April 3, 2014

Thur sday, April 3, 20 14

w w w.mus t angne w s .net

Volume L X X V III, Number 4 6

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NEWS

CINDERELLA | Chris Eversley transferred to Cal Poly after his freshman year at Rice University and led the Mustangs to consecutive Big West tournament semifinals appearances before winning it all in 2014.

EVERSLEY’S ASCENT

The unlikely story of a charismatic kid from the south side of Chicago who led Cal Poly to its first NCAA Tournament appearance.

J.J. Jenkins @JJJenkins7 Chris Eversley was mad, a baseball bat in hand and fury in his eyes. The 6-foot-6 high school senior could easily put the burglars who stole his Xbox 360 out cold.

It was the first and only time his father saw him visibly upset.

Five years later — on the day his collegiate basketball career ended — Eversley had every right to be mad again.

Disappointed is more apt.

He had seen too much to let

one loss faze him. He grew up in the shadow of Chicago gangs, endured a painful transfer process and led a 10-win team on a spectacular nine-day blitz through the Big West and NCAA tournaments.

Outside the locker room, his eyes are downcast. Not red like his teammate standing beside him, though. As he walks to the press conference, only glum faces of the athletics staff and cold, white walls greet him. On the other side of the arena, reporters breathlessly wait for the victors.

In those moments, Eversley

had never seemed so small.

But during the run he and his teammates had just put together, Cal Poly had never seemed so big.

Lafayette Avenue Before the chartered planes, the big shots and the madness, Eversley stood in an empty lot on the south side of Chicago. It was September 2013 and he walked down Lafayette Avenue searching for his past.

He came to see his childhood home: the one his mother required him to return to each night before the sun set, the

one where gangsters posted up on the porch at night, the one where he fell asleep to the sound of gunshots.

Two houses stood on either side of a small field, but only a tall, conical tree marked the place he used to call home.

“You have all these memories in this old house, and it’s just gone,” he said. “I got my first train set, I got my first basketball hoop, all these memories just vanished.”

For years it was the only place he knew. It’s the kind of all-encompassing childhood experience that allows

Blue-Green

him to recount the time his friend was jumped and beat up by gangsters on the way home from school with an icy calmness. Just another story about what he called the inescapable violence on the south side.

Though his mother moved him into the suburbs when the law fell behind the lawless, he admits the city’s attraction; it pulls him like an invisible magnet.

“I look at the past as if it’s trying to catch up with me, which means I have to be able to keep pushing forward,” he said. “I feel like

my house being torn down and my neighborhood being abandoned, that’s here.”

He places two calloused hands in front of him.

“And if I don’t keep moving forward ...”

His left hand moves away from his right like he’s recounting the size of an imaginary fish.

“It’ll catch up with me.”

His right hand slowly begins to follow the left.

“And I’ll fall into some bad things.” >>

see EVERSLEY, pg 4.

Country duo Love and Theft to perform sunset concert

Top 25 Showdown

Sean McMinn @shmcminn

Stephan Teodosescu

PREVIEW

@steodosescu

Cal Poly is going country this week. Country music duo Love and Theft is making its way to campus with a sunset show in front of Campus Market on April 3. The show starts at 5 p.m. >>

PREVIEW COURTESY PHOTO TWANG | Country duo Love and Theft will perform in front of Campus Market on Thursday.

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NEWS DEALING | Sophomore right-hander Casey Bloomquist sports a 6-0 record this season.

No. 5 Cal Poly baseball takes on No. 13 UC Santa Barbara in a clash of the Big West Conference’s top two teams this weekend at Baggett Stadium. The Mustangs (24-4, 3-0 Big West) have won six straight games and 17 of their last 18 at home this year. >>

see BASEBALL, pg 12.

see COUNTRY, pg 5.

SLO Brew sells out for STRFKR Brenna Swanston @Brenna_Swanston PREVIEW Electropop band STRFKR will perform at SLO Brew on April 11. The show is sold out and is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. >>

see STRFKR, pg 7.

JACQUELINE LERNER | CREATIVE COMMONS ELECTRO | Electropop band STRFKR is performing at SLO Brew on April 11.

Cal Poly group questions robot ethics, before it’s too late Shaun Kahmann Special to Mustang News Cal Poly’s Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group may be a glimmer of hope standing between mankind and extinction at the hands of robots.

Founded in 2007, the organization centers its attention on the ethical applications of robotics and artificial intelligence to human life. It’s also the topic of the book “Robot Ethics: The Social and Ethical Implications of Robotics,” authored by group co-founders and Cal Poly ethics professors Keith Abney and Patrick Lin, along with former University of Southern California professor of engineering George Bekey. In addition to conducting research for the Navy, the group’s findings have appeared in several publications including Wired and Forbes.

Their message? The threat robots pose to our privacy, job prospects and possibly our lives is very real. >>

COURTESY PHOTO DRONE | Cal Poly’s Ethics + Emerging Science Group argues a set of tests should be implemented before giving a robot the capacity to kill.

see ROBOTS, pg 2.

News... 1-3 | Arts... 5-7 | Opinion... 8 | Classifieds... 9 | Sports... 4, 10-12

NEWS | 2

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Opposition to new housing project continues Aja Frost @ajavuu More than 100 San Luis Obispo residents attended a city forum in mid-March to discuss the Housing South residence hall project, which would be constructed near the Grand Avenue entrance of Cal Poly’s campus.

Of the attendees, 40 protested the project and only one supported it.

The meeting came after the San Luis Obispo City Council received several requests from citizens who wanted to voice their opposition to the proposed residence halls. The main concern, attendees said, was the arrival of almost 1,500 additional freshmen, which would likely lead to more

Robots continued from pg 1.

God from the machine “Could we grant a predator drone the ability to determine when to fire its hellfire missiles? Yes, we could,” Cal Poly ethics professor & group co-founder Keith Abney said.

“The question is whether or not we should, and that’s what we hope to explore.”

Machines still need humans to operate, but not as much as you’d think. Modern unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), otherwise known as drones, have the ability to take off, navigate and land on their own. But for a robot to be considered truly autonomous, it needs to meet three standards: It must have the ability to detect information coming from the external world (sense), process that information (think) and use

noise, traffic and partying in the adjacent neighborhood.

“This is a recipe for disaster,” resident Paul Allen said, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

The project has been controversial since the university announced it last year.

A group of residents have repeatedly said they want the residence halls farther away from their neighborhood.

Though Cal Poly has considered two other locations — a site along Via Carta and a site along California Boulevard — both have been rejected because of expense, location and construction length.

“The residents seem to understand — I can’t speak to whether they accept it or not — but they seem to understand my rationale that (the Grand

Avenue location) is really the only place we can add firstyear housing,” Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong said in a January statement announcing his intention to move forward with the project.

Councilman Dan Carpenter

it to make decisions (act).

Technology has already advanced far enough to grant robots the ability to complete certain tasks without direct human manipulation, but the biggest impediment to the deployment of fully autonomous machines — especially weapon systems — might be public trust.

“Humans are currently kept in the loop when killing decisions are made, but this is not a technological necessity,” Abney said. “Before we take that step, robots need to be at least as good, if not better, than humans at not committing war crimes.”

Skepticism of artificial life forms dates back centuries. In the fifth century, it was written in a Jewish holy book that, as man drew closer to God in wisdom, he would divine the ability to forge life-forms of his own,

called golems. Created from mud and clay, golems could act independently but were clumsy and unintelligent.

In the 1970s, Israel spearheaded the development of the first UAVs designed for reconnaissance, which would be heavily deployed in wars with Egypt and Lebanon. Constant conflict has pushed Israel to the forefront of drone research in concert with the United States. But as UAVs collect more hours of reconnaissance footage than any human can monitor, it has created a push for the development of drones equipped with facial recognition software and automated targeting systems, though the technology for this is still a ways off.

“Right now we have things like the Predator drone flying around Pakistan and Afghanistan that are being piloted at an air force base in Nevada,”

asked the council for a resolution against the residence hall project. Councilwoman Kathy Smith agreed with him, saying she would do whatever it took to change the residence hall location. Her words were greeted with a standing ovation.

