people don’t understand transgender people. Anger, because some on the far Right are using that confusion to paint us as something dangerous and broken. And fearful, because if they succeed in arguing that we are somehow unfit for military service, there will be people who say we’re unfit to be work in their company, be their neighbor, etcetera.”

Woolf wrote that although the news was unsettling to her, she is hopeful that hard work from the queer community will make an impact.

“I’m sad, but I’m optimistic,” Woolf wrote. “I’m 66 years-old and have lived through some awful times for queer people. Things are getting better. The process is two steps forward, one step back. We’re currently stepping back, but people are coming out and more and more people know at least one trans person. It’s going to get better. We’re working hard to make certain it happens.”

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TALKING ABOUT STALKING REPORTS OF STALKING RISE SINCE SAFER STARTED PARTICIPATING IN STALKING AWARENESS MONTH

C A R OLY N E SYS MA N S , P H OTO I LLUST RAT I ON | MUSTA N G N EWS

BY SY DN EY BRA N DT Reports of stalking to Safer have increased since Cal Poly began promoting “Stalking Awareness Month” on campus three years ago.

“The numbers that we have aren’t necessarily indicative of all of campus,” Safer Coordinator Kara Samaniego said. “It’s very, very underreported, just like all forms of gender-based violence, we see just the tip of the iceberg here.”

In the 2016-2017 school year, Safer’s stalking/ dating violence numbers consisted of 30 individuals, with 135 served total. In 2017-2018, there were only 21 individuals with 133 total served.

When Safer started outreach about stalking, people learned more about the definition of stalking and began looking at their own relationships and experiences. More people started to come in, according to Samaniego.

“We began to see more and more people coming in and feeling validated and saying, ‘Yeah, this person contacting me is scaring me, it’s making nervous, I’m afraid to go home, I’m afraid to walk home for fear that someone is following me or they know where I am,’” Samaniego said.

One animal science junior experienced stalking firsthand. She asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the topic.

“When I was in high school, my junior year, I was a lifeguard at a pool and it was my first season,” the animal science junior said. “One of our pool managers, he was kind of, always just kind of rubbed everyone the wrong way.

He started dating a 15-year-old on staff and he was 19, which is like massively illegal.”

“He started trying to be our friend and wanting to hang out all the time, and then it escalated,” she said. “He would always be texting me incessantly trying to get me to hang out with

him, and send me these really inappropriate text messages . . . I would shut him down immediately, saying, like, ‘Hey, I’m not interested.’”

During the time she was being stalked, she was only 17; he was 21.

After another instance with one of her coworkers, the police were notified of the situation. The case lasted nearly two years in court where her stalker took a plea deal.

“Had he actually gone to trial it probably would have been 60-plus felonies on his behalf,” she said.

As part of the settlement, there is also a restraining order against him for the next 10 years.

“He has to stay away from my car, my work, [my] school, myself — so like, for example, he couldn’t come to San Luis Obispo and get near Cal Poly,” she said.

The judge ended up giving her perpetrator six months in jail, five years probation and a lifetime on the sex offender registry.

Safer’s role

For those who are stalked, Samaniego said it is a case-by-case basis for how to address the situation.

First, an advocate will spend a time with the individual to identify the different areas of their life that are being impacted, such as classes, work and their home life.

“I think people’s first instinct is to almost minimize this behavior,” Samaniego said.

“How stalking is perpetrated is a pattern of behavior over a period of time directed at a person that causes them to feel fear. It’s slowly over time and I think that’s what makes it really difficult to identify right away.”

One of Safer’s primary roles is safety planning and making sure people know what their

resources are. This includes encouraging people to make a log of contacts they have, not only to preserve evidence, but to have the individual begin to recognize the pattern as well.

“That gives something tangible to their fears of like, ‘Yeah, that would make me nervous too if someone called me 15 times a day, and I’ve [already] asked them to stop,’” Samaniego said.

Safer can also help navigate instances where the survivor would like to involve law enforcement or the university.

Events

This month there were eight events to help spread awareness about the seriousness of stalking.

Some of the biggest events include the Sex E comedy, formally known as Smile and Nod, on Jan. 25 and “An Evening with Ted Bunch” Jan. 29. Titled “It Takes Courage to Stand Up For What’s Right,” hosting Bunch is a collaboration with the Men and Masculinity Program, the Office of Diversity and Inclusivity and Safer.

“We’re bringing him to campus to specifically talk about the men’s role in addressing gender-based violence, so it’s not stalking-specific, but just like every other form of gender-based violence, males are predominately the perpetrator, whether the victim is male, female, doesn’t identify on a gender binary or trans,” Samaniego said. “By far we see [most of] these crimes being perpetrated by men.”

Many stalking cases are perpetrated by a former or current intimate partner, but Samaniego said one of the biggest fears is the fear of the unknown.

“It’s incredibly frightening, to be stalked,” Samaniego said. “What we know about people who perpetrate, not only stalking, but oth-

er forms of gender-based violence, is that it’s rooted in this power, this need to have power and control over another person and this sense of entitlement to this other person.”

The survivor felt similarly.

“I think he thought he was invincible, and I think he thought no one was ever going to find out,” the survivor said.

Other events in January included partnering with University Police Department, an online safety workshop and a discussion with an immigration attorney from the Dream Center.

What is stalking?

Samaniego said the first red flag of stalking is a gut feeling that people have when someone is communicating with them multiple times and they feel uncomfortable with it.

“If you are being made to feel uncomfortable or unsafe, even to the point of feeling fearful, from a pattern of behavior by somebody, so over a course of time, maybe somebody’s repeatedly texting or sending messages through Instagram or Snapchat or Facebook or any method like that, and you ask them to stop and they continue to do it — that is where I would begin to say, ‘Yeah, that’s serious,’” Samaniego said.

Oftentimes, people tend to minimize what could be considered stalking because it tends to happen over social media, rather than right in someone’s face.

“By the time they have entered your physical space, [when] they’re waiting outside your classroom, waiting outside the gym, waiting outside your house, it’s been probably happening for a long time,” Samaniego said.

DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE Listen to a survivor’s testimonial at mustangnews.net

ASI SOCIAL JUSTICE PROGRAM FUND OPEN A YEAR

BY SAM A N T HA S P I TZ It has almost been a full year since the newly implemented Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) Social Justice Program Funding applications opened. Planned Parenthood Generation Action, Movimento Estudiantil Xicano de Aztlan (MEXA) and the Multicultural Business Program are the first three clubs to use these funds.

ASI Social Justice Program Funding was approved in May 2018, allocating $15,000 from the ASI budget for the program. It is designed to give clubs additional funding to support educational programs promoting diversity and inclusion. Organizations can apply for up to $2,500 to be used towards a maximum of three events per year.

“It’s a resource that Cal Poly needs and I really wish students would take more advantage of it because I think there’s so much benefit in contributing diversity education at a campus

where there’s a great need for that,” Chair of the ASI Board of Directors Mark Borges said.

Planned Parenthood Generation Action was awarded $2,500 to help host a oneday conference called “UnstoPPable” (Reproductive Justice Symposium) on Jan. 21.

“The ASI fund helped our club because we wanted to make sure that the event was free and accessible to the public,” Planned Parenthood Generation Action President Gina Welisch said. “Without the funding from ASI, we would have had to consider charging for tickets.”

The event focused on reproductive care and reproductive justice as well as workshops discussing topics on immigration, family separation, the Flint water crisis, health access obstacles for the LGBTQIA+ community and the high maternal mortality rate for Black women.

“I hope this fund can help other groups really get a spotlight for the great work that they

are doing,” Welisch said. “Social justice work often goes unseen due to a lack of resources and visibility.”

The Multicultural Business Program received $1,500 to help them put on ID Week from Jan. 22 to Jan. 25. ID Week is comprised of events led by student organizations in the Orfalea College of Business (OCOB) celebrating diversity and inclusion.

The events throughout the week led up to the Leadership Beyond the Resume conference (LBTR) as an opportunity for students in OCOB to attend and learn more about the importance of diversity and inclusion.

“I think events like LBTR ... and ID Week are super important to the student body, so the funds helping us out, helping us put on those events, were super beneficial in my opinion,” student coordinator for the Multicultural Business Program Diego Ambriz said.

They had guest speakers, including Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Wells

Fargo to lead workshops on topics like social responsibility in the business world, resiliency and unconscious bias.

ASI Social Justice Program Funds also awarded $1,500 to Movimiento Estudiantil Xicano de Aztlan (MEXA) to help with their Xicanx Youth Conference, which will be held Feb. 16. Xicanx Youth Conference is put on to promote post-secondary education for Latinx students in high school. The event is comprised of cultural, political and careerorientated workshops to help engage and motivate high school students to further their education after high school.

Applications for the ASI Social Justice Program Fund are still open and can be found on the ASI Student Government website.

“My biggest recommendation is that student groups go out and apply for these funds because that money is available and really could add a lot of benefit to this campus,” Borges said.

PHYSICS PROFESSOR RECEIVES $750K FOR PARTICLE COLLIDERS

T HEMIS MASTORID IS | COURT ESY

The grant, distributed through the Department of Energy, was awarded to 84 scientists nationally.

BY SOPHI A C A RN EVA LE Cal Poly physics professor Themis Mastoridis was given $750,000 through the Early Career Research Program grant to further his work with particle colliders. The grant will pave the way for Cal Poly students to help with research that would only be available to graduate students at other universities.

The grant will be used in part to make improvements to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland.

In past years, Mastoridis has been able to bring several students with him to work

on the LHC, giving them an opportunity to experience first-hand the field they are studying.

Mathematics senior Seiji Hansen had the opportunity to travel to CENA with Mastoridis in Spring 2018. “[Mastoridis] has done extensive work running simulations on particle collisions,” Hansen said. “His job is based around making it the most efficient in the sense that he shows how to take a whole batch of particles and uses them over and over.”

Scientists are interested in studying these collisions because this research helps them to understand the complex particles more clearly.

“CERN is a very exciting place and just being there you can feel that excitement,” Mastoridis said. “It’s palpable. It’s full of very talented people, very motivated and dedicated to the science.”

Mastorodis currently has four students working alongside him on these sorts of projects but with the new grant, he is hoping to see these numbers increase. Any of his students are welcome to join him on trips to Switzerland, and he usually will send out an email at the beginning of the quarter inviting people.

“Right now, a little over half the students involved are physics majors, but we also have some in aerospace and math as well,” Mastoridis said.

Through the grant, this unique opportunity will be made available to more students.

“A lot of times [trips like these are] an opportunity exclusively for graduate students,” Hansen said.

The grant, distributed through the Department of Energy, was awarded to 84 scientists nationally. 30 grants were given to scientists working in laboratories, while the remaining 54 were given to scientists at various universities.

According to the Department of Energy, the Early Career Research Program “is designed to bolster the nation’s scientific workforce by providing support to exceptional researchers during the crucial early career years, when many scientists do their most formative work.”

The grant itself must be applied for by scientists and is a lengthy process.

“Applicants must write a personal statement

with a 15-page limit as well as include additional pages on budget and the additional facilities to be used,” Mastoridis said. “The packet is then reviewed by a board here at Cal Poly and finally goes through the Department of Energy.”

The professor said he is also looking forward to using the resources permitted by the grant to expand work to an accelerator being built on the East Coast called the Electron Ion Collider and to further his relationship with the National Accelerator Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science laboratory operated by Stanford University.

The grant is a unique opportunity provided to students at Cal Poly and will continue to be a great resource for students as the program grows and as Mastoridis continues his work with the colliders.

“I get the best of both worlds with being in the classroom, working with students here at Cal Poly and then once a year I get to immerse myself in the excitement of CENA,” Mastoridis said. “I just feel very lucky to be involved.”

A LI S ON C H AVEZ | MUSTA N G N EWS

TUESDAY • JANUARY 29, 2019 | NEWS | MUSTANG NEWS

HOW ORGANIZATIONS HAVE BENEFITED FROM AN ADDITIONAL $15,000 IN FUNDING

7

CONCRETE CANOE TEAM PREPARES TO DEFEND NATIONAL TITLE

C A I T LI N S COT T | MUSTA N G N EWS

The Concrete Canoe Team must work quickly to place the canoe before it hardens — ideally within 10 minutes.

