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Tuesday, Januar y 20, 20 15

w w w.mus t angne w s .net

E s t abl ished 19 16

1,120 calories

or 2.2 Big Macs

VG Cafe Double Cheeseburger

You are what you eat, so let’s find out what you eat. Celina Oseguera As a college student who bustles to and from classes and other activities, it can be hard to keep track of what you eat — a slice of pizza between class and a club meeting, a sip

of sweet tea before intramural soccer practice. This guide to the highest- and lowest-calorie foods on Cal Poly’s campus was created to give busy college students like you

@celinaoseguera a perspective of what they may or may not be putting into their bodies throughout the day. The data for this guide was taken from the Cal Poly Campus Dining website. Only pre-

made items, not customizable items like salads, from nonchain campus restaurants — excluding establishments such as Starbucks and Subway — were counted.

Parsons Vice President named Cal Poly’s visiting cybersecurity director GEORGIE DE MATTOS | MUSTANG NE WS COLLABORATE | The idea behind Speak Studios is to bring together local musicians to create community and record in an affordable way.

Music, engineering and community: Speak Studios plans for new year Kelly Trom @kttrom

AMY B. HUGHES | COURTESY PHOTO SECURING THE NETWORK | Britton was Parsons’ Vice President when the company pledged $100,000 to Cal Poly’s Cyber Initiative in 2013.

Lindsy Mobley @lindsy_mobley

In a world where technology constantly surrounds us how many of us really know how secure it is? Cal Poly’s cybersecurity initiative announced Parsons Corporation Vice President Bill Britton as the visiting director of the Cybersecurity center on Jan. 5.

The initiative is headed by the College of Engineering to educate students on cybersecurity and to form solutions to secure networks, Britton said. He will serve the university for two years and then return back to the industry with Parsons.

see CYBER, pg 4.

You are a small-town musician trying to record your first album. You and your band members put together all your paychecks for the month, finally scraping up enough money to record professionally. You get to the recording studio and a strange man tells you that you have a measly three hours to get all of your songs recorded — songs you put your heart and soul into. And every additional hour will cost you double the first three. He then makes all of the decisions about the how the recording will sound when produced. This situation is exactly what Cal Poly architecture alumnus Vince Cimo wanted San Luis Obispo musicians to avoid when he created Speak Studios.

see SPEAK, pg 7.

Men’s basketball drops close game at Cal State Northridge Mustang News Staff Report

JOSEPH PACK | MUSTANG NE WS

The Cal Poly men’s basketball team (8-8, 1-3 Big West Conference) lost its third straight conference matchup on Saturday on the road against Cal State Northridge (6-13, 2-2). It was a tale of two halves, as the Mustangs led 21-19 at halftime. However, the Matadors nearly doubled their first-half total in the second half, dropping 36 points on the Cal Poly defense. The is the third game in a row the Mustangs have failed to eclipse the 50-point mark. Junior forward Joel Awich led the Mustangs in

@CPMustangSports scoring, dropping 15 points, while junior forward Brian Bennett pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds. The Matadors were simply unstoppable in the second half, shooting 60 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes, compared to the 32 percent mark the Mustangs posted throughout the game. Cal Poly will look to get back on track at home this Thursday and Saturday, when it hosts Cal State Fullerton and then UC Riverside in Mott Athletics Center.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

NEWS | 2

The Avenue

Highest: Classic Italian Sandwich

Lowest: Chicken Soft Taco

Sandwich Factory

Highest: Peanut Butter Honey Banana

Lowest: Pesto Hummus

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

NEWS | 3

Tacos To-Go Grill

, Highest: Carne Asada & Chicken Nachos Supreme

Lowest: Chicken Street Taco

Ciao!

