The Daily Aztec - Vol. 95, Issue 83

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Vol. 95, Issue 83

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 OPINION

Students protest The Koala

BUDGET RALLY Students should attend Thursday’s budget rally to fight the crisis. page 2

TRAVEL & ADVENTURE

ROUTE CHANGE Prepare for some MTS bus routes to change or discontinue because of budget cuts. page 4 Glenn Connelly / Photo Editor

Students protesting the newspaper stood alongside writers and editors distributing the latest issue. LGBTSU, Pride Action Committee and MEChA were among the protestors.

SPORTS

A recent article about rape had students rallying in protest CENTER STAGE

W H I T N E Y L AW R E N C E

Find out how the San Diego State dance team fared at last month’s Nationals. page 5

Art Exhibit Noon to 4 p.m.

University Art Gallery Danish artist Simone Aaberg Kaern's “Seize the Sky” exhibit uses flight as a metaphor for political freedom.

CONTACT GENERAL INFORMATION 619.594.4199

EDITOR

IN CHIEF, FARYAR BORHANI 619.594.4190 EDITOR@THEDAILYAZTEC .COM

CITY EDITOR, WHITNEY LAWRENCE 619.594.7781 CITYEDITOR@THEDAILYAZTEC .COM

FEATURES EDITOR, NICOLE CALLAS 619.594.6976 FEATURE@THEDAILYAZTEC .COM

SPORTS EDITOR, EDWARD LEWIS 619.594.7817 SPORTS@THEDAILYAZTEC .COM

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

PHOTO EDITOR, GLENN CONNELLY 619.594.7279 PHOTO@THEDAILYAZTEC .COM

WEB EDITOR, MYLENE ERPELO 619.594.3315 WEB@THEDAILYAZTEC .COM

CIT Y EDITOR

The first of the month brings with it a few inevitable events: Bills are due and a new issue of The Koala lands in the hands of hundreds of San Diego State students.

Yesterday signaled the start of another monthly event as students from several on-campus organizations gathered to protest The Koala while the March issue was being distributed.

“We’re out here … because we don’t believe in what they stand for,” Natalie McKenna, of the Andrea O’Donnell Women’s Outreach Association, said. “Every issue is very discriminatory, very hateful, very racist, very sexist.”

Associated Students passed a resolution Feb. 24 against the publication after it ran a flow chart describing ways to get away with rape. McKenna said the article partially prompted yesterday’s protest.

The A.S. resolution demanded a retraction and an apology. While neither were published in the recent issue, a quiz titled “How Not To Get Raped!” and a list of the “Top 5 Reasons NOT to Rape a Sorority Sister” were included — the first reason being that “A.S. will draft a resolution condemning you.”

“The misconception with the article in November, I think, has been a big problem for us,” political science sophomore and The Koala writer known as Alex G. said. “All of our suggestions on … ‘getting away with it’ were comical.”

Chris Hurtado, marketing junior and art director for The Koala, said ongoing fraternity-related rape

offenses have prompted the satirical paper to make light of the issue while reporting the news.

McKenna said she was not satisfied with the attempt to rectify the article, and she plans to protest the paper alongside its distributors every month when a new issue comes out.

Another problem the protestors had with the paper was distribution of pornography to minors.

McKenna said the SDSU Police Department has told The Koala staff not to distribute the newspaper to minors and to card anyone who looks underage.

Still, she said that while she feels the university is sympathetic to her cause, the lack of action on the part of police and administration is unacceptable and police should monitor the distributors.

The Koala writer Richard Cano, television and film production sophomore, said he knows distributing to minors is a crime and that he obeys the law by randomly asking people if they are 18 and by paying attention to who he gives copies to. Alex said because most minors get the ones left lying around campus, people should bring the paper home with them.

While the protest deterred some from grabbing the issue, the controversy actually prompted others to pick up a copy.

“I’m going to read it now because there’s controversy,” said a man who wished to remain anonymous. “I’m going to find out what the controversy is, if there’s need for controversy. I’ve started to read two issues before and literally I was turned off right away, basically because of the English, the style.

But about the controversy — I want to read about it now.”

The Koala, which started at UC San Diego about 25 years ago, began printing and distributing an SDSU version in September 2004.

ADVERTISING 619.594.6977

INDEX OPINION.........................................................................2 TRAVEL & ADVENTURE...............................................4 SPORTS.............................................................................5 CLASSIFIEDS....................................................................7 THE BACK PAGE............................................................8

FOR THE RECORD On Feb. 25,The Daily Aztec incorrectly listed the author of “Host returns to roots” as Ashley Morgan. The byline should read: Sarah Kovash, Senior Staff Writer. The Daily Aztec regrets the error.

