Issuu

Thur sday, March 6, 20 14

Volume L X X V III, Number 4 2

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PICK YOUR PRESIDENT. Civil engineering junior Political science senior Agricultural business junior Computer engineering junior see OPINION, pg 8.

see COMPLICATIONS, pg 3

Mechanical engineering aims for self-funded labs Allison Royal Special to Mustang News Within the next four years, Andrew Davol, chair of the mechanical engineering department, plans to create a public-private partnership where labs are completely selffunded with a unique “earn by doing” concept, along with donations from alumni and student tuition. “Earn by doing” is a concept where a company pays to hire a student to work in the Cal Poly engineering shops, saving the school money, giving the student a job, giving the company an opportunity to promote itself and assuring the shops remain open for the entire student body to use. >>

Rivalry

renewed Evan Morter @EvanMorter PREVIEW Men’s hoops vs. UCSB Saturday at 7 p.m.

ALLISON ROYAL | SPECIAL TO MUSTANG NEWS WELDIN’ | The “earn by doing” philosophy of public-private partnerships could make up for the lack of state funding.

see ENGINEERING, pg 3.

Raise your glass:

Inside the SLO Craft Beer Fest Nick Larson and Jake Devincenzi @njlarson8 and @jake_devincenzi PREVIEW Your beer columnists Nick Larson and Jake Devincenzi give you the low-down on SLO Craft Beer Fest in this week’s beer column. Among other breweries, they also got to taste beer from local breweries, including Bang The Drum. And ... Jake got to pour for Green Flash Brewing Company. So there’s that. Now kick up your feet and read up. >>

IAN BILLINGS | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER SHARP SHOOTER | Freshman Taylor Sutlive scored 11 points in January’s rivalry game at UC Santa Barbara.

Cal Poly men’s basketball takes on rival UC Santa Barbara in the regular season finale on Saturday night in Mott Athletics Center. The Mustangs look to sweep the season series from the Gauchos after defeating UC Santa Barbara 72-64 on the road in the first meeting between the teams this season. A victory would mark Cal Poly’s first three-game win streak against UCSB in seven seasons. >>

DAVID JANG | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER CR AFT Y | Beer columnists Nick and Jake quenched their thirst at the SLO Craft Beer Fest this past weekend.

see BEER, pg 4.

see UCSB, pg 12.

NEWS | 2

Thursday, March 6, 2014

College of Business dean candidate speaks on campus Kyle McCarty Special to Mustang News One of two finalists to take over as dean of the Orfalea College of Business spoke Tuesday at a forum attended by students, faculty and staff. The candidate, Richard Mathieu, is currently the associate dean for Academic Affairs at James Madison University’s business college. Mathieu began by explaining how engagement with the business community and emphasizing experiential learning have been important aspects of his career. “I really saw value that could be added for students through engagement with industry,” Mathieu said. In his time at James Madison University, Mathieu has helped faculty connect with industry partners, which in turn has raised money for scholarships, faculty development, research and more. Enrollment tripled during this time, Mathieu said. Mathieu was attracted to the Orfalea College of Business’ balance of teaching and research. “What really hooked me about Cal Poly was when I read your philosophy about the teacher-scholar model,” Mathieu said. “Teaching and

research — it truly is an ‘and.’” Mathieu said he is also attracted to Cal Poly for its focus on student success, as well as the quality of its students and faculty. A dean needs to acquire private funds and partnerships, recruit and retain faculty, involve stakeholders in conversations about the priorities of the business college and communicate within the college and to its alumni, Mathieu said. His first potential task would be to engage Cal Poly’s business school alumni, a crucial network for students, he said. “I would work on a plan to create a national footprint for Cal Poly,” Mathieu said. Mathieu fielded questions from the crowd during the event. An attendee asked what it would take to move the business college to the next level. “Ultimately what takes the college to the next level is the faculty,” Mathieu said. A business college can build success when small groups of faculty gather around an idea, Mathieu said. Faculty can then develop the idea into research and hands-on learning experiences for students. Another attendee asked Mathieu for concrete examples of

how he would retain faculty in the business college. Mathieu said the equivalent of college-based fees at James Madison University were used for research and teaching grants, rather than being used for the base salaries of professors. Recognizing faculty achievements and building a positive culture are also important aspects of retention, Mathieu said. When asked about the role of graduate programs in the business college, Mathieu said ramping up large new graduate programs in the next ten years would not make sense for Cal Poly. Strategies to boost struggling graduate programs should be tried before a degree is cut, Mathieu said. Mathieu closed by describing himself as an “open-door manager” who prefers to gather everyone involved with an issue for a discussion, rather than managing through individual, closed meetings. The second candidate for dean, Scott Dawson of Portland State University, will speak at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Advanced Technology Lab (building 007), room 2.

KYLE MCCARTY | SPECIAL TO MUSTANG NEWS

NEXT LEVEL | “...What takes the college to the next level is the faculty,” Richard Mathieu said.

