Larry Lee’s decade in the dugout. SPORTS, pg. 10 Volume LXXVI, Number 124
Thursday, May 17, 2012
State budget could put more strain on CSU SEAN MCMINN
seanmcminn.md@gmail.com
The worst-case fiscal scenario for the California State University (CSU) became even worse Monday when Governor Jerry Brown released his May budget revision. The governor opened up the possibility of a $250 million cut to the CSU next year — $50 million more than what had been on the original budget in January. The cut’s increase can be blamed on a deficit approximately $7 billion more than what Brown expected in January, Brown said at a press conference Monday. According to the governor, this is the result of less income tax collected than was originally anticipated. “It’s a difficult budget and reflects the fact that budgets were lower than expected,” Brown said in the press conference. The CSU budget slash is dependent upon a tax increase voters will face in November. The tax would temporarily raise sales tax from 7.25 percent to 7.5 percent and would increase income tax on those Californians who make more than $250,000 per year. If voters pass the increase, the $250 million “trigger cut” will not take effect; if it fails, the university will have to find a way to run without the money. “If the people say ‘No,’ then we’ll have those trigger cuts,” Brown said. “And it will be
Sigma Pi on probation ALLISON MONTROY
allisonmontroy.md@gmail.com
times, people don’t think about how their gender affects them differently than others because it’s a fact they’ve lived with all their lives, Bilich said. “Gender isn’t necessarily something people might think about a lot just because it’s sort of the water we’re all swimming in,” Bilich said. Bilich’s goal is to help people reach what he calls an “aha moment” when they realize how gender affects their own lives and the lives of others, he said. Other Gender Symposium coordinators such as psychology senior Suzy Gore share that goal. Gore became involved with the Gender Symposium after hearing about it in a women’s and gender studies class. She emailed the Gender Equity Center and agreed to lead one of the student sessions titled, “Gender Expectations: Breaking the Cycle for Today’s Woman.” “We’re going to do an overview of the discrimination the women in America face today,” Gore said. Gore’s session will focus particularly on “multiply-marginalized women,” or women who
The Sigma Pi fraternity is on social probation through the end of the academic year following an investigation after an alleged party where minors with alcohol were involved. Director of Student Life and Leadership Stephan Lamb said the national office conducted an investigation after he received two reports that there may have been alcohol involved with an initiation event. Nationals concluded the two events were separate and not associated with one another. Sigma Pi, however, is still on probation because there was reason to believe minors were provided alcohol at the Foothill Boulevard premises, which Lamb views as a fraternity house. “It’s not a permitted property for a fraternity, but the majority of people in residence are associated with Sigma Pi,” Lamb said. “I make very clear though that I view it as a Sigma Pi house, even though Nationals don’t.” Social probation limits the fraternity from participating in any events associated with alcohol and formal exchanges. Any other activities, including philanthropy, will be presented to Lamb on a caseby-case basis. “In this case, I want to make it really clear to them that subsequent parties at the property that we become aware of involving minors with alcohol will bear a much stronger response,” Lamb said. “You can’t ever go back in time. You can’t go back to square one. We’re at square 10, so the same kind of conversation won’t happen again. I will have to take it to the next level.” Sigma Pi alumnus and San Luis Obispo chapter director Scott Tucker said in a prepared statement that in the investigation, the chapter did not violate any policies, but he found some minor internal issues, and put Sigma Pi on social probation to give the fraternity time to address those issues. “Basically, they can’t have house parties,” Tucker said. Sigma Pi, according to Tucker, can participate in thirdparty and non-social events while on social probation. Student Life and Leadership Coordinator Diego Silva said this year fraternities started a specialized training for risk management. Four members from each chapter will do one training each of CPR and first aid certification, alcohol and drug counseling education, a Safer volunteer training and a general party and risk management training.