40

NUMBER OF CITY FORUM ATTENDEES WHO PROTESTED THE HOUSING SOUTH PROJECT

Abney said. “The robot is equipped with automatic radar for collision detection and can turn and land independently of human control.”

The Jewish holy book states mankind’s creations can never be as sophisticated as ones created by God. And while the Israelis weigh the merits of proving their own scriptures wrong, as many as 74 other nations are perfecting their own UAV systems, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO has stated the U.S. government has no mechanism to keep timely records on UAV exports, creating serious worldwide proliferation concerns. It is estimated that 35,000 drones will be produced within the next 10 years worldwide, two-thirds of which will be produced by the U.S. and Israel.

As the shift to move responsibility for armed drones from the CIA and into the hands of the military is ongoing, unmanned combat is quickly becoming the norm for modern warfare.

Plausible deniability “The big problem with humans is that they pass out at nine Gs, but we can build jets than can easily pull an excess of 50 Gs,” Cal Poly lecturer and systems engineer Bruce Wright said.

“As technology advances, there will be no way manned aircraft will be able to compete.”

Wright, who has more than 30 years of experience with the aerospace defense company Lockheed Martin, personally oversaw the development of 11 “black” (unofficial) unmanned jets commissioned by the government.

Wright said weapon systems in unmanned aerial vehicles will be able to track enemy fighters without the plane actually needing to turn, which may help alleviate communication delays.

The other two members of the City Council, John Ashbaugh and Carlyn Christianson, did not approve of the resolution. Ashbaugh said he would consider filing a lawsuit if Cal Poly’s environmental impact report is lacking, while Christianson said she would need more information before deciding on the location.

Carpenter has declined to comment until the California State University trustees approve or oppose the project, which will occur in May. The city, however, has no formal jurisdiction over the location of the residence halls; according to university spokesperson Matt Lazier, the university has no plans to change it.

“Cal Poly understands that there are some campus neighbors unhappy with aspects of

the project,” Lazier wrote in an email to Mustang News.

“Nevertheless, the university believes the proposed Grand Avenue site provides significant opportunity for increased student success as well as benefit for the overall San Luis Obispo community.”

As a compromise, Armstrong has described plans to build a “green buffer” of plants and landscaping between the residence halls and the neighborhood. The university will hire two additional police officers to patrol the area.

But for some residents, that is not enough.

“We appreciate Poly trying to find more housing,” Alta Vista Neighborhood Association chairperson Karen Adler told KCBX Radio. “They just have picked a horrible location.”

“Sensor delays last only a fraction of a second; there is no reason to put man in harm’s way with the technology we have,” Wright said. “But targeting decisions are still made by humans, and I don’t think that’ll ever go away.”

Such delays, called latency, are a major impediment to unmanned combat. Al-Qaeda has already learned to scatter its forces to outpace delays in anticipation of drone strikes, and even published a how-to guide for evading drones. Despite this, more than 3,000 members of Al-Qaeda, including 50 senior leaders, have been killed by remotely piloted UAVs in Pakistan and Yemen, the epicenters of U.S. drone activity. But if drones are given more autonomy and are able to make decisions with on-board computers, the need for network communications may diminish.

Enter plausible deniability.

A term coined by the CIA in the 1960s, plausible deniability is the act of withholding information from senior officers to shield them from responsibility for illegal or unethical actions. But if machines are making the decisions, who is held responsible?

“There are folks who are complete abolitionists, who argue robots should never be given lethal decision-making capabilities,” Abney said. “We do not argue for that. Instead, we argue for a set of tests. Only once it can pass these tests should it be given the capacity to kill.”

As part of the Ethics + Emerging Sciences’ research on an approximately $90,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research between 2007 and 2009, the group came up with a test to be performed on autonomous robots before they’re released. In addition to more simple things such as not kill-

ing civilians, autonomous robots must have the ability to understand the rules of war and have a minimal likelihood of being turned against their owner by terrorists.

Critics might argue government spending on ethical guidelines for self-thinking robots is a bit fanciful, especially during a time when the country was trudging through the biggest recession in recent memory. Lin said this is a line of criticism his group gets from time to time.

“It’s easier to regulate autonomous military robots before they’ve been deployed, not after the genie is out of the bottle,” Lin said.

“Being early is really the only feasible option.”

But with high-profile malfunctions such as a drone that slammed into a Navy ship during a training exercise last year, it’s hard to imagine drones safely acting of their own accord anytime soon — and the group’s report reflects this. But they say a form of programming called evolutionary computation may give robots the ability to learn from experience.

Such programming could allow them to rely on selfsimulations, where they can obtain a distribution of unknown probabilities like humans do (i.e. prediction), but with greater accuracy. Such programming may allow them to learn from mistakes, formulate novel thoughts and possibly develop moral agency.

But they may also become harder to control.

“Robots will likely be programmed to learn on their own. But with this kind of programming, we don’t know what they’re going to do, even in a restricted context,” Abney said. “Maybe, one day, they’ll wonder why they don’t have any rights and decide to emancipate themselves.”

NEWS | 3

Thursday, April 3, 2014

For transgender students, bathrooms aren’t only issue Elyse Lopez Special to Mustang News “He said he knew he shouldn’t be angry,” Bryan Pride somberly recounted a memory of a student he was mentoring.

“But he was.”

“So I asked why and he said, ‘Because I’m jealous of the fact these kids will never have to suffer like I’ve suffered,’” said Pride, a graduate assistant who talks daily with students about issues they are dealing with. “They will never understand what it’s like to be trans and be surrounded by people who tell you you’re doing the wrong thing and what you’re doing is immoral.’”

Anger. Depression. Isolation.

Those feelings are not uncommon for transgender individuals as they transition into the self they feel they were supposed to be.

In light of California’s bathroom bill that introduced more gender-neutral bathrooms to K-12 schools at the beginning of 2014, Cal Poly’s transgender community is anxiously awaiting the outcome and effect on colleges. But finding a safe, private space to go to the restroom is only one of many issues transgender students at Cal Poly face.

Transgender students are not only trying to find a place in their new school, but also in their body, which can inhibit learning and personal expression, Pride said.

“Someone with transgender dysphoria may simultaneously be going through depression and self-loathing,” he said. “That’s among other issues like rejection

from family, lack of assistance, feeling of not having a space ... That takes a toll on somebody emotionally and mentally.”

Many of the students Pride mentors feel misunderstood and have a hard time coping with a world that hasn’t fully learned to accept them yet, he said.

“It’s like, ‘How do I fit into a place I already don’t fit the norm in?’” Pride said. “It’s difficult for the students.”

Depending on where students are in their identity, the issues that arise could be endless, said Elizabeth Meyer, an assistant professor in the school of education at Cal Poly.

“Trans-identified students can have issues other students never even think about,” Meyer said. “If they haven’t transitioned at home and they’re in gender-segregated spaces, this could be very alienating and difficult.”

Other issues for transgender students include being addressed appropriately by professors in class, Meyer said.

It can also be challenging and difficult to use a bathroom as a transgender student without being harassed or attacked, she said.

“Physical violence is not uncommon in those kinds of spaces,” Meyer said.

One of the solutions the Pride Center has come up with is a listing of all of the gender-neutral restrooms that exist on campus, Pride said. Even that, however, comes with problems.

“A lot of complaints we’ve gotten about the restrooms is the fact that they’re in the boondocks, the extreme extremities of the campus and they’re locked all the time,”

Pride said.

The Pride Center has been working hard to make these students feel recognized, said Adam Serafin, the Pride Center assistant coordinator.

“Our trans population is small here at Cal Poly, but it is existent,” Serafin said. “I think even we as the Pride Center are not connected to a big chunk of that population.”

There are a number of schools that track their diverse student populations, but Cal Poly does not, he said.

“We have no way of tracking how many LBGT students we have,” Serafin said. “We have no way of tracking retention or any academic success.”

