These boots were made for more than walking MUSTANG DAILY | Thursday, May 23
ARTS, pg. 4
‘keep punching’ Piecing together the life of Mihail Dincu
A LIFETIME OF EXPERIENCE: Dincu (right) is a Romanian massage therapist and an employee of Cal Poly. But during his lifetime, Dincu has been a masseur for the Romanian Army soccer team (below in 1976) and the San Antonio Spurs (lower right).
IAN BILLINGS / MUSTANG DAILY
BY: JACOB LAUING jacoblauing.md@gmail.com
“I
know how easy it is to die,” he said. For Mihail Dincu, each step is a reminder. A stroke left him a half-broken man 13 years ago, with a consequent limp that hinders Dincu’s walk to this day. It was one of the first things I noticed when we crossed paths in January. On a Wednesday afternoon, I stood outside the Recreation Center wrestling room, approximately 15 minutes before the start of practice.
COURTESY PHOTO
I had a notebook full of questions for Devon Lotito, the freshman wonder who stole the show during Cal Poly’s disappointing 2013 season, installing a glimmer of hope in the Cal Poly wrestling program. I was early, so Dincu, donning a Cal Poly athletics polo, arrived before the wrestlers hit the mats. As he limped toward me, I could tell he was older, with a head of thin, white hair and wrinkles on his face surrounding a pair of piercing green eyes. I told him I worked for Mustang Daily and was waiting to interview Lotito. He spoke in broken English with a foreign accent I couldn’t place, but responded with the four clearest words I’ve ever heard him say. “You should interview me.”
After some back and forth communication, Dincu and I finally sat down for an interview in February. It lasted exactly one hour. I said fewer than 50 words. What I learned in those 60 minutes was that Dincu’s life is a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces come in thick envelopes, plastic bags, frayed photos and old newspaper articles, countless stories and moments. To give the simplest introduction, Dincu is a Romanian massage therapist and an employee of Cal Poly athletics. He now resides in San Luis Obispo, but Dincu has been everywhere from Eastern Europe to Southern Alabama, and everywhere in between. He’s been a personal athletic therapist to Canadian Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson and a masseur to the San Antonio Spurs. Dincu’s past is elaborate and mysterious to say the least. But the key to unraveling that past has been Dincu’s voicemails. He calls on a regular basis — to let me know his schedule, to add on to his quotes from the interview, or just to check in. He called me 11 times in the month of April alone, which led to a crowded inbox, but those voicemails say more about Dincu than anything else.
Jose. I went to their dugout and started to encourage Cal Poly, we won 6-5. You ask, what’s so special with me? I remember last year, the same thing. It was 7-2, they finished 9-8. How can I explain if you don’t talk to me? Are you doing any progress on your homework, that famous paper? Bye. Around Cal Poly, Dincu is known as “Super Mike.” It’s a fun nickname, and a testament to Dincu’s supernatural abilities as a masseur, but the fact of the matter is: He might be a legitimate good luck charm. In 1975, Dincu took his talents to FC Steaua Buchuresti, the Romanian army soccer team. It hadn’t won th Liga I — the top league in Romania — and the Cupa Romániei in the same season since 1953, but with Dincu Steaua Buchuresti won both in 1976. COURTESY PHOTO
3/13/13: Voicemail seven of 11 Jacob, talk to me, brother. What’s happening? Last night, (baseball) played San Jose. I warmed them up, then I went for a kick at The Pit. Go back watch, 5-2, San
For the rest of the story, see DINCU, pg. 9
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SPORTS, pg. 8 Frias leads track and field in NCAA prelims.
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MDnews 2
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Student suggestions spark library rennovations ALEXANDRIA SCOTT
alexandriascott.md@gmail.com
When students complain about Robert E. Kennedy Library, the staff listens and responds. This spring and summer, the library will undergo some smaller and larger projects in efforts to not only be the best library in the California State University system, but in the nation, university librarian Anna Gold said. “We are looking at how we use the whole building to achieve goals for students and faculty,” Gold said. “We really feel we can redefine what a college library is and how it works in an academic community.” Kennedy’s new definition of a college library is to provide a place where Cal Poly students can implement “Learn by Doing” with adequate technological support, director of library information technology Dale Kohler said.