see GENDER, pg. 2
see PROBATION, pg. 3
LEZLIE STERLING/MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
California Governor Jerry Brown presented his initial budget proposal in January to an audience of reporters in Sacramento. Since then, Brown has revised his budget due to lower-than-anticipated revenue. felt at UCs; it will be felt at all the Cal State campuses.” The CSU is anticipating the cut as members plan next year’s budget, even though its fate will not be decided until November, university spokesperson Liz Chapin said. The Cal State Board of Trustees, which discussed
potential cost-cutting measures at its meeting last week, will reconvene in July to address the state’s fiscal situation and find ways to address the increase in the possible cut. “It’s still ongoing,” Chapin said. “So right now, they’re still working to develop strategies
regarding the trigger cuts.” Among the potential strategies discussed is the possibility of closing at least one of the CUS system’s 23 campuses, cutting off state funding to wealthier campuses, discontinuing some academic programs or raising tuition. Some speculated one of the cam-
puses to lose funding could be Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or San Diego State University, but the trustees gave no indication that specific action at one of those campuses was being planned. Cal Poly is also planning see BUDGET, pg. 2
Symposium explores gender and culture VICTORIA BILLINGS
Gender isn’t necessarily something people might think about a lot just because it’s sort of the water we’re all swimming in
victoriabillings.md@gmail.com
Gender, race, religion and culture will be in the spotlight this Saturday for the Gender Equity Center’s first Gender Symposium, a meeting of students, faculty and staff to explore how gender impacts all aspects of life. The Gender Symposium is the first event of its kind held by the recently founded Gender Equity Center as part of a refocusing of what was formerly the Women’s Center, said Nicholas Bilich, a Gender Symposium board member and Americorps member with the Gender Equity Center. “It’s a lot of interesting and controversial topics about gender and intersection with religion, race and culture,” Bilich said.
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NICHOLAS BILICH GENDER SYMPOSIUM BOARD MEMBER
The Gender Equity Center was looking for ways to reach out and impact the Cal Poly community with these topics when they came across the idea of a Gender Symposium, Bilich said. “We were just researching what other centers have done in the past,” Bilich said. “We found there’s a couple colleges across the country that have been doing Gender Symposiums for
the last 20 years.” These symposiums are typically run like open discussion forums, though the Gender Equity center opted to model Cal Poly’s symposium after a conference format, Bilich said. The Gender Equity Center invited San Jose State University Professor Jason Laker, an expert on masculinity studies, as the keynote speaker. After Laker’s address, participants will be able
to break off into student-led discussion sessions ranging from topics such as “Sex in the Bible” to “The Development of Consent: A Proposal to Shift Towards Matching Expectations.” Finally, several guest speakers, Cal Poly faculty and staff will lead two panels: one on “Gender in the Christian Faith” and the other on “The Intersections of Gender, Race and Culture.” Q-and-A sessions are scheduled between each panel and talk to maintain that open discussion-symposium atmosphere, Bilich said. “It’s going to be a pretty wide array of topics that are going to get thrown out there,” Bilich said. These topics need to be raised because of how often they are overlooked. Often-
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Students raise awareness about the Middle East MERCEDES RODRIGUEZ
mercedesrodriguez.md@gmail.com
It’s easy to lose sight of the rich, cultural history of the Middle East with political tumult dominating the region, but Cal Poly’s Students for Justice and Peace in the Middle East have created a week dedicated to Middle Eastern food, music and the region’s past and present. Middle Eastern Week 2012 takes place May 15 through 22. The week started Tuesday with “Arabia-3D,” an event co-hosted by the Muslim Student Association to discuss the history and faith of the Arab people. Music fans will be able to enjoy the musical stylings of the Arab Music Ensemble on Saturday, May 19, when the ensemble previews its spring performance with a dance and food accompaniment. It will be led by Kenneth Habib, an associate music professor in music history and theory as well as ethnomusicology. “It’s going to be a wonderful excerpt of the Arabic culture. Petra will be catering, and there will be dancing,” social chair of Students for Justice and Peace in the Middle East and information technologies senior Philip Chehade said. Another major feature of the week will be an installation on Dexter Lawn May 21 and 22, illustrating the separation between Israelis and Palestinians. The day will end with two docu-
GENDER continued from page 1
face multiple forms of discrimination, such as women of color, Gore said. This will include a discussion of how some oppressed women internalize that discrimination and (how) it affects their own decisions, Gore said. Gore wants the session to help people better understand women’s situations, she said. “I hope it will give people a better perspective of what women feel because of the discrimination and how it affects their choices,” Gore said.