Greek life hits problems with party registration process Brooke Sperbeck @BrookeSperbeck7 Three weeks after passing a party registration policy draft, fraternity presidents are experiencing problems with registering their social events using the new system. Delta Chi President and civil engineering senior Gannon De Petris is one greek life leader who has expressed complaints about the registration process. After his fraternity used the party registration website to register a date party during the first weekend after social probation was lifted, De Petris said he was “impressed with how organized it was.” His feelings changed a week later, however, when he encountered problems with the process. “It’s really a pain in the ass,” De Petris said. “We’ve had to resend the greek offices the same documents four or five different times and they keep losing them.” While attempting to register for an exchange with Alpha Omicron Pi last weekend, De Petris said his chapter submitted the necessary paperwork online, totaling five or six separate documents. After finishing the registration process, De Petris said his fraternity got an email from the Office of

Fraternity and Sorority Life saying they never received the necessary paperwork. “Between us and the other sorority, it’s over 10 different documents that we’re sending in and they’re losing,” De Petris said. “So it’s this huge mess.” De Petris said the member of his fraternity responsible for submitting the registration paperwork spent hours working on just that exchange. “It’s very frustrating,” De Petris said. “I know the guy that has submitted it for us has to spend a couple hours now on his computer resending documents to the greek life offices, and primarily (coordinator of fraternity and sorority life Kathryn O’Hagan).” Theta Chi President and biomedical engineering junior Zach Gates has also experienced trouble registering an event for his fraternity. “Especially with the first couple of events we’ve tried to register, the policy isn’t super clear about some of the things,” Gates said. One event Theta Chi attempted to register was denied because the event was held at a residence not considered an official satellite house, Gates said. Gates said his fraternity was unaware of how to officially register a satellite house, because they had never been required to register them and

the new policy does not explain how to do so. “We assumed that when we submitted the application, that would be a registered satellite house,” Gates said. “This is the house we’re going to have it at; obviously, this is a registered satellite house because that’s where we are trying to have it and that’s part of the policy.” Another requirement not explicitly explained in the policy is both chapters must register as hosts for a combined event, Gates said. “We didn’t realize that for the exchange, we also had to register as a host of the event that the sorority was hosting,” Gates said. Because of miscommunications about the policy, Gates said his fraternity has had to add paperwork to its registration past the deadline, including a liquor license that was submitted to the greek office just four hours before an event was held. “If you submit the form five days out but there’s mistakes and stuff, it’s not super strict because if you make a mistake, they’ll tell you exactly what mistake you made and you can fix it,” Gates said. “You can do that within the five days.” Though he understands the policy is new, Gates said being able to submit paperwork late makes it seem like the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life isn’t “super intent” on enforcing it. “It kind of seems like it diminishes the reason for having it,” Gates said. Collecting birth dates from guests who are over 21 has also been difficult, espe-

DYLAN SUN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

PARTY PROBLEMS | Cal Poly’s Delta Chi chapter ran into trouble registering an exchange. cially when events are held at third-party venues with venue employees checking guests in, Gates said. “Third-party people checking IDs don’t want to have a list where they have to write down the birthday of everyone who’s 21,” Gates said. Panhellenic President and business administration junior Danielle Durante said she had not heard any negativity so far from her chapter presidents about the policy. “There really hasn’t been too many regular parties,” Durante said. “It’s been more exchanges and formals, so I’ll be interested to see how the process works

for just regular parties on the weekends.” The policy is a working document, which means greek life leaders and administrators will be able to make changes to it when interim review begins mid-March. According to De Petris, the Interfraternity Council has already expressed issues about the policy to O’Hagan. “I understand that since we just passed it, it’s going to have initial complications,” De Petris said. “But I think that since campus was pressuring us so much to pass it, they would be more prepared for us to run with it, and so it’s been disappointing on their end.”

Dean of Students Jean DeCosta declined to comment on individual cases of fraternity registration incidents without knowing more details about each one, Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier wrote in a statement to Mustang News. “She has, as of this time, received no direct complaints about inability to register,” Lazier wrote. “As well, her office is trying to be flexible while everyone works to iron out any glitches that might come up — knowing that it takes time to get any new system running smoothly.” O’Hagan could not be reached for comment.

The following is a correction on a graphic titled “ASI hopefuls ready to campaign” which ran in print on March 3: The college of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences has five ASI Board of Directors spots and 21 candidates. It was incorrectly labeled as the college of engineering, which has eight spots and 17 candidates.

NEWS | 3

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Complications arise in ASI elections Candidates can’t be named, more fines could be coming Friday Sean McMinn @shmcminn An Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) policy permits verbal campaigning for student body president, but any written communication — by the candidate or anyone else — identifying them as a candidate before April 13 results in a violation of the election code. That’s the rule that led to ASI fining two of its presidential candidates earlier this week, and a subsequent flurry of social media posts decrying Mustang News’ coverage of the fines. The rule has raised questions of constitutionality from legal experts and others tuned in to the political process, but student government officials maintain it’s necessary to ensure fair elections. The two fines came because of an ASI rule that says candidates are in violation of election code if someone non-verbally declares their candidacy before open campaigning begins on April 13, which is 10 days prior to election day. Civil engineering junior Connor Paquin, who is running for president, and politcal science senior Daniel Wasta, who is managing political science junior Joi Sullivan’s bid for office, spoke to Mustang News even though they were aware of the non-verbal campaigning rule. They were both fined $100, though agricultural business junior Jake Rogers, who Mustang News also reported was running for office, was not fined because no one involved with his campaign

consented to an interview. Will Blumhardt, the fourth candidate, interviewed with Mustang News earlier this week, and has not yet been fined because of it. His case will be reviewed at the next meeting of the Recruitment and Development Committee, which is scheduled for Friday. But Adam Goldstein, an attorney advocate at the Student Press Law Center nonprofit in Washington, D.C., said punishing a candidate for speaking to a newspaper limits the

Miles Nevin said this kind of policy is common among other campuses in the California State University system. They often exist, he said, to ensure fairness and provide oversight where student government officials can review cases to determine what is and is not a violation. “What it’s designed to do is to set a parameter for all the students running in the election to stay within a time period, and to level the playing field for the election process,”

people trust we’ll be fair in our judgment.” Prior to his meeting with Jenkins, Reid talked to Dean of Students Jean DeCosta. He said DeCosta advised him to continue enforcing the election code, despite the new complications surrounding it. Several of those complications came to light online Tuesday, when discussion of the violations resulted in more violations and more potential for disciplinary action. The first unintentional vio-