Many other colleges are starting to look at underrepresented students, he said.

“They’re able to look at this is who we have, this is how they’re doing, and are able to assign additional support services for academic success,” Serafin said.

Students also need to feel accepted and safe, he said.

One way of showing support and letting students feel safe and accepted are rainbow ribbon pins some people put on their backpacks, Pride said.

“You don’t even have to know them, you’re just looking at this backpack ... and it registers in your mind that ‘I’m safe and OK here,’” Pride said.

Pride said, however, he would like to see more spaces where trans-identified students feel safe.

“Cal Poly needs to work on proactive measures rather than retroactive measures,” Pride said. “It only takes one attack for an entire community to feel marginalized.”

More alumni involvement could be coming to ASI

DYLAN SUN | MUSTANG NEWS

Kyle McCarty @KyleMMcCarty Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) is considering bringing student government alumni into a more formal role at ASI, civil engineering junior and ASI board member Connor Paquin said.

The idea came about when a group of enthusiastic alumni organized themselves into a council that has been informally providing current ASI representatives with advice, Paquin said.

ASI wanted to find a way to recognize the contributions of this group.

Because students are typically only part of ASI for two to three years, developing a sense of history and knowing how problems have been dealt with in the past can be difficult, former ASI President Brandon Souza said.

Alumni mentoring can help current representatives learn from the past.

Souza, who currently works for an ad agency in Sacramento and was the ASI president in 2008, sees alumni’s role as providing general feedback, rather than advis-

ing on specific policies.

“We’ve had our time; it’s not about getting back on campus,” Souza said. “It’s more about mentorship.”

ASI created a committee with the specific task of making a recommendation about the role of alumni in ASI. Options ranged from doing nothing at all to creating a “fourth branch” of student government, Paquin said.

Paquin headed the committee that looked at what should be done with alumni, and ultimately recommended that a standing committee be made.

A standing committee would meet every week, work on specific projects and have a mission statement, Paquin said. The goal would be to have an equal number of current students and alumni on the committee, Paquin said.

“This is a better way to collaborate with students,” Paquin said.

Alumni would not have a voting role, and would continue to provide mentorship, rather than advice, on specific policies, Paquin said.

For now, there is still no standing alumni committee.

An ASI board member needs to write and submit a bill be-

fore a vote can take place, and no one has stepped forward to write the bill yet, Paquin said.

The alumni council would benefit Cal Poly students through making current student government representatives more effective leaders, Paquin said.

“If we can be better leaders, we can do more for students,” Paquin said.

Engagement with ASI alumni could result in increased donations to the university, Souza said. Because of Cal Poly’s distant location from major cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, getting alumni to come back to the university can be a challenge.

“If an alumnus can connect, they’ll inevitably and hopefully want to give back,” Souza said.

Donations could come monetarily, but also through the time alumni give to help current students, Souza said.

Alumni’s bond with the university makes them want to continue to help out, Souza said.

“I think everyone has this really deep love and affection for Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo,” Souza said.

SOPHIA LIU | MUSTANG NEWS

‘BOONDOCKS’ | Some complain Cal Poly’s gender-neutral bathrooms are inconveniently located.

“Trans-identified students can have issues other students never even think about. If they haven’t transitioned at home and they’re in gender-segregated spaces, this could be very alienating and difficult.”

ELIZABETH MEYER | ASSISTANT PROFESSOR Pride continues to mentor transgender students, and the Pride Center is always available to help them cope with transitions of all kinds.

When transgender students get angry, it makes sense, Pride said. There hasn’t been a universal understanding of them yet.

“I told the student, ‘I get it; you’re angry because it’s that concept if you had been born a little later, maybe things would be different,’” Pride said.

It means present-day generations of transgender individuals will have to suffer in order to bring about

change, he said.

But Pride said he told the student he should be happy.

“Because it means we’re moving toward a world where there’s going to be less hatred and more acceptance,” Pride said. “Which means it’s a better place for you later.”

#TOPHARVARD JOIN THE MOVEMENT

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SPORTS | 4

Thursday, April 3, 2014 2014 NCAA TOURNAMENT

EVERSLEY continued from pg 1.

Inside out, or outside in “Do you want an easy schedule that you can win?" Eversley recalled his coach saying.

"Or do you want a challenging schedule, a schedule that will force you to face some of the biggest basketball names in the country?”

Head coach Joe Callero asked his three seniors — Eversley, Kyle Odister and Jamal Johnson — last spring what they wanted to see when their opponents for the fall were announced.

The answer was easy: They wanted to play the best.

The Mustangs would open the season at No. 5 Arizona.

In a two-and-a-half-week stretch during winter break, Cal Poly crisscrossed the country, playing Loyola Marymount, Pittsburgh, Stanford and Delaware, all on the road.

They would lose each game by double digits.

Heading into Big West Conference play, the team had three victories over Division I opponents, but it didn’t appear to be from lack of talent.

Eversley had established himself as a Big West Player of the Year candidate, Johnson was a sure-handed point guard who dished out more than twice as many assists than turnovers, Odister was a sniper from long range and newcomer David Nwaba was lighting up the gym with acrobatic dunks, bringing an energy often foreign to Callero’s slow-paced offense.

The weakness appeared to lay in Cal Poly’s size. When guards weren’t aggressive on their drives, they were completely overmatched in the paint.

Eversley had played two

years at Cal Poly in a forward position — matching up with big men in the post — but his mid-range game and ability to step back and hit 3-pointers when open gave Callero options on how to best use the senior.

At the professional level, Eversley would have to play on the perimeter. But Cal Poly needed size and experience down low as the other young forwards developed their game.

So the season-long balancing act began. One game, Eversley would play a traditional forward position, working from the inside out.

The next — typically when Odister was injured — he’d play outside and look for lanes to drive inside. Often it left him with mid-range shots, some of the toughest on the court.

If Cal Poly was going to be a threat, those mid-range shots would have to fall, but at the outset of the season, a lid was on the basket.

The park Mike Eversley followed Nina Leonard home after she watched him play a pickup game in Chicago.

Mike had just returned home after a whirlwind tour of professional basketball.

He was drafted in the seventh round by the Bulls in 1979 — five years before the team took Michael Jordan in the first round — but an injury forced him to move overseas, where he played in northern and eastern Europe. At one time in his life, his afro and familiar toothy grin, looking like “black Jesus,” his son joked, were plastered across foreign newspapers he couldn’t read.

“American basketball play-

er” is about all that can be comprehended.

But by the late 1980’s, he returned to Chicago as a local legend, though no longer a professional basketball player.

He wasn’t about to leave the game for good, though, which is why he found himself in the park that day and why he saw Nina, immediately smitten.

So Mike decided to get her number, which involved tailing her home — not creepily, Chris said — and asking her out.

The two were married shortly afterward and had Chris in 1991. Though now divorced, Mike and Nina sit next to each other for each basketball game they attend, never too close together, never too far apart.

Rollercoaster Four days after a 10-point loss to Delaware, the Mustangs were back on their home court to open Big West play. The non-conference schedule was more or less a warmup. Unless they made a statement — winning games at Arizona, Oregon, Stanford and Pittsburgh — to place themselves in contention for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the games were little more than a measuring stick.

And since the team failed to pull an upset of a majorconference foe like they did in 2011 at USC and in 2012 at UCLA, their fate in the postseason would be determined in the Big West Conference — more specifically, during three Big West tournament games in March, if they got that far.

Considering the conference’s parity, they’d have a puncher’s chance in the tournament.

The painful non-conference

schedule appeared to be paying dividends when the Mustangs returned to campus, handling a large Hawaii team without much of an issue. Two days later, Anthony Silvestri, a walk-on who had originally been cut from the team, feasted on the UC Santa Barbara defense at The Thunderdome.

In Cal Poly’s 8-point victory, Silvestri scored a team-high 17 points while the Gauchos' center Alan Williams netted 33.

In their next game — a win against Cal State Northridge — Nwaba and Odister took the bulk of the scoring, while Eversley dominated the boards with nine rebounds.