COURTESY PHOTO
A wall showing the separation of Israelis and Palestinians was last placed on Dexter Lawn two years ago. Its centralized location makes it visible for raising awareness during the week. mentary screenings about the wall, one narrated by Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame. Chehade explained that the installation’s centralized location means that it ends up being the most visible and wellattended event of Middle East Awareness Week. “We’re basically discussing the wall that is currently in place separating Israeli lands from Palestinian ones, as well as Israeli settlements in Palestine. We want to be a club that shows both sides of the story, and presents the facts of the matter,” Chehade said. Haroun Idris is the mentor for Students for Justice and Peace in
the Middle East. The club’s website states they are “focused on creating awareness, promoting peace and advocating justice in the Middle East.” “We’ve done an awareness week every year in spring quarter, but this year we’re mixing it up by including cultural events,” Idris said. “Most people don’t know much about the Middle East, and hopefully, they walk away with a good understanding.” Idris said the installation was a popular event when it was last presented two years ago on Dexter Lawn, and seconded Chehade’s assessment that it is generally the most visible event
Other sessions focus less on gender and more on culture and sexuality such as “Sex in the Bible,” led by psychology junior Caitlin Fuller. Fuller, who works as a student assistant with Safer, first spoke with Bilich when she heard about the Gender Symposium to see how she could participate. Together, they decided to focus on how two of Fuller’s interests, sexuality and religion, intersect. “It really fascinates me the different outlooks that different religions have, especially on campus,” Fuller said. Fuller will be leading the session with psychology junior Blake Williams, who has
read the Bible front to back, Fuller said. The session will touch on some difficult and controversial issues, but Fuller believes it will be a good thing. “People’s perspectives may be broadened in some ways,” Fuller said. “It’s going to be a great experience and very controversial.” While free, the Gender Symposium only had 90 open spaces and attendees were required to register. As of yesterday, all of the spaces were filled with 80 to 90 percent of those registered being students. “Next year, we’ll definitely be using a larger venue,” Bilich said.
BUDGET
fund higher education. He suggested a “trigger on the trigger” that could mean immediate action if Brown’s trigger cuts come into effect, possibly including further tuition hikes. “Let’s shoot back,” he said. “Let’s pull another trigger.” But some California analysts predict Brown and Reed may not need to pull their triggers. Cal Poly political science professor and former San Luis Obispo City Councilman Allen Settle said polls show voters will likely pass the governor’s tax initiative in November, provided it stands alone on the ballot. But the tax increase’s biggest roadblock, Settle said, is the potential of another tax proposal being on the ballot next to the governor’s. This second tax increase would ask voters to pay more for K-12 education in the state
continued from page 1
next year’s finances as though the cuts will take place, Vice President of Finance Larry Kelley wrote in an email. According to Kelley, the university will use one-time funding collected this year by higher than expected student retention rates to help offset the potential cut. “Because of the uncertainty, the plan is to address the possible shortfall in the budget, primarily with one-time funding that is projected to develop from the current year budget,” Kelley wrote. CSU Chancellor Charles Reed said at last week’s meeting that the CSU needs to increase pressure on the state to
of the week. “There are always various things going on in the Middle East that many people don’t really know about. I think Students for Justice and Peace in the Middle East are doing great things with their social activism. If anything, just becoming more aware with what’s going on is the most important step when wanting change,” communication studies senior Fatema Etemadi said. Middle East Awareness Week events will be taking place throughout the week. The Arabian Nights musical event will take place May 19 at 7 p.m. in the University Union, room 220.
PROBATION continued from page 1
“Education is the best way to prevent anything,” Silva said. Silva said Carson Starkey’s death in 2008 from alcohol poisoning after an alleged hazing event “has definitely changed the way the university reacts to any fraternity or sorority incidents.” Sigma Pi president and sociology junior Cameron Rodriguez was not available for comment.
by increasing income tax rates across all income levels. Settle said Brown is doing his “damnedest” to make sure voters do not see both taxes on the ballot because it would significantly lower the chance the governor’s tax proposal will pass. “The economy is such right now that the voters are kind of angry,” Settle said. “They don’t like the size of government. They don’t like the way they’re spending.” The CSU has taken $750 million in cuts during the past two years, prompting several tuition increases and the implementation of costcutting measures, including a systemwide 16 unit cap. If the tax proposal fails and the trigger cuts come into effect, the CSU’s yearly funding will fall to $1.8 billion, a 17-year low for the university system.