Our motto is ‘You asked, and we listened.’ We are being responsive to what students are asking for. DALE KOHLER DIRECTOR OF LIBRARY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
“Yes, we still have books, and love books, and the books aren’t going away,” he said. “We are just adding digital resources. We’re really focused on students and student needs. Our motto is ‘You asked, and we listened.’ We are being responsive to what students are asking for.” Funding from the California State Lottery Act and one-time money from salary savings of library employees have generated funds for the projects, which are all based on student and faculty requests. The most demanded addition is electrical outlets,
Kohler said. During the past three years, Kennedy has lined its windows with another 1,675 electrical outlets, costing approximately $8,000. “We’ve been rimming windows with an outlet every foot,” he said. “It’s getting harder and harder to do because fewer and fewer spaces are available to cheaply add outlets.” Other electronic accommodations are a mobile charging station that allows users to secure cell phones in lockers while juicing up, rather than sitting out in the open, Kohler said. Also, the second-floor computer lab (216B) will transform into an active learning classroom/lab over the summer. “It will be a really cool multimedia room devoted to flipped instruction model,” he said. “Faculty members doing cutting-edge teaching will like that space.” Non-digital renovations are to remove the clear, glass halfwall at the entrance and add more space for students to enter the library. Students have also complained about not having enough space in the library, especially during finals week, and this is an ongoing problem the library seeks to solve, Kohler said. The Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology on the third floor will be expanded as well. What some students might not know is that the library
NHA HA / MUSTANG DAILY
One of the proposed renovations to the library is to remove the clear, glass half-wall at the entrance of the building to add more space for students to enter. already offers a mobile website that allows users to find open computers on any floor in the library, reserve “fish bowl” rooms on the second floor through a few easy clicks and view PolyConnect Lab equipment availability, such as iPads, projectors, Kindles and video cameras, Kohler said. Agribusiness senior Kayla Hayden studies in the library multiple times a week and hates walking from computer lab to computer lab looking for an open computer, she said. She was not aware of the mobile site and will start to use it on her iPhone, she said. “I didn’t know they were that high tech,” she said. “Hell yeah, I’ll check it, definitely.” What is unique to the library is its Student Library Advisory Council (SLAC), a student group of representatives from each college and large groups on campus, such as Associated
Students, Inc., Interfraternity Council and University Housing, SLAC chair and political science senior Tucker Brofft said. “We try to bring in a lot of different ideas for the group that will help library,” he said. “The library also brings us things they are working on and asks SLAC to put perspective in and ask students if these are issues students want the library to work on.” SLAC obtains library suggestions through casual discussions with students and an online survey emailed out to 10 percent of the student body, or 3,000 students. The turnout is always huge, Brofft said, with 1,000 students replying. “All the responses mean that these are the issues that students want taken care of,” he said. “The library really cares about what we think and has put in high level people who know
things about the library and can give us the results we need.” Students with concerns involving the library are also welcome to attend the weekly SLAC meetings, or can email a SLAC representative at any time, Brofft said. SLAC is actually a group cocreated by university librarian Anna Gold and associate university librarian Sarah Cohen as a way to get more student involvement in decision making, Brofft said. The student group is a part of “Learn by Doing” and working together to solve problems, Gold said. The library wants to be a place that students and faculty have a stake in, she said. “Fundamentally, libraries are about empowering people,” she said. “We want students to walk in and feel they can do cool things. We want to be as good as a library as Cal Poly is as a university.”
CP to host city council candidates HOLLY DICKSON
hollydickson.md@gmail.com
Students have a chance to talk with two of the candidates vying for a seat on the San Luis Obispo City Council on campus Thursday. Paul Brown and Carlyn Christianson, two of five candidates, will be in the San Luis Lounge in the Julian A. McPhee University Union from noon to 1 p.m. to talk to students. The event, coordinated by the Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) Student Government Advocacy Committee, is meant to serve as an opportunity for collaboration between students and the city, ASI secretary of community relations Joi Sullivan said. “The whole purpose of the event is to start a relationship with whoever wins the election,” Sullivan said, “and to increase collaboration between students and the city.” The event will begin with time for one-on-one conversations with the candidates before Brown and Christianson take a few minutes to introduce themselves. The hour will finish up with approximately 20 minutes dedicated to an open Q&A session, Sullivan said. ASI will provide handouts that summarize the background of student issues with the city, such as neighborhood relationships between students and long-time residents. Sullivan said the Q&A time is open to any questions, and they hope to hear from the candidates about issues students might not be aware of yet — such as how the city will
CARLYN CHRISTIANSON (LEFT) AND PAUL BROWN (RIGHT)
react to the proposed additional freshman housing project on campus. Brown, who graduated from Cal Poly with a degree in agricultural science, said his experience as a former student, a local business owner and now a longtime resident will help him bridge the gap between more permanent residents and students. “There’s always a divide between the student population in SLO and the more permanent residents,” Brown said. “I can see things from both sides, and I can meet with both sides and find middle ground.” Brown moved out of town for a few years after graduation, but returned not long after to open his own business — Mo|Tav — which he owned for 15 years before selling it in 2009. Brown also previously served on the city council from 2004 to 2008. Christianson has prior experience with the city as well. She has served as the planning commissioner for both the city of San Luis Obispo for the past six
years and for the county for five. She moved to San Luis Obispo with her family in 1989 in part because of the “energy” that Cal Poly brings to the community. Christianson said she hoped to spend time Thursday talking about housing options for students as well as neighborhood wellness issues. “I hope that I can get a chance to not only meet the student leaders and find out what their concerns are, but begin a working relationship,” Christianson said. Brown and Christianson are two of five candidates running in the special election for the city council seat vacated by Andrew Carter. After Carter stepped down in February to take a different job, the council voted unanimously to hold a special vote-by-mail election, rather than appointing someone to take Carter’s seat for the remaining two years. Ballots were sent out on May 20 and voters must return them to the City Clerk’s Office on Palm Street by June 18.