College changes names of degrees

Nicholas Santiago / Staff Photographer

A P R I L F L OW E R S CONTRIBUTOR

Some San Diego State seniors applying for graduation this spring might be confused by the degree they had to apply for.

Students majoring in advertising, public relations and media studies will now receive a degree in journalism instead of communication.

The name change took effect last December, ending a threeyear-long process to change journalism, advertising, public relations and media studies from the School of Communication to the School of Journalism and Media Studies. Before then, students’ information still appeared as though they were to receive a degree in communication.

While the change was finalized at the end of last semester, students are just now being notified.

Advertising senior Katharine Wentz discovered the change a few weeks ago when she applied.

“If I had known (of the name change) I would have changed my major when I transferred. But now I am about to graduate and it’s too late,” Wentz said.

Dr. Diane Borden, director of the School of Journalism and Media Studies, said the change was made because a journalism degree fits better with the coursework completed in these emphases than a communication degree.

“Journalism is more closely aligned with the study and practice of mass media forms of communication, while communication is more closely aligned with the study of non-mediated human interaction, such as public speaking, interpersonal communication and rhetoric,” Borden said in an e-mail.

Although some students would still like to receive a bachelor’s degree in communication, the university does not award a degree based on catalog year and cannot change the degrees throughout an extended period of time. All students in these majors will graduate with bachelor’s degrees in journalism with an emphasis in public relations, advertising or media studies.

SDSU’s School of Journalism and Media Studies was created in 2007 and became nationally accredited last year.

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OPINION

The Daily Aztec

POINTS TO PONDER

MASS MEDIUM

College produces rationalists

S

ome people think going to college makes them more liberal.

Parents send their children to college to receive a good education, only to have them come home with entirely new political beliefs. It’s a common scenario that, more often than not, comes to fruition after students are dropped into a system with a tradition of discussing progressive views.

In reality, college doesn’t influence students in a way that moves them politically to the left. Rather, the years spent in college is a time in a person’s life when they are ripe for personal and intellectual development that inherently nurtures broad and progressive views. Parents are mistakenly blaming liberal professors of proselytizing their beliefs to students. College doesn’t make students liberal, it simply makes them rational.

I would argue that of the many benefits of pursuing a higher education, such as better job prospects and higher income ratios, no benefit is more valuable than the exposure to different ideas. Exposure to people, texts and subjects that one might not independently pursue is the greatest benefit of attending college. Higher education has long-held traditions of analyzing existing systems and challenging the status quo. In this setting, students are exposed to people with different beliefs than their own while simultaneously experiencing curriculum either completely foreign or in contrast to their upbringing.

Inquiring minds find solace in higher education and are part of a system that supports investigations into the arts, sciences, humanities, politics and life. The basic question that fuels higher education and personal development is “Why?” There’s a reason it’s called a liberal arts education. Being exposed to so much provides greater context to life. Simple foundational knowledge of a myriad of subjects leads to a well-rounded individual who can

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Earthquake in Chile Magnitude:

A N DY L E WA N D OW S K I S TA F F C O L U M N I S T

think critically and examine issues from all sides. Increasing one’s knowledge of how the world works greatly aids in understanding the challenges that face our community, country and world.

In a study that will be published in this month’s issue of Social Psychology Quarterly, researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science found that on average, people who identified as liberal had higher IQs. The study does not conclude that people with higher IQs automatically have liberal views, but it does show a correlation with intelligence and political beliefs.

Whether or not this can be attributed to obtaining a college education is unknown, but it certainly adds credence to the existing train of thought.

An educated person is cogent, reasonable, logical and rational — all characteristics of liberalism.

That’s why the media is constantly charged with having a liberal bias. What people fail to recognize is people in the media have a certain worldview because they are educated. Having gone through the system themselves, they can’t help but present a certain reasoned perspective that others may label as liberal. They use logic and reason to present the news, whereas their conservative counterparts use demagogic and ad hominem rhetoric.

Another study conducted and published by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute last month found that people who graduated from college are more likely to support progressive social issues, such as same-sex marriage and abortion rights. Conversely, they are less likely to support teacher-led prayer in public schools and the belief that the Bible is the word of God. Educated individuals chal-

lenge such normative beliefs pervading more traditional societies.

The notion of viewing universities as bastions of liberalism may have some truth, but that is because of the students’ own developments and not the inherent bias of the instructors. Instead, it should be characterized as providing the knowledge necessary to be a rational, critical thinker. The institution of higher education, sparking exploration and argument, is a powerful tool in society. Instead of charging an educated person as liberal and elite, we should charge them as cogent and rational.