BY CA I TL I N SCOTT A concrete canoe might seem like an oxymoron, but Cal Poly’s civil engineering students are breaking the laws of science and looking to row their way to another national championship.

The Cal Poly team participates in the The National Concrete Canoe Competition where they build canoes out of concrete and race them in the water. Cal Poly’s team were national champions the past two years and hope to continue their streak in 2019.

About 60 volunteers, made up of students and alumni, helped cast the final concrete canoe on Saturday, January 19. After eight hours of mixing, blending and placing concrete, the project finally came together as a cohesive piece.

The team received the rulebook for the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) competition early September 2018 and immediately dove into the design and construction process. Each year the team must adhere to certain design specifications, and this year, the canoe’s bridge must not exceed 22 feet.

From an outside perspective, the casting process is relatively hectic. Around 50 people crowd into a small shed around the canoe’s mold, feverishly placing concrete before it dries. The rest of the team members reside upstairs, where they weigh and mix different elements into the concrete.

Civil engineering junior Eleni Korogianos is this year’s construction and aesthetic design captain. She spent that day running around with trays of concrete and spray bottles.

“The concrete is hardening as we speak,” Korogianos said as she handed more concrete to a teammate. “We use spray bottles to keep the concrete wet and workable. Ideally, it should be placed within 10 minutes of mixing.”

The canoe is made using ultra lightweight

concrete: a mixture of aggregate, cement and water. The concrete is then placed in three layers, each separated by either fiberglass or carbon reinforcement. The first layer is an eighth of an inch thick, the second is one-sixteenth and the third is another eighth, making the whole canoe no more than an inch in thickness.

“The goal is to make it as light as possible while keeping the structural integrity,” civil engineering alumna Hailey Bond said.

As for how exactly concrete floats, project manager and civil engineering junior Mason Breipohl said the answer is two-fold.

“Lightweight concrete is less dense than water,” Breipohl said. “The second part is the whole design process. We use a software where we look at the buoyancy forces and how the water is displaced.”

Once the canoe is cast, the team must wait 28 days while the concrete cures. After the delay time is completed, further finishing touches are added to the canoe — through processes such as sanding, sealing and placing the team’s letters.

The finished prodct is expected to hold up to four people and travel 200 meters in distance.

This year, Cal Poly will host the regional competition at Lake Nacimiento in Northern San Luis Obispo County April 3-6. The top finishing team from all 19 regional competitions will then head to nationals.

Over the past decade, Cal Poly has won the ASCE competition five times; this year they are looking to defend their 2018 national champion title. The national competition is expected to take place in Melbourne, Fla. in early June. “[The Concrete Canoe Team] is a great experience for the civil engineering community,” civil engineering graduate student Jacky Loh said. “We encourage everyone of all majors to come out, place some concrete and have some fun.” everyone of all majors to come out, place some concrete and have some fun.”

Deals of the Week

LU KE DEAL | MUSTAN G N EW S

Choreography is inspired by the sounds of contemporary hip-hop and pop music.

GIVE ‘EM HEEL

NEW REC CENTER CLASS TEACHES DANCE IN HEELS

BY G RA N T A N DERSON Students who find themselves getting a little chilly during winter quarter can now bring on the heat in a new Hip Hop and Heels dance class offered at the Recreation Center. The class is held every Thursday, from 7:45-8:45 p.m. No skill level is required and heels are optional, although students are recommended to bring thicker and shorter heels to prevent injury.

Experience industry management sophomore Sylvia Gilbar created the class at Cal Poly after a similar program inspired her. She has four years of teaching experience under her belt and is professionally trained in ballet, jazz and Bollywood. However, Gilbar said dancing to hip-hop in heels is a one-of-a-kind experience for her.

“I feel like wearing heels just brings more empowerment to your moves and just makes you feel more confident in what you’re doing,” Gilbar said. “Confidence is such a big thing for women and bringing heels to this campus . . . [will] bring more dance opportunities.”

The choreography is inspired by the sounds of contemporary hip-hop and pop music — as well as the strutting walks of Beyoncé — and is taught by Gilbar at a gradual pace. Students learn the moves by practicing short segments of a song and then splitting up into two teams near the end to go through the entire motion.

There is an emphasis on moving your legs and hips to the beat and “getting low” on the dance floor, squatting down and then following it up with a swish of the arm. At the end of the routine, it is one leg in front of the other, and then the dance is repeated.

Gilbar said she wants to create a sense of comfort in her studio, as opposed to other dance programs that can make students feel

like they have to compete with the person standing next to them.

“I want it to be a safe space for people to feel like they can do whatever they want in that class and really explore their creativity,” Gilbar said.

Theatre arts freshman Alexa Kushner has been attending regular hip-hop classes since October but said she was excited to see a new offering for a class involving heels.

“I went to an art school before this, so I danced a lot there,” Kushner said. “I needed that creative outlet to just get me out and performing so [when] I found this on the [Cal Poly] app, I was like, ‘I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna take a risk.’”

Although dancing long and hard to artists like Ariana Grande is said to lead to occasional foot soreness, experience industry management sophomore Marissa Espinola said she does not mind it.

“She’s [Gilbar is] a great teacher,” Espinola said. “It’s very fun taking class with her. She’s very uplifting and positive and easy-going . . . it’s a very positive environment.”

So, those looking to take a step outside of their comfort zone this winter can know the Hip Hop and Heels class is only a short strut away at the Recreation Center.

DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE Check out the video at mustangnews.net

TUESDAY • JANUARY 29, 2019 | ARTS | MUSTANG NEWS

10

NASA ASTRONAUT SHARES HIS VIEWS FROM ABOVE FROM THE AIR FORCE TO NASA, TERRY VIRTS SHARES HIGHLIGHTS FROM HIS CAREER IN SPACE

N A S A | COU RT ESY

Virts was the youngest working astronaut at the time he was sent to space.

BY SY DN EY S H E R MA N Audible “oohs” and “aahs” filled the Performing Arts Center (PAC) Jan. 23 as Terry W. Virts, former US Air Force Colonel and Space Station Commander, took the audience on a journey of their own through the spectacular images he captured while aboard the International Space Station.