At 3-0 in the Big West, Cal Poly was almost certainly headed for a showdown with conference-favorite UC Irvine in two weeks. However, in the Mustangs' next game against Long Beach State, they trailed by 10 points late in the second half before a ferocious run — including two 3-pointers by Eversley — pulled the team within one point. At the free throw line with five seconds remaining, Long Beach State star Mike Caffey missed the front end of a 1-and-1, then Jamal Johnson corralled the rebound and sprinted up the court. Twisting through 49ers defenders, he spun inside the arc, made space, jumped and put up a floater.

It rattled off the iron and out.

Eversley said afterward there was no other person on the team he would have rather taken that shot.

The team would go on to lose nine of their following 12 games, including two against UC Davis, which finished last in the Big West Conference.

Her son was never to be out past dark; nothing good ever happened when the sun went down. Grades were not a priority, they were the priority. She once grounded her son for two weeks for getting a C and trying to justify it by saying it was a passing grade. That wasn’t enough.

It still isn’t.

Though a great basketball player in her own right, Nina left most of the on-court coaching to Mike.

Eversley and his dad would talk every day and shoot around when they could.

As a gangly kid with a big head, literally, and a smile that showed off nearly every one of his teeth, Eversley tried out sports across the spectrum: football, soccer and, of course, basketball.

He began high school at Walter Payton College Prep, where his cousin coached basketball, at 5-foot-8. By his sophomore year he grew two more inches, still undersized for a point guard.

But over the summer before his junior year, he shot to 6-foot-3, and suddenly had no idea what to do with his newfound length.

There were growing pains on the court, relearning all the angles and coordination, and literal pain in his knees as his body coped with his new frame.

“I was super skinny, too,” he said. “So I was, like, what am I doing with myself?”

But he’d learn his size would have its advantages on the hardwood.

His mom eventually took him aside and said he should pick one sport and be great.

He chose basketball.

yelled out in practice. “That’s what they think, a bunch of soft California kids.”

I had come to interview Eversley after practice, but it soon became apparent that this practice was going to run long.

Cal Poly was on a fourgame losing streak in midFebruary — the depths of its conference season — most recently enduring a 14-point loss to UC Irvine on national television and a 69-60 loss to Hawaii where Eversley scored two points.

The Mustangs never threatened in either game.

The high point of Eversley’s trip to the islands was rapping R. Kelly’s “Ignition Remix” with David Nwaba at a karaoke bar. Coaches and players alike were doubled over in fits of laughter as Eversley’s outsized alter-ego took over the stage while Nwaba drifted into his teammate’s charismatic wake.

The hilarity subsided by Wednesday, though, as Nwaba hadn’t been giving his full effort in a drill. Associate head coach Paul Fortier pulled him aside, making him throw medicine balls at a practice hoop while the rest of the team ran its offense. Nwaba decided to grab a cup of water and Callero pounced.

“What are you doing?” Callero said, steaming.

“You think that you don’t have to give it your all and then you can take a water,” the word hung in his throat, contorting as his passed through his lips, “break?”

He had transformed the word "water" into an epithet.

Growing pains Nina Leonard was the enforcer.

California kids “We’re soft,” Joe Callero

see EVERSLEY, pg 10.

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ARTS | 5

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Country duo Love and Theft to perform sunset concert Sean McMinn @shmcminn Don’t overlook that email from university police about “campus event traffic and amplified sound notification” — somewhere in that routine letter is the announcement that a top country band is playing on campus this week.

Love and Theft, whose hits have landed in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot Country songs, will perform outside Campus Market on April 3. The duo is composed of Stephen Barker Liles and Eric Gunderson.

Love and Theft has opened for several of Grammy-winning recording artist Taylor Swift’s shows. Liles is even the guy Swift sings about in her 2008 song “Hey Stephen.”

Associated Students, Inc. (ASI), which is hosting the

concert, learned this past Friday the duo would be coming to Cal Poly. With the clock ticking to draw bodies to the show, ASI is preparing for an advertising blitz focused heavily on social engagement to promote the concert.

“Word of mouth is the No. 1 way people find out about things,” ASI events director Missi Bullock said. “I’m pretty confident this band is well-known enough people will be talking about it.”

Bullock’s assumption could just be enough to bring in Cal Poly’s country fans: The band’s hits include “Runaway,” which spent two weeks at No. 10 on the Billboard country rankings, and “Angel Eyes,” a No. 1 hit played regularly at local club The Graduate during Thursday night line dancing.

In the hour after the campus-wide email yesterday, students took to social media to tweet and post on Facebook about the show, playing into ASI’s goal to get people talking before the show. Social media is among the channels ASI will be using to promote the concert.

Electronic advertisements, text message and email blasts and word-of-mouth communication will also be part of their strategy.

But the campus-wide email, Bullock said, “dropped a bomb” by going to so many people.

“That’s just an added bonus that a lot more people are getting that email,” she said. “Our social media is opt-in, so all 19,000 people aren’t on that, obviously.”

ASI has used the area outside Campus Market

to host concerts before, mostly during the Julian A. McPhee University Union (UU) Plaza’s construction in 2010. They decided to take advantage of it again because of its proximity to the nearby agricultural buildings and fields.

“It’s a country duo, and, you know, we try to bring diversity,” Bullock said. “And this one just seemed to fit.”

Student demand for country acts is consistently high at Cal Poly, Bullock said, but the cost of country performers can be a challenge.

ASI brought in Austin-based Reckless Kelly in the UU Plaza in 2011, but hasn’t hosted a country artist since.

Thursday’s sunset show is free.

Thursday at 5 p.m.

In defense of hard ciders Nick Larson and Jake Devincenzi @njlarson8 and @jake_devincenzi Kinesiology senior Nick Larson and aerospace engineering senior Jake Devincenzi are Mustang News beer columnists.

If you’ve faithfully read our articles for the past six months, you have probably seen us make one or two light-hearted quips about the slightly alcoholic apple juice commonly referred to as “hard cider.” If you haven’t faithfully read our articles for the past six months, you need to catch

up. They are all online and it’s spring quarter, so you really have nothing else to do. But getting back to the point, we are happy to admit that after much resistance, ciders have finally started to win us over.

Sort of.

Ciders, though similarly packaged and consumed as beers, are not just a fruity twist on beer. This is a common misconception. Because of the lax rules about what alcohol companies are allowed to call their products and what ingredients they have to display (none), it is often hard to tell the difference between an apple wine, hard cider,

ale brewed with apples or even the highly-marketed Redd’s Apple Ale. Not to deviate too far from the purpose of this article, but we need to address a very important topic. Please do not call Redd’s Apple Ale a beer brewed with apples. Any alcoholic beverage that touts its “natural caramel color” immediately loses any validity as a beer. Just as a refresher, a key ingredient in beer is malt, which are grains.

And we may only have a year of brewing experience, but we are fairly confident

see CIDERS, pg 6.

Something’s Brewing

E SY COURT

TO P HO

ARTS | 6 Cider continued from pg 5. in saying that when you add any amount of malt even remotely close to that added to a typical ale, it provides plenty of color on its own. Adding “natural caramel color” to an ale is like adding natural vanilla color to a gallon of milk.

If your milk isn’t white on its own, you should probably reconsider who you’re buying your milk from. Oh, and “Redd’s” is not a company.

It’s “brewed” by MillerCoors.

But we digress. Though they share similarities, there are distinct differences between apple wines, hard ciders and apple ales. The common hard ciders you see popping up left and right in grocery and liquor stores are made with apple juice, adding extra sugar and yeast to allow for secondary fermentation. On the other hand, apple ales (not including Redd’s — that is seriously just a marketing ploy to get “manly men” to admit they like some-

Thursday, April 3, 2014 thing that tastes like apple juice) are essentially just apple-enhanced beers. No, they do not come with Siri; rather, they are brewed just like a normal ale. You mash your malts, boil in your hops, then add yeast and allow for fermentation. The only difference is at some point along this process, you add apples (or apple juice) to enhance the flavor. Think of the orange flavor in a Blue Moon. Now replace the orange with apple. Boom — that is an apple ale. Finally, apple wines are simply hard ciders that exceed 10 percent alcohol by volume (abv). Now back to why we have grown to start accepting ciders in our lives.