College is a time in a person’s life when they are ripe for personal and intellectual development that inherently nurtures broad and progressive views.

There may be an innate naiveté that fuels students’ move to the left. After all, for the average-aged college student, life experiences are few and the mind is impressionable. But that same naiveté should be celebrated as strength in our formative years, and not as a flaw.

8.8 Death Toll:

approximately

700

Number of people displaced:

2 million Amount of population affected by the earthquake:

80% 2010 Winter Olympics Number of gold medals won by the U.S.:

9 Number of total medals won by the U.S.:

—Andy Lewandowski is a media studies senior —This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to opinion@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Include your full name, major and year in school.

37 Most gold medals won by a single country:

14, Canada LOYAL DISSENTER

Rally defends students’ rights

W

e are in an education crisis. Budget cuts have forced students to face furloughs, faculty layoffs and tuition hikes.

Students are angry and want to change their situation.

Students, teachers and laborers are uniting for a protest on Thursday because the conventional means they have available — be it voting or contacting someone who is serving in the state legislature — are not working for them.

On Thursday, actions will be taken on the San Diego State campus in defense of education. There will be a student walkout at 11:30 a.m. followed by a rally at noon in front of the Open Air Theatre.

Following the rally, students will take public transportation to Balboa Park where they will meet with students of other San Diego colleges and march to the governor’s office downtown.

The rally is not going to be meaningless noise. It is about students coming together not only to express anger at the declining state of education, but also to become more politically aware of the crisis they are now faced with.

Our powerlessness as workers and students is the underlying problem of the education crisis. Our needs are not being met because the few people who can afford to influence the government repeatedly ignore them. That is why students have organized protests on campuses throughout San Diego and at every CSU and UC campus. That is why many teachers and labor unions in California are also endorsing Thursday’s rally.

A protest is not about a few people getting together to yell about what they

S A L LY S C H I L L I N G S TA F F C O L U M N I S T

think of budget cuts. A protest is about everyone who feels some sort of anger about our situation being able to learn more about it. This is about students hearing what others have to say about the education crisis.

Students want to know what is going on. They want to learn why our schools do not have enough teachers or classes, why tuition is through the roof while classes are being cut and what they can do about this situation that leaves them feeling cheated. To get answers, you have to ask questions.

If someone asks you what all of the protesting at SDSU is about, you might say it’s about defending education, but there still might be some confusion as to what that means exactly. Every student and faculty member should attend the events on Thursday to find out.

This event will create discussions about where we are headed and how we should approach the situation. Students should pay close attention to what the speakers at the rally will say about our situation. Some speakers will explain that the solution is not to just get more money for education, but to find a way for our voices to be heard in the future.

The crisis in education is occurring at the same time that we are seeing crises in unemployment and health care.

Democrats and Republicans are choosing not to solve these problems. President Barack Obama won the election in part because masses of people wanted to move away from former President George

W. Bush’s war policies and financial breaks for the wealthy. Now Obama is choosing to spend billions of dollars on unpopular bailouts for banks and increasing troops in Afghanistan instead of tackling the problems with education, health care and unemployment.

More and more people are not impressed with the Democratic and Republican parties because they feel that they do not represent their interests. We know our government is not strongly representing the students’ interests. If it were, we would not be having tuition hikes right now. Likewise, if teachers had any say, they would not be getting laid off. The point is we are not getting what we want because our two-party system leaves us powerless. This powerlessness that students, teachers and laborers are feeling is the reason they have chosen to protest together at the statewide level.

The choice is yours. You can sit back looking confused as a seemingly wild parade of your peers at SDSU and other public universities in California do something together, or you can get out and learn what is really going on.

This is education beyond the classroom. Don’t be left in the dark.

This is about you.

—Sally Schilling is a political science senior —This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to opinion@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Include your full name, major and year in school.

Total number of medals won by the U.S. in all Winter Olympic games combined:

237 Health care Current price of family coverage per year:

$13,000 Estimated price of family coverage in 2020:

$24,000 Estimated number of uninsured citizens who will die prematurely throughout the next 10 years:

275,000 Number of individuals who are now uninsured, but will be covered by the Democrats’ plan:

30 million —Compiled by Assistant Opinion Editor Reneé Villaseñor

OPINION

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

The Daily Aztec

3

FREEDOM HAWK

Obama digs the economy into deeper debt

MCT Campus

President Barack Obama and his administration are simply putting the government in deeper debt by providing stimulus plans in an effort to fix the financial crisis. Instead, the economy should be left to heal on its own.