Virts began his talk, hosted by National Geographic and titled “Views From Above,” with the story of his childhood, how he got to NASA and the comedic memories that happened along the way. He kicked off the presentation with a photo of a small boy and a rocket three times his size.

“When I was a little kid, it was what I wanted to do,” Virts said. “The first book I read was about Apollo.”

Virts talked about his parents and how they supported his dreams of becoming an astronaut.

Virts said he began at the United States Air Force Academy, where he worked his way through getting his pilot wings and completing basic fighter training and formal training.

He eventually landed a job as an Experimental Test Pilot, a position in which he logged over three thousand hours in more than forty different aircrafts – all while maintaining a “really bad haircut,” he joked.

Virts was stationed all across the United States and even spent some time abroad in Korea and Germany.

“Living around the planet gave me a great perspective that helped me be a better astronaut,” Virts said.

Virts added that he believed his traveling is the reason he was chosen among his colleagues for the position at NASA. He said that some of his colleagues discouraged him to apply at the time and told him to wait until he had gained more experience. But rather than heeding their doubts, he applied. He was then

chosen to be the youngest working astronaut at the time.

Virts said this was when he would learn the “most profound lesson” of his career.

“Don’t tell yourself no,” Virts said.

Aside from showing everyone that “space flight is awesome,” Virts said his true objective is to inspire and to educate. “The bigger the dream, the harder the work,” he said.

“I also wanted to be a shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles growing up, but it quickly became obvious that that wasn’t gonna happen,” Virts said.

Virts’ dedication and perseverance did, however, lead him to what he described as “the proudest moment of my life as an American,” referring to the first time he walked up to the space station.

He went on to discuss life in space. By sharing his experiences, Virts said he seeks not only to inspire people, but also to educate them on topics like global wealth, environ-

mental issues and even political controversy.

He intends to “use [his] space missions as the framework and the background for these deeper lessons.”

Virts said an important moment for him in space occurred while he was working with a team that consisted of an Italian astronaut, two Russian astronauts and two American astronauts — himself included. He said it was an interesting dynamic working with the Russian astronauts while tensions between the two countries were boiling up. However, Virts added that in the space station, all boundaries and country lines were meaningless amidst the vast terrain of space.

During this time, the alarm for the deadly chemical ammonia went off, alarming Virts and the other crew members. His team had advised him and the others beforehand that if they ever did smell ammonia, not to worry about it because, “You’re going to die.”

Thankfully, it ended up being a false alarm.

While the frenzy was unwinding, however, former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin personally contacted the Americans, saying they could stay safely on the Russian side for as long as they needed. Virts was moved by this. He described the moment as “how cooperation should happen,” both then and in today’s political climate.

Being in space and looking down at the Earth puts things in perspective, Virts said. While most of the photos he displayed were gorgeous scenes of space and earth from afar, some of them showed the increasing effects of pollution and deforestation on the planet.

Some images captured a whole city covered in brown smog, others the ruin of the rainforests.

Virts said he hopes his photos have an impact not only on people’s daily habits, but on future policy regarding the planet. He said he noticed the patterns of light and dark at night and how they correlated to global wealth as he passed over different geographical locations. In South Korea, lights illuminate the night sky, bursting from different city centers such as Seoul, Busan and Incheon. North Korea on the other hand, is apparently harder to spot. This is because there is only one noticeable light coming from the area: the home of supreme leader Kim Jong-Un. The rest of the country lies in darkness.

“Some people are living in the light, and some people are living in the dark,” Virts said.

For now, not many people can relate to the experiences Colonel and Astronaut Terry Virts has had in space. In his own words, directed towards those of us rooted to the Earth, it is something “you really can’t imagine.”

There is, however, a lot to learn from what he has seen and done for a better and brighter future.

11

OP INION

TINY

BY L IL LY L EI F Lilly Leif is an English sophomore and Mustang News columnist. The views expressed do not necessary reflect those of Mustang News.

We’ve all been there. We’ve all been late to class only to find that we are stuck with an abomination to all of mankind for the next few hours: the tiny desk. The one that seems like the guy building it just decided to quit in the middle of making it because he realized how useless this piece of equipment is. Unlike those lucky students who made it to class before you who may spread out leisurely, you are faced with that desk that literally holds only one singular piece of paper. After navigating through a maze of students, bumping into each of their ample-sized desks while profusely apologizing along the way, you sit down in despair. You accidentally put your hand under the desk only to discover there are nine fresh pieces of gum there, basking in your bitter disgust.

Is this really what your life has come to? Sitting there, on the verge of tears behind this pathetic excuse for a learning utensil?

You curse out the tree that this tiny plank of wood was cut from.

We’re out here killing the rainforests, and for what? A six-inch flap of wood that gives you splinters when you brush your hand on its side? You are now left to sit in this useless contraption for the remainder of class.

A thousand thoughts race through your head about this tiny half-desk. You wonder what purpose this desk serves, given its diminutive size. The answer? None. It serves no purpose other than to humiliate you as you fumble through your papers and notebooks and decide which one will be the one thing you can place on the desk. You feel like a giant

baby sitting at this tiny desk. You might as well sit on the floor with your crayons and Cheerios in a plastic baggie and sob for

DESK With knowing glances, you acknowledge each other’s pain, providing you with the strength to push through.

Suddenly, in horror, you watch as your Hydro Flask falls off the edge of your desk, for you were brave enough to attempt to place it on your tiny desk in the

JUL IA JAC KS ON-C LARK | MUSTA N G N EWS

the next hour rather than even bother trying to get anything done on this desk. You look around in envy of your peers who arrived to class early enough to secure a regular-sized desk. You meet the gaze of the one other poor student who suffered the same fate as you. A single tear rolls down their cheek.

first place. The clang of the metal on the floor announces to the entire class that you are a dumb idiot for even pulling such a reckless maneuver. The tiny desk doesn’t care about your hydration. Now you are the one with a single tear falling down your cheek. You quickly wipe it off to reassure the class that

you will not be defeated by this tiny foe. You wish you could handle the tiny desk. The only person who chooses the tiny desk is that guy who always shows up with his AirPods and a single pencil, who is somehow always in your class. He doesn’t need a full-sized desk, and his contentment with the tiny one before him fills you with jealousy. In that moment, he has everything, and you? You have nothing.