Highest: Chicken Pesto Calzone

Lowest: Tuscan Veggie Pizza

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

NEWS | 4

Shaking up the career fair Brendan Abrams @brenabrams

When the career fair rolls around, Cal Poly students in all areas of study prepare to make effective professional impressions upon hundreds of possible employers — they scramble to put finishing touches on resumes, study up on the companies they hope to work for and rehearse their answers to any interview questions they can think of. In all this commotion and excitement, the vast majority of students are likely to forget to consider one of the essential components of the process of landing a dream job: the handshake. The handshake is so often overlooked because it is such a quick, automatic act for most people. But that is not necessarily how it should be. According to Meghan Palaszewski and Alison Jones, Cal Poly career counselors, a handshake can be “an indicator of confidence” to employers. A proper handshake can demonstrate that a prospective employee is both enthusiastic about the possibility of being hired and mature and qualified enough to be deserving of the job. If all that information can be conveyed through a mere grasp of another hand, such a grasp ought to be well-informed. To facilitate handshake technique perfection, it might be helpful to have an understanding of what exactly can ruin one. For employers, a misinformed handshake is easy to pick out. For Palaszewski, there is nothing worse than a shake that makes the employer feel uncomfortable. “Hand clamminess is definitely not a good thing,” she said. The duration of the shake can also present problems. Any handshake lasting longer than a second or two is likely undesirable. “I don’t want my hand to feel like it is being caressed,” Palaszewski said. The trick, it seems, is to perform a handshake

CYBER continued from pg 1. “With Bill’s help as the Parsons visiting director of the Cyber-

in a way that does not call unnecessary attention to the act. It should be authentic to avoid an awkward initial impression with a possible employer. For a business-oriented handshake, Jones suggests a quick, firm grasp of the employer’s hand followed by a brisk pump of the arm. At the same time, each shaker should look (not stare) calmly into the eyes of the other and exchange a polite greeting. Jones was quick to add that it is important to adjust to the other person. “Take a split second to figure out how the employer is going about the handshake and follow their lead,” she said. It is entirely possible to impress an employer by demonstrating that ability to make adjustments on the fly. In general, a handshake does not prove to be a very difficult task, but it is possible to run into more extreme circumstances. Sometimes, an employer might not be interested in a handshake. After all, there is a good chance he or she has been handing out shakes — and collecting germs — for hours. The employer could attempt a fistbump, Howie Mandel style, or in very rare cases, even a “bro hug.” In any situation, the prospective employee should be on his or her toes and ready to adapt. Perhaps a more common issue with handshakes is the concern of illness. What is one to do if he prefers not to infect all his possible employers with a communicable disease? Instead of letting everyone know about the illness and refusing to engage in handshakes, Jones and Palaszewski both recommended bringing along some hand sanitizer. That way, handshakes can be performed safely, and awkward explanations for one’s refusal to shake can be avoided altogether. To ensure handshake expertise, simply follow the technique depicted by the diagram to the right.

security Center, we will foster the talent and create the workforce to help ensure the safety of cyber space. In fact, the active cooperation between Cal

Poly and Parsons signifies a new model for university and industry relations in which we work shoulder-to-shoulder to advance education opportuni-

ILLUSTRATION BY ZACK SPANIER | MUSTANG NEWS

ties. Parsons is literally putting expert in our wheelhouse, and we are grateful,” Dean of the College of Engineering Debra Larson said in a press release on Jan. 5. Britton describes cybersecurity as “protection of the network.” He and his staff have come up with a curriculum to teach students, from the introductory phase all the way up to the programming capabilities for cybersecurity, he said. “The goal would be, of course, to expand that to the entire university to where what we’re producing is cyber-cognitive students,” Britton said. Whether in liberal arts, business administration, computer science or any other major, it’s vital that students understand cybersecurity because it’s very likely that they will be working on a network, Britton said. As of now, there is an introductory program for freshmen, but they hope to implement a more in-depth understanding later, he said. “A lot of people are aware that if I put something on the network, it’s possibly going to get stolen. The idea is to move them beyond the basic awareness to a deeper understanding so as they’re working in their environment (whatever it may be), they understand

the importance of how a cybersecurity approach can protect what they’re doing on their network,” Britton said. In the past, cybersecurity was an assumed responsibility of the IT department. But the “world that we work in” is changing significantly, he said. There are reporting requirements for finance, legal requirements, governmental requirements and even the New York Stock Exchange has a cyber implementation plan. Cybersecurity is becoming critical for anyone who has something to do with a network, Britton said. “A better understanding of that across the board and the responsibility you have as a user on that network helps you become a better user,” he said. Britton believes being educated on cybersecurity will enable people to protect more of their stored data and make informed decisions on equipment purchases and what you allow on their network. And, of course, there’s the cell phone; if someone has work-related information, such as financial data or personal data, they need a way to protect it. “Think of all the information you put on your cell phone and how that works,” Britton said. “It’s those kind of things we’re