A

round this time last year, President Barack Obama warned the nation that if his stimulus bill was not passed, unemployment would increase to more than 10 percent. But if it were to pass, unemployment would remain below 8 percent. Congress approved and Americans paid $862 billion to fund Obama’s plan. Now, a full year later, not only has unemployment increased to more than 8 percent, but at times has surpassed 10 percent. As of January, unemployment is at 9.7 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the U.S. Department of Labor.

We are in the same position Obama warned we would be, but with $862 billion added to our federal debt.

The stimulus plan was called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Taxpayers paid billions to stimulate the economy by employing Americans. Those who champion supply side economics knew this Keynesian strategy was doomed for failure.

To begin with, every time you give the government that much money, especially a liberal government, most of it will be wasted on pork barrel spending and

P AT R I C K W A L S H S TA F F C O L U M N I S T

special interest groups, which is exactly what happened. But congressional spending to buy votes was not the main factor that caused the stimulus bill to fail.

The money was allocated to government programs that do not actually stimulate the economy.

Obama said the bill would be geared toward “shovel-ready” and “green-collar” jobs and it would help unemployment. Those jobs never came. Only 2 percent of the money was spent on government construction highway programs.

More than 80 percent of the money, however, was spent on five programs: Medicaid, unemployment compensation, Social Security, grants to state and local governments and student aid, according to www.investors.com.

Telling the taxpayers this bill was made to save the economy and then spending it on social programs is unacceptable.

Last year, the ARRA extended federally funded benefits by 53 weeks, then in November, 20 more weeks were added, bringing it to a total of 99 weeks in some states where workers would get paid by taxpayers for doing nothing. Not

many people would be in a rush to find work if they had a 99-week paid vacation provided by people who work every day.

The stimulus bill was actually a stimulus for government transfer payments: cash and benefits that reward people for not working.

In the current budget, nearly 50 percent of the money left in ARRA will be for programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Education, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Congress spends outrageous amounts of money on bizarre pet projects to buy votes. For example, around $400,000 has been allocated for a study of the “relationship between pluton growth and volcanism at two active intrusions in the central Andes,” with another $391,875 for the research of “combinatorial therapy for treatment of periodontal disease.” Or better yet, stimulus funding includes $25,000 to pay partial salaries for two full-time employees for Shakespeare in the Park. There is wasteful pork spending hidden in the bill. The CBO has said that 39 to 44 percent of the $862 billion will go to further increasing of government transfer payments.

The one aspect that is as

dependable as periodic recessions is that our economy always rebounds from them. This was true even before the government thought it could borrow our money to create jobs. A famous study in 1999 by Christina Romer, who now heads the Council of Economic Advisers, found the average recession in the years 1887 to 1929 lasted only 10.3 months, with the longest lasting 16 months. During the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt gave birth to the idea of government intervention to save the economy. It failed.

It was not until the U.S. entered World War II that mass production for the war pulled the economy out of the depression.

However, Roosevelt’s policy did set a precedent. Now the government feels it needs to take our money to help us out of a recession. This gave us the situation we face today — a recession lasting more than two years.

After all of the waste and lies putting our recovery money toward stimulating jobs and the economy, the president has the gall to ask us for yet another stimulus bill, which he cleverly named a “Jobs Bill.” The last stimulus bill was intended to create jobs and after hundreds of bil-

lions of dollars, he wants even more to save jobs.

Throwing more money at a failed plan that will only go toward the left’s agenda is ridiculous. But because of the clever name, the Democratic-controlled Congress is not feeling as much heat as it did from the health care bill and will probably pass it. In the end, despite all this government intervention and waste, our economy will recover. It will come from the spirit of hardworking Americans. This unnecessary, unprecedented increase to our debt will prolong the recession and burden our long-term economic prosperity.

We can fix our economy like we have in the past, but we need something different to fix the liberal spending in Congress.

—Patrick Walsh is a political science junior —This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to opinion@thedailyaztec.com.

Anonymous letters will not be printed. Include your full name, major and year in school.

The Opinion section of The Daily Aztec is currently accepting applications for columnists. If you enjoy voicing your opinion about politics and social issues and have prior writing experience, apply today. Call 619-594-0509 for more information. www.thedailyaztec.com MCT Campus

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The Daily Aztec

TRAVEL & ADVENTURE

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Scavenger hunt for Alzheimer’s awareness AM Y EB E R S O L E A S S I S TA N T F E AT U R E S E D I T O R

Kallie Larsen / Staff Photographer

Alzheimer’s is the fourth leading cause of death in San Diego and QUASHers are raising funds to bring awareness about the disease.