We are both frequent guests at music festivals, namely Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, where it’s hotter than Satan’s lair. Usually, we settle for beer of the lighter variety or, dare we say, water.

However, this past summer we made an interesting discovery. While at the Lovebox Festival in London, no beer

was served. All the on-site bars served only hard cider. The initial letdown was quickly replaced with pure refreshment.

The light, crisp taste was the perfect remedy for the heat. It may be sacrilege, but it’s fair to say the strategy for Coachella this year involves much more cider consumption.

Much like the growing craft beer varieties, the cider spectrum continues to broaden.

Ciders range from 1.2 percent to approximately 8.5 percent abv, allowing for numerous combinations to create a unique product every time.

Unlike beer, ciders made from apples are generally sorted into two basic sets of classification. On one hand, some tend to be sweeter. On the other, you have drier varieties. Some ciders are pale and uncomplicated, while others are more complex and flavorful. Traditional English ciders are dry, approximately 6 percent abv, and in our opinion are the most refreshing.

Like we mentioned earlier, we give cider the short end of the stick most times.

By no means is it even close to a substitute for beer, nor would we ever be sitting at home, watching a ballgame and exclaim “Damn, you know what I want right now? A nice cold pint of cider.” That is something that doesn’t happen in our household. However, when we venture to the sun-rav-

aged desert that is Coachella Valley, we look forward to reaching into our cooler and grabbing a crisp, dry, refreshing can of Crispin ... or three.

anyone in that is not 21. Sorry.

2. Be safe. The location is a few miles from campus, so make arrangements to take the bus or buy a friend a beer to drive you.

More Information: If you have any questions about the beer share or what to bring, hit us up on Twitter, or add us on Facebook and shoot us a message.

Nick and Jake’s Bottle Share: Part 2 Our first bottle share was a great success. We met up with good friends and met many other new friends and beer lovers from our Cal Poly family. It was such a hit, we’re holding another one.

Details and rules are below.

Date: Saturday, April 5 Time: 6-9 p.m.

Location: 860 Del Rio Ave., San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Beer Rules: 1. The entry fee is one bottle per person. $10 minimum bottle price.

2. Bring something new!

The more obscure or rare, the better. We’ve tried a heck of a lot of beers, so shoot for something unique. Bring something you haven’t had before.

3. All-you-can-drink, but be respectful. The purpose of this event is to taste and talk about a variety of different beers, not to get drunk.

Safety Rules: 1. If you come, you have to be 21. No exceptions. DD’s are fantastic, but we won’t let

PHOTO COURTESY OF BERNT ROSTAD | CREATIVE COMMONS

DRANK | Cider varieties continue to be made, just like beer.

“By no means is it even close to a substitute for beer, nor would we ever be sitting at home, watching a ballgame and exclaim ‘Damn, you know what I want right now? A nice cold pint of cider.’”

ARTS | 7

Thursday, April 3, 2014

SLO Brew sells out for STRFKR

April 11 at 7:30 p.m.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JACQUELINE LERNER | CREATIVE COMMONS

WHAT THE STRFKR | STRFKR will perform at SLO Brewing Co. on April 11. “I heard a couple of their songs, and I like that kind of indie pop,” industrial engineering freshman Max Cortes said.

Brenna Swanston @Brenna_Swanston Make way for “Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second”: Starfucker is coming to town.

SLO Brewing Co. will host the electropop band, also known as STRFKR, on April 11. The group’s sold-out San Luis Obispo show will be its last before ending its short tour at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Annual Festival on April 13 and 20.

The Portland, Ore. natives released their first, self-titled album in 2008. The album included Starfucker’s most popular song to date, titled “Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second.” They have since grown in popularity world-

wide and released three additional albums: Jupiter, Reptilians and Miracle Mile.

Civil engineering freshman Anthony Santos has avidly listened to Starfucker since his sophomore year of high school.

“I really like the type of music they make,” Santos said.

“It’s kind of poppy electronica, with some groovy tunes.”

Santos originally got into the band after hearing “Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second” on YouTube, he said.

Currently, one of his favorite Starfucker albums is 2013’s Miracle Mile.

“It had been a couple years since they’d released songs,” Santos said. “I really like it because it’s got the same feel as their self-titled album and

Jupiter. It continues with that same type of theme.”

Santos also looks forward to seeing the show’s opening band, Painted Palms. He checked out the San Francisco-based musical duo after buying his Starfucker tickets.

“It’s like the same feel as Starfucker, so I think both of them doing a show together is a great combo,” he said.

Industrial engineering freshman Max Cortes is a new Starfucker fan. He was interested in attending the band’s SLO Brew show based on recommendations from friends.

“I heard a couple of their songs, and I like that kind of indie pop,” Cortes said.

“I would like to check out the venue, because I’ve heard a lot of good things

about it. It’s probably one of the most famous venues in San Luis Obispo.”

SLO Brew events and promotions supervisor Jessica Puchli expects a slew of indie and rock fans at the Starfucker show, she said.

Those attending can look forward to “high energy” and “good times,” Puchli said.

Starfucker’s show sold out weeks in advance. The concert is available to all ages, and doors will open at 7:30 p.m.

“I really like the type of music they make.

It’s kind of poppy electronic, with some groovy tunes.”

ANTHONY SANTOS | CIVIL ENGINEERING FRESHMAN

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Thursday, April 3, 2014 Volume LXXVIII, Number 46 ©2014 Mustang News “I’m gonna go put on some pants.”

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Running a dictatorship 101 Zachary Antoyan is a political science senior and Mustang News liberal columnist. These views do not necessarily reflect the opinion or editorial coverage of Mustang News.

Suppose you find yourself acting as the dictator of a small country. Either you’re no good at ruling with an iron fist or your citizens are just bored from the lack of jobs (probably both), because now, in your Republic Square, there is a massive group of people shouting mean things. Nothing justifies the existence of a Republic Square more than thousands of protestors demanding the ousting of you specifically. But no matter how accurate their accusations of your corruption are, you want to do everything you can to keep your job.

Because the perks are pretty nice, especially the solid gold toilet.

If your first reaction to these protestors is to bring out the tear gas, fire hoses and riot squads, hold off for a moment; this is for you. Rejection is hard, I understand that, and no ruler wants to be forced out of their position. Good heavens, what will the other dictators think? They’ll probably make fun of you or call you soft. Don’t give in to the peer pressure — you can indeed quell the protests, prevent them from turning into revolts, keep your job and even make some civilians happy. And no, the answer is not tear gas, fire hoses and riot squads.

Here is the key idea: The excessive force you exert on

your citizens will turn them from protestors to freedom fighters. If you call in the military to respond to the increasing size of the throng of people on your doorstep, you turn them into enemies. And if you want to see what happens when your citizens become enemies, Google the recent political histories of Egypt, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Turkey, Venezuela and Tunisia.

Nobody wants to end up like Muammar Gaddafi, and in order to ensure that you don’t, some concessions are going to have to be made.

Those people are out there for a reason. Generally, protests start because of a disconnect between the will of the people and the actions of the government. As dictator, you probably feel entitled to make policy decisions that positively impact the health of the state. Unfortunately, the health of the state in no way equates to the health of the people living within the state, and you must realize this before it’s too late.

When you call in the military to deal with your “unruly” citizens, you sever the connection between the government and the people. A quote from “Battlestar Galactica” is extremely relevant here: “There’s a reason you separate military and the police.

One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people.”

Why should you care about the people, you ask? Of course, for the last quarter-century you’ve been able to subvert their control over the direction of the country and live lavishly

the true progressive as a result, so why should this change now? Well, thanks to the spread of liberal (in the international relations sense, not the political spectrum kind of liberal) ideologies and the whole “freedom and liberty” thing the United States has touted for so long, your people are now more aware of the fact that you are screwing them over. All the little abuses of power you have committed over the years have resulted in one very unhappy citizenry.

