THE NEWSPAPER OF SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1913 VOLUME 99, ISSUE 31
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2012
Retired professors donate $2.4 mil campus
Key faculty position created with donated funds.
COUNTDOWN TO VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE:
Alicia Chavez
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Contributor
San Diego State’s Musical Theatre program received a $2.4 million donation from professors emeriti, Carey Wall and Terry O’Donnell, last week. The two joined forces to make the contribution in order to help the program continue to grow. The musical theatre program at SDSU is one of two programs in the country offering master’s degrees in fine arts. Students in the two-year program are required to complete 60 units of studies upon graduating. Graduate students of the musical theater program are trained as they prepare for careers as performers, directors, music
The musical theatre program at SDSU is one of two programs in the country offering masters degrees in fine arts.
directors, choreographers and educators. The program celebrated
Check out our preview of this weekend’s Comic Fest, page 4.
peter kluch , assistant photo editor
The theater on the SDSU campus is illuminated by stage lights. The musical theatre program recently was gifted $2.4 million by two retired SDSU professors.
its 30th anniversary last year. This gift will ensure the MFA program at SDSU continues to offer its students prestigious professors. One way it will ensure this is by creating a new faculty position with the donation. “The person who teaches will be a music of arts professor in the program,” College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts dean Joyce Gattas said. Gattas explained the donation,
will directly be used to fully fund the faculty position and that no state money will be involved. The program guarantees this position for the future, even with state budget cuts, as the position will be paid with external funds donated by the professors. “Without the support of our faculty, this would never have happened,” Gattas said. Gattas said it is important for students to realize two professors
came together to donate a significant amount of money, in order to guide musical students in their future endeavors. She said the program is valued by professors and such a gift only proves the faculty cares. Gattas believes students are benefitting the most from the donation because they are able to continue the program, learning from top faculty members until graduating with a master’s degree.
Right to rent and resell threatened law
Mike Heral Staff Writer
SDSU has hidden Obama takes down W geocaches on campus Romney with facts election
campus
Obama flustered Romney during town hall debate Kenneth Leonard Senior Staff Columnist
A paige nelson , photo editor
A small geocache box is hidden inside of a SDSU parking lot. Geocaching is a national scavenger hunt to find small treasures by using a GPS.
Stephanie Saccente Staff Writer
The popular outdoor adventure game known as geocaching connects participants around the world with a modern treasure hunting expedition. Members of the geocaching community hide caches of treasures in abstract
places for other geocachers to find. Using a smartphone app connecting to a GPS, geocachers can track down the location of the secret treasure cache. With new local geocaches added frequently, San Diego State has developed a collection of oncampus geocaches, which has GEOCACHING continued on page 2
fired-up President Barack Obama took former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to task on a variety of issues Tuesday night in an intense town hall-style debate at Hofstra University, because apparently New York University wasn’t available. Romney, who the Republicans didn’t really want as their candidate yet who somehow made it this far, continued his tactic from the previous debate of making a lot of highly inaccurate statements. This is a real problem for voters who appreciate accuracy-based political rhetoric. Romney outdid himself in this respect, managing to stuff 31 untrue assertions into a mere 41 minutes of speaking time. Compared with Romney’s mediocre performance in the first debate, when he only lied 27 times
listened to the Denver Broncos halftime pep talk from Monday night. Either way, something was different and an invigorated Obama energetically engaged Romney directly when it came to
e are being gouged everywhere we shop. Today, everything costs more than it should. Those costs will continue to increase if book publisher John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has its way. The publisher is challenging the first sale doctrine, a unique law protecting the rights of consumers. The Pandora’s box John Wiley & Sons, Inc. intends to open will destroy the secondhand merchandise market—the only market designed to help the less fortunate—as well as further jeopardize the already fragile dream of attending college. The first-sale doctrine makes yard sales, swap meets and websites such as Craigslist possible. Most items sold are protected by either copyright or trademark, ensuring creators will be financially rewarded. They only receive protection the first time it’s sold because of the first-sale doctrine. Consumers are mostly free to use or dispose of the product as they see fit (the buyer is prohibited from making copies without the copyright holder’s permission). Therefore, whenever a girl buys the latest Justin Bieber CD, Bieber receives royalty from only the original sale. She’s free to resell it any time after she realizes her repulsion
DEBATE continued on page 5
FIRST SALE continued on page 7
in 38 minutes, it’s clear Romney is committed to stepping up his game as Election Day draws near. If this trend continues, Romney could break the one-lie-per-minute mark in the third debate, an unprecedented political feat. It’s unclear what caused the difference in Obama’s performance in this debate compared to the last. Early speculation suggests the president watched “8 Mile” on Air Force One en route to New York for the debate. Perhaps he
If this trend continues Romeny could break the one-lieper minute mark in the third debate ...