There are few moments more precious for people than their first kiss, wedding day or seeing a smile stretch across their newborn baby’s face. But for those in the later stages of Alzheimer’s disease, these special moments are lost in the void of a fading memory.

As the fourth leading cause of death in San Diego, Alzheimer’s is a topic worth talking about — and on Saturday, that is just what San Diegans were doing.

To help raise awareness about this disease, San Diegans took to the streets to participate in a fundraising event called Quest to Unravel Alzheimer’s Scavenger Hunt. Raising more than $31,000 in total, all of the proceeds went to the Alzheimer’s Association to help pay for local services such as support groups, educational seminars, research and a 24-hour help line for those affected directly or indirectly by this disease.

QUASH is one part scavenger hunt and one part obstacle course, where teams compete to solve clues, answer trivia questions and complete challenges on the QUASH course, according to its Web site. As QUASH’s third year in San Diego, it proved to be just as successful as the last two years. Despite rainy conditions, participants arrived at the Embarcadero Park South by 10 a.m. to register.

Each team captain was handed a packet with clues to help find certain spots where QUASH questions were placed throughout downtown.

Once teams reached these spots, they had to answer different questions and move on to find the next one. Each team was given a couple of hours to compete for the largest

number of points.

Top fundraisers include Tammy McCarthy, who raised $2,535, Roberta Spoon, who raised $1,025 and Breanne Leinum who raised $900. To raise funding, QUASH teams composed of two to four people were encouraged to e-mail everyone they knew to ask for support, advertise at offices and bring donation forms to various communities.

The Happy’s Gals team raised $3,070, the Leo’s Lions team raised $1,465 and the Capstone LongTerm Care Insurance team raised $1,245; these three teams ranked the best the competition.

Public Relations and Marketing Coordinator for San Diego’s Alzheimer’s Association Brad Makaiau encourages student organizations to help raise awareness by competing in the event next year.

“Alzheimer’s disease is something everyone should worry about, not just San Diegans,” Makaiau said.

“It affects over 5 million people in the United States and is the sixth leading cause of death among Americans and fourth here in San Diego County. Alzheimer’s has no cure and (there is) no way of stopping the disease.”

Whether they participated in this year’s QUASH or not, the Alzheimer’s Association encourages students to start talking about Alzheimer’s to help contribute to the global conversation about this disease and to take steps toward finding a cure in the future.

“All the funds raised through QUASH benefit the support, care and research efforts of the Alzheimer’s Association,” the QUASH Web site states. “With your help, there is hope we can turn this epidemic around.”

For more information, visit www.alz.org.

Bus services suffer from severe MTS cutbacks J A S O N H E N RY M C C O R M I C K CONTRIBUTOR

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System intends to make one of the largest cutbacks in MTS history this month. Budget shortfalls have resulted in the agency’s choice to radically reduce public transportation, specifically MTS bus services.

This month, 145,000 Sunday bus routes will either be terminated or reduced. That’s a $7 million cutback. Changes will affect as many as 200,000 San Diegans.

On the other hand, the trolley will be running more frequently.

This is great news for San Diego State students who choose to commute to and from campus via the green line.

According to The Associated Press, MTS has $600 million in capital that can be used to upgrade trolley lines and plans to allow passengers to travel anywhere they wish with just one ticket. MTS intends to have 60 new trolley cars for green, orange and blue lines in service by next year.

MTS spokesman Rob Schupp said the agency offers less expensive passes to people with disabilities. The current policy allows commuters with a disability to buy $18 monthly passes, which are intended to be purchased by handicapped riders only.

MTS authorities have been lenient about enforcing the current policy. Non-disabled people have been purchasing disability passes and not paying their fair

share, which could be one reason MTS will be making cutbacks.

Schupp wants to make sure disabled rider passes aren’t being purchased by those who don’t qualify and are supposed to be purchasing $72 monthly passes.

Some MTS commuters, such as state prison parolees, have been allowed to purchase the less expensive passes by showing certain documents, such as letters from a parole officer.

This month, MTS officials may review the current policy and possibly change it, which may result in disabled riders having to provide one of four official documents in order to purchase a monthly disabled riders pass. MTS will require a doctor’s note, proof of Social Security Disability

Insurance, an identification card issued by a state Department of Motor Vehicles for disabled persons or a Medicare card.

Some people worry changes in the disability pass purchasing process may hurt the handicapped. Many disabled riders claim the current policy of purchasing disabled passes is already difficult enough.

The MTS advisory panel, the same panel that decided to make the cutback, has yet to object to the proposed changes, according to Schupp.