This is OK, because you still have a chance to change things for the better. This is going to require you to fulfill your role as the head of government and/or state. Again, no, it’s not to use tear gas, fire hoses and riot squads. The protests are the expression of the people that you are not aligning

with their interests. For instance, that fleet of really expensive cars that sits in your private garage on your yacht doesn’t show your responsiveness to their needs. Take in the demands of the protestors and attempt to make changes in those areas of discontent.

As difficult as it may be to give up your daily hour of massages for a meeting with the opposition, you will at least be seeking non-violent means of quelling protests. In this case, violence on your part incites violence on theirs. Living and governing in an adversary democracy, where there are multiple political wills within the country, is no easy task, but if you only serve your own interest, you bring the violence upon yourself.

Chances are, you have some

sort of republican system of representatives to be the voice of the people; most countries do. No matter how effective they are at representing the interests of their constituents, you ostensibly have pledged to be accountable to the people in some way. If you didn’t want them to expect to have their rights and freedoms respected, you should have established your monarchy a long time ago, not masked your autocracy under the semblance of a democracy. If you want an example of that total control, look to North Korea.

I’ve heard that Kim Jong-Un has it pretty nice over there.

This is Zachary Antoyan, thinking that you can have your cake and eat it, too. Mmmmm, cake. Have a fantastic week, everyone.

On-campus image provokes discussion LETTER TO THE EDITOR This letter is intended to inform the campus about a recent finding in the periodic table located in the Warren J. Baker Center for Science and Mathematics (building 180).

Displayed in the case for the element 81, thallium, is a trade card for rat poison (which contains thallium) that was sold in the late 19th century. The trade card, which was a popular way to advertise products in this time period, features a Chinese man about to eat a rat with a slogan that reads “They Must Go,” referring to both the vermin and Chinese immigrants in the United States.

To understand the significance of the image, we must understand the historical and political context of America in 1885, when the ad was published. Like many trade cards of the time, the “Rough on Rats” ad reflects the contemporary social and political attitudes, which included racist sentiments towards Chinese immigrants and their supposed “threat” to the country. This attitude had led to the United States Congress passing an act in 1882 to end Chinese immigration. The Chinese man is depicted in “yellowface,” a set of stereotyped features that includes slanted eyes, an overbite, mustard-yellow skin and “oriental” clothing and hairstyle. In addition to his appearance, the act of eating a rat reinforces the belief that

Chinese are out of place, scary and disturbing. This caricature of Chinese immigrants in the United States created a culture of exclusion and discrimination.

No one at Cal Poly involved with the installation of the periodic table had known about this anti-Chinese “element.” The image was first noticed by a former student of Dr. Grace Yeh as one that she has students analyze in her Asian American Cultural Images course (ES 322). Dr. Yeh, who was teaching that same course last quarter and had a number of students who had just written a critical analysis of the image, brought her class to view the periodic table and the display. There was a brief discussion about the inappropriateness of the display and she asked if there was interest in creating a constructive resolution. Five students volunteered. Dr. Yeh contacted Phil Bailey, the Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, and Catherine Trujillo, curator for campus art, to help advise the students, and both agreed.

Collectively, we decided it was necessary to remove this image. Not only are students and faculty exposed to this image without having any historical context, but school children and members of the wider community visit our campus regularly and also have access to this image. Introducing images like this to youth can greatly affect the way they see and interact with people who are different from them. Moreover, there is a potential to create an environment on our campus where certain people do not

feel welcomed.

In an academic setting like ours, we find it necessary not only to remove the image but also to teach others about this image that found its way into this otherwise invaluable educational tool. We have already notified RGB Research Ltd, the company that created the periodic table for Cal Poly, and explained the significance of the image. They responded quickly, apologized for their “unintended offence” and stated that they will not include the image in future displays.

We also invite the campus community to view and learn from this image be-

fore its removal after April.

An informational poster has been created and is now displayed next to the periodic table. We thank the College of Science and Mathematics for delaying removal of the image and for collaborating with us to create a positive educational experience for the Cal Poly community.

Images like these are not exclusive to the 19th century.

There continues to be a presence of distorted racial representations in popular culture.

It is for these reasons that we have decided to make it our goal to use the discovery of this image as a learning opportunity for our campus.

When we address these forms

of discrimination as a community, we let our peers and the following generations know that as an educational institution we can make positive changes to create an inclusive environment.

This letter represents the opinion of ethnic studies junior Julia Eng Godburn, business administration junior Janet Leung, ethnic studies senior Jewelea Rivas, biological sciences junior Derek Wampler, ethnic studies junior Kou Xiong, College of Science and Mathematics Dean Phil Bailey, campus curator Catherine Trujillo and associate professor Grace Yeh.

JOSEPH PACK | MUSTANG NEWS

ELEMENTS | This card appears in the Baker Center’s periodic table display for the element thallium.

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POP CULTURE SHOCK THERAPY Summer Camp Counselors SUMMER OF YOUR LIFE! Camp Wayne for Girls -Pocono Mountains, PA. 6/21 - 8/17.

If you love children and want a caring, fun environment we need Counselors and instructors for our summer camp.

Interviews on Cal Poly and other campus April 14th. Call 215-944-3069 or apply at www.campwaynegirls.com Email info@campwaynegirls.com

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Tejon Ranch is in search of a Landscape Maintenance Supervisor.

Great opportunity if you recently graduated or will be graduating this year!

Description: Supervise all landscape maintenance activities at the landscaped areas at TRCC West and Grapevine.

Recommend other opportunities for the department (design and business) based on horticulture knowledge Solicit bids from and schedule and monitor work performed by contractors and subcontractors.

Manage all landscaping contractors to achieve desired quality within budget.

Manage landscaping maintenance employees and maintenance equipment.

Hire, train and supervise all landscape maintenance personnel.

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Repair and replace ineffective irrigation systems and program irrigation controllers Please forward your resume to: glopez@tejonranch.com www.TejonRanch.com

SUDOKU

CROSSWORD

SPORTS | 10

Thursday, April 3, 2014 2014 NCAA TOURNAMENT

EVERSLEY continued from pg 4.

The 5-foot-9 coach is normally light-hearted and jovial, but for a minute, he towered over his team.

“Everyone on the line.”

The whole team sprinted back and forth, back and forth until he was satisfied.

Eversley barely said a word the whole time.

“Chris is comfortable making a speech,” Callero said later about the forward’s leadership, particularly following rough patches. “He’s comfortable taking responsibility for mistakes, for getting the guys rallied up. He’ll do whatever it takes, but his best quality right now is he knows when those are.”

Mad It hadn’t always been like that.

By his senior year of high school, Eversley had long since given up baseball. Nevertheless, he stood in his backyard with a bat in hand, looking for someone to swing it at.

Upon returning home, he and his mother found a window ajar and his Xbox 360 gone. His MacBook lay resting, undisturbed on his desk.

Out in the yard, he was pissed and looking for the burglars. One swipe from Eversley would have put the thieves on their backs.

Not only had they taken his console, they left the clearly more valuable electronic, his MacBook, alone. The illogic of it all sent Eversley over the edge.

Now a senior in college, Eversley laughs at his old self. In the grand scheme of life, he said, it didn’t matter at all.

The hallway “You and I have been in this hallway a couple times after winning a couple tournament games. How do you plan on getting over the hump tomorrow?”

I was interviewing Eversley, who scored five points in Cal Poly’s 69-38 dismantling of UC Santa Barbara in the first round of the Big West tournament. After dropping the regular-season finale to the Gauchos 71-55 just five days earlier, it was as if an entirely new team had taken the court.

One with energy, one with emotion and, most importantly, one that could score.

The first time I met Eversley was in that very hallway, after he won his first tournament game in 2012. Back then, he burst out of the locker room dressed in baggy shorts, long socks and flip flops.

He saw me, rushed over and, before I could introduce myself, wrapped me in his sinewy arms and lifted me well off the ground. I’m still not sure if he had showered yet.