“Connor Paquin, Joi Sullivan, Jake Rogers and Will Blumhardt running for ASI president,” wrote user Jdban. “Does this post cost them each $100 again?” And below the article itself, an anonymous commenter wrote: “What Mustang News has taught me ... Joi Sullivan, Jake Rogers, Connor Paquin and Will Blumhardt for ASI President. Fined again.” ASI spokesperson Michelle Broom said Wednesday she

“(The policy) has some consequences that are probably indefensible in terms of violating free speech and the press.” MICHAEL LATNER | POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSISTANT PROFESSOR candidates’ ability to openly discuss campus issues. “Forcing people to pay them if they talk to the paper is going to be a disincentive to run,” Goldstein said. ASI Recruitment and Development Committee Chair and biological sciences senior Cale Reid said rather than disincentivizing people from running, the rule creates a balanced playing field for candidates. Allowing the same amount of time for everyone to campaign prevents a single student from beginning to promote themselves before other candidates, he said. California State Student Association executive director

Nevin said. Reid met with Mustang News Editor-in-Chief and business administration senior J.J. Jenkins on Wednesday to discuss how the rule will be enforced when it comes to media writing about the candidates. According to Reid, candidates can speak to anyone they’d like — including reporters — but when someone writes down the candidate’s intention to run, it becomes a violation of the rules, left to the committee’s discretion. Reid told Jenkins just as journalists are trained to be objective, “the Board of Directors and Recruitment and Development committee are elected to the seats because

ALLISON ROYAL | SPECIAL TO MUSTANG NEWS

EARN BY DOING | It costs $6 million per year to run the mechanical engineering department.

lation came when Mustang News published a story reporting on the fines assessed to Sullivan and Paquin. That article included the names of all candidates running for president, an action Reid said puts them all in violation of the rules again. A subsequent article reporting on that violation led to another, though it is unclear if ASI will choose to fine candidates for each of those cases. Then, on social media, more people began writing about the candidates. On Reddit, a chain of three consecutive posters listed the names of all the candidates, seemingly daring ASI to fine them for the posts.

did not know if posts on social media would be grounds for punishing the candidates, since it is a “fairly new variable.” If the same policies for non-verbal writings by Mustang News, however, apply to online comments, it would mark nearly half a dozen more violations. Political science assistant professor Michael Latner, who teaches a class at Cal Poly about political campaigning, said it is not uncommon for laws to limit campaigning time periods. What’s “bizarre” about the ramifications of Cal Poly’s case, Latner said, is the policy also limits the press’ ability to write about campaigns.

Engineering continued from pg 1.

of Cal Poly students and to publicize their company. “It looks good on their part because they know they’re sponsoring a student that, when he or she comes out of Cal Poly, they’re going to be above and beyond just being hands-on,” Johnson said. “They’ll be a leader that teaches other students, so it looks good for the company to sponsor a student shop tech because we’re some of the most visual people here.” Johnson said the “earn by doing” philosophy “makes the shops better for everybody,” and the program is expected to grow. “I think we’re up to 15 or so techs that are sponsored by companies,” Johnson said. “The goal is every tech has a sponsor on their shirt and no money has to be taken out of the mechanical engineering department to pay for that student’s salary.” The financial challenges for the shops and other programs came from a lack of recognition by the College of Engineering that the mechanical engineering department needed more funding, department budget analyst Christine Haas said. “Earn by doing” is helping to fix the problem. “I think it’s brilliant,” Haas said. “We didn’t receive any funding to run these shops. The idea of having companies coming in and paying for these shops is great.” She said she hopes to one day see every technician and supervisor in the Cal Poly shops with a company logo on their shirt. Davol graduated from Cal Poly in 1987, and after his experience as both a student and leader in the mechanical engineering department, he insists depending on the State of California for adequate funding is unrealistic. It costs approximately $6 million dollars to run the me-

“This way, the cost gets off of our books, students get a great job, which looks great on a résumé, the student wears the logo so (the) company wins and all of Cal Poly students win because we can keep the shops open,” Davol said. “We call it win-win-win-win.” The College of Engineering, whose student project machine shops are used 65 percent of the time by mechanical engineering students alone, has not received new money since 2008, according to Davol. “It’s alums. It’s industry. It’s creating this ability to keep what’s special about Cal Poly even though we know the state’s not going to keep paying for it,” Davol said. “We need to get the operating process of the shops off the books.” As the mechanical engineering department continues to pioneer “earn by doing,” the philosophy of public-private partnerships could spread throughout the campus. “The whole university is looking at this now,” Davol said. If this continues, it could serve as part of the solution for budget cuts and a lack of funding from the state in recent years. Mechanical engineering junior Brett Johnson is a shop technician sponsored by Solar Turbines, a company based in San Diego. “I think it’s an all-around good program,” Johnson said. “The companies get their name on a go-getter in the mechanical engineering department, and the shop gets more money to spend on machines and tools.” The program is an opportunity for developing engineering companies to contribute to the education