trying to better understand throughout the entire student body. And then secondly, in the computer science department, help to design and build some of the solutions for the future to (aid) the protection of some of those kinds of things.” Cybersecurity is a current issue on not only a personal but broad scale, Britton said. He noted the current example of how North Korea was able to hold Sony, a multinational company, hostage by accessing their supposedly safe networks. “Both private and public sectors in the world today conduct business via the electronic highway, but we are daily confronted by news of cyber-attacks that are disruptive to our economic health and security,” Larson said in the press release. His goal is to establish a fiveyear program, even though he’s leaving after two. He wants to get the wheels moving for Cal Poly’s cybersecurity initiative to enhance the ability to deliver that “cyber-cognitive student” and help grow the university to where it has a prominent position in the world of security, he said. “I’m really looking forward to this,” Britton said. “Because (it’s) the opportunity to help deliver something new and different that’s really affecting us.”

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

CAREER FAIR | 5

Weighing out what companies want Tim Wetzel @timawetzel

Undoubtedly, the most-heard phrase regarding job searches is “first impressions are everything.” We hear it from parents, friends, teachers and even that one weird neighbor you haven’t spoken to since sixth grade. Adults and pretentious teenagers pound this concept into your head from day one of your job search and never stop until you’re retired. However, despite its overuse, it still rings true: Most recruiters don’t get more than a few minutes with each student, so every second counts. Charlotte Rinaldi, Assistant Director at Career Services, believes that students should be prepared for every interview. “Representatives tend to look for students who know about their company,” Rinaldi said. “They want students who have done their research and are eager to work for them.” Rinaldi continued that students should know how their skill set is relevant to a job they’re considering. “Related experience helps, of course, so students should be able to articulate how internships, coursework or their senior project directly relate to the position they are interested in,” Rinaldi said. But what else are these companies looking for in potential em-

ployees? Good grades? Involvement? Shorter versions of our beloved President Armstrong? Wonder no longer, Mustangs. Here are a few of the biggest employers coming to this year’s Winter Career Fair, as well as what they’re looking for in the students they interview. Microsoft On its website, Microsoft describes itself as “the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions.” Though they will only be at the career fair on Wednesday, recruiters will be on campus both days for interviews. According to University Recruiter Sarah Bruch, Microsoft doesn’t necessarily hire only computer science majors; rather, they look for students with drive and a love for their work. “I say we definitely want to see passion,” Bruch said. “When we talk to people who are uninterested, it almost seems like they’re viewing the interview as a chore. We hope the individuals we hire are excited to work with us, because we’re excited to work with them.” Microsoft is attending the career fair to continue looking for students who’ve been taught to “learn by doing.” Bruch believes there are many students at Cal Poly who would be great for Microsoft. “Historically, we’ve seen a lot

of great talent come from Cal Poly,” Bruch said. “It’s definitely a university we want to continue investing in.” Cisco Cisco is one of the largest IT companies in the nation; it comes as no surprise that they’ll be making an appearance at the career fair. Cisco is looking for inclusive employees. Its website states “we welcome, value and respect every employee” and expect a similar attitude from anyone they interview or hire. At the top of Cisco’s list of interview tips is “research Cisco and the interviewers through social media and (the) Cisco website.” So be sure you’ve read up on the company; showing up unprepared might bump you down on their list of potential employees. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP This company, whose mouthful of a name is generally referred to as PwC, is a financial consulting company whose goal is “to build public trust and enhance value for our clients and (our) stakeholders.” PwC also looks for prepared interviewees; however, it suggests that rather than reading up on the company, you should read up on your own strengths and weaknesses.

