Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Vol. 95, Issue 68
THE
DAILY
w w w. T h e D a i l y A z t e c . c o m
AZTEC
Tw i t t e r : T h e D a i l y A z t e c
San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1913
I N S I D E T O D AY SPORTS
Chappy to reopen in Fall 2010 Discounted rates for second-year students will help fill rooms
GROUNDED The SDSU men’s basketball team took down the Falcons last night at Viejas Arena. page 2
FOOD & DRINK
SUPER BOWL Find out how to make flavorful recipes that won’t break New Years resolutions. page 4
TEMPO
LARGER THAN LIFE The newest IMAX film isn’t playing at the nearest theater, but at a science museum. page 5
TODAY @ SDSU Black History Month event 7 p.m., Aztec Athletic Center "The Soul of the Fist: Understanding our Accountability and Responsibility Through Sports" will be presented as part of the monthlong celebration. For more of today’s headlines, visit:
www.thedailyaztec.com
CONTACT GENERAL INFORMATION 619.594.4199
EDITOR
IN CHIEF, FARYAR BORHANI 619.594.4190 EDITOR@THEDAILYAZTEC .COM
K R I ST I N A B L A K E A S S I S TA N T C I T Y E D I T O R
Chapultepec Residence Hall will reopen next fall after having been closed this academic year because of reduced enrollment. “The drop in first-time freshmen has meant the demand for on-campus housing has been reduced and we just didn’t have enough students,” Patricia Francisco, director of the Office of Housing Administration, said. Starting next fall, the university is requiring all first-year freshmen to live on campus if the high school they attended is outside of the San Diego State service area. Francisco said the new policy is not the reason why Chappy will be utilized again, however. She said the school has always had about 90 percent of out-of-service-area students live on campus, so the policy will not make much of a difference. Instead, a new second-year experience program will be offered to second-year students. “We’re going to offer something we’ve never been able to offer before,” she said. “We realize we have extra space and if we give the second-year experience participants discounts, we could do something that we just never had the room to do before.” Associate Director of the Residential Education Office Christy Samarkos said the new program is going to offer career, academic and study abroad support and advice. While the program is geared toward second-year students, if there is space available, Francisco and Samarkos said they are willing to offer the experience to upper division students, too. Samarkos lived and worked as the hall coordinator at Chappy for two years. She said the 11story building, which was first opened in 1992 and remodeled in 2001, “is designed for community living.” “My first home in San Diego was Chappy,” Samarkos said. “It’s
a phenomenal community building environment. All of the students who have lived there, at least while I was there, loved it. All of the students who lived there were sad to not be able to return there this year.” Graduate student Timothy Bethune lived and worked as a resident adviser in Chappy for four of his five years as an undergraduate student. “I was surprised when (Chappy) was closed, but I also understood at the same time,” he said. “Obviously you don’t expect a building you live and work in to be closed.” The building, which has room for 580 residents, including students who work as staff members, is located away from other residential halls and near the Aztec Recreation Center, the Aquaplex and the International Student Center. Bethune said students often complain about the “long walk” to and from Chappy, but its location is really an advantage. “It provides a different experience being that it’s a hall that stands alone,” he said. “It’s a different kind of experience and a different kind of community. It’s a community that comes really close together.” Civil engineering senior Abigail Goode lived in Chappy her freshman year. She said the experience helped her socially and academically. “I think it is a lot better living on campus because you have study rooms here, you have people who are willing to help you and it’s so much easier getting a study group together on campus when you can just go down the hall and knock on doors and say ‘Hey, I know you’re in this class too,’” Goode said. Both national research and research conducted at SDSU indicates that students who live on campus perform better academically than students who live off campus. In the fall of 2008, off-campus freshmen averaged a grade point average of 2.38 while on-campus freshmen averaged a 2.81. According to the data, students who lived off campus were also placed on academic probation more often and took longer to graduate. Goode said high cost is the only disadvantage of living on campus. “I know that it can be a little expensive to live on campus, but I still
Kallie Larsen / Staff Photographer
Decreased enrollment during this past year meant fewer students to house in residence halls. A new program is expected to help fully occupy Chappy again when it opens.
think that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages,” Goode said. According to Francisco, however, returning students who want to live in Chappy will receive a “large discount.” If they take a double as a single room, they will get a $1,500 discount. If they take a double room, they will get a $1,000 discount. She said students could both live in the residence hall and have their meal plan for less than $7,000 for the academic year.
Second-year students have other on-campus living options, but both Francisco and Samarkos said they encourage second-year students to choose Chappy for the specialized programming. “There’s so many supports that we’ve offered to students throughout their first year and then they come and they’re a sophomore and those services seem to just kind of be gone,” Samarkos said. “It’s just a tough year and we want to do whatever we can do to help them.”
CITY EDITOR, WHITNEY LAWRENCE 619.594.7781 CITYEDITOR@THEDAILYAZTEC .COM
GREEK BEAT
FEATURES EDITOR, NICOLE CALLAS 619.594.6976 FEATURE@THEDAILYAZTEC .COM
New IFC president
SPORTS EDITOR, EDWARD LEWIS 619.594.7817 SPORTS@THEDAILYAZTEC .COM
David Wendell was elected as the new Interfraternity Council president during last week’s IFC meeting. Because Wendell was the IFC judicial director, a new judicial director will be elected soon.
OPINION, ALLAN ACEVEDO 619.594.0509 OPINION@THEDAILYAZTEC .COM
TEMPO EDITOR, ALLIE DAUGHERTY 619.594.6968 TEMPO@THEDAILYAZTEC .COM
ART DIRECTOR, ELENA BERRIDY 619.594.6979 ARTDIRECTOR@THEDAILYAZTEC .COM
Sorority fundraises for Haiti
PHOTO EDITOR, GLENN CONNELLY
Kappa Alpha Theta has raised $700 toward its “Hugs for Haiti” fundraiser. Kappa Alpha Theta members are accepting $2 for a bear hug, $1 for a hug and loose change for a high five, Lauren Haikara, a sorority member who is heading the fundraiser, said. The fundraiser is a great way to bring people together and help those in Haiti, Haikara said. The sorority will continue fundraising until 2 p.m. today by Aztec Center.
619.594.7279 PHOTO@THEDAILYAZTEC .COM
WEB EDITOR, MYLENE ERPELO 619.594.3315 WEB@THEDAILYAZTEC .COM
ADVERTISING 619.594.6977
INDEX SPORTS.............................................................................2 FOOD & DRINK............................................................3 TEMPO..............................................................................5 CLASSIFIEDS....................................................................7 THE BACK PAGE............................................................8 Kallie Larsen / Staff Photographer
The sorority members will also be selling “Support Haiti” T-shirts for $10 each until Valentine’s Day, with a goal of $2,000 in donations. Donations will go toward medical aid and relief for Haitians. The sorority has teamed up with Project HOPE to guarantee that the donations are sent to Haitians. Donations are also accepted online at www.ideliverhealth.projecthope.org/page/hug-a-theta
NPHC info session The National Pan-Hellenic Council will be holding its Greek Mixer, an information session for prospective members, at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 8 in Casa Real.
—Compiled by Senior Staff Writer Reem Nour