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TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2013
WWW.DAILYAZTEC.COM
VOLUME 99, ISSUE 101
‘Terrorist attacks’ at Boston Marathon national Editor in Chief
Ana Ceballos Assistant News Editor
opinion
— Fred Rogers
Emergency personnel assist victims at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, Monday,
The New York Daily News reported three people dead, including an 8 year old, and more than 130 people wounded. found at least two other unexploded devices and police bomb squads have begun controlled explosions in order to deactivate the devices. Boston officers are on “maximum
alert,” and all off-duty police officers have been called to duty. Boston officials have asked anyone with video or photographs near the finish line to contact the
CALPIRG helps homes save energy
campus Hannah Beausang Senior Staff Writer
CALPIRG Energy Service Corps, an on-campus student organization created by AmeriCorps and CALPIRG, is dedicated to spreading the word about energy efficiency in the home. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, household and commercial building energy consumption account for approximately 40 percent of total U.S. energy usage. San Diego State CALPIRG campus organizer Aaron Hussman said the organization helps homeowners create viable solutions for saving energy and money. “As an organization, we think that one of the biggest keys to solving our energy issues is to start with simple things at home,” Hussman said. In an effort to promote sustainability and cultivate learning, the organization reached out to thousands of K-12 students and hopes to educate by the end of the school year, Hussman said. “We want future generations to have energy efficiency be the norm,” Hussman said. “We want them to go home and take those tips to their families that day to start making an immediate impact.” The organization conducts doorto-door home energy surveys and personally tailored recommendations about how to conserve energy and cut costs. Afterward, the group does periodic follow-ups to moni-
Terrorist attacks can’t defeat our shared humanity “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers—so many caring people in this world.”
Antonio Zaragoza
Yesterday, four hours into the Boston Marathon, two explosions were detonated near the viewing stands at the Boston Marathon finish line. According to the Boston news station WCVB-TV, the first explosion occurred at approximately 2:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and the second explosion occurred about 15 seconds later more than 500 feet away. The explosions were located on Boylston Street in areas crowded with people cheering for runners finishing the race. Witnesses described hearing two loud explosions. Several people were hit with debris and some storefront windows were blown out. Photographs of the scene show bloodied bodies, some visibly missing limbs. The New York Daily News reported three people dead, including an 8 year old, and more than 130 people wounded. However, the extent of the injured and deceased cannot be completely confirmed at this time. According to CNN, hospitals reported at least eight of the patients were children and at least 10 of the patients had their limbs amputated. Boston Police Department has
APRIL 16, 2013
TUESDAY
stuart cahill /boston herald /mct
Boston Police Department. Police asked people in the area to not use their cellphones for fear they could detonate other devices, which has prompted concerns that the explosives may have been remotely activated. New York City and Washington, D.C. have been elevated to a heightened state of alert. In a BOSTON continued on page 2
Staff Writer
tor the effectiveness of the suggested changes. Additionally, the group helps home and apartment owners complete simple energy upgrades, such as insulating doors, windows and hot water heaters or changing old lightbulbs. This spring break, 15 CALPIRG students from SDSU traveled to South Lake Tahoe to teach approximately 2,000 children at four schools. Using curriculum developed by the U.S. Department of Energy, the group educated children through the use of interactive games. “It was a great opportunity for SDSU students to give back to another community and to engage them in a sustainable dialogue,” Hussman said. “I see the measurable effects that we’re making right away and it’s definitely been a really great credit to the students to show that they are
courtesy of braun - go west foto
committed to energy efficiency and sustainability.” The group also worked with Lake Tahoe homeowners to weatherize their dwellings and optimize energy efficiency. Student AmeriCorps member and business administration junior Ashley Henry went to South Lake Tahoe during spring break and said the group was able to make a positive impact on the community. “It was cool to be able help people out in the long run,” Henry said. “It’s a series of really passionate students who came out for this and put in their own time and efforts to help.” CALPIRG member and economics junior Rafael Guerrero said the organization works hard to promote suitability, both locally and in other CALPIRG continued on page 2
AFTERMATH continued on page 5
Aztecs celebrate 15 years of WSWS
campus Ilgin Karlidag
SDSU students of CALPIRG Energy Service Corps in Lake Tahoe, where they educated children about sustainability.
Moments after explosions devastated the finish line at the Boston Marathon, a phenomenon occurred that served to characterize today’s events more than anything else. Bystanders rushed toward the smoke and the apparent danger to help the victims. Police and rescue workers confirmed the sources of the explosions were improvised explosive devices, and there have been no developments so far
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality at San Diego State held an event on Thursday to mark the 15-year anniversary of the World Socialist Web Site, an international online news and information center. With an international daily readership of 40,000 to 50,000, the WSWS is financed by its readers’ donations to help improve and expand its website, which covers news ranging from social inequality and international politics, to science and art. Chairman of the WSWS international editorial board David North spoke at the event, which is part of a globally held series to mark the website’s anniversary. North, who has spoken and lectured several times at SDSU, said WSWS uses a materialist method when covering news. This means that “politics is an expression in concentrated form of the struggle between classes,” North said. “Politicians are not free agents acting out on their own on the basis of their own ideas—good or bad as they may be—but represent definite material inter-
ests,” North said. The purpose of marking the 15year anniversary of WSWS is to review historical events that give “a deeper insight into the significance of the period through which we are living,” North said. North emphasized the importance of understanding what’s happening around the world from a historical standpoint. He compared similar geostrategic and economical crises in the 15-year period—1998 to 2013—to another 15-year period a century earlier—1898 to 1913. North quoted Mark Twain’s famous phrase, “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme,” and explained that the two periods “rhymed.” The period of 1898 to 1913 was mounting geopolitical tensions and wars, such as the Spanish-American War, the Moroccan Crisis, the Balkan war and the Italian invasion of Libya, North said. He also said the period of 1998 to 2013 could be seen in a similar way with additional geopolitical tensions, such as China and North Korea. The Asia-Pacific has become a central geostrategic focus because the U.S. is not prepared to accept China as a challenge to its economic and political interests, according to North.