One of PwC’s top tips for potential interviews is to “be prepared to express your qualifications in an organized, logical and convincing manner.” Its recruiters aren’t looking for you to be humble in your interview, nor are they looking for you to brag; rather, their ideal employee has a very good grasp on his or her strengths and weak-

nesses and knows how to work off those strengths. PwC also wants employees who know their goals. Nothing beats a motivated worker, and while it may be difficult to show your motivation in a short interview, telling your goals definitely gives your employer a better idea of where your priorities lie.

Keep in mind, every company is different. Very few companies want exactly the same type of employee, nor do very many people want exactly the same job. The best way to show a company that you’re the person it wants is — to use another common expression — to be yourself and put yourself out there.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

ARTS | 6

Kathleen Madigan: The optimal date night Will Peischel @cpmustangarts

Friday night, San Luis Obispo’s married adult community filed into the Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center. After sampling wine and getting the scoop on whose son goes to which college, they filled the auditorium, creating a nearly perfect pattern in the rows of seats: man, woman, man with a cowboy hat, woman, man, woman. Blue and purple spotlights illuminated the house. After that, I can’t speak to how well date night generally went for everyone — but the standup show held its ground. First up to bat was Chuck Martin. You might recognize his name from the credits screen of “Arrested Development,” which he helped produced and write. The skinny, well-dressed man walked onto the stage, mic in hand. He moved back and forth, shiny shoes dipping and gliding over the stage floor. Martin’s gray blazer and glasses gave him a nearly complete look; he has a face that looks like it should have a mustache but doesn’t. His performance style was very observational, rehearsed and fast-paced. Mar tin’s frantic manner of spattered phrases gave the impression that he was making an excuse or explaining a surprise. His sudden shifts in topic felt a little abrupt at times, but he’s nearly mastered the neurotic niche. “You know what I love to hate is that Papa John’s,” he said. “I don’t know what it is, that Papa John’s guy, I just want to smack

that guy in the face. He’s so smug! Sitting on that little stool, ‘Nobody does what Papa John’s does.’ Really? Nobody else made a shitty pizza deliver y company? Got the market cornered on that, do you, Papa?” After a successful 20 minutes, Martin introduced the s h o w ’s main act, Kathleen Madigan. She took her place behind the mic stand. Ma d i g an c an b e st b e des crib ed as your funny aunt, her style largely relying on accessible anecdotes. Madigan comes from a large, chaotic, Midwestern family. Her mom jeans and lovable sarcasm fit just right over stories of retirement homes and the antics of yokels in the Midwest. For the adult, upper-middle class audience, Madigan’s show hit the nail on the head. She kept the focus on anything they could laugh at without having to be confronted with a mirror. It was safe. “I mean, I don’t think I drink a lot compared to other Irish people,” she said. “What’s your bar? Who’re you hanging out with? About once a year if I can, my only vacation is I go to Ireland. I love it there. I can re-adjust my priorities; I feel like a Type-A go-getter. Almost a triathlete.” When Madigan did speak of controversy, she managed to do so without putting a bitter taste in any mouths. Malaysia Flight 370 and Bill Cosby hit the audience without incident. “There’s one thing if the village idiot says something,” she said. “But when the entire village is like ‘uh-uh,’ you know something is up.

COURTESY PHOTO | K ATHLEENMADIGAN.COM

FUNNY STUFF | The middle-aged couples of San Luis Obispo filled the PAC Friday to enjoy Kathleen Madigan’s comedy. It’s a weird thing, you want to have sex with people who are unconscious, I don’t even understand the fun in that. It’s exhausting! Have you ever tried to put a drunk in pajamas? How is that sexy?” Both comedians had successful shows because their content provided a slightly spi c y l e vel of r au nch i ness that never insulted the relatively conservative adult audience. Ever yone came for a good time and nobody got hurt. Outside of the show hall, San Luis Obispo resident Kay Miller stood among the buzzing crowd of pleased audience members who’d just left the performance. “Madigan played up things that struck her as funny,” Miller said, “And then she made this whole thing out of it. If it happened to us, we probably wouldn’t even think it was that funny.”

