News
Features
Sports
Broken Bridge: Chico State planned to restore the Gus Manolis Bridge before it was destroyed by a Sycamore tree. A3
Martial Arts: Two mixed martial arts athletes at Chico State are teaching others about the sport and training together to reach their professional dreams. B1
Opinion Thick and Thin: Opinion columnists Julianna Eveland and Veronica De La Cruz debate 21st century body image. A7 Emily Teague/The Orion
Yo-Yo: The national yo-yo competition swung into Chico on Saturday with contestants coming from across the country to compete. B6
A+E Music: The Orion sat down with local rockers Wanderers & Wolves to talk about slaughtering wolves, fistfights and hot sauce T-shirt collections. B7
Chico State’s Independent Student News Source since 1975 theorion.com | Wednesday Oct. 8, 2014 | Vol. 73, Issue 7 | First copy free, additional copies 50¢
Lawsuit
Associated Students
Wildcat statue to be built in 2015 Madison Holmes
Staff Writer
A wildcat statue will likely be planned and completed by the beginning of Fall 2015. The new statue will cost between $40,000 and $300,000, none of which will come from student fees, said Taylor Herren, Chico State’s Associated Students president. Approximately $130,000 has been accumulated for the statue. The money was donated by the following organizations: • $50,000 by the Alumni Association, • $25,000 of which is from their Campus Beautification fund, a fund that designates money to improve campus aesthetics. • $10,000 by the athletics department. • $20,000 by the university.
• $50,000 by the A.S. meeting Oct. 14. Contrary to popular belief, the statue Herren said non-student artists will will be a realistic wildcat, not Willie the be able to submit designs for the statue. Wildcat, Herren said. After the best of those submissions are “We’ve jokingly chosen, students will get to vote on been calling the statue the one they like the most. William and that may “We thought about hiring a have confused some student, but the construction of the people,” she said. “Can statue will span over six months and you imagine a Willie the will take over 300 hours, which is too Wildcat statue on this much for a student taking classes,” campus? It would look Herren said. ridiculous.” The physical statue will take As of now, the statue about six months to build, with the will be bronze and installation completed over summer TAYLOR installed in the high2015. The statue should be fully HERREN traffic area in the core completed and standing by fall 2015. Associated Students of campus, Herren The Associated Students have President said. The location of the funds to build the statue the statue and what it because of leftover money from will be made of will be decided by the Campus Public Art Committee at a public » please see STATUE | A3
Performance Art
Burlesque dancers shake it up
Annie Paige/The Orion
Mizz Muffit plays a lonely little garlic and makes her way around the stage looking for love at The Maltese Bar’s burlesque show. Read the story on B7
Families feud over deadly car crash Mozes Zarate
Managing Editor Months after a vehicle crash killed two Chico State students and left one hospitalized, two families are suing each other on behalf of their sons. In April, Steve and Christine Silver, the parents of deceased Austin Silver, filed a suit against 19-year-old Diego Arriaga Rodriguez and his father, Antonio Arriaga Razo, for the death of their son in a fatal vehicle rollover off Bidwell Avenue early Jan. 26. A California Highway Patrol investigation determined that Arriaga Rodriguez drove the car off the road and into the Big Chico Creek, which runs along Bidwell Avenue. They found 20-year-old Silver, a passenger in the car, dead from severe head trauma at the DIEGO scene of the crash ARRIAGA that morning. The RODRIGUEZ second passenger, Bryant Mata-Adams, 19, died a day later in the hospital. Silver’s parents are seeking undetermined damages for funeral and burial expenses and for the emotional harm caused by their son’s death. The defendants’ response to the Silvers’ complaint stated that there was conflicting evidence as to who was driving the car during the accident. In September, requested some time to file a cross-complaint against the Silvers, alleging that Austin was the driver during the crash and that the parents are liable for medical costs and the emotional harm suffered by Arriaga Rodriguez’s family. The car, a 1998 BMW, belonged to Arriaga Rodriguez and his father, according to the Silvers’ complaint. Arriaga Rodriguez suffered head trauma and went into a coma following the accident. As of March, he was awake and in recovery. However, Arriaga
» please see SILVER | A3
Memorial
Funeral held for student killed in car fire Jovanna Garcia
Staff Writer
Jovanna Garcia/The Orion
Friends and family of deceased Chico State student Marc Thompson pay their final respects Monday at Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Family and friends gathered Monday at Chico’s Seventh Day Adventist Church to honor Marc Thompson, a former Chico State student who died last month in a burning vehicle. Thompson’s family filled up the front four rows of the church’s sanctuary. The ceremony lasted for two hours and about 80 people showed up. There was a eulogy and obituary reading and a slideshow at the funeral that celebrated Thompson’s life through photos. Pastor Cubie Finley, a family friend, followed with a sermon in memory of Thompson. “Instead of preparing yourself for something that is not positive, prepare yourself for something that is positive,” Finely said. “Learn as much as you can about as much as you can and it’s obvious that this young man was trying to learn as much as he
Index Corrections
A2
Opinion
A6
Features
Weather
A2
Sports
B1
Police Blotter
A4
Directory
B3
Sex Column A+E
LIVE EVERYDAY LIKE IT’S
B5 B6 B7
could about as much as he could.” LaWanda Thompson, Marc Thompson’s mother, said she remembers the last time she spoke to her son. “It was just an everyday conversation with my son - always pushing him to do something,” she said. She said her son was kind, generous and always made a difference. MARC “Even as a child, he THOMPSON made a difference with his 1989 - 2014 friends and he was loyal, very loyal,” his mother said. Thompson was then moved to his final resting place in Oroville. Jovanna Garcia can be reached at
newseditor@theorion.com or @Jo_garcia19 on Twitter.
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