“It has some consequences that are probably indefensible in terms of violating free speech and the press,” Latner said. The 10-day period allowed for campaigning is too short to effectively get candidates’ message out to students using the media, said Trapper Byrne, an editor at the San Francisco Chronicle. Byrne said there are more direct approaches ASI could take to ensure fairness in the elections. “People don’t want to be bored to death with campaign coverage, but 10 days seems like a compressed time period for coverage,” Byrne said. During an election, the student press informs voters what views candidates hold, added Will Creeley, the director of legal and public advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). Because of the way ASI’s policy punishes students for speaking to the press, it “robs the student body of the ability to fully assess their plans,” Creeley said in a statement to Mustang News. “The student government’s efforts to ‘level the playing field’ for candidates may be well-intentioned, but students should be very wary of the means it has chosen to do so,” Creeley said. “Punishing students for speaking to the press is inherently problematic, especially when those students are running for office.” Benjy Egel and Kyle McCarty contributed to this story. chanical engineering department every year, but only $5 million currently comes from the state. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to run the shops safely. From water turbines, to gas turbines, to hiring shop technicians, the costs of running the program add up. Paying for equipment and technicians alone costs approximately $150,000 annually. Despite being named by U.S. News as a top undergraduate engineering school, the mechanical engineering department has received its computers as hand-me-downs from the civil engineering department, the Robert E. Kennedy Library and the Recreation Center since 2008. Though this concept of “earn by doing” is just taking off, Cal Poly has maintained relationships with alumni for years as another way to bring in money. But according to Davol, one issue with receiving donations is Cal Poly might not connect with their alumni as well as private schools do. Additionally, alumni might believe their contributions are unnecessary because state dollars keep flowing to the school. “There’s sometimes this mindset where they think that ‘It’s a state school ... I don’t need to give back to my alma mater because the state of California pays for it,’” Davol said. Today, however, students are paying for more than half of Cal Poly’s budget through tuition. “When I went here, it was $700 a year,” Davol said. Despite the financial troubles the department has encountered, Haas remains optimistic. “We’re finally getting assistance,” she said. “It’s slowly turning around. It’s nowhere near we want or need it to be, but we’re getting there.”

ARTS | 4

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Raise your glass: Inside the SLO Craft Beer Fest Nick Larson and Jake Devincenzi @njlarson8 and @jake_devincenzi Kinesiology senior Nick Larson and aerospace engineering senior Jake Devincenzi are Mustang News beer columnists. This past weekend, we attended the SLO Craft Beer Festival at the San Luis Obispo Veteran’s Hall. It was our first time at the sold-out event, and we weren’t quite sure what to expect — besides beer, of course. The lineup of nearly 40 breweries extended from local San Luis Obispo breweries to notable East Coast powerhouses such as Dogfish Head Brewery and Brewery Ommegang. Needless to say, the Craft Beer Coalition did a great job bringing in more breweries than they have in the past. The event started at 1 p.m., but we got there early. To our delight, we were let in upon arrival. We grabbed our complimentary glasses and set off into the greatness that is beer tasting. It took us less than half a glass of New Belgium ale before something on the side of the entrance caught our eye. We know we’ve mentioned it before, but we love to save unique 22-ounce bottles to put on our wall nearly as much as we love to drink the beer inside. When we saw the table full of bottles that had been given a second life by Chop Top Bottle Co., we were enthralled. They cut and shape bottles into functioning cups while also recycling or “upcycling” bottles that might

have otherwise been thrown away. While they mostly displayed bottles that had been cut into glasses, they also specialize in jewelry and chandeliers. Let’s be honest — who doesn’t want a chandelier made of silk-screened beer bottles? After our slight detour and a few glasses to wet our whistles, we headed into the main room. To be completely honest, we had to stand in the middle of all the booths for a minute or two just to take in the scene — and also because we couldn’t decide where to go first. We made our rounds, checking out Dunbar’s from Santa Margarita, which had a delicious Irish Red on tap, and The Dudes, who brought a solid Imperial IPA, before finding one of our new favorites, Oskar Blues from Colorado. Different from many craft breweries, they got their start as a brewpub, only brewing their beer in the basement. They are also the first craft brewery to can their beer rather than bottle it, which they continue to do exclusively, making them a leader in the new canning trend. We tried their Scotch ale, Old Chub, as well as their Imperial Red ale, G’Knight. We loved both these beers, as well as TenFidy, their Imperial Stout, which we’ve had in the past. All of this combined with the cool representatives who were more than happy to share their entire story with us made this brewery memorable. We moved on to other favorites: the hop-happy Knee Deep Brewing, devilishly delightful Stone Brewing, perfectly palat-

able Green Flash Brewing and our favorite neighbors to the north, Deschutes Brewery. The last non-local brewery we stopped by was Black Market Brewing, out of Temecula. They won our hearts by being the only brewery (that we found) to have a sour. Their blackberry sour was solid and something we would drink again. It had a tart aroma and was more on the sour side, but tasted good from start to finish. After a delicious mouthful, the blackberries kicked in during the aftertaste, leaving the palate completely content. One thing we have come to learn recently is just how spoiled we are with our local brewery scene in San Luis Obispo. We were happy to try the newly formed Bang The Drum (BTD) Brewery and were pleased with the results. Its King Mate IPA, infused with Yerba Mate, was flavorful and well-balanced. If you didn’t know, mate is a drink common in South America that likens most closely to an extremely caffeinated tea with an acquirable bitter taste. How do we know so much about this tasty drink? One of the first (and favorite) home brews made by yours truly was a yerba mate IPA. We hear it’s pretty good. In our completely unbiased opinion, BTD’s King Mate ALMOST stacked up. You’re almost there, BTD. That being said, its chipotle-infused porter was surprisingly drinkable, and not as spicy as most beers of this style. We’ll admit, it might be better than anything we’ve brewed. Bang The Drum, we might have to share some brew secrets soon.

DAVID JANG | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

THIRSTY | Beer columnists Nick and Jake attended the SLO Craft Beer Fest this past weekend.

