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Chico State’s Independen t S t u de n t Ne w spa pe r , since 1975
Wednesday December 1, 2010 Volume 65 Issue 14 1 free copy per person additional copies 50¢
Student injured in motorcycle accident Rudro Roy STAFF WRITER
A student was flung from his motorcycle in an accident on West Fifth and Walnut streets Monday. The accident occurred at about 12:15 p.m. when Ryan Clemensen, 21, who was heading west on a
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motorcycle on West Fifth Street, collided with a Honda Civic, which was approaching the intersection from the east and trying to turn left onto Walnut Street, said Sgt. Rob Merrifield of the Chico Police Department. He is a senior English education major, according to his Twitter page.
The motorcycle struck the front right corner of the Honda, Merrifield said. The car’s windshield was shattered as Clemensen flew into it and his bike came to rest upside down in the middle of the intersection. An ambulance took Clemensen to Enloe Medical Center for treatment
for moderate injuries. Clemensen remains in fair condition at Enloe Medical Center as of Tuesday, said Christina Chavira, a communications specialist for the hospital. The driver of the Honda, 18-year-old Adrian Aceves, of Corning, was shaken up,
The air up there
Men’s and women’s basketball start season out, 4-0
ASST. NEWS EDITOR
Show at Cafe Coda lands band amid the crowd during Thanksgiving break
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Rare raptors
Hawk walk explores the wild side of falconry
OPINION >> A8
Loud and clear
STAFF WRITER
THE ORION • WALTER FORD
QUICK FIX Repairs done to 28 broken pipe vents on top of the Physical Science Building were completed and inspected in 2003. under the roofing, Adams said. He suggested the building needed asbestos abatement, but that action was not taken. Smaller plastic pipes were inserted through the roof into the broken Pyrex pipe vents and then O-rings and silicone sealant were used to bond the two pipes together, Adams said. “I was persistent that this was not the fix,” he said. “This was just a get-by thing until they can get a real fix.” Even though the pipe vents functioned after the repair, it was the quality and legality of the fix that concerned Adams, he said.
“The biggest issue is the violations to the uniform plumbing code,” he said. “I mean I was willing to do it at the time if it meant a temporary fix, but it became evident that they were satisfied with the fix.” An industrial hygienist from the Division of Occupational Safety and Health came to inspect the repair March 14, 2003, and filed a notice of no violation after inspection May 13 of the same year, according to an inspection sheet filed with the California Occupational Safety and Health office in Sacramento. >> please see PIPES | A6
Lecture photos offend some
Campus noise draws the wrong kind of attention
Heidi Parodi STAFF WRITER
ONLINE >> theorion.com Thousands ‘Run for Food’ Runners gathered Thanksgiving morning for annual event to raise money for Jesus Center
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A controversy regarding obscene photos shown during a lecture in a Chico State classroom caused a stir. Ten to 15 photos with content ranging from a person urinating on someone to gay oral sex were shown in Political Science 451B, also known as “Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties,” said Stephen Sherlock, lecturer of the class. The lecture focused on obscenity and the First Amendment, specifically the differences between what was legally considered obscene and what wasn’t, he said. The photos were evaluated in accordance with the Miller test, also known as the “three-pronged obscenity test,” used by the Supreme Court. “After we had gone over the test, I showed them the pictures and we decided to apply the test to it,” Sherlock said. A student confronted Sherlock after class and told him that a few other students were offended by it, he said. To have judicial affairs consider this an issue, there would have to be
rroy@theorion.com
Rudro Roy
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY LAUREN STORNETTA
Sink your Teeph in
On the third floor of the Physical Science Building, it’s common to experience a chemically engineered assault on the sense of smell. Sophomore mechatronic engineering major Josh Courtain has noticed the effect. “The bottom floor smells normal, but as you move up the building you can start to smell things,” he said. “Then something funky is in your face when you reach the third floor.” A “quick fix” for broken pipe vents in 2003 may be the reason for the foul odors and may be more dangerous than administrators will admit, said Bill Adams, former Chico State plumber of 14 years, in a phone interview. Twenty-eight Pyrex pipe vents designed to vent toxic gases through the roof from the building’s hundreds of chemical sinks, fume hoods and sewage drains were discovered broken in 2002, Adams said. The gases meant to vent outside the building were being released into attic space above the classrooms on the third floor. Proper direct repairs to the pipes proved impossible due to asbestos-filled fireproofing
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DUI grant funds police operations
Walter Ford
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but not injured in the accident. The collision is still under investigation, but initial fi ndings suggest that Aceves did not see Clemensen as he attempted to make the turn, Merrifield said.
THE ORION • KEVIN LEE
TOUCHY SUBJECT Political science professor Steve Sherlock discusses obscenity in the eye of the law during class lectures. something concrete academically, said Connie Huyck, interim director of student judicial affairs. For example, if a student didn’t want to look at the photos and his or her grade was affected, then action could be taken. Grades weren’t affected if students had to look away, said Brooks Morrison, a junior majoring in legal studies and student in the class. “I wouldn’t know if they
were looking away or not,” Sherlock said. “And even if they did, it wouldn’t bother me.” Each image was left on screen for about a minute, he said. “It was longer than necessary,” Morrison said. “I just felt uncomfortable, but I’m not easily offended.” The only negative response Sherlock has gotten personally from a student was when he was showing the oral sex
photo in the lecture, he said. The student was texting instead of viewing the photos. “I have a big rule in my room, as everyone else, no texting and I’ll just tell him to put it away, which I did then,” Sherlock said. “He just said, ‘Well, I don’t wanna look at a guy sucking another guy’s dick’ – I think those were his words.” However, not all >> please see OBSCENE | A4
There were a total of 26 arrests for driving under the influence in November, according to Chico Police Department statistics. Twenty of those arrests were made during the weekend of Nov. 12-14. Staffing for the weekend was normal, said Chico police Sgt. Rob Merrifield. “I don’t know if it happened because officers weren’t as busy with other calls so they had more time to look for DUIs, or if it just happened that we got lucky and were able to intercept that many more,” he said. The department was recently awarded a California Office of Traffic Safety grant for an anti-DUI program to combat deaths and injuries on roads, according to a press release. The program will last a year. The DUI Enforcement and Awareness Program grant will be used to implement DUI and driver’s license checkpoints and warrant searches and stakeouts for repeat DUI offenders. In 2009, more than 10,839 people died in highway crashes involving a driver under the influence, according to the press release. Crashes on Highway 99 — even those not proven to be related to drunk driving — seem to be increasing. Three major highway accidents in October involved Chico State students and other victims suffering serious injuries. Juliyana Streifel, 23, was involved in a four-car accident Oct.15 on Highway 99 when she was hit head-on by an oncoming car, according to a California Highway Patrol news release. Streifel was transported by helicopter to Enloe Medical Center for serious injuries. She has since been released, said Christina Chavira, communications specialist for Enloe Medical Center. Chico State student Ryan Finnerty, 21, was involved in a three-car accident Oct. 31. Finnerty’s car veered into the opposing lane west of Oroville on Highway 99. A head-on collision and subsequent fires killed four and injured three. California Highway Patrol is still investigating the reasons behind the crash. Finnerty, who was transported to UC Davis Medical Center for major injuries, was still in critical condition as of Nov. >> please see DUI | A7