MDnews 3
Thursday, May 23, 2013
FBI kills man during questioning of Boston bombing, murders
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
RICHARD A. SERRANO HENRY PIERSON CURTIS AMY PAVUK Orlando Sentinel
The Central Florida man who was shot and killed by an FBI agent early Wednesday was being questioned about a 2011 triple-slaying in Massachusetts and about his relationship with the Boston Marathon bombings suspects, federal law enforcement officials told the Tribune Washington Bureau. The FBI told the Orlando Sentinel that an FBI agent — along with two Massachusetts State Police troopers and other law enforcement personnel — were interviewing 27-yearold Ibragim Todashev when a violent confrontation was initiated by Todashev. Federal law enforcement sources said Todashev — who knew bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev through mixed martial arts in Bos-
ton — “primarily” was being asked about a Sept. 11, 2011, triple murder in Waltham, Mass., because officials believe he and Tsarnaev may have had a role in cutting the throats of three men and sprinkling marijuana over the bodies. The law enforcement officials also said that they had questions about Todashev’s relationship with Tsarnaev, and the fact that the two had spoken shortly before the Marathon bombing. Todashev reportedly lunged at the FBI agent with a knife during the interview. “During the confrontation, the individual was killed and the agent sustained non-life threatening injuries,” FBI Special Agent Dave Couvertier, a spokesman for the Orlando region, said in an email statement. “As this incident is under review, we have no further details at this time.” Todashev was shot in a condo in the Windhover community, a quiet residential
They had nothing against him. He was innocent. KHUSEN TARAMOV FRIEND OF TODASHEV
area near Universal Studios. Todashev’s home address is in Kissimmee, Fla.; it’s not clear why he was at the Orlando apartment or why he was being questioned there. An FBI post-shooting incident review team has been dispatched from Washington, D.C., and is expected to arrive in Orlando within 24 hours, Couvertier said. Near the scene of the shooting Wednesday morning, Khusen Taramov, a 22-year-old who described himself as a friend of Todashev, told several television outlets that his friend was being investigated in relation to the Boston bombings. Taramov said Todashev had lived in Boston, did MMA fighting with Tamerlan Tsarnaev,
and that Todashev had last talked to Tamerlan Tsarnaev about a month ago by phone. Since the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing attack, Taramov said, the FBI have been questioning Todashev, and have also talked to him. Taramov spent almost all of the last week with Todashev because, he said, his friend was scared and tired after weeks of nearly constantly being followed and occasionally questioned by FBI agents. “I was with him every minute. I knew what was going on in his head,” he said of Todashev’s fear of being linked to the Boston bombing. “To MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE me, it’s a setup. This is what he was afraid of. They had nothing An FBI agent shot and killed Ibragim Todashev (above) against him. He was innocent.” during questioning after Todashev allegedly became violent.
MDarts 4
She can rope, design and ride with style COURTESY PHOTOS
Thursday, May 23, 2013
BY KELLY TROM ktrom@mustangdaily.net
T
he cars halt at the stop sign between Grand Avenue and Perimeter Road, idling as clumps of students pass by on the way to class. Shoes hit the pavement as the students cross, soles hitting the alternating white stripes. Converse. Vans. Combat boots. Rainbows. Moccasins. And something else. Something unconventional. Red cowboy boots with teal stitching, fringe hanging off the sides. Adorned with yellow flowers, bejeweled with multicolor rhinestones. Not your typical, everyday footwear — even for an agriculture student. These boots could only belong to agricultural communication senior Quincy Freeman. In fact, they are part of her upcoming fall line, which has yet to hit stores. Freeman has married her love of rodeo and passion for fashion by designing her own brand of cowboy boots and apparel. Cal Poly student. Fashion designer. Rodeo team captain. Business woman. Freeman wears many different hats, but her favorite is a custom cowgirl hat, complete with her signature red rose.
QUINCY’S COWGIRL BACKGROUND
A
self-proclaimed authentic cowgirl, Freeman is no stranger to the ranching and rodeo world. Her mom is from one of the first ranching families in Nevada, and her dad is from a ranching family in Oregon. Freeman started rodeo in high school and fell in love with the sport. In fact, one of the reasons she came to Cal Poly was for the rodeo team. Her dad and uncles all attended Cal Poly and were on the team, so it has become a tradition, she said. “She takes her family’s roots in the rodeo and cattle communities very seriously, and she makes a point to carry on her family’s heritage through her designs,” agricultural communication senior and Freeman’s friend Malorie Bankhead said. Freeman has been team captain of the women’s rodeo team for two years and has qualified for the College National Finals for Rodeo. With the sport running through her veins, it’s no surprise Freeman views the people in rodeo like family. “It is a small world, really, and wherever you go, you can make ties with people you know in common,” Freeman said. Freeman met some of her closest friends competing because they shared her love of the sport and the animals involved. “They are some of the most kind people and selfless people,” she said. “Always putting their animals before themselves.” But this cowgirl isn’t afraid to ride in style — a quality she attributes to strong female figures in her life. “I always loved clothes and dressing up,” she said. “I kind of get that from my nona and mom. They were always kind of fashion icons growing up for me.” Not only did they inspire her fashion sense, but were also role models who lived the Western lifestyle. “Growing up, I always looked to my nona and mom because they were a perfect example of what a cowgirl is,” Freeman said. What exactly is Freeman’s definition of a cowgirl? “A cowgirl is someone who is tough, as strong as any cowboy,” she said. “She can rope and ride like a man, but is also feminine and isn’t afraid to wear lipstick and rope a steer.”
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n and résumé to tio si po d re si de ur yo nd se To apply, jjjenkins.md@ gmail.com
MDarts 5
Thursday, May 23, 2013 Freeman embraces both sides of the cowgirl attitude through competing in rodeo competions and designing. Ever since she started painting her own belts and horse tacks for competitions in high school, she’s been all about designing rodeo apparel and supplies. “I sort of combined my two passions,” Freeman said. “I wasn’t really thinking about a design career or future, I was thinking about what girls in high school think about.”