Something’s Brewing Central Coast and Creekside were as great as always, both bringing samples of their flagship brews. The general consensus was if you are looking for a low-key craft beer tasting day, it’s hard to go wrong with Central Coast, Creekside or Bang The Drum. To close out another heavenly beer-filled afternoon, we were invited to attend a special vertical tasting of Firestone Walker’s Sucaba (formerly Abacus) Barleywine. We sat down and poured four (hearty) pours of the delicious Paso Robles barrel-aged elixir. Our first legitimate vertical tasting, we began by indulging our taste buds in the 2014 Sucaba, then slowly worked our way back through craft beer history. Upon completion, we decided the 2012 was our favorite. The dark chocolate and vanilla were especially prominent in the 2014, even hinting at a dark cherry flavor subtly sneak-

“Never had we experienced so many beers and so many brewers in such a short time, and never before had our palates been so wrecked it seemed we would never be able to taste another beer for years.” ing through the malty, yet slightly tart body. As the festival came to a close and beers were put into coolers, we delightedly clinked our glasses, finished our last sips and strolled through the exit. Never had we experienced so many beers and so many brewers in such a short time, and never before had our palates been so wrecked it seemed we would never be able to taste another beer for years.

For anyone who missed out on this year’s SLO Craft Beer Fest, we would highly recommend getting your tickets early next year, as we have a feeling another sellout is imminent. If you can’t wait until next year and want to enjoy craft beer with craft beer lovers ASAP, come to Nick and Jake’s College-Budget Whale Party this Friday from 6-9 p.m. For guidelines and more information, check out this past week’s column.

ARTS | 6

Thursday, March 6, 2014

The Ataris brings pop-punk to SLO Brew Brenna Swanston @BrennaSwanston Nostalgic fans queued in a short line outside SLO Brewing Co. this past Monday night, ready for a decadelong throwback courtesy of pop-punk band The Ataris. The Ataris released four albums before disbanding in 2004. Now, 10 years later, the band is back on the road for one last tour, dubbed the So Long, Astoria reunion tour, named after its 2003 album. Old-time fans waited patiently outside the bar to relive their angsty teenage years and see one of their old favorites perform live.

Doors opened at 7:30 p.m. and the line trickled inside, where the opening band, Murderland, was wrapping up its mic check — meaning bassist Jerry Also repeated the word “blowjob” into his microphone while gesturing to indicate sound level adjustments. The rest of the band took to their instruments in a storm of baggy shorts, baseball caps and Vans. Lead singer Mike Kinshella made his introduction. “Grab someone attractive of the opposite sex, swing ‘em around and do what you college kids do,” he said. With that, Murderland kicked off a set of fast-paced pop-punk reminiscent of 1990s Green Day, but with

more screaming. Next up was San Luis Obispo band The Mighty Fine. The audience had only slightly thickened since Murderland’s performance, but they didn’t seem to mind. The Mighty Fine launched into a set of heavy punk rock with loud, strained vocals and a metal edge. A few songs in, lead singer Brook Thompson announced the band’s album release. “It’s a very exciting night for us,” he said. Thompson explained that roughly one year ago, Mighty Fine recorded an album. Monday night’s show was the first night the album was available for purchase, and it would official-

ly be released the next day, he said. The Mighty Fine had performed with The Ataris both Monday and the previous night in Fresno, Thompson said. “It’s a fucking honor for me and for all of us to be able to play these two shows,” he said. As the set continued, audience members crowded in front of the stage, occasionally making lazy, shortlived attempts to mosh. Santa Barbara band Versus The World commandeered the stage next, at which point SLO Brew’s bar was packed with observers, though the floor remained spacious. Versus The World

bassist Mike Davenport also plays in The Ataris. The band members set up equipment while joking with the crowd and passing around a bottle of Jameson whiskey. Lead singer Donald Spence stepped to his microphone. “We fucking love SLO Brew,” Spence said. “This reminds us of home.” With that, Versus The World dove into a flurry of

ear-numbing punk rock. Some audience members knew the words to the band’s songs and sang along. Toward the end of its set, Spence gestured to the somewhat-empty floor and mocked his non-bar-dwelling audience.

see PUNK, pg 7.

“It has enough of an edge without being ‘screamy.’” KATIE BURGIN | ART AND DESIGN SENIOR

PAIGE CROSS | MULTIMEDIA JOURNALIST

LEAN WITH IT, ROCK WITH IT | The Ataris jammed out at SLO Brew this past Monday.

ARTS | 7

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Kappa Alpha Theta to ‘Rock the Casa’ this weekend Aryn Sanderson @ArynSanderson Will there be security? That’s what Street Urchinz, a reggae-rock band based out of Sacramento, is wondering about Kappa Alpha Theta’s Rock the Casa charity benefit concert this Friday ... just in case they come wearing only socks a la Red Hot Chili Peppers. “You know, we might scare people away, or the opposite might happen,” said keyboardist Russell Fluty. “You never know, so I’m wondering, will they have security in case the girls swarm us?” Fluty is joking, of course. But the band is pondering how it’s going to kick off the show in style. “It will be a Street Urchinz performance to remember,” Fluty said. “It’s our first time playing on this college campus, which is a plus because we love smart, educated, beautiful wom-

Punk continued from pg 6. “This is where all the children hang out,” he said, taking a swig of whiskey. A couple songs later, the stage again changed hands, and this time it was finally The Ataris’ turn to set up. During setup, art and design senior Katie Burgin anxiously awaited the performance. Burgin has been a fan of The Ataris for 10 years, she said. “It has enough of an edge without being too ‘screamy,’” she said. Burgin likes both The Ataris’ sound and their lyrics, she said. She was excited to see the band in person.