Regardless of whether or not the panel decides to revise the purchasing process, San Diegans who ride MTS busses on Sundays will be have substantially fewer routes to choose from.

Mariam Bier / Staff Photographer Mariam Bier / Staff Photographer

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System is cutting 145,000 Sunday bus routes while using $600 million to upgrade the trolley lines, affecting 200,000 San Diegans.

SPORTS

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

The Daily Aztec

5

Without coach, dance team still successful AG U ST I N G O N Z A L E Z S TA F F W R I T E R

Glenn Connelly / Photo Editor

The San Diego State dance team overcame adversity and finished fifth at the 2010 USA Collegiate Nationals.

BASEBALL

SDSU uses big rally to take down rivals

Glenn Connelly / Photo Editor

F E L I N A T A M BA KO S S TA F F W R I T E R

It all started with a walk.

Down 4-0 in the top of the seventh, the San Diego State baseball team was able to start a rally that would tie the score and eventually serve as the catalyst for a win.

Sunday was the last of a three-game series, and SDSU was able to come back and prevail 9-5 against crosstown rival No. 19 USD at Cunningham Stadium.

The first six innings were tough for the Aztecs. They left six men on base and couldn’t make it past third. Luckily, in the seventh inning, they went on a relentless roll to bring in four runs.

Sophomore third baseman Chris Wilson was the first man up, drawing a leadoff walk. Wilson was then forced to second when senior outfielder Josh Chasse also walked. The first run of the game for SDSU would come at the hands of senior second baseman Mitch Blackburn, who was able to knock a double to left center,

bringing in Wilson.

Following Blackburn was sophomore first baseman Jomel Torres, who also got an RBI, shooting a base hit into center field, plating Chasse.

Both Torres and Blackburn scored immediately after on sophomore left fielder Brandon Meredith’s third double of the season.

The inning ended with a 4-4 tie and would stay there until the top of the ninth.

Aztec numbers flooded the scoreboard again at the top of the ninth, at almost the exact same point in the batting order as they did in the seventh.

With one out on the board, Blackburn and Torres both singled.

Meredith was able to get on first because of a dropped ball by the right fielder in an attempted sacrifice fly, and Blackburn was able to score.

In the clean up spot, junior center fielder Cory Vaughn was hit by a pitch — his fourth of the season. That loaded the bases.

USD’s pitcher then walked in a run before retiring to the bullpen. His replacement would bring in three more runs before SDSU would hit the field in the bottom of the ninth.

After going scoreless for six innings, the Aztecs finally led 9-4 when USD approached the plate for the last time. The Toreros managed one run on an RBI single off of junior right-hander Steven Moranda, but it wasn’t enough to take the win away from SDSU. The Aztecs finished the game with a victory, making them 2-1 for the weekend and 3-5 for the season. They brought in 14 total runs against No. 19 USD, with one win at home and one on the road.

The second scheduled home game of the series was postponed indefinitely because of rain Saturday afternoon and could be rescheduled for later in the season.

If the San Diego State dance team wasn’t familiar with Murphy’s Law that “whatever can go wrong, will go wrong,” the team sure is now.

But even with the head coach abandoning the team a month before the biggest competition of the year and a team member quitting soon after, not even Murphy’s Law could stop the dance team from placing fifth at the 2010 USA Collegiate Nationals on Feb. 14 and 15 in Anaheim for the second season in a row.

SDSU was one of 17 teams in the USA Collegiate Nationals competition, which consisted of a preliminary round (worth 40 percent of the overall score) and a final round (worth 60 percent), which were overseen by seven esteemed judges.

Although the top three spots were won by CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach and Idaho State, respectively, the Aztecs felt their performance was deserving of a top three finish.

“This year we should have placed in the top three,” junior Sara Mason said. “I think we were more deserving this year than we ever have been in the past since I’ve been on the team.”

What makes their fifth-place finish even more special is that they did it without the help of their head coach, who left the team at the end of December, 10 days before they started training for Nationals.

According to junior co-captain Stacy Johnson, the coach told them the news through an e-mail and didn’t even give a reason for departure. “(Our coach) left without talking to us or the athletics department,” Johnson said. “She

wouldn’t even answer their calls; she literally just quit and that was it.”

Slightly panicked, the dance team had to fly in an outside choreographer, who taught them the Nationals routine in one day for nine hours straight.

To make matters worse, a team member quit on the second day of practicing for Nationals, almost ruining the entire routine.

“It was tough,” Johnson said. “We have more than 20 formations and some girls had to learn completely new choreography with only a couple weeks left to train for Nationals.”

Even with these unexpected mishaps, the team managed to stay positive and continue training.