HER JOURNEY WITH ARIAT
F
reeman’s design ability was discovered by an Ariat representative who was doing trend research at the national high school rodeo finals in Farmington, N.M. Ariat is an American manufacturer that specializes in boots and equestrian supplies. Founded in 1993, Ariat has now expanded to an international market and is a favorite with country music stars, including Josh Turner and Blake Shelton. With Freeman’s signature black cowgirl hat adorned with a fresh red rose, lipstick, jewelry and a custom, hand-painted belt, she stood out from the other competitors in their nondescript leather. Freeman’s roommate and friend since high school, animal science senior Alanna Sing, will testify to Freeman’s innate fashion sense. “She is the sweetest person I know, who has an eye for fashion and loves to stand out from the crowd,” Sing said. “She is a trendsetter, not only in fashion, but also in her character and how she lives her life.” After sending Ariat some sample belt designs, the company flew her up to Union City for a meeting about her potential as a designer. “I didn’t know really what they were thinking, so I took my little handmade portfolio I slapped together — I didn’t even know how to make one on the computer yet,” Freeman said. Ariat offered her a contract at the head of her freshman year. Now, Freeman is at work on her fifth line of boots and rodeo apparel. Freeman’s talent lies in her ability to mix fashion and function together. “Girls before didn’t have competition cowboy boots that had roses or spearhead on the toe,” Freeman said. Her designs are now in Western wear apparel stores and high-end fashion stores around the country.
HER DESIGN PROCESS
W
COURTESY PHOTO
hile her purpose in creating fashionable rodeo clothing has not changed, the ways in which she designs have developed in these past four years. She started out by hand drawing everything with paint on leather and paper samples. The company would then vectorize the images on a computer so the designs could be translated into something Ariat could mass produce. Now, Freeman has learned to use Adobe Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop to transpose her ideas and inspirations from her head to the computer screen. “What is so crazy about Ariat is that they have the resources to do anything I imagine,” she said. “I have been given a really great opportunity.”
The process to go from screen to market is a long one. Ariat works on an 18-month timeline, from initial concept and design to lining store shelves. “In the fashion industry, it is kind of hard because you have to know what is going to be ‘in’ 18 months from now, so that is a challenge,” she said. Freeman begins by designing at Cal Poly. She sends the InDesign files to Ariat for tweaking, sometimes modifying the colors she uses so that they are easier to replicate. Then Freeman sees and accepts the first mock-up of her work. Freeman also attends the product launch and marketplace where vendors and wholesalers can buy her boots for their stores. “You know, I am sitting in school in San Luis, drawing up my sketches in InDesign, and it doesn’t really hit me until 18 months later when I am in the showroom and there’s my boot with the ‘Q’ on it,” she said The Quincy Freeman brand logo, a simple “Q,” is located on all the boots she has designed. It is the same brand she uses for her cattle and horses. “There are people that have been working in the industry for 50 years and they don’t get their name on anything — they are silent designers,” she said. “It’s cool that I get to have my name and my logo on all my boots.”
FOUR YEARS, FOUR LINES
T
hrough the four different lines she has created so far, Freeman’s design aesthetic has continued to develop. “I sort of reinvent myself a little bit each time,” Freeman said. Her first line was reminiscent of the tattooinspired Ed Hardy look. It had a more young and youthful vibe to it, she said. The second line was all about strong women, with designs including a Spanish señorita, a Native American woman and an all-American cowgirl. “It was my tribute to the women of the West,” Freeman said. “I think a lot of times the cowboys and men are often looked up to and glorified. I think the women are most often overlooked.” There has been one constant, however, in every line Freeman has designed: bright and vibrant colors. “She comes up with an idea that will stand out and that people will love, then combines various ideas to create a unique design,” Sing said. “For instance, she has combined her Spanish heritage in the form of sarape pattern with bright red roses and crystals to add sparkle.” Freeman sees her boots around school and during rodeo competitions. Some of these are friends, but others are complete strangers. Freeman attended a Cuesta College class this past fall and ran into her design in an unexpected place. “I went to the bathroom and in the stall right next to me there was a girl wearing my boots. I got out before she did and was washing my hands waiting for her to get out because I wanted to see who she was,” Freeman said with a laugh. see COWGIRL, pg. 6
MDarts 6
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Student’s ‘highly imagined’ poem takes Academy of American Poets contest ARYN SANDERSON
asanderson@mustangdaily.net
The soft glow of the moon and a porch light illuminated Madeleine Mori’s fingers as they tap-danced over the worn keys of her mother’s vintage typewriter. For two hours on a warm, breezy November night, Mori remained seated at her boyfriend’s oval, wooden outdoor desk, sipping Earl Grey tea and speed-writing the poem that would go on to win the 2013 Academy of American Poets contest. “There’s something about a typewriter that’s very static and momentaneous,” said Mori, who began the poem on the typewriter and switched to her laptop to finish it off. “I had this obsessive image of the vision I wanted to convey and, at that point, it was about finding the words to express it.” Mori’s award-winning poem, “Ten Cents,” is a tribute to American folk singer Karen Dalton. Out of more than 204 pages of poetry submitted, Los Angelesbased poet and contest judge Suzanne Lummis chose “Ten Cents” as the winning poem, earning Mori $100. “Ten Cents” portrays the difficult choice an artist must make to sever ties with a traditional lifestyle in order to pursue his or her passion. “It’s about being young and having these inclinations and simultaneous directions you’re being pulled in,” Mori said. Mori, a junior, understands being pulled in different directions. Her major, wine and viticulture, was chosen “on a whim.” Mori really wants to pursue poetry — not just as an outlet but as an occupation. Mori also feels a pull between cultures. “A lot of my poetry is about deep-rooted American nostalgia, but I’m half Japanese, and so I’ve always had that pull,” she said. Contest director and English