Perhaps one can argue that the tiny desk is the jelly doughnut of desks or “The Big Bang Theory” of desks. Maybe it’s The Arizona Cardinals of desks. The Piers Morgan of desks. If the tiny desk could talk, it would read directly from Merriam Webster’s dictionary for three hours until you fell asleep.

It would insult your entire family, egg your house and then spit in your face. In an alternate hell, there is a 10th circle where there are only tiny desks and Satan himself engorged in flames. You wonder: who designed the tiny desk? Surely real people with some kind of engineering degrees drew up a blueprint for the tiny desk. And that was the best they managed to do?

Absolutely tragic. What prevented these designers from including another eight inches of desk?

The person who invented this desk was probably the same jerk who invented the guillotine. Perhaps they enjoy seeing college students suffer. You reconsider the fact that you’re paying $20 thousand every year to sit at this minuscule desk, then ponder dropping out.

But then you remember you’ve already disappointed your loved ones enough.

Finally, after your professor finishes their seemingly faraway lecture, you begin to pack your belongings, but not before accidentally brushing all the papers off your desk and watching them fly away from you. In embarrassment, you scuttle over and pick them up while the entire class circles you, joining hands, laughing at your demise. You make your way to the door, but before you leave, you lock eyes with the tiny desk. With your head hung in shame it grins at you, knowing it has taken every last shred of your pride and will do so all over again tomorrow. And thus, the tiny desk wins.

TUESDAY • JANUARY 29, 2019 | OPINION | MUSTANG NEWS

THE TRAGEDY OF THE

TUESDAY • JANUARY 29, 2019 | KCPR | MUSTANG NEWS

12

SLO WINTER CONCERT GUIDE

BY M A EV E O ’ S U LLI VA N Though San Luis Obispo may seem like a typical small town, don’t be deceived — it’s up-and-coming music scene is vibrant.

In the past, we’ve seen huge headliners like Whethan, The Growlers and The Internet at Fremont Theater. Even SLO Brew, which describes itself as a “laid-back brewpub,” has hosted artists like Japanese Breakfast and Jorja Smith.

At first glance, this winter quarter may seem lackluster in terms of quantity, but don’t be fooled.

Tucked away in the list of shows scheduled for this quarter are hidden gems that are must-sees for the music lovers of SLO. Here is a guide to some of the shows you won’t want to miss this winter.

With winter quarter already underway and a promising lineup of artists slated for spring, be sure to keep an eye out for the upcoming spring concert guide!

Maeve O’Sullivan is a Cal Poly history sophomore and a KCPR staff member; She wrote the article. Jo Anna Edmison is a Cal Poly sophomore and a KCPR DJ; She took the photo.

MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. DOCUMENTARY

THE KNOCKS

BOB MARLEY TRIBUTE CONCERT

THURSDAY, JAN. 31, 7:30 P.M. SPANOS THEATRE

FRIDAY, FEB. 1, 8:00 P.M. FREMONT THEATRE

SATURDAY, FEB. 2, 7:00 P.M. SLO BREW ROCK

Right on campus, KCPR is hosting a screening of the documentary that follows the life of M.I.A. Admission is free, so there is no reason to miss the intimate story of the Sri Lankan artist’s rise from refugee to pop star.

This electronic dance group is comprised of Ben “B-Roc” Ruttner and James “Mr. JPatt” Patterson. With upbeat hits like “Classic” and “Ride or Die,” this concert is perfect for anyone looking to dance.

Paying homage to the legendary late Jamaican singer/songwriter, this show is ideal for all reggae lovers of San Luis Obispo.

Resination, Ras Danny and True Zion are all bringing their best to pay tribute to the most recognizable name in reggae.

CLUB 91 AT SLO BREW

NONAME

TVGIRL

THURSDAY, JAN. 31, 7:30 P.M. SPANOS THEATRE

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 20, 8:00 P.M. FREMONT THEATRE

SATURDAY, FEB. 23, 7:00 P.M. SLO BREW ROCK

Don’t have mid-week plans? Club 91 is back at SLO Brew, featuring their signature house, techno and disco selections. For those seeking out an outlet to dance to something different, boogie with someone special or just drink something familiar, we are with you.

Don’t compromise just because it’s a Wednesday. Entry will be free all night! Wednesday is the new weeknight to go out.

Noname is a native Chicagoan-rapper with a newly released album, Room 25. She is a witty wordsmith who touches on social justice issues in her music in a poetic and graceful way. Her prose is comparable to that of Ms. Lauryn Hill, so this show is great for anyone looking to hear some of the grooviest R&B hip-hop ever made.

KCPR is presenting TV Girl yet again, an indie-pop band releasing consistently praised records with a cheerful, dreamy sound. They just released their third full-length LP, Death of a Party Girl. They’ll be performing alongside special guest George Clanton. Be sure to check out this show if you like groups like Mild High Club or Beach Fossils.

ALBERT HAMMOND JR.

OPEN MIC NIGHT

ATMOSPHERE

TUESDAY, FEB. 26, 7:00 P.M. SLO BREW

THURSDAY, MARCH 7 PAC

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 7:30 P.M. FREMONT THEATRE

Fans of the legendary garage rock act that is The Strokes should definitely add this concert to their calendar. Albert Hammond Jr., long-time guitarist of the band, is making a solo appearance at SLO Brew Rock. If you want heavy yet melodic guitar riffs that’ll get you on your feet, this show has what you’re looking for.

This event is free and open to all students!

It will consist of Cal Poly musicians, poets, DJs, etc. If you are interested in performing, stay tuned for more info. Otherwise, be sure to save the date!

This rap group has remained popular since the late ‘90s. Rapper Slug and DJ Ant, both Minnesota-born, make up this timeless hiphop duo. Some of their classic songs include “Sunshine,” “Yesterday” and “You.” With their clever lyrics and timeless sound, this performance certainly won’t disappoint.

LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE CHANGES LOCATION

BY EMMA KUMAGAWA Central Coast festival Lightning In A Bottle (LiB) has announced a change in dates and location for 2019. LiB will now start two weeks earlier on May 8, until May 13, in a venue that will be disclosed within the next few weeks.