Tuesday, January 20, 2015 SPEAK continued from pg 1. The vision “I basically had this idea to create a center hub for the musical community in San Luis Obispo where people can pay a reasonable amount, really get to know all of the recording tools and finally, make and release art,” Cimo said. Even if musicians already possess this knowledge and recording equipment, unforgiving noise violation fees and the sheer cost and difficulty of renting a recording space pose obstacles. The way Cimo sees it, good musicians need some knowledge of how to engineer music, and engineers need music or some creative outlet in order to stay sane. The symbiotic relationship between engineering and music coupled with cheaper prices and more control over recording quality draw San Luis Obispo musicians and bands to Speak Studios. In addition to educating musicians, Speak Studios aims to create an interconnected artistic community where musical collaborations are encouraged. “The community is large enough where there is a ton of culture, musicians and art,” Cimo said. “But it is small enough where everyone can still be connected.” This is not Cimo’s first go-around with building a recording studio. He started one in Santa Margarita but realized it was too far for most bands to travel and he didn’t have the financial resources to achieve the recording quality he wanted. When he moved back to San Luis Obispo, however, he found the space he was looking for. The renovation Cimo’s apartment wall bordered a treasure trove of space (albeit dirty, boarded up and covered with useless appliances and junk). Cimo asked his landlord if he could use it. Cimo and his brother and cofounder, Daniel Cimo, along with other musicians they knew, cleared out the space. They patched up the dirt floor in some places and

fixed the walls. They tried to be as economical and environmentally friendly as possible by re-using carpet for insulation and hardwood flooring from businesses that were moving or going out of business. They were also creative in the types of materials they purchased for the space, using redwood trim that was originally meant for fencing and garden weed liner for some of the fabric needed to soundproof. “The coolest thing is that this space has pretty much been built all by musicians,” Cimo said. “Everyone lends a hand hanging dry wall or whatever needs to be done. And all of those people are now involved and kind of know each other.” Peter Sumic, an economics senior who is now in charge of studio operations, thought the crew that renovated the space really bonded over construction and the search for good deals on supplies to make the place more aesthetically pleasing. “It was a giant team-building exercise,” Sumic said. “We made a lot of trips to businesses that were being sold to get insulation. In fact, this hardwood floor came from Higher Groundz coffee. I would just say we definitely made an effort to use recycled goods and not be wasteful.” Although the space is residentially zoned, it is surrounded by a parking lot, church and noisy neighbors who have never complained about the studio. However, Speak Studios is hard to find if you haven’t been there before, tucked between apartments on Orcutt Road. “The goal is to have a more publicly facing place where there can be kids classes and it can involve more ages in the community,” Cimo said. “Right now, it is more this underground, 20-something musician place, rather than a place I would take my 8-year-old kid for his violin lesson.” The sound Cimo has been collecting audio equipment for years. He has always enjoyed figuring out how his favorite recordings were made and then trying to replicate them.

ARTS | 7 “Audio is one of those things that you just become obsessed with,” Cimo said. “It is a labor of love to slowly accumulate specific things that will have the sonic character that you want.” Speak Studios focuses more on analog rather than digital equipment to get a more vintage, warmsounding production, popular in the Indie genre. “The thing about recording studios is that you really have to separate yourself from the guy in his bedroom making music because it is so accessible now,” Cimo said. “If you listen to 90 percent of all the stuff that is being produced, it all sounds exactly the same.” The members Musicians can get involved with Speak Studios in a few different ways. There are around 12 people who pay a monthly fee to administer the studio. They are the musicians who use the space the most, create music consistently and know how to properly use the recording equipment. They attend meetings to discuss the projects and musical goals for the week. Other members facilitate recording sessions with bands or solo musicians who pay a fee to use the space to record an album or a few songs, but do not want monthly access to the studio. There are also people who take interest in engineering but don’t want to use the space every week. Speak Studios offers a training course where they can learn to use the equipment and apprentice with more experienced engineers during studio sessions. Speak Studios now has enough stable membership to focus on other goals as well, Cimo said. Cimo’s brother believes the space is marketable not only to college students but also other talented artists who might not be in a band or formal group. “There are a lot of talented people in the area, whether they be students or older people who are just pretty musical,” Daniel Cimo said. “When you are in a specific band,

you are in that band. With us, you are a part of a group and everyone is working together at different times on different stuff — and not necessarily only in their band.” The online platform This idea led Vince Cimo to program a platform similar to Grooveshark on which any member of the studio can release music. The website makes music free and accessible to the community and gets the word out about the kind of recording possible at Speak Studios. Users can stream music, make playlists and discover new music.