“This season has been a ride,” junior Shari Gordon said. “Yeah, we did lose a coach and a team member, but everyone stepped up and came together, which wouldn’t have happened before. In a way, it was a blessing in disguise.”

For Johnson, this year’s Nationals competition was just one of the many life-changing experiences she’s had since joining the team.

“Me and the 12 other girls on the team are like sisters because we all share the same passion for dancing,” Johnson said. “How many people can say that they’ve danced in front of 65,000 people or performed at Chargers games? Even Viejas Arena is a huge venue to perform in.”

Besides competing at Nationals, the dance team performs at many events, from SDSU football and basketball games, to San Diego Chargers games, to women’s triathlons and breast cancer walks.

The dance team is having tryouts at noon on Saturday, April 17 at the Aztec Recreational Center and is urging anyone with talent and a passion for dancing to try out.

Tired of that long commute?

Go to www.TheDailyAztec.com and click on the Housing tab to search for housing and apartments near SDSU! View images of properties and neighborhoods, compare rents, and browse for housing using our interactive map!

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Our Management Co. has over 60 homes for rent within walking distance to SDSU! Take advantage of our early reservation program to get the house you want, when you want it! Please call 858-560-5656 for pics and more info about our properties.

MAKE $15 IN 45 MINUTES. Latino, Asian, and African American SDSU undergrads ONLY. Participate in psych study. For more information and appointment, visit: http://www.rohan.sdsu.edu/~tdevos/study.html

Yoga. Dance. Fitness. Only 1.5 miles from SDSU. Co-ed. MIX 4836 Rolando Blvd. 619-889-0061. www.lmgdanceandfitness.com

Econ 101 Acctg 202

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ACROSS 1 Palindromic title 6 Ashen 10 Interrupter of a bad act, on an old game show 14 Word after horse or soap 15 Elvis __ Presley 16 Mayberry kid 17 Government declaration of its intentions 20 Prefix with gram 21 Modest shelters 22 Madison Square Garden et al.

23 Variety of lily 24 1998 animated bug movie 25 Vietnam War defoliant 29 Speed Wagon maker 32 Velma’s rival in “Chicago” 33 Chat room chuckle 34 Detained at the precinct 35 Electrical network 36 Pigs and hogs 38 Etcher’s need 39 Leer at 40 Scepter’s partner 41 Emulate Cicero 42 Betty Ford, __ Bloomer 43 Gold Rush villain 46 Jockey’s tool 47 Hearing requirements 48 Displaying buoyancy 51 Periodic table no.

52 Protrude, with “out” 55 High-octane fuel 58 Having all one’s marbles

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Solution available online at www.TheDailyAztec.com 59 Rotary phone feature 60 1988 film farce fish 61 School on the Thames 62 Bobbles the ball 63 Taboos DOWN 1 Sulk 2 Each 3 Supermarket section 4 “Entourage” agent Gold 5 Bushwhacker’s tool 6 Congregation leader 7 Humanities 8 Mauna __ 9 Involve, as in a sticky situation

p r e m i e r

10 Morticia’s mate 11 Bid one club, say 12 “Project Runway” judge Garcia 13 Understands 18 ’80s-’90s Serbian auto import 19 One-named Deco designer 23 Insinuating 24 Soon, to the bard 25 Fluorescent bulb gas 26 Stuff (oneself) with food 27 “The Man Without a Country” hero, for one 28 Suspect’s excuse 29 Sports show summary 30 Upper echelon 31 More strange

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34 Injures 36 Isolation 37 Sandwich in a tortilla 41 Thornton Wilder classic 43 Spiced Indian beverage 44 Gold and silver 45 Shark flick 46 Part of NOW 48 Church recess 49 Toga party setting 50 Jay seen at night 51 Culture medium 52 Arabian folklore spirit 53 Reverse 54 43-Down et al.

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THE BACK PAGE

The Daily Aztec

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

HUMOR

A general guide for socially awkward individuals

W

hen it comes to privacy, I like to think of myself as an oldfashioned kind of girl. There are some discussions meant to be held in public areas, and some that should be left for more personal settings, such as therapy or “The Jerry Springer Show.” However, I know for some it’s tough to know exactly where to fight with your “baby mama” about child support and what to leave out of the conversation when you’re meeting your boyfriend’s parents. For the select few who can’t seem to keep their issues to themselves, I have compiled a set of questions to ask yourself whenever you’re thinking about opening your mouth.

S HANNON C L A R K S TA F F C O L U M N I S T

1. “Is the person I’m talking to a complete stranger?”