LiB strives to create a sustainable, drug-free and culturally aware environment, as stated on its website. In addition to primarily electronic music, the festival offers several workshops and activities that celebrate art, health, culture and nature.

The annual festival can no longer be held at the San Antonio Recreation Area in Bradley, California due to changes in county regulations, according to LiB. The Monterey County Parks Department has stopped managing big events in the area and the Parks Commission is transitioning Lake San Antonio to strictly day hours, which means no overnight camping.

LiB’s previous location in Monterey County over Memorial Day weekend was an ideal proximity and date for many Cal Poly students. However, due to the changes, many students have decided to opt out of attending the festival this year.

“My whole friend group and other friend groups I know were completely ready to go, but we decided to get full [Super Earlybird] refunds for to not buy tickets at all after the dates changed,” communication studies junior Megan Deegan said. “If they decided to move it to another three-day weekend, I probably would’ve still gone, but I can’t afford to miss that much school with the new date.”

The festival also decreased the number of tickets available by 25 percent "to help create a more intimate festival," according to its website.

Earlybird tickets will go on sale when the new location is released. The lineup will come out in February. Those who already purchased Super Earlybird tickets and wish to get a refund can do so on LiB’s website by Feb. 1.

LI GH T N I N G I N A B OT T LE | COU RT ESY

Lightning In a Bottle announced in mid-January that the May festival would no longer be hosted at the same location.

PUZZLES Sudoku Fun by the Numbers Like puzzles? Then you’ll love sudoku.

This mind-bending puzzle will have you hooked from the moment you square off, so sharpen your pencil and put your sudoku savvy to the test!

Here’s How It Works: Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes.

To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box.

Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!

CLUES ACROSS

Guess Who? I am an actor born in Iowa on January 28, 1981. I began my career as a child model and even appeared in a Paula Abdul video. I am best known for playing a hobbit in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

Word Scramble Rearrange the letters to spell something pertaining to diets.

G I E T W H

1. Sheep sounds 5. Turn up 11. Statements of support 14. Spells 15. Evildoer 18. One-time baseball stadium staple 19. Activities 21. WWII-era US President 23. Soft, flexible leather 24. Proverb 28. Wish (Hindu) 29. Injury treatment 30. Red Sox ace 32. “Deadliest Catch” captain 33. Baseball stat 35. Where marine life lives 36. Heartbeat test 39. Signs on the dotted line 41. Atomic #24 42. Bind securely 44. Swiss Nobel Peace Prize winner 46. Fragrant brown balsam 47. Where you were born 49. Sells a ticket for more than its price 52. Where goods are presented 56. Jewish salutation 58. Fruits 60. Poorly educated 62. Microorganism 63. Depicted

CLUES DOWN

1. Ballplayer’s tool 2. Hairdo 3. From a distance 4. Belt one out 5. Revising a text 6. More (Spanish) 7. Beloved Spielberg alien 8. BBQ dish 9. Provoke 10. Within 12. Canadian flyers 13. Smugly smile 16. Buffalo 17. Lake in the Kalahari Desert 20. Grab 22. Rural delivery 25. Equally 26. It’s sometimes passed 27. Citizens who are qualified to vote 29. Greek letter 31. Body part 34. Boxing result 36. Newts 37. Predatory semiaquatic reptiles 38. Cockatoo 40. The NFL’s big game (abbr.)

43. Leguminous east Indian tree 45. News reporting organization 48. A nemesis of Batman 50. Legal term 51. Not all 53. A way to greet 54. Knot in a tree 55. Satisfy 57. Russian space station 58. A baby’s mealtime accessory 59. Stitch together 61. __ and behold

HOROSCOPES ARIES – March 21/April 20 Aries, save up your energy because you might need it for a difficult project on the horizon.

This could mean you have to keep socializing to a minimum.

LIBRA – Sept. 23/Oct. 23 Extra spending on essentials may have you reevaluating your budget this week, Libra. You might need to cut corners to make everything work, or find new income.

TAURUS – April 21/May 21 Taurus, you have been on a stable path, and this is a good thing. Wasting time floundering will get you nowhere fast. Keep up the good work and momentum.

SCORPIO – Oct. 24/Nov. 22 Scorpio, it seems the bumpy stretch in your life has been long, but you’re finally able to see that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Keep your head high.

GEMINI – May 22/June 21 A rough patch or string of bad luck will soon pass, Gemini. Focus on the positives in your life and give them all of your energy for the time being. Gray skies will clear up.

SAGITTARIUS – Nov. 23/Dec. 21 A relationship may be blossoming and you won’t be sure which direction it will go for a little longer. If you trust your instincts on this and be yourself, things will work out.

CANCER – June 22/July 22 Cancer, a great opportunity is coming your way and you are eager to dive right in. Write down the pluses and minuses of this endeavor before getting too deep.

CAPRICORN – Dec. 22/Jan. 20 Capricorn, you will prove your mettle and show everyone just how tough you can be with a surprising announcement this week. Be prepared for some applause.

LEO – July 23/Aug. 23 Leo, ensure that your voice is heard on a particular matter; otherwise, you may regret not speaking up. Wait until others are quiet to get your point across.

AQUARIUS – Jan. 21/Feb. 18 Aquarius, even though many things are changing in your life right now, you’ll probably find that you welcome change whole-heartedly. It’s time to shake things up.

VIRGO – Aug. 24/Sept. 22 Virgo, if you’ve been looking for a new career, you may be pleasantly surprised with the news coming your way. Opportunity knocks, but you must be paying attention.

PISCES – Feb. 19/March 20 Moving in a new direction can mean many things to you, Pisces. A change of address, a vacation, a new career, or even a new style fit the bill.

See answers at mustangnews.net/games-answers

TUESDAY • JANUARY 29, 2019 | SPORTS | MUSTANG NEWS

16

MEN’S SOCCER HEAD COACH STIRS EXCITEMENT WITH 2019 ROSTER pects the players to bring not only experience and maturity but also a level of talent the program has not seen in years.

Forward Spencer Held and midfielder Colin Hyatt played as teammates during their time at the United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) program Real So Cal. It is only fitting that the two will collaborate again as Cal Poly’s newest graduate transfers.