“The paradigm of a band isn’t always necessarily applicable,” Cimo said. “This space facilitates not necessarily a label, but a way for people to share their music without it being a generic Bandcamp thing. It is specific, coming from this community and this kind of style of recording.” The future Cimo hopes that the community of musicians who will rally around Speak Studios will make for some exciting developments in the future. Not only will musicians have the opportunity to collaborate on songs, but also with shows the stu-

dio will organize at different venues around San Luis Obispo that Cimo feels have been underused. One such event has already happened, when The Monroe and The Earthtones played at Creekside Brewing Company this past Saturday. Cimo’s dream is to own multiple recording studios to interconnect more bands that could travel on a national or even international level. For now, his goal remains to make those in San Luis Obispo more aware of the talent and possibility of other musicians as well as the power of collaboration.

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Tuesday, January 20, 2015

CAREER FAIR | 8

Career Fair: By the numbers Naba Ahmed @nabaahmed

Resume in hand, students fill the Recreation Center, awaiting to speak to one of the 200 employers. Every fall, winter and spring quarter, Cal Poly Career MUSTANG NEWS | FILE PHOTO Services hosts the career fair, which attracts more than NAMING THE NUMBERS | The career fair attracts more than 3,000 students each quarter. 3,000 students each quarter. Many students who attend the career fair are engineering and business administration majors, Director of Career Services Martin Shibata said. According to the 2014 Winter Career Fair analytics, 159 aerospace engineers, 487 mechanical engineers, 191 industrial engineers and 461 business administration majors were present. “This is a college-wide event; however, there are a high percentage of students who come from the colleges of engineering and business due to the fact that a high majority of employers are seeking graduates and students from these disciplines,” Shibata said. “But there are opportunities for all colleges and majors.” Though the fair may attract more engineering and business administration students, the career options extend to all Cal Poly students. At the 2014 Fall Career Fair, 375 career positions, 154 internship and co-op positions and four local part-time positions were offered by employers. In an attempt to be more inclusive of other majors at the fair, Career Services has created two employer relations specialist positions through the Student Success Fee Initiative. This “job developer” position, as Shibata referred to it, will be held responsible for creating jobs for other majors, primarily for the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Science and Mathematics. “We feel that liberal arts majors tend to get the short end of employers that come on campus, so we want to develop a relationship with them,” Shibata said. “We see this difference, and that’s why we are using the money to try to engage and incorporate other majors more.” Fifty-seven employers conduct a total of 430 student

interviews from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. during the initial networking session. If employers are interested during the fair, they can invite students to an interview in the afternoon. For the pre-scheduled interviews, 25 employers came back and interviewed 197 students for both days. To become better acquainted with these employers, students should refer to MustangJOBS and look to see which employers are going to be conducting interviews, Career Services Events Coordinator Soukita Thipsouvanh said. “I recommend that students attend the Making the Most of Career Fair workshop on Jan. 13 or Jan. 15 to prepare for the event,” Thipsouvanh said. “During this workshop a career counselor will present a little about the fair and how to approach an employer.” Shibata agreed that students should come prepared to speak with employers. “What you can do to prepare would be to practice what I call a two-minute elevator speech because a lot of times you will only have two minutes to sell yourself,” Shibata said. “So if you have already thought out what it is you want to communicate to the employers, you put yourself in a better position.” Seventeen percent of students from the 2014 graduating class were successful in receiving jobs, according to the Graduate Status Report, as a result of Career Services, Career Fairs and MustangJOBS, Shibata said. Industrial engineering junior Samantha Kin was part of this 17 percent. At the 2014 Fall Career Fair and the Apple networking session, Kin got offered a Summer 2015 through Fall 2015 co-op with Apple. “I just went up to Apple and started telling them about my experience from my previous internship at Tesla,” said Kin. “Instead of just reciting my resume, I tried to chronologically walk them through my process of line balancing and cost saving and tell them what I did in terms of working in groups and overcoming issues.” The Winter Career Fair is on Wednesday, Jan. 21, and Thursday, Jan. 22.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015 MUSTANG NEWS Graphic Arts Building Building 26, Suite 226 California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, CA 93407

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The dirtiest Congress history has ever seen Garret Ahern @CPMustangNews Garret Ahern is a biology junior and Mustang News liberal columnist. These views do not necessarily reflect the opinion or editorial coverage of Mustang News.