en — it’s a Street Urchinz value — so we’re going to have to do something special. We’re still debating on what we’re going to do, but we’re creative guys, so we’ll come to a consensus before the show.” The band has two days to come up with something legendary. Street Urchinz will “rock the casa” along with Próxima Parada, Louder Space and Moonshiner Collective from 6-11 p.m. on Friday in Chumash Auditorium. Próxima Parada and Louder Space are both Cal Polygrown bands. Panhellenic sorority Kappa Alpha Theta is hoping to sell out the auditorium and raise approximately $10,000 for CASA of San Luis Obispo, said Dani Berton, communication studies sophomore and philanthropy and service director for the sorority. “What’s really special about this is that the money goes to CASA of San Luis

Obispo, and so it will help kids that are in our local community directly,” Berton said. “Just in general, CASA provides mentorship to kids who really don’t have a voice and are going through a very complicated foster system. They advocate for the rights of abused and neglected children.” The show is open to all ages, and it will feature reggae, rock, folk and blues music. The concert is Kappa Alpha Theta’s first foray into a benefit show. The sorority is wellknown for Burritos for CASA, its annual fall philanthropy. “I’m excited because it’s a brand new event that we’re launching, and it can get everyone involved in the community,” business administration junior and chief marketing officer for Kappa Alpha Theta Emily Mallett said. “Music brings everyone together, especially since we’re showcasing two Cal Poly bands.” Tickets are $10 presale and $15 at the door.

“It’s always better to see music live,” she said. At approximately 10:45 p.m., the time came. The emotion of reunion hung thick in the air as the band members exchanged pre-show brotherly hugs on stage. They also reached toward their audience of long-time fans with highfives and handshakes. The Ataris hadn’t played at SLO Brew since it disbanded 10 years ago. Now, they are a little older, a little stockier and as genuinely excited about their music as ever. The band started its set, which kicked off with the title track of their 2003 album So Long, Astoria and ran

through the rest of the record. The Ataris played with a smoother sound than the show’s predecessors, channeling the alternative end of punk rock rather than the metal side of it. The band was all smiles, as was its audience. The floor crawled with headbanging, fist-pumping fans who knew every word to every song. After its second song, “Takeoffs and Landings,” lead singer Kristopher Roe took the microphone and stated what all the band members seemed to be thinking. “We’re fucking back,” Roe said.

COURTESY PHOTO

THEY SEE ME ROCKIN’ | Próxima Parada is one of the bands performing at Rock the Casa.

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Thursday, March 6, 2014

ASI kills free speech, debate Mustang News Editorial Board @CPMustangNews Cal Poly’s Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) is threatening you — yes, you — with an ultimatum. Keep quiet about what’s happening in the upcoming ASI election, or they’ll pull the trigger pointed at the candidates. Sound unfair? You’re right. Per an overbroad and misguided ASI policy, any “non-verbal public display or distribution of specific information about any ASI candidate” is grounds to punish them. It doesn’t matter if it’s the candidate putting up a campaign poster next to Dexter Lawn or you posting about them on Facebook — they can and have been held accountable. Two candidates learned that all too well this week when ASI fined them each $100 because they or their campaign staff spoke to our reporters, who later published their quotes. All parties involved knew about the potential violation. On top of that, all four candidates could face additional punishment because a subsequent article reporting on those fines included all the candidates’ names — another violation. The ridiculousness of this policy is perhaps most clear in the case of agricultural business junior Jake Williams, who, knowing the election code, chose not to speak to Mustang News. Even though neither him nor anyone on his campaign staff spoke with a reporter, ASI said he’s been in violation of the rules at least three times now,

simply because we wrote he was running for president. ASI chose not to fine him for the first violation, but has not yet made a decision regarding the other violations. This policy not only punishes students for things completely outside of their control, but it discourages open debate about candidates and campus issues. And there’s an argument to be made that it’s unconstitutional. What the rule proposes to do is impossible to control: The entire world, from Mustang News to The New York Times, can’t write down who’s running for ASI student government at Cal Poly. Needless to say, it’s out of the candidates’ hands if someone wants to write that they’re running, and it’s unfair to punish the student because of actions someone else took. In theory, this could be leveraged against a candidate by his or her opponents. If someone on Candidate A’s campaign staff wanted to take down Candidate B, all they would have to do is write 30 blog posts about Candidate B’s intent to run. At $100 a pop, that’s a quick way to put their target $3,000 in debt. Yes, the ASI Recruitment and Development Committee can determine if these blog posts — or any other speech — constitute a violation of the rules. But that’s a lot of power to put in the hands of a small group of students. It lets them choose what the Cal Poly community can and cannot write about the ASI elections, an idea that should conjure up Orwellian images. Besides it being slightly unnerving that this committee gets to decide what fines are levied for your Facebook or blog posts, it could also be considered unconstitutional. In order for the government (and ASI is part of the California state government) to limit speech in time, place

“This policy not only punishes students for things completely outside of their control, but it discourages open debate about candidates and campus issues. And there’s an argument to be made that it’s unconstitutional.” MUSTANG NEWS EDITORIAL BOARD or manner, it must be content-neutral, meaning the context of the writing itself can’t be a determining factor in whether or not the government allows it. The way ASI’s committee can choose which writings are OK is clearly in violation of this requirement. Their targeting of Mustang News articles is unfair to both the candidates, who want to spread their message through mass media, and to our reporters, who must choose between covering the news or saving their fellow students from potential fines. Candidates can speak to whoever they want, as long as that person won’t write down what they say. According to the language of the policy, candidates could say what they want on Mustang News TV, but as soon as their words are written down, they are in violation of the policy. But beyond the way ASI can choose what can and cannot be said, the policy on its own is also against the spirit of the First Amendment. Per the Constitution, individuals can exercise their free speech however they choose, provided the government doesn’t have a compelling reason for blocking it. What ASI has said is the rule makes it “fair” that all candidates have the same

amount of time to campaign. But in actuality, it disadvantages the candidate who’s known for months or years he or she wants to run for office. That individual can argue they are a more dedicated candidate because of their foresight, and they should be able to let campus know about their early intention to run. Forcing them to wait just because other people are still making up their mind doesn’t make sense. In addition to limiting students’ ability to know who decided to run for office when, this rule also discourages debate that could shape the outcome of an election. Active campaigning — when candidates are allowed to talk freely and the world can write about them — is only a 10-day period before the vote, not nearly long enough to fully debate the issues. With fees increasing, state financial support going down, semesters just over the horizon and off-campus policy restrictions in the forefront of campus news, it is near impossible for a candidate to communicate their stances on all the issues in 10 days — and give campus the chance to debate their positions in a meaningful way. And because of the rule, debate over the rule itself is discouraged. When Mustang News wrote a story bring-