During his senior year of high school with Real So Cal, Held finished as USSDA’s second leading goalscorer in the country. As a Pac-12 Conference All-Academic selection for two consecutive years, Held made 46 appearances for California and totaled six goals before graduating in December 2018.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am about [Held’s signing],” Sampson said. “He’s ... [a] very big, strong, physical center forward that SERGIO ESTRADA | COU RTESY

Forward Spencer Held was a Pac-12 Conference All-Academic selection in 2016 and 2017.

BOB DREBIN | COU RTESY

Midfielder Colin Hyatt won two National Championships with Stanford.

BY N AYTHA N B RYANT Cal Poly Men’s Soccer head coach Steve Sampson announced the signing of six new players

for the 2019 roster last week. The players include one Major League Soccer Academy product, two graduate transfers and three junior college transfers. Sampson said he ex-

A widespread criticism of youth development soccer in the U.S. is that talented players are often overlooked because they cannot afford to take the academy route, or they play overseas. For Sampson, breaking from the conventional recruitment process has paid off, as all three of the program’s junior college transfers are international players.

Defender Jackson Brady, who was born in New Zealand, has two years of eligibility remaining for the Mustangs. The six-foot-twoinch player registered eight assists in 15 games for Salt Lake Community College. He is also a member of the New Zealand U-20 Men’s National Team player pool.

The second defender of the group, Josh Graham, also has two years of eligibility remaining. The Greater Manchester, U.K. local played for the academy program at Manchester Unit-

I’m sick and tired of not playing to our level of standard, and it’s time we start playing to that standard. is an absolute lights-out goalscorer.”

Hyatt also holds an impressive record under his belt. At six-foot-five, Hyatt made 11 appearances for Stanford in 2016. The midfielder has experience at the highest level of collegiate soccer, having taken part in two of Stanford’s three successive National Championships from 2015-2017.

Sampson described his excitement of securing players with championship experience and said he believes Hyatt, along with the other recruits, will help bring a winning mentality to the team.

“I’m excited about the attitude of our returning players,” Sampson said. “But I’m also excited about how this mix of recruits is going to challenge [them] and make things a lot more competitive on a daily basis within our team.”

Forward Noah Boettiger, the only incoming freshman of the group, spent the last five years with the Colorado Rapids USSDA program.

Boettiger will add depth to an already impressive lineup of players. According to Sampson, the depth of the program will be the best it has been in four years.

While discussing the experience of Major League Soccer (MLS) Academy players such as Boettiger, Sampson was quick to point out the program’s efforts in recruiting international players as well.

“We’re not just looking for Californians or development academy kids,” Sampson said. “We’re looking anywhere that we can find quality, whether it’s inside this country or outside this country, in order to make it happen for Cal Poly.”

ed Football Club before coming to the United States. Because of restrictions barring him from competing in Division I soccer, Graham chose to attend St. Louis Community College.

He helped guide his team to a national championship in 2017 when he recorded six goals and two assists from the back line.

Sampson said he hopes the pair of defenders will help make up for what was lost in freshman defender Brecc Evans. Evans, who is leaving the program after signing a professional contract with F.C. Dallas, started every game for the Mustangs last season. “[Brecc] proved his quality, even as a freshman,” Sampson said. “He’s a truly outstanding kid, and I wish him really, really well.”

The final junior college transfer, midfielder Creed McKinnon, started in 15 of 16 games for North Idaho College last fall. The six-footthree-inch Australia native spent four years at a top academy in South Africa before beginning his collegiate career.

While it is too early to make any predictions about next year’s team, Sampson said he is expecting nothing less than to compete for a Big West Championship in 2019.

“It’s time for the existing players to raise their level, commitment and passion for this team and for this university,” Sampson said.

“It’s time to make a statement with the quality of players we’re bringing in for this next fall to vie for a Big West Title. I’m sick and tired of not playing to our level or to our standard, and it’s time we start playing to that standard.”

17 TUESDAY • JANUARY 29, 2019 | SPORTS | MUSTANG NEWS

STRONG IN EVERY SENSE NEW DIRECTOR OF STRENGTH & CONDITIONING IS SECOND WOMAN TO HOLD POSITION IN NCAA SCHOOLS BRI A N TRU O N G | M USTA N G N EWS

MacKenzie is now the director of Cal Poly’s Strength and Conditioning program, after working with the program since 2011.

BY S OPHIA C R OLLA On Jan. 24, Cal Poly Athletics announced Sara MacKenzie as the new director of Strength and Conditioning. MacKenzie is one of two women who hold the position of director of Strength and Conditioning for NCAA Division I schools with football programs.

“It feels awesome,” MacKenzie said. “There’s a ton of other women who hold this position in other capacities, but they’re not overseeing a program that has football too, so it’s really cool to not be ruled out.”

MacKenzie, who has been working for Cal Poly since 2011, started her career with the Mustangs as a coaching assistant for the Strength and Conditioning program. The new director said she grew relationships with student-athletes and learned from them as well, eventually transitioning into a full-time assistant strength and conditioning coach in 2013.

Cal Poly Women’s Basketball junior guard Jonni Smith is just one of the many student-athletes who said they have gotten to know MacKenzie well.

“We all love Sara,” Smith said. “She’s always really pushing us and always in there trying to

get us stronger. She deserved this more than anyone else I know. She’s been working really hard for it.”

Smith continued to rave about the positive influence MacKenzie has had on female Cal Poly student-athletes.

“Our team, especially our head coaches and me myself, are all about women empowerment, so I just think it’s super awesome to see Sara and see her doing that,” Smith said. “She’s a great inspiration and someone I can look up to as well.”

MacKenzie’s role as director of Strength and Conditioning entails overseeing student-athletes from football, baseball, volleyball, beach volleyball, softball, women’s soccer, men’s tennis and men’s and women’s basketball and golf teams. “[MacKenzie] sets up our workouts, runs us through our conditioning and also comes in to work with us on speed and agility,” Smith said. “I definitely think I got a lot stronger, and I think a lot of other people did too. And that’s really important in basketball — just making sure we’re staying explosive.”

Cal Poly Wrestling senior Thomas Lane said he has also grown to know MacKenzie well

over his last four years at Cal Poly.