If the answer is yes, then chances are he or she couldn’t care less about the fight you had with your mom last week. I know, your mom really hurt your feelings. But trust me, the girl who just happened to sit next to you in chemistry class has problems of her own. Namely that she’s going to have to work on avoiding you for the rest of the semester.

2. “Am I on the trolley?”

There is one major problem with

discussing personal issues on the trolley: The people on board cannot get away from you until their stop. This means if you decide to hold a conversation on the phone with your doctor about your annual colonoscopy appointment, you are giving a whole trolley full of people mental images they could have gone their whole lives without. It is a cruel thing to do to a person.

3. “Is this a bad time?”

It’s not that you and your significant other aren’t adorable. I’m sure everyone thinks it is absolutely precious that you two have found each other. But please, if you and the people around you are sober, do not begin to talk about how much

LOOKING THROUGH OUR LENS

you couldn’t live without each other. Particularly when your sweetie in the middle of doing something else. You’ll force him or her to make a bad joke just to ease the tension and nobody will be able to look you in the eyes for a long 15 minutes or so.

I know, your mom really hurt your feelings. But trust me, the girl who just happened to sit next to you in chemistry class has problems of her own.

4. “Did someone ask me a question?”

I’ll answer … No. There’s nothing worse than ruining a perfectly pleasant conversation with a random and uninteresting comment about yourself. All it leads to are long, awkward pauses. I had a class with a girl last semester who

DAILY HOROSCOPE

managed to give an update of her sinus infection every single week for a month. To this day I don’t know how she managed it, since no one was asking.

5. “Why am I saying this?”

It’s my experience if this thought runs through your head at any point during a conversation, you may have just finally become aware of the fact that you’re making everyone around you uncomfortable. My best advice is to stop talking mid-sentence and walk quickly in the other direction. It may not be a smooth exit, but it’ll leave people wanting to know what you were going to say. This will also give you the opportunity to devise with something more pleasant to say.

Besides, you can cover for it later.

Just tell them your sinuses were bothering you — and then quickly bring up the weather.

—Shannon Clark is an English sophomore.

—This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec.

BY LINDA C. BLACK, TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (3/2/10) Over the next year you find your dreams take on far greater significance.Track them in a journal to identify key symbols that recur to deepen your understanding.You notice that some dreams have epic significance while others boil down to one simple message.

ARIES (March 21 - April 19) - Today is a 7 Boost your imagination by surfing the Internet or reading fiction. Images drive creative effort. A partner provides reasonable feedback, if you want it.

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20) - Today is a 6 - What you hear isn't necessarily the final word on what's required. Ask leading questions if you have to.That way you discover the feelings behind the demands.

GEMINI (May 21 - June 21) - Today is an 8 Now that you've fully articulated your message, you can race ahead to convince others that your creative logic will work.

Don't forget to inject lots of enthusiasm.

CANCER (June 22 - July 22) - Today is a 6 If you travel, remember to take your passport. Harmony at home could be jeopardized. Make sure you've left enough money to cover expenses.

LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22) - Today is a 7 Money remains an issue, but you find a way to adjust spending or spread out the payments. Creative efforts produce an alternate income stream.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept. 22) - Today is a 7 Continue to address issues presented by

others. Unless you truly care, allow them to have their way. Meet your own needs later in the day.

LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22) - Today is an 8 Everyone's on the same page now, and you reach agreement on the magical quality of the work. Logic still provides the foundation.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23 - Nov. 21) - Today is a 5 - Find concrete words to describe elusive feelings and ideas.You know what you mean. Make sure others get the point.

Dream large.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 - Dec. 21) - Today is a 6 - What seemed impossible yesterday becomes almost ordinary now.There could be a flood (literally), but the solution is self-evident.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 - Jan. 19) - Today is a 6 - Do exactly what you want in a social situation. Others have a separate agenda that you don't need to follow. Manage your own responsibilities.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 - Feb. 18) - Today is a 6 - Someone could talk you out of your cash unless you're careful. Listen to emotional persuasions, then season them with practical logic.

PISCES (Feb. 19 - March 20) - Today is a 6 Get your message out to the public loud and clear. Be sure to stress why it's urgent.

Get under their skin. Also encourage feedback. © 2010,TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES INC.

TRICKING THE VOID Staff Photographer Jeff Lewis captured this San Diego skateboarder avoiding a crack in the sidewalk on a sunny afternoon this past weekend.

SUDOKU

BY THE MEPHAM GROUP

Level:

1 2

3 4

Instructions: Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit www.sudoku.org.uk.

Solution available online at www.TheDailyAztec.com © 2010 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Media Services. All rights reserved.