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OPINION | 9

Before I begin introducing you to what is sure to be the dirtiest, most environmentally, socially backward and, yes, most conservative Congress in history, I would like to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Garrett Ahern, and I am a third-year biology major from the beautiful and sunny city of San Diego, California. As the new liberal columnist for Mustang News, I find it appropriate to begin my time here with full transparency. Without much insight into who I actually am, one can easily determine my political associations simply based on the title I hold. Despite this inescapable truth, I prefer to identify as a progressive, rather than a liberal, because at the heart of my political sentiments is the idea that progress is the driving force behind fairness and equality. At the foundation of the Union we are so blessed to be part of is the principle that everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does his or her fair share and everyone plays by the same rules. With that said, I would now like to introduce you all to a Congress that — as represented by those who hold the majority within its chambers — can easily be considered the antithesis to those very ideals. Since that fateful Tuesday

last November, when the GOP (Republican Party) took back control of both the House and the Senate, its members have been salivating over the agenda they plan to execute within the halls of Congress. Repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) lies at the forefront of the GOP’s regressive strategy to dismantle the achievements of the current administration and to further the gap between the haves and have-nots. Credit should be given, however, to the success achieved by the right-wing media machine and its participants in managing to convince a large group of Americans that a piece of legislation like Obamacare, that, although flawed, was designed to eliminate the disparate treatment occurring within this country’s healthcare industry. When all is said and done, the 114th Congress’ plan to dismantle Obamacare will be no more successful than its preceding class’ 54 attempts to do so. While the House majority has been busy carrying on the legacy of its predecessors, Senate Republicans have managed to find the time to confront the work they were sent to Washington for in the first place: to bolster a recovering economy and promote continued job growth. Staying true to their party’s style, Republicans on the Senate Energy Committee believe the answer to these challenges is to make big oil richer, innocent Americans the victim and Earth’s climate subject to further change. On Thursday, the committee voted to move a bill for the construction of Keystone XL to the floor of the Senate, despite President Obama’s repeated claims that he will veto any bill approving the pipeline’s construction. The president’s remarks follow a position he has held, saying that if it was shown the pipeline would con-

The conscience of a Progressive tribute to the effects of global climate change, he would not approve its construction. These meaningless efforts by Senate conservatives are of no surprise to Americans. As history has shown time and time again, there is reality and then

there is Republican reality — each as similar to each other as night is to day. With its new additions of radically conservative members, the next couple of years on Capitol Hill will prove to be as fruitless as the past four. Although we

can expect to be steadily entertained by the ludicrous behavior of the Congressional majority, we can just as well expect to be steadily frustrated by the continued disconnect between lawmakers and the constituents they represent.

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Tuesday, January 20, 2015

SPORTS | 11

Mustangs dominate swim meet vs UC Santa Cruz Rafael Salinas @ROCSalinass

CHRISTA LAM | MUSTANG NEWS

(D R A NK ) | Sophomore Caleb Davies and junior Mickey Mackle dominated Saturday, both finishing with multiple victories.

Junior Mickey Mackle placed first in all three of his events Saturday against UC Santa Cruz, as the Cal Poly men’s swimming team was victorious by a score of 17681, while the women also won 174-99. Mackle placed first in the 200-yard medley relay, swimming first, followed by sophomore Caleb Davies, freshman Shannon Fong and sophomore Jack Jenner as the anchor, for a time of 1:36. Mackle also placed first in the 50-yard freestyle and the 200-yard breaststroke at 22.36 seconds and 2:04.69, respectively. “I’m putting in the preparation, and you’re seeing the results on the stat sheet,” Mackle said. “I’ve matured and strengthened a lot since freshman year, and that’s why now as a junior I am where I am.” Mackle has consistently been Cal Poly’s best male swimmer, stepping up in place of Sonny Fiero’s absence during a redshirt year. On the women’s end, freshmen Bonnie Diamond and Sage Speak led the way by winning a total of five events between the pair. Diamond placed first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:04.82 and contributed to a first place finish in the daunting women’s 1,000-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle relay. Diamond was accompanied in the first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle by freshmen Elise Goetzl and Marissa Robertson and sophomore Karoline Eckhart, finishing more than seven seconds ahead of