“She puts time and effort into our team when she [does not] have to,” Lane said. “She helps with weight cutting and dieting and everything — she’s a big part of that. She makes sure we keep our strength all season long.”

While MacKenzie’s day-to-day duties may

said she loves to watch players progress from sitting on the sideline to being on the starting lineup, and she explained how watching her student-athletes grow is her “favorite thing.”

MacKenzie said she hopes to keep her student-athletes healthy, increase their strength and help grow their confidence.

There’s a lot of people in this position that feel like they have to be kind of cool or standoffish and yell a lot or whatever — and while I do do a little bit of yelling, I like to develop relationships. follow suit to others in her line of work, there is nothing conventional about the way she coaches.

“I have a different coaching style than a lot of coaches,” MacKenzie said. “There’s a lot of people in this position that feel like they have to be kind of cool or standoffish and yell a lot or whatever — and while I do do a little bit of yelling, I like to develop relationships.”

MacKenzie said she takes pride in watching her student-athletes grow and succeed. She

MacKenzie continued to explain how the relationships she builds with her student-athletes is key to their success.

“I believe that if they believe in you and what you’re doing, if you have their best interest in mind, then that really does help foster a really good relationship,” MacKenzie said. “If you build that with the upperclassmen, then the younger kids follow suit, then before you know it you have a whole team that believes in what you’re doing.”

TUESDAY • JANUARY 29, 2019 | SPORTS | MUSTANG NEWS

18

FOUL TROUBLE LEADS TO MEN’S BASKETBALL’S FIFTH STRAIGHT LOSS

BY B RI A N T R U ON G A surge in the second half by Cal State Fullerton led to Cal Poly Men’s Basketball’s fifth straight loss, 80-63 Saturday, Jan. 27 inside Mott Athletics Center.

“It’s the same story,” Callero said of the team’s start of Big West Conference play. “[We] played well for anywhere from 25-35 minutes, tied in the second half in all five games that we lost in [Big West Conference] play, but [we] kind of got worn down, physically.”

While junior guard Job Alexander scored a career-high 14 points and senior forward Kuba Niziol reached a season-high 15 points, the Titans’ potent offense made 56.5 percent of their shots from the field.

With the win, the defending Big West Tournament champions Cal State Fullerton (8-12, 4-2 Big West) put themselves in third place in the Big West Conference, while Cal Poly (414, 0-5) are left in last place as the only team without a win in conference play.

Both teams started strong defensively, with no points scored in the opening minute.

Freshman forward Daxton Carr created his own opportunity to open the scoring by drawing a foul 68 seconds into the game, but he missed both free throws. Carr then committed a foul, sending Fullerton’s Johnny Wang to the free throw line. Wang connected on both. This sequence foreshadowed the rest of the game, as the Titans scored on 26 of 36 free throw attempts, while the Mustangs only went three for nine. This was the second time this season that the Mustangs made less than 50 percent of their free throws.

Cal State Fullerton quickly took a 6-2 lead, but senior point guard Donovan Fields broke up the run by arcing a three-pointer over six foot seven inch Titan forward Jackson Rowe.

Fields scored the first five points for the Mustangs and scored nine of his 11 points in the first half.

Big West Conference Player of the Week, Titan guard Kyle Allman Jr., pushed Fullerton ahead at 15-8 with 13:14 remaining until halftime. Niziol and Fields cut the Titans’ lead to three points, but Fullerton quickly took back their lead while Cal Poly scored at a slower pace. With 2:58 left in the first half, the Titans led 35-23.

“Compared to last game against [UC Riverside], I feel like we didn’t give up this time,” Niziol said. “We kept fighting … and got a positive off the bench, out of [Alexander].

Phenomenal seven for 10 shooting, that’s what we need.”

Threatened by the Titans’ longest lead, the Mustangs then played what seemed to be their best minute of basketball. After making a layup, Alexander broke up a Titan pass for a steal. He then spun around a Titan and set up Niziol for a three-pointer.

Alexander’s 14-point performance in 28 minutes against the Titans came after being benched for the first three games of Big West Conference play and being taken off the starting lineup since the beginning of the season.

“I’ve coached 33 years, and for Job to really be out of [the starting line up] for nine games ... for him to step back up there ... I thought that was one of the best bounce back performances,” Callero said.

DI EG O RI VERA | M USTA N G N EWS

Junior forward Hanks Hollingsworth’s dunk brought the Mustangs within one point of tying the game early in the second half.

DIEGO RIVERA | MUSTAN G N EW S

Junior guard Job Alexander scored a career-high 14 points and went 7-10 from the floor.

“We needed someone to come in and give us a little spark, and that’s what I was looking to do,” Alexander said.

After Allman Jr. responded with a layup, Fields worked it inside the paint and passed it to Crowe, who drained another three-pointer to make it 37-31 with 1:11 to go. Junior forward Hanks Hollingsworth’s layup brought the Titans’ lead down to 37-33 with just under 30 seconds until halftime. However, the Mustangs’ momentum was halted when they gave up a layup with two seconds left on the clock.

Cal State Fullerton led 39-33 at halftime.

After Cal State Fullerton opened the scoring in the second half, Crowe strung together a layup and three-pointer to bring the Titans’ lead down to 41-38. Niziol and Fields combined to bring the Mustangs back within one point at 49-48 with 13:48 remaining. But for the rest of the game, Cal Poly never came within one point of tying the score. The closest

the Mustangs got was within two points, after back-to-back layups by Alexander, with 11:12 on the clock.

In the final stretch of the match, the Titans built their lead while continuing to make stops on the Mustangs’ offense. Cal State Fullerton recorded their largest lead of the game at 19 points with 51 seconds left on the clock. Cal Poly never held the lead in the 80-63 loss.

“I definitely feel like we’re making progress,” Niziol said. “Maybe it’s not showing on the scoreboard but you know, the team, we’re trying to stay together, trying to stay locked in.

We’re at the bottom right now, there’s only a way up right now.”

Looking for its first win of Big West Conference play, the Cal Poly team will travel to play a recent opponent, UC Riverside (8-14, 2-4), on Thursday, Jan 31. The Mustangs will then face CSUN (9-12. 3-2), who narrowly defeated Cal Poly in overtime on Saturday, Feb 2.