Printed by UNIVERSITY GRAPHICS SYSTEMS ugs.calpoly.edu ugssales@calpoly.edu Mustang News is a member of Associated Collegiate Press, California Newspaper Publishers Association, College Newspaper Business and Advertising Managers and College Media Advisors.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Chris Grieves is a biomedical engineering senior. I fail to understand the reasoning behind the Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) rules regarding what counts as “active campaigning.” I do understand that they want the election process to be fair. I agree that there should be a designated start date to true active campaigning. Whether that be verbally promoting yourself, posting flyers on campus or making social media pages for your campaign, those should be restricted. But simply announc-

ing that you have filed the forms and gathered the signatures needed to be on the ballot should in no way count as “active campaigning.” However, I also feel troubled with how the Mustang News handled this story. The candidates should have known what the rules were for the first offense. It is in the ASI Election Code that,

“Evidence of declaration to run in any way other than verbal will be grounds for disciplinary action by the ASI Recruitment & Development Committee.” Like I already said, I don’t agree with the rule. But it is the rule. I also know that the people who wrote the initial articles about the candidates knew this. It bothers me that a

“While any sort of fine has yet to come down, it is rather infuriating that Mustang News would again put these student leaders in jeopardy.” CHRIS GRIEVES | BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING SENIOR

journalist would deliberately throw another Mustang under the bus like that. The article that got everyone stirring was the one that followed that announced these fines. Updates to the article later announced that because of the new article, the candidates were once again in violation. While any sort of fine has yet to come down, it is rather infuriating that Mustang News would again put these student leaders in jeopardy. You can’t feign ignorance of the rules at this point. That article hyperlinked to the ASI Election Code. You knew the rules, or at least you should have. I believe there was a way to report the news here without using the candidates’ names and

putting them into another violation. And yes, I appreciate that you have since come out with another article that did not name the candidates and cause more fines. And yes, ASI should rescind the fines. But the second articles should not have used their names either. Mustang News gambled with the candidates’ money. If fines don’t come down, Mustang News wins. But if they do, the candidates are the ones who lose. Mustang News has made some incredible strides this year in becoming a more integrated news group that keeps up with the way news is reported in the 21st century. I wish the way this story was handled wasn’t such a dark mark on a great year.

IT’S A PRIDE THING...

#TOPHARVARD

“I’m really feeling that.”

This represents the opinion of the Mustang News editorial board, which includes J.J. Jenkins, Carly Rickards, Sean McMinn and Olivia DeGennaro.

Mustang News mishandles coverage

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ing to light the fines handed down for violating the rule, that article prompted another violation of it. And when we reported on that violation, a third violation occurred. When contacted by reporters, candidates were reluctant to speak about the rule — and why shouldn’t they be? If they speak out against it, they open themselves up to be fined. This is silencing debate at its most obvious extreme. With these rules in place, the candidates should consider if their fundamental rights are being violated, or if they want to run at all in a system where they can be punished for what others are doing. In a blog post, our editorin-chief explained in a detailed way why we chose to continue publishing, even though it resulted in more violations for the candidates. But even without reading his opinion, the facts are simple: This election policy needs changing. It’s unfair to the candidates and our reporters, but most importantly, it’s unfair to the voting student body.

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SPORTS | 11

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Krukow’s Klubhouse sees policy changes Jefferson P. Nolan @Jefferson_Nolan In Division I baseball, visiting players know they’re going to have to endure some jeers from the stands. Since the inception of the national pastime, it’s been part of the game. But during the Cal Poly baseball team’s home stand against Cal State Fullerton last year, Titans third baseman Matt Chapman heard some things that caught him off guard. A few Cal Poly fans in Krukow’s Klubhouse — an exclusive seating area behind the Mustangs’ third base dugout — had come to the game having done their research. The fans investigated the players on Cal State Fullerton’s baseball team, and through Facebook, they looked up the names of Chapman’s family members. Understandably, the Cal Poly players said they love the energy from the crowd, but when a few fans began to yell slurs about the girlfriends and mothers of the opposing players, it was apparent a line had been crossed. “You hear it at every college baseball game … at least the good ones, where there’s a big crowd,” Cal Poly Athletics Director Don Oberhelman said. “Calling players out by name or calling the players’ mothers, sisters or girlfriends out ... It’s OK to be loud, but there is a line that we just aren’t willing to cross.” Oberhelman met with the offending parties and put the matter to rest. But following that instance, and for a multitude of reasons, Oberhelman has made a few changes to Krukow’s