As a reporter, I’d never experienced anything like it, but as I came to find out, that was simply part of Eversley’s perennially happy personality.

Two years later, experience had mellowed him. He’d lost two Big West tournament semifinal games and he was set for another, this time against top-seeded UC Irvine and its 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye.

The team was tortured by big men all season, but in the quarterfinal he’d just finished — facing Big West Player of the Year Alan Williams — they seemed to have solved the riddle. Go over, not through.

And when they did go through, go through with force.

Instead of Nwaba driving to the baseline, he occasionally bounced to the free throw line and nailed midrange

The switch In the spring of 2010, Eversley found himself across a different table from Joe Callero, then a newly-minted coach at Cal Poly.

The forward had finished his freshman year at Rice, but the Owls dropped 10 of their last 11 games and finished 8-23 overall. Eversley averaged fewer than five minutes of playing time per game and scored 1.6 points per contest. The losing and not playing overwhelmed him. He couldn't stop thinking about it, affecting his daily life.

The coaches that recruited him during high school left, and he was riding the bench without support.

He couldn’t stop thinking about how he wanted to leave and make an impact somewhere else.

Over breakfast in Chicago, Callero was straight with Eversley, something players and parents appreciate about the coach’s style. He would have to sit out a year because of NCAA transfer rules. Then he’d have to fight for playing time with David Hanson, an established presence inside for the Mustangs.

By his junior year, his “contract year,” as Callero put it, Eversley could be the leader if he put in the work. The coach’s words were enough to convince Eversley to visit San Luis Obispo. Even a truly awful scrimmage, where he missed what felt like every shot, didn’t deter Eversley from transferring.

So, looking for a new home, he made the leap.

the breakaway and tried to get in Eversley’s way. By the time he got there, Eversley was midflight. The resulting dunk — directly in the face of Ndiaye — ended up on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays of the night.

It was a highlight in a conference season filled with lowlights, which is maybe why he wanted to give the Anteaters another go.

Shortly after the game tipped off, UC Irvine built up a 9-point lead. However, the Mustangs, like the night before, were doing damage against another big forward.

This time, it was Ndiaye. Brian Bennett and Nwaba both had shots that floated over his outstretched arms and found the net. It was almost as if the team practiced shooting over coaches waving brooms in the lane that week.

Combined with Cal Poly’s ball movement that forced the slow-footed Ndiaye to move laterally in the lane, the 2-point jumpers that were bouncing out all season finally started to fall.

The Anteaters understood the strategy and pulled Ndiaye, who ended up playing 22 minutes, but lost a major asset on the glass. After taking a 2-point lead into halftime, the Mustangs never trailed in the second frame, eventually winning by three points after a last-ditch 3-pointer by the Anteaters found only air.

For the first time since 2007, Cal Poly would play for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

After the game, the team gathered at the ESPN Zone in downtown Disney for the third consecutive night.

It had brought good luck so far, and Callero wasn’t about to change. A long table was arranged for the team, but Eversley sat at a small square table all by himself with a MacBook Air perched in front of him.

Cal State Northridge and Long Beach State were locked in a back-and-forth battle for the right to face the Mustangs in the tournament finals on the screens above him, but Eversley’s hands bounced on the keyboard. He was finishing his senior project the night before the biggest game of his career.

He made no reference to the game taking place directly over his head, except when it was over.

“Ain’t no thing,” he said to no one in particular.

Giant killers Mamadou Ndiaye is a large human being. He’s the tallest player in NCAA basketball, and he looks every inch of 7-foot-6.

Following the Mustangs' Big West tournament win over UC Santa Barbara, Eversley was watching Ndiaye swat UC Riverside shots away like they were tiny tennis balls and his hands were racquets.

“Who are you cheering for?”

I texted him from across the arena. The Mustangs would face UC Irvine if they won and Long Beach State, a better matchup on paper, if the Anteaters lost.

“Doesn’t make a difference to be honest,” read the first text.

Then another bubble floated up the screen as he wrote another message.

“I would love to have another crack at Irvine though.”

Less than 24 hours later, he had his wish. The Mustangs failed to top the Anteaters in two tries during the season, but Eversley made the play of the year against Ndiaye.

In an early February matchup in Mott Athletics Center, UC Irvine turned the ball over and Eversley had a clear path to the hoop. Ndiaye saw

Home Eversley recounted his first moments as a student on Cal Poly's campus.

"For the first time in my life, I could," he paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "Relax."

Even though his mother moved the family to the suburbs for "better experiences and better opportunities," imprints from his early childhood with the threat of possible danger made him edgy.

Even in Houston, where Rice University is located, he couldn't let his guard down.

Only young African-Americans raised in an urban setting can fully comprehend that ever-present wariness.

“Growing up in an urban neighborhood has given me, for the lack of a better word, a spider sense,” Eversley said. “When I feel something going wrong, I’m usually going to leave.”

Initially daunted by Cal Poly's obvious lack of racial diversity, he eventually found people — like teammate Jamal Johnson — who understood his background and his upbringing. As he progressed at Cal Poly, Eversley found that he enjoys mentoring young teammates who come from inner cities

jumpers. Forward Joel Awich hit all five of his shots, most of them dropping over Williams.

On the perimeter, true freshman point guard Ridge Shipley had found his stroke, collecting 15 points in the win.

The change was immediately perceptible, but when asked about a game or a strategy, Eversley — normally one of the most quotable people on the team outside of Callero — goes into coachspeak mode.

“Executing the game plan” is a typical response when asked what worked in a win or what needed to work in order to earn a victory. Two wins away from Cal Poly’s first NCAA Tournament berth for the third consecutive year, the answer was no different.

And, no, he wasn’t giving away the game plan.

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NEWS

JUMPER | Chris Eversley led Cal Poly, averaging 13.5 points per game for the 2013-14 season. on how to adjust and thrive in San Luis Obispo.

It's part of building a new home, keeping his left hand ahead of his right and making his future better than his past. More than enough to fill a vacant lot on Lafayette Avenue.

“It’s gone and I can never go back,” he said. “It’s a chapter in my life that’s closed.”

Madness ESPN wanted to interview Chris Eversley. But the mob on the court wanted him more.

So Chris Giovannetti — the sports information director for the men’s basketball team — drove into the crowd to grab him.

Giovannetti, decked in a dress shirt and bow tie, found the forward, bearhugged him, then dragged Eversley step-by-difficultstep to the broadcasters.

The cathartic moment seemed so obvious now.

Of course, Cal Poly would earn its first bid to the NCAA Tournament as the seventh seed in the Big West Conference, shocking the conference. Of course, the students in attendance would storm the court. Of course, grown coaches would be crying on the outskirts of the mass of students, just looking for someone to hang on to.

But five minutes earlier, the contest hung in the balance.

After Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge battled back-and-forth for most of the half, the Matadors took a 2-point lead with less than 30 seconds to go.

Zach Gordon handled the ball near the free throw line as the Northridge defense dared the forward to take a shot. He pump-faked, but drew the ball down, dishing it to Eversley, who cut in from the perimeter.

Now the Matadors were engaged. Everyone in the

building knew Eversley had been deadly that night, scoring 18 points, hitting several jumpers from that spot. The defense collapsed around Cal Poly’s threat, making sure that if he was going to be the hero, it wasn’t going to come easy.

The problem for Cal State Northridge was that Eversley knew — with three people surrounding him — someone must be open. He faked a pass to the wing, stalling a Northridge defender, then heard someone behind him shout, “C.E.” He turned from the basket and dished the ball to a wideopen Ridge Shipley beyond the arc.

Shipley caught the ball low, brought it up and fired. The ball exploded at the bottom of the net.

After the game, reporters gathered around Eversley, who was still being attacked intermittently by students and fans on the court. A small kid came up to him and asked for his Big West championship hat. Without hesitation he took it off and handed it over, along with a high-five.

“Where did Ridge Shipley come from?” one reporter asked.

“Dallas, Texas,” he said.

“That kid is good,” he continued. “And this program, with him at the helm, is going places.”