professor Kevin Clark calls Mori’s award-winning poem “well-polished, highly imagined and subtle.” “Her poems are anchored in the real world, but there are two real worlds: the outer real world and the inner,” Clark said. “And the inner real world, the kind of psychological dream state that we often inhabit, is a place that she feels comfortable exploring in her work.” Mori says this way of writing is practically innate and natural for her. “I’ve always been very obsessed with dream analogies and symbolism, and I get a lot of inspirations from my dreams, which are often very vivid,” she said. “I don’t try to write that way, but I’m sure that floats into my consciousness.” Mori almost lost consciousness, though, when she found out she won the Academy of American Poets contest. “I was stunned,” she said. “I got an email from (Clark) with no punctuation, something like ‘Can you please come to my office I have something that might be interesting to you.’” Once she arrived at his office, Clark presented her with the good news, stuck out his hand for a shake. Mori stood aghast, almost forgetting to shake his outstretched hand. “Both Cate (Harkins) and Eli (Williams) were in my class, and I know the level of poets they are, so I was very astonished that I beat them out somehow,” Mori said, referring to the students who received honorable mentions. “Cate has the ability to create these dark, otherworldly textures, and Eli is such a master of wit and turning normal situations into profound moments,” Mori said. English senior Harkins’ honorable mention poem “Dirty Laundry” delves into the mind of a woman who is so poor that she only has enough money for one
load of laundry. “Now Cate ... Cate is a writer who knows how to create atmosphere,” Clark said. “And she renders that atmosphere through a kind of filigree of words, so that she tells these small stories with deeply resonate implications in them, and they’re fascinating.” Williams, an English junior, received the other honorable mention for “Cut & Dry,” a poem ripe with sexual tension. “Cut & Dry” details one man’s temptation for adultery while getting his hair cut by a seductive stylist. Williams described the inspiration for the poem: “One day, I went to get a haircut and the woman cutting my hair finished and asked, ‘Is there anything else I can do for you?’” “The poem is definitely very psychological and sexual in nature,” he said. “I tried to use the language of sex to portray the scene, so it’s chalk full of innuendo that I thought would be funny and relatable to an audience of my peers while still making them think.” Clark says Williams is able to balance social observation and comedy while revealing facets of human nature. “What’s so interesting about him — this is not easy to do — he can write poems that on the surface are comically entertaining but, beneath the surface, have serious application to our lives,” Clark said. Overall, the caliber of poetrywriting students was nearly unparalleled this year, Clark said. “This is by far the most poetry we’ve had submitted,” Clark said. “I got to say, I think we’re in a cycle of good Cal Poly poets at the moment, and I don’t think there’s any particular reason why that happened, but it just kind of took off. There is an unusually high number of students who are very, very fine poets at Cal Poly right now.”
TEN CENTS
COWGIRL continued from page 5
And when Freeman’s friends see her boots at a rodeo competition, they make sure to tell Freeman about it and maybe even send her a picture of them. “I don’t own any of her pieces yet, but when I travel and see someone wearing something that Quincy designed, I always stop them to tell them that Quincy is a friend of mine and that her design looks great on them,” Bankhead said. Her fun patterns and colors appeal to a wide range of girls, even rodeo celebrities. Trevor Brazile’s wife, Shana, will be a spokesperson for Freeman’s boots as she is starting to get more involved with the sport of rodeo. Brazile is known as the richest cowboy in the sport of rodeo with nine all-around world titles under his belt. “I always looked up to the rodeo stars and now I know the majority of them and a few of them even wear my boots,” Freeman said.
by Madeleine Mori for Karen Dalton
The path down to the river weaved with the rotting moss driveways, the still breath in the air of the ’57 Chevrolet with withered thistle and rosehip married to its chassis. Some never left the dry creek town, old, proud limbs waving back and forth, their porches leaning downhill, rocking back and forth ceaselessly, into the open earth. The iron rich red of the soil could cake bare feet like butter, fallen tree limbs could grope, snake holes could trip like the telephone lines if you didn’t know how to step. In a bag, she brought a mason jar of mixed wine, a loose lick of tire swing rope she’d been working to unravel, the graying map of Tennessee. This time I’ll go to Nashville, wrestle off this ten cent life. She strained her toes under the spyglass film of the muddied water and thought herself one lone cattail, a wild mess of golden seed raging through towns, projecting free prayers. But how far would her highway stretch when a neighbor emptied water from his buckshot brass gutters and the bed grasses lunged with the mounting river to coil and pull at her ankle?
SCHOOL VS. DESIGN
W
ith business responsibilities, school work, designing and rodeo, some students might not believe she has the time to do everything. Freeman says it’s all because of time management planning and through the patient understanding of her professors. Freeman takes mostly 12unit quarters because of her hectic schedule, which includes designing, traveling to promote her boots and competing on the rodeo team. “Just last week, I was at a fashion show in Texas to promote my boots, and I had to reschedule a test so that I could attend,” Freeman said. Originally, Freeman wanted to major in art and design, but her parents encouraged her to major in something they believed was more business oriented. Agricultural communication gave her the background to balance her designing with the business tasks expected of her, agricultural communication professor and Freeman’s academic adviser Scott Vernon said.
“She is able to understand her communication channels — how she is able to promote and market her line, her brand,” Vernon said. “She has developed her own brand in the marketplace and that takes talent and technical skills as well.” Vernon’s thoughts on Quincy’s future are bright. “I think you will continue to hear from Quincy even after she graduates,” Vernon said. “There is no ego involved, she is just enjoying what she is doing and that really resonates with her market.” While Quincy is finishing up her fifth line and concentrating on graduating in winter quarter next year, she is not quite sure what the future holds for her. Some possibilities include continuing to design through Ariat, product management, marketing or even starting her own business. One thing is for certain, she wants to stay in the Western fashion industry. “I just never thought you could make a career out of something you loved so much,” Freeman said.