Klubhouse this season. Named after former Cal Poly pitcher and current San Francisco Giants announcer Mike Krukow, Krukow’s Klubhouse is labeled as the luxury seating area at Baggett Stadium. With the purchase of season tickets — $850 dollars for two tickets — the designated seating area offers beer, snacks and hot dogs until the middle of the seventh inning. But in addition to occasional heckling from the crowd, past Krukow’s Klubhouse season ticket holders would sell single game tickets they didn’t want on Craigslist. For Oberhelman, this posed a few issues: After a time, the tickets would eventually pay for themselves, and since it was available to the general public, anyone who wanted could get into the exclusive area. That includes the fans from opposing teams. “We were playing Fresno State (last season), and there were six Fresno State fans in there being obnoxious in our premium seating for our most loyal supporters,” Oberhelman said. “That did not make me very happy.” Now, Cal Poly Athletics has employed a credential system in which the Krukow’s Klubhouse ticket holder must wear their ticket throughout the game. “People would swap passes,” Oberhelman said. “Three people would go in with three passes, one person would leave with the three passes and bring in two more people.” With the newly implemented credential system, it will be virtually impossible to

IAN BILLINGS | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

IN THE CLUB | Krukow’s Klubhouse saw policy changes this year regarding access to the seating area at Baggett Stadium. sneak into the arena to grab a hot dog, Oberhelman said. Though it sounds like a challenge, the Cal Poly ticket office now has control of who is admitted into Krukow’s Klubhouse, helping with both security and traffic control. Head coach Larry Lee and his team don’t worry too much about the crowd adjacent to their dugout, though. Now in his twelfth season at

the helm of the Mustangs baseball team, Lee knows when jeers become too much for a family environment. “We love it when our fans are boisterous … But they obviously need to do it in a positive way and be proCal Poly,” Lee said. “There are things that are fine for fans to say, but there are times where you don’t want to cross the line. You have families in the stadium, and

we want to make it enjoyable for the entire fan base.” Last season, relief pitcher Reed Reilly received his nickname “Big Sexy” from a fan in the Klubhouse after he managed to pitch his way out of a jam. “To have that energy in the bullpen, it just brings a whole new level to the game,” Reilly said. “Visiting teams are obviously bothered by it. It can go over-

board, but it’s cool to have them up there.” But without tickets being sold on Craigslist, it is possible the VIP seating area will see diminished student population this season; the price tag may be too much for the bargain-hunting college student. “At Cal Poly, we want to be different,” Oberhelman said. “We want to be a little bit better than other places.”

SPORTS | 12

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Men’s hoops takes on UCSB in season finale

Men’s basketball vs. UCSB March 8, 7 p.m. Mott Athletics Center

IAN BILLINGS | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

SENIOR MOMENT | Senior guard Jamal Johnson is third in the Big West Conference with a 2.35 assist-to-turnover ratio and has committed just four turnovers in his last nine games. Evan Morter @EvanMorter The season finale has arrived for the Cal Poly men’s basketball team. The Mustangs will host Central Coast rival UC Santa Barbara and its Big West leading scorer, junior forward Alan Williams, with a chance to sweep the season series in Mott Athletics Center (MAC) on Saturday. Cal Poly (10-18, 6-9 Big West) defeated the Gauchos (19-8, 10-4 Big West) 72-64 fueled by 11 successful 3-point field goals in the first meeting between the teams at The Thunderdome in January. Williams scored 33 points and collected 15 boards in the teams’ last meeting and will

again be the center of attention Saturday night, assistant coach Sam Kirby said. “It’s hard to slow him down,” Kirby said. “It’s hard to push him out of the paint. He’s such a big guy and he uses his body so well. So we will look to shrink his court space.” Williams is No. 12 in the nation in points scored with 21.6 per contest and second in the NCAA with 11.6 rebounds per game this season. Though the Mustangs will look to limit Williams’ production, Kirby said the main objective is to neutralize the rest of the dangerous UC Santa Barbara offense. The Gauchos possess a trifecta of outside threats in Michael Bryson, Kyle Boswell

and Taran Brown — a 30-point combination most nights for UC Santa Barbara. The Mustangs shut down the trio of Gauchos in their last meeting by allowing just 15 points and one three-point field goal from the guards. As the conference season draws to a close, UC Santa Barbara is the final team the Mustangs will face before the Big West Conference Tournament. “I don’t think this team has doubted each other at any point this season,” senior point guard Jamal Johnson said. “The entire team thinks we can achieve our goal of winning the Big West tournament. I don’t think the team feels our goal isn’t achievable anymore.” Saturday night’s game will be

the last in the MAC for Johnson, and he described his emotions heading into senior night as double-sided. “It’s bittersweet,” he said. “You don’t want to leave, but at the same time, at some point you have to step away.” Seniors Chris Eversley and Kyle Odister will also see their final game at home on Saturday, before marching into the madness of their final Big West tournament. “The Big West tournament is nuts,” Kirby said. “Anybody can beat anybody.” The Mustangs currently find themselves tied for sixth place, and a victory against UC Santa Barbara could move them into fifth. However, the team’s momen-

tum is much more important than its seeding, Johnson said. “As long as we keep getting better,” he said. “Carrying momentum into the next game is probably the most important thing we need to do.” The ticket to the NCAA tournament — the mecca of college basketball — is earned with a championship title in the Big West tournament. The hot team heading into the tournament is typically the one to take it all, and though the Mustangs dropped their last contest in a tightly fought battle against first-place UC Irvine, Johnson believes the team is getting hot. “We need to carry what we did against Irvine into this week against Santa Bar-

bara and then into three big games in the Big West tournament,” Johnson said. The conference tournament kicks off March 13 in a set of three single-elimination rounds at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. “We’ve had an up-and -down season, but we’ve never lost faith in anybody,” Kirby said. “It’s all about moving forward and keep improving. The most important part of the season is coming up in the Big West tournament. So we’ll be ready for that.” Cal Poly has won four of its last 13 games since the road win against the Gauchos, while UC Santa Barbara has won 10 games in that stretch. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.