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mar. 26, 2013
tuesday NEW DAFT PUNK ALBUM, PAGE 3
WWW.DAILYAZTEC.COM
TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2013
VOLUME 99, ISSUE 93
SDSU boasts scientific research
campus Will Houston Staff Writer
Last week, San Diego’s scientific community kicked off the San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering to educate the public and display the city’s scientific prowess to the world. San Diego State’s College of Sciences and Engineering also joined in the festivities by hosting the SDSU Science Sampler on campus last Friday. Faculty and students from SDSU’s science departments opened their doors and minds to the public to showcase SDSU’s ongoing scientific research. A number of expositions were presented during the threehour event, including a tour of the night sky in the campus planetarium, a look into the human brain with MRI research, and making ice cream using the cryogenic power of liquid nitrogen. Many of the expositions aimed for the involvement of the younger community by allowing them to not only view, but also to interact with researchers. Some of the children at the event seemed to know more about the names and positions of the stars than typical 21-year-old science students. One of the expositions in SDSU’s award-winning Visualization Center explained how the advancement of science and technology are helping to connect and create a better future. VizCenter Director Eric Frost, explained how SDSU students are helping to locate Haitian refugee camps and provide food using opensource tools, such as Google Maps and NASA technology. Currently, students in Frost’s master’s program are working with international students to find and help refugees
Thousands of future Aztecs explore SDSU campus
Tara Millspaugh News Editor
jenna mackey, staff photographer
San Diego State faculty and students show children an array of science expositions. Expositions included a tour of the campus planetarium and telescopes.
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “The best way to teach about a disaster is to work on a disaster,” Frost said in his lecture. Frost said the students in his program gain a greater educational experience by knowing they are helping others and not only obtaining a grade. “The purpose of our program is to address the question of how we get students to get a passion for helping others,” Frost said. The exposition at the Donald P. Shiley BioScience Center put on a grand display its research in heart Science sampler continued on page 2
San Diegans of all ages view SDSU’s ongoing scientific research.
jenna mackey, staff photographer
Pro-life act exercises 14th Amendment
national Michele Pluss Staff Writer
The U.S. Supreme Court made history in January 1973 when it deemed a 7-2 vote in Texan law banning abortions unconstitutional. The judges held that such laws violated women’s right to privacy which was, as they interpreted, implicit in the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of liberty in the due process clause. More than 40 years later, the decision still stands, despite staunch opposition from pro-life politicians and organizations. Now, it is under scrutiny yet again. Sen. Rand Paul introduced the Life at Conception Act to Congress on March 14. The bill, if passed, would effectively ban abortions, regardless of the circumstances of conception. The Supreme Court judges who presided over the 1973 lawsuit wrote in their decision, “We need not resolve the difficult question of when life beings...the judiciary, at this point in the development of man’s knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer,” adding that “If this sugges-
tion of personhood is established, the appellant’s case (i.e. ‘Roe,’ who sought the abortion), of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the (14th) Amendment.” It is this wording that Life Cycle Assesment, along with its 15 Republican co-sponsors, including Paul, is targeting. “The Life at Conception Act legislatively declares what most Americans believe and what science has long known—that human life begins at the moment of conception, and therefore is entitled to legal protection,” Paul said in a press release. “The right to life is guaranteed to all Americans in the Declaration of Independence and ensuring this is upheld is the Constitutional duty of all members of Congress.” An overview of the bill reads that technological and medical advances allow people to detect life much earlier in the pregnancy than was previously possible. Doctors can now detect a fetal heartbeat five weeks after conception; brainwaves are detectable after eight weeks. The bill stipulates it is not seeking a constitutional amendment—which
An elderly woman participates in a march supporting pro-life politics.
requires a two-third majority vote in both houses of Congress and ratification by 38 states—to overturn Roe v. Wade, rather, it is using the existing language in the 14th Amendment. In bypassing an amendment, it eliminates extra red tape and requires only a majority vote in both houses and the president’s signature to go into effect. LCA has not gone undetected by those who oppose it. National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan comment-
jay janner -austin american /statesman /mct
ed on the bill in an interview with Ms. Magazine, a feminist publication. “This is the latest example of hypocrisy from politicians who said they want less government in our lives, yet propose bills like this one that would open the door to more political interference in our personal, private decisions,” Keenan said. “If this bill resembles past versions, it would ban abortion—even in cases of rape or incest and threatens to outlaw birth control.”
Thousands of future San Diego State students and their families joined together on Saturday to the Explore SDSU Open House. Booths for student organizations, lined Campanile Walkway to Hepner Hall for new Aztecs to check out. Parents of incoming freshmen spoke to professors as their children perused on-campus groups they could potentially join. Even those who didn’t attend the event were able to follow the event on Twitter. Current students and prospective Aztecs live-tweeted with the hashtag #ExploreSDSU. “Everytime I come to San Diego, I never want to leave,” prospective Stephanie Brady tweeted. When The Daily Aztec tweeted Brady to ask why she loved SDSU so much, her response was just as energetic. “I love that everyone at SDSU was genuinely happy, filled with school spirit and good vibes!” Explore SDSU continued on page 2
correction Yesterday, an article titled, “Student organizations battle for peace” was printed, which detailed Palestine Awareness Week and Israel Peace Week. The articl stated Aztecs for Israel President Mor Frankle “said she was told that fake eviction notices were posted on the doors of Jewish students’ apartments at Piedra del Sol housing.” These fake eviction notices were posted on the doors of every tenant in Piedra del Sol, along with several other apartment complexes, fraternity and sorority houses around campus, according to Students for Justice in Palestine President Nadir Bouhmouch. Furthermore, Bouhmouch said SJP intentionally avoided posting the fake eviction notices, which they said were meant to mimic the Israeli government evicting more than 25,000 Palestinian housing units, on the doors of Alpha Epsilon Phi, Alpha Epsilon Pi and the Chabad House to avoid accusations of being anti-Semitic. While Frankle said she may not have had all the information available when commenting on the situation last week, she said several Israeli students living in the apartments felt personally targeted, and that the act of posting the fake eviction notices could be construed as inherently anti-Semitic. Also in the same article, we printed that a member of AFI attempted to push down part of the SJP wall. This person is a member of AEPi, not AFI.