MD op/ed 7
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Tornadoes: the eerie silence JOHN KASS
Chicago Tribune
Does a killer tornado really sound like a freight train? “I don’t remember what it sounded like, honestly. It was like a freight train, but I don’t remember much about it,” said Rhonda Crosswhite, the Oklahoma grade school teacher who covered students with her body when her town was hit by that deadly twister the other day. “One of my little boys just kept saying, ‘I love you, I love you, please don’t die with me,’” she recalled. Some two dozen — and possibly more — died in Oklahoma. And 33 died when tornadoes hit Oak Lawn, Ill., on April 21, 1967, when I was a boy. People who survive a tornado say it sounds like a freight train. But calling it a freight train is just a way to explain the unfathomable power to those who haven’t experienced it. It’s not a freight train, not really. It’s a way of being polite. You just call it that because it’s easier than arguing. If you survive a tornado, it’s as if you speak two different languages, a pre-tornado language and the one that comes afterward. And so, the phrase “like a freight train” serves as a point of reference between altered states. Years ago I heard it, when I was a boy in Oak Lawn. It was just after 5 p.m. when somebody at the Little Red Schoolhouse nature center in the Cook County forest preserves to the west reported a funnel cloud touching down. We didn’t know about that then. We didn’t know it would be measured as a devastating F-4 tornado. A series of tornadoes would hit the southwest suburbs that day, what meteorologists call a “family,” the worst one dropping out of the sky to the west of us in Palos Hills, then rushing through Oak Lawn and Hometown and Evergreen Park, then on through the South Side of Chicago. Just then, a little after 5, it was still, a weird quiet outside. Then suddenly moms were running out into the tiny front yards, running from one edge of the grass to the other, the wind whipping their dresses as they called their children. I can’t tell you what we kids were doing. Were we at the swing set where philosophy was discussed, talking with other kids about “limbo,” the place where the Catholic kids insisted that unbaptized souls go to await eternity? Or were we playing guns with our best friends, the Knaff boys, chasing and shooting our cap pistols, falling to the ground, compelled by the rules to wait to a count of 25 before we could stand? I can’t tell you. What I can tell you is of the quiet around us, as if there was no oxygen in the air, only a vacuum. The sky was pea green, like split pea soup. Then it was black. Garbage can lids flew past the houses. More mothers ran in the yards, screaming for their kids to get inside. Our mom had been on the north side of Oak Lawn at our uncle’s house, on the side of town that would be devastated in minutes, while our side of town was spared. She screeched the car up the driveway, hit the brakes, hit the horn and yelled for us to run into the house. Then she crammed a table into a basement closet. We called it the “Scout Closet” because she was a den mother and that’s where she kept
her Cub Scout supplies. My younger brothers Peter and Nick huddled with me under that table. We had a radio, an old scratchy transistor, giving storm warnings. The four of us crouched in there, in the closet under the stairs, making signs of the cross in the dark. What we could hear outside was something like a freight train, yes, but only if it had been a freight train made of demons, legions of them howling, each screaming wordlessly, “I will kill you. I will kill you.” That’s what it sounded like to me. But for those closer to 95th Street, hiding at Oak Lawn High School or the homes to the west, it certainly must have sounded worse. Especially for those trapped in the rush-hour traffic along Southwest Highway, watching other cars being flung into the air
like blades of grass from a mower. Some 16 people were killed in a block or two there, plucked out of traffic, before the killer tornado headed to the east and toward the city. Perhaps I’m remembering it all wrong now, perhaps it wasn’t as loud as I remember, perhaps there were no demons calling. But there was the feeling of nature as evil, nature with a mind, predatory, nature intent on hunting us down. So each time there is a tornado story in the news, I’m helpless. Pete and Nick are stuck on tornado stories too. I don’t even have to ask them. I know. And if you were there on the Southwest Side in 1967, when the sky turned from green to black, then you know too. The next day it was cold outside. In days to come, we’d ride our bikes over to see homes destroyed, people in the streets, the Illinois National Guard deployed to stop the looters. And since then, I’ve learned two things: I can’t live in a house without a basement. And tornadoes don’t sound like freight trains. We just say they do.
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SUDOKU
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
MDsports 9
Thursday, May 23, 2013
FRIAS continued from page 10
all-time top 10 list in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 at his school — a feat that is rarely achieved. Because of that, his award is one of the most prestigious to earn at Buena, Dowler said. It isn’t handed out every year because it requires recipients to break school records just like Frias did in his time there. “By that time, I had been coaching for 12 years and it was one of my favorite seasons ever,” Dowler said. “It was a joy to work with him all four years, but that year was particularly fun.” Frias’ decision to attend Cal Poly had as much to do with the perennial championship nature of the cross country and the track and field teams as it did with Dowler’s influence on his mindset. He didn’t have an athletic scholarship entering his freshman year at Cal Poly, but, after talking to Conover, Frias realized the potential to be a top runner was there. “Our class was so deep, and coach Conover had already recruited so many top guys in the state,” Frias said. “I contacted him and he said he was interested and that, ‘If you progress and hit certain times, you’re going to get more and more
scholarship money every year.’” Frias was lightly recruited throughout California and was even offered money to go to other schools, such as UC Santa Barbara, but ultimately chose the Mustangs. And now, after a breakout season in his redshirt junior campaign, Frias has firmly proved that he belongs on the trails and the track at Cal Poly along with his now-partial scholarship. Coming off back-to-back championship runs and qualifying with a time of 29:33 in the 10,000 at the Stanford Invitational on March 29, Frias will take to the track again Thursday in the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Austin, Texas. A top-12 finish gives him a spot in the NCAA Division I Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships held June 5-8 in Eugene, Ore. Fellow junior distance runner Sean Davidson, along with six other athletes from the men’s track squad and Laura Hollander on the women’s side, will join Frias in Texas. “I told him and the rest of the guys that there’s no pressure on him,” Conover said. “Just go out and compete, have fun with it and see what happens. The expectations are really on some other people to get the top spots, so go out do your best to see how high you can finish.”