second place. “We’ve been swimming really well and supporting each other in practice, and that translates to these meets,” Diamond said. “We really did a good job today fulfilling what we expect of ourselves.” Speak, the second additional standout on the women’s end, placed first in the 100and 200-yard breaststroke as well as the 400 Individual Medley. Speak outpaced the competition in the 200-yard breaststroke. Her time of 2:18.97 was nowhere near approached by the second-place finisher from UC Santa Cruz, who finished with a time of 2:45.47. Sophomore Caleb Davies, continuing his excellent season thus far in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events, placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke event with a time of 55.65. Like Speak, he easily outpaced the competition by winning by more than four seconds in that event. Further south, the Cal Poly diving team headed south for the Bruin Invite Diving Invitational and entered three divers in the competition. Freshmen Lauren Pierce and Brady Shutt, and junior Olivia Salvatore-King, were the only student-athletes to compete on Saturday. Shutt was the only Mustang to place of the trio during the Saturday diving meet, placing ninth. The meet featured schools such as Southern California, UCLA and California. There will be another installment of the Blue-Green rivalry versus UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 31 at 11 a.m.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

SPORTS | 12

Women’s basketball beats Matadors, fails to #breaktherecord Keenan Donath @CPMustangSports

In a rematch of last year’s Big West Tournament Championship game, the Cal Poly women’s basketball team (8-8, 3-1 Big West Conference) defeated Cal State Northridge (12-6, 2-2) in Mott Athletics Center by a score of 6354. The theme of the night was #breaktherecord, a promotional attempt to break the program’s all-time single-game attendance record of 2,552, but despite the big win, the night’s attendance (2,047) came up short. Starting the game impressively, the Mustangs hovered at a double-digit lead for much of the first half. Senior guards Ariana Elegado and Kristen Ale were very effective, leading the team in scoring with 10 and eight points, respectively. A collectively energized Mustang defense only yielded 24 points to the Matadors in the game’s first 20 minutes. Postgame, head coach Faith Mimnaugh talked about how defending the Matadors’ top three guards, seniors Janae Sharp, Ashlee Guay and Cinnamon Lister, was critical for the team’s success. “Defensiveley, we played their big three, their guards, much better than we played them last year. So I was really pleased with our focus and understanding how to beat a really good team,” Mimnaugh said. The Matadors opened the second half aggressively, riding a steady wave of points from their Big Three. Cal State Northridge took the lead with 16 minutes to play, but a corner 3-pointer by Cal Poly junior guard Beth Balbi-

CHRISTA LAM | MUSTANG NEWS

CHAMP KILLERS | Senior guard Ariana Elegado once again led the Mustangs in scoring with 10 points in Cal Poly’s defeat of the reigning Big West Champion Matadors erz put the Mustangs within one, and a quick floater in the lane by Elegado gave the Mustangs the lead at 39-38. Cal Poly never looked back from there. “I think we definitely fed off the energy of the fans,” Elegado said. “We have so many fans, which

made it even more exciting.” The Matadors kept fighting. The 3-point shooting of senior guards Janae Sharp and Cinnamon Lister was enough to keep the Cal Poly defense honest and on its toes. Cal State Northridge has five returning starters from last year’s

championship team, compared to the Mustangs’ noticeably youthful squad. “We have been talking to them about developing a little bit of swagger,” Mimnaugh said. “When you have such a young group, sometimes you see a lot

of hesitation.” Cal Poly played the bulk of the second half with stout defense and confident possessions. When Elegado rattled in a midrange jumper with less than two minutes to play, victory became imminent.

A strong shooting night for Elegado gave the senior guard a game-high 22 points to go along with four assists and four steals. Ale had six rebounds to go along with her 10 points. The Mustangs play at Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 22 at 7 p.m.