Cinderella Five days later and 20 minutes after his college career had come to a close after a disheartening defeat to Wichita State, Eversley sits in front of the media again.

The Mustangs had just capped a run of five games in nine days, including a dominating win over Texas Southern in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Most reporters seated in

front of him don’t particularly care how he feels, how the team coped with the national spotlight or how their run will impact Cal Poly.

“How good is Wichita State?” they ask. “Are they really as good as some of the other teams you’ve faced?”

They don’t want to tell his story or Cal Poly’s story, but Eversley answers calmly and deliberately anyway.

Callero makes a quick joke at the podium and, for a just split second, a wide grin sneaks across Eversley’s face. It was as if, even for a moment, he’s on the shoulders of fans following the Big West tournament again.

He’ll never forget that night, his arm raised in triumph while his parents looked on.

Mike stood on the steps not far from his seat, soaking in the scene unfolding around him.

“He never quit,” Mike said.

“He’s going to play his heart out, that’s one thing I love about him.”

Several feet away, Nina inched closer and snapped photos of the spectacle.

“I think this is Christopher’s dream come true,” she said as Callero put the Honda Center’s net around her beaming son.

Security forced her to the very edge of the court during the postgame ceremony. No one — not even the mother of the tournament’s most valuable player — was allowed on the floor without a credential.

Her eyes, watering, were fixed on her son, but they seemed to be staring at something further away. Still, her voice was calm.

“I think he deserves it because he’s a good kid; he’s worked hard, he’s been through a lot of trials and tribulations.”

Her lips were quivering now, but her voice was no less even.

“He’s like a Cinderella story to me. I wouldn’t write this script any other way.”

SPORTS | 11

Thursday, April 3, 2014 2014 NCAA TOURNAMENT

1994 YEAR CAL POLY BASKETBALL JOINED DIVISION I

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NEWS

CHAMPS | The Cal Poly men’s basketball team won its first-ever Big West tournament to earn an NCAA Tournament berth this season.

2014 CAL POLY’S FIRST-EVER NCAA TOURNEY BERTH

Remembering Cal Poly’s historic run Brian De Los Santos Special to Mustang News ST. LOUIS – The Cal Poly men’s basketball team won fewer games than Cal Poly’s football team during my freshman year on campus.

So if you had told me that six years later — as an alumnus of this university — I’d see the name Cal Poly broadcast on primetime television and mentioned in the same breaths as some of the most storied basketball teams in the country, I would have said you were crazy. I mean, you’re kidding, right? This is Cal Poly, the school on the

coast known more for its agriculture and engineering than its athletic programs.

But no, I am not. And even while Cal Poly is nursing its wounds from a humbling 6437 loss to top-seeded Wichita State in the NCAA Tournament on Friday, the Mustangs lighting-in-a-bottle run has produced a laundry list of jaw-dropping and unfathomable events, one that not even someone following the team for the past six years could have imagined.

Just think back. There was the biggest shot in school history — one made by a true freshman to propel his team into the brightest na-

tional spotlight it has ever seen. There was revenge — the complete 69-38 dismantling of rival UC Santa Barbara that fueled one of the most unexpected runs in the Big West tournament. And then there was the win — the 81-69 fistpumping victory over Texas Southern that proved to the entire country that teams with losing records deserve to play in March, too.

All of that, though, feels a bit opaque with the performance against the Shockers. At times the Mustangs seemed timid, a bit too tense to let loose and play their game in the eye of a nation-

al audience. On the other hand, Wichita State scored at will. It bullied through Cal Poly’s defense and made all their dunks, alley-oops and 3-pointers look easy.

Maybe Cal Poly never stood a chance at beating a team that was poised to make a run at the national championship. But the crazy thing is that, after everything Cal Poly had accomplished, it seemed if there ever were a time for Musty to transform into Cinderella, this would be the year.

So even if Cal Poly fell far short of its hopes to produce the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history,

the thing to remember is this basketball team — the one that came into the Big West tournament as the seventh overall seed, the one that couldn’t buy a win if it wanted during a season-ending 2-9 drought — convinced the entire city of San Luis Obispo that maybe … they could.

In the grand scheme of things, that’s what most will remember from those days in March. This run meant something to a program starving for bragging rights. Joe Callero — in nine days spanning the Big West and NCAA tournaments — won more than half the games the Mustangs

did in the entire 2008-09 season. That being said, just the mere fact that I witnessed Cal Poly standing on the same court as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament is something that still has me scratching my head.

So, yes, Cal Poly fell short of its upset bid. And, no, it isn’t George Mason, it isn’t VCU and it isn’t Florida Gulf Coast.

But be it as it may, Cal Poly’s run was historical in its own right.

Brian De Los Santos was the editor-in-chief of Mustang Daily in 2012-13 and is currently a graduate student at Northwestern University.

SPORTS | 12

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Cal Poly, UCSB square off in top-25 matchup

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NEWS

SUNDAY FUNDAY | Sunday starter and sophomore right-hander Casey Bloomquist earned his sixth win in six starts as he allowed four hits in eight innings against UC Davis this past weekend.

Stephan Teodosescu @steodosescu It’s not often Cal Poly sees a matchup of top-25 teams on campus.

But starting Friday, the No. 5 Cal Poly baseball team will host No. 13 UC Santa Barbara for a three-game set in arguably the biggest series of the year at Baggett Stadium.

The Mustangs (24-4, 3-0 Big West) enter Friday’s opener having won 17 of their 18 home games this season, and rank in the top 10 of all five major Division I polls.

Meanwhile, the Gauchos (19-5, 1-2), one of three Big West teams ranked in the top 25 this week, come in sporting their second-best start in program history.

“They’re doing really well this season, and they’re also our rivals, so that kind of fuels the fire a little bit more,” senior third baseman Jimmy Allen said. “But we’re definitely excited to have them here, especially playing at Baggett.”

Despite UC Santa Barbara’s hot start, the Gauchos lost two of three in a conferenceopening series against Hawaii this past weekend.

Cal Poly has won six straight games and 14 of its last 15 overall. Most recently, the Mustangs swept UC Davis in a Big West-opening series this past weekend and took down Cal State Bakersfield 6-1 on Tuesday.

The sweep against the Aggies was Cal Poly’s fourth of the season.

“We’re starting to play some

of our best baseball at this time of the year and still have a string of home games,” head coach Larry Lee said.

“Especially to open up Big West Conference (play), it was important to get off to a 3-0 start.”

The polls have taken notice of the team’s torrid start. On top of the Mustangs’ No. 5 billing by Perfect Game and Baseball America, Cal Poly was slated No. 6 by the National College Baseball Writers Association and No. 7 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the USA Today/ ESPN Coaches Poll.

ESPN.com has the Mustangs as No. 2 in its latest college baseball power rankings, while the Gauchos sit in 20th.

“It puts us on the map in the eyes of the selection com-

mittee early in the season,” Lee said. “Getting there is one thing, staying there is another, so we just need to continue to win ballgames.”

The Mustangs have done that this season with the help of timely hitting from all spots in the lineup, according

to Lee. Junior right fielder Nick Torres has an 11-game hitting streak, while sophomore second baseman Mark Mathias’s 17-game hit streak was snapped against Cal State Bakersfield. Overall, Cal Poly has outscored its

opponents 183-87.

“We’re a well-rounded team with just a few deficiencies,” Lee said. “We need to get a little bit stronger in some of the starting pitcher roles, but offensively, we have the capability of being very good one through nine.”

PROBABLE STARTERS No. 5 Cal Poly vs. No. 13 UCSB FRIDAY 6 p.m.

MATT IMHOF 6-1, 1.05 ERA

AUSTIN PETTIBONE 2-0, 1.12 ERA

SATURDAY 6 p.m.

JUSTIN CALOMENI 5-1, 3.19 ERA

JUSTIN JACOME 4-1, 2.41 ERA

SUNDAY 6 p.m.

CASEY BLOOMQUIST 6-0, 1.48 ERA

SHANE BIEBER 1-0, 3.54 ERA