IAN BILLINGS/MUSTANG DAILY
DINCU continued from page 1
During that first season with the club, he also met Iosif Vigu, a midfielder who rarely played because of his old age. Dincu massaged Vigu on a regular basis, and was “giving energy to him.” In 1977, the 34-year-old Vigu placed fifth in the Romanian Footballer of the Year rankings. “Very rare,” Dincu said. “Probably some paranormal thing. In this society, which is so rational, it sounds superstitious. I can’t explain this.” Dincu’s magic ways have not subsided. In November of 2007, Dincu crossed paths with Cal Poly alumnus and renowned mixed martial arts fighter, Chuck “The
Iceman” Liddell — by accident, according to Dincu. Liddell was warming up on the exercise bike one day, when the former Cal Poly wrestler got a muscle cramp. Naturally, Super Mike worked his magic. “He was losing all his previous fights,” Dincu said. “(Liddell) said, ‘I want you.’” Prior to meeting Dincu, Liddell was crowned as the UFC light heavyweight champion in 2005, and defended that title in four consecutive fights. But The Iceman went cold in 2007, losing his title in May and failing to recapture the crown in September. So in December, Dincu joined Liddell’s entourage and accompanied him to UFC 79, a light heavyweight matchup against Wanderlei Silva at the
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Mandala Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Liddell’s crew consisted mostly of fighters, people who Dincu had no business being with. “But (Liddell was) probably superstitious,” Dincu said. “He thought I am good for him.” Liddell was right. He defeated Silva by unanimous decision, and the matchup was voted 2007’s Fight of the Year at the first annual World Mixed Martial Arts Awards. “I can feel it, something magic in me,” Dincu said. “I was blessed. It happens all the time. I can tell you any situation of that.” 2/24/13 Voicemail four of 11 I don’t know why he did not come to the changing room like I told you, because I don’t have
SUDOKU ANSWERS
a cellular telephone. I am busy. I am one, and they are so many. So, you got the message. Dincu is as punctual as a man can be. His irritated-toned voicemail came after a Cal Poly baseball game, where I arranged for a co-worker of mine to meet Dincu and pick up some old photos he had — some more pieces to the puzzle. Obviously the connection wasn’t made, and Dincu wasn’t happy. “I hate to wait for somebody,” he said. “I’m so precise. I told these guys, you’ve got to be five minutes early, then you are on time. If you are on fixed time, then you are late.” The first time I met Dincu was the one and only time I arrived at a location before him. A lot of that comes from the strict, communist nature of his home country, and his four years in the army. Even when he jokes, Dincu is all about order, punctuality and discipline. Two Cal Poly wrestlers interrupted my interview with Dincu when they knocked on the door. “Take care of your guys, I have an interview,” Dincu said to them. They were obviously a little intimidated, based on the tone of their voice as they said “sorry.” Before they could finish saying it, Dincu said, “your sorry is too late … make me mad.” He leaned to me and said, “Do you want me to beat these guys up?” He was joking … but I’m not sure what would’ve happened if I had said yes. “People don’t have time to know you,” Dincu said. “They judge you, they put a suit on you, they label you. Poor, rich, smart, beautiful or ugly.” And while he is punctual, Dincu is also no stranger to hard work. An average winter day for Dincu starts at 7 a.m., when he wakes up and joins the Cal Poly soccer team for its morning practice. Following an 11:30 a.m. swim, Dincu is at Baggett Stadium by 1 p.m., helping the Cal Poly baseball team prepare for practice. By 3:15 p.m., Dincu is at the Recreation Center for wrestling practice. “People did not care as much I care,” he said. “Another guy told me, ‘I work 30-40 years for this school.’
Yeah, you probably eat bread from this school, but did you make the difference in the people’s life? Did you spend time with them? Did you make them to improve themselves? Did you help them heal themselves?” At 6 p.m., Dincu makes some time for his own physical fitness. He works out and helps other athletes at The Pit, a fitness and martial arts gym in San Luis Obispo. On Thursdays, Dincu sells oranges at San Luis Obispo’s Farmers’ Market. “I spend hours like nobody else,” Dincu said. “All the doors are open if you work hard. There’s no substitution for perspiration.” 4/15/13 Voicemail nine of 11 Hey Jacob, did you see what happened today in Boston? Motherfuckers! Cowards! They put bombs … Write an article about these cowards. Motherfuckers … Dincu is anything but cowardly. After all, he’s overcome adversity in essentially every stage of his life. Starting from childhood, it seems like the odds have always been stacked against Dincu. “I had a bad start in Romania,” Dincu said. “Dysfunctional family. I was in a boarding home since I was 3 until I become 14.” And when Dincu applied for immigration to Canada in 1979, he was fluent in five languages, but still had to learn English. “It was so hard,” Dincu said. “I was watching TV nonstop, more than 12 hours a day.” As an immigrant, he took English classes at George Brown College in Toronto and worked at local gyms in the area, fully immersing himself in the native language. “I was doing massage for $5 or something just to learn English,” Dincu said. “I explained myself with my hands. People looked down to me ... then they realized I’m a pro.” But Dincu’s biggest test in life came in 2000. Twenty-six years prior, Dincu had a concussion playing a pickup game of soccer in Romania. As a result, an artery in the back of his neck slowly closed over time, blocking off blood flow to the brain. Dincu then suffered a stroke
on Nov. 23, 2000. He happened to be visiting Romania at the time, when a strong headache escalated, and Dincu soon found himself in the hospital, paralyzed in the face and left side. The recovery was grueling. Dincu spent hours each day trying to regain the strength in his left side, hobbling around one crutch. He was slow. It took Dincu 20 minutes to walk the length of a football field. “I was crying,” Dincu said. “Tried to find a place to kill myself but I said, ‘Well, my mother won’t have money to bury me.’” So Dincu rose to the challenge of living with a limp, the same hindered walk that I saw when Dincu first approached me on that January afternoon. Like so many other times in his life, Dincu was tested when he had the stroke, and will continue to be tested for as long as he walks. “I was many times in the shithouse, but I get out,” Dincu said. “Now, I’m not afraid of nothing. It’s hard to live the way you like to live. You gotta keep punching.” Even today, after four months of interviews, more than 10 voicemails and 20 phone calls, the pieces still don’t fit together. Dincu’s been too many places, touched too many lives and accomplished too many incredible feats to assemble it all, particularly when English is one of five other languages he speaks. What I do know about Dincu is that during the course of our time together, the more and more he called, the less and less we spoke about the story on these pages. His voicemails went from scheduling interviews to, “Jacob, how are you, are you in love?” and, simply, “Happy Passover. Have a good soup tonight.” But still, all the missed calls from Dincu speak to his character, and are a constant reminder of the first time I met him. He’s made opportunities for himself his entire life, so it’s no surprise that instead of a journalist asking him for a story, he turned the tables and made it happen himself. He has one of the most complex life stories of any man. And I know that if I ever have doubts, any questions, or just need some stimulating conversation, I can call him up, because he loves to talk, and he loves to share his story.
MDsports 10
Taking the lead STORY BY STEPHAN TEODOSESCU PHOTOS BY IAN BILLINGS
As junior runner Chris Frias toed the line for last weekend’s 10,000-meter run at the Big West Conference Championships in Northridge, there was one thing on his mind. “I didn’t tell anyone, but I was feeling like dog shit,” Frias said with a smile and a laugh, remembering his thoughts. “We all kind of were, but we just didn’t want to say it.” But for a long distance runner, that feeling is par for the course. And battling mid-80 degree temperatures for the 10 p.m. race on Friday, Frias went out and put together a stellar performance, winning the 10-kilometer race in 30 minutes, 46 seconds and capturing his first-ever Big West Conference title in track and field. But it was Saturday’s 5,000 that Frias says he’d like to hang his hat on. He knew he had a shot at a podium finish entering the race, but another tight battle between him and fellow Cal Poly teammates ended the same way the 10,000 did: a win and another conference championship for Frias. “I took the lead with three laps to go and I didn’t really know if I was going to regret that later on,” Frias said. “But my teammate Blake (Ahrold) passed me up with 300 meters to go, he just started taking off and I didn’t know if I was gonna be able to hang on with him. Luckily, I stuck with it and was able to out-kick him.”
Frias out-kicked everyone on the weekend — including the rest of his team, which finished right behind him in both events. The Mustangs finished first and second in the 10,000 and swept all three podium spots the next day in the 5,000 to continue their dominance in the distance events this season. “It was very impressive for him to complete the double,” director of track and field/ cross country Mark Conover said. “He really had good leg speed at the end of both races. After this year, Frias is no stranger to conference titles. He also won the Big West crown in cross country in the fall, finishing with a time of 24:10 on the 8K championship course and helped the Cal Poly men’s team to its 12th Big West title in the past 15 years. “He’s brought a great value to the whole team this year,” Conover said. “We took the top three spots in cross country, so all the guys are used to running with Chris in the workouts. We did the same in all of (last weekend’s) races too. It’s just like they do in training. (Running together up front) is something all the guys are familiar with.” Like many runners, Frias found he had a knack for long distance when he joined the cross country team his freshman year at Buena High School in Ventura. Admittedly, he was just looking for a way
to stay in shape for basketball season, but as his prep career rolled on, the three-sport athlete realized that at 5-foot-7, his chances of playing ball at the next level were slim to none. Distance running, though, was a different story. With personal records of 4:17 in the 1,600 and 9:13 in the 3,200 by the end of his senior year, Frias said he knew running at a higher level could be an option for him. The only question was: What level could he reach? For his former coach at Buena and closest mentor, Wendy Dowler, it was obvious he could succeed at a West Coast distance powerhouse such as Cal Poly. “Some people love to run, some love to race, but Chris really studied his sport,” Dowler said. “That was a little bit of a difference between him and other people.” Another difference? Not many people have an award named after them either. The cross country team coaching staff at Buena instituted the perpetual Chris Frias Award after he pieced together one of the greatest senior seasons Dowler has ever seen. Frias finished his final stint at Buena by securing a spot in the record books as a member of the see FRIAS, pg. 9
Some people love to run, some love to race, but Chris really studied his sport. WENDY DOWLER FRIAS’ FORMER COACH