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Drug smuggling tunnels targeted by new law RICHARD SIMON
Los Angeles Times
Responding to an increase in smuggling tunnels along the California and Arizona borders, the House on Wednesday passed legislation aimed at helping law enforcement combat underground drug trafficking. In a rare bipartisan vote, the House overwhelmingly approved the Border Tunnel Prevention Act. In 2006, President George W. Bush signed legislation making it a federal crime to build or finance a cross-border tunnel to smuggle drugs, illegal immigrants and weapons. Sponsors of the new bill said the 2006 law needs to be strengthened because tunnels are still being discovered — 40 in California and 74 in Arizona since 2006, according to federal officials. The legislation would make it a crime to attempt or conspire to build, finance or use an illegal cross-border tunnel. It would allow law enforcement to seek judicial approval to use wiretap-
ping in investigations of the tunnels and permit seizure of cash or other property brought into the U.S. in an illegal tunnel. It also would allow prosecutors to pursue money-laundering charges in tunnel cases. “This bill reaffirms our determination to bring an end to cross-border tunnels,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, the bill’s chief sponsor, said it would close loopholes in existing law and “improve the tools available to investigate and prosecute individuals who construct cross-border tunnels.” A similar bill has passed the Senate. Its chief sponsor, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., pledged to work to move a final bill to President Barack Obama’s desk. U.S. agents use a range of devices from ground-penetrating radar to seismic sensors to try to find and destroy tunnels. “But despite these efforts, drug smugglers continue to build the tunnels, often spending $1 million to dig a single
pathway equipped with lighting, ventilation, water pumps, and hydraulic elevators,” according to a House Judiciary Committee report. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., a House Judiciary Committee member who was one of the dissenters in the 416-4 vote, questioned whether the legislation was needed. “While I do think border tunnels are a serious problem, I believe we already have adequate laws with very harsh penalties to deal with the problem,” he said. The 2006 law was passed after the discovery of a tunnel spanning nearly half a mile from a nondescript industrial building in Tijuana, Mexico, to an Otay Mesa warehouse and equipped with lighting, ventilation and a pulley system. It made it a federal crime, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, to build or finance an illegal cross-border tunnel, and subjected property owners to a maximum 10 years in prison for allowing construction of a cross-border tunnel on their land.
ASI Board of Directors meeting roundup Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) Board of Directors met May 16 for its biweekly meeting in the University Union (UU), room 220. Topics discussed included: ASI Upcoming Concerts in the Plaza are: • Damon Castillo Band Concert today • Hieroglyphics next Thursday Kiyana Tabrizi, ASI president reported: • “We want to have the Board of Trustees really seriously consider the three-tier model for tuition.” • The Student Success Fee poll on the My Cal Poly Portal showed that “overwhelmingly students wanted more classes or more ‘Learn By Doing’ opportunities.” Karen Mesrobian, chair of University Union Advisory Board (UUAB) reported: • Charging stations for electronics will be put in the UU this fall. Each will have up to 12 adapter cords that will provide a full charge in 15 minutes. • The towel service in the Recreation Center will be
reevaluated. • Two frozen yogurt companies have submitted proposals to UUAB to potentially be featured in the UU. Jim LoCascio, academic senate representative reported: • The concept of a charter CSU was brought up at the statewide senate. This proposal means some campuses would be cut off from state funding and would raise tuition to pay for their campus. The two campuses being considered are Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and San Diego State University. • At the statewide senate meet-
ing, the chancellor stated that quarters versus semesters will be a campus decision. He would like everyone on semesters, but he won’t force anyone. Brianna Mulligan, director of the ASI development and recruitment committee reported: • ASI is still recruiting for executive cabinet and UUAB. Katie Brennan was ratified as the 2012-13 ASI Chief of Staff. Kaitlin Harr was voted as the 2012-13 ASI Chair of the Board.
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Journal celebrates Cal Poly writers DAVID LIEBIG
davidliebig.md@gmail.com
“Byzantium” has arrived. The literary journal showcasing the winners of Cal Poly’s creative writing contest will be unveiled Saturday at Sally Loo’s Wholesome Café. The Al Landwehr Creative Writing Contest, which started in the ‘70s, awards monetary prizes to six students — first, second and third place winners for both poetry and fiction — whose work is chosen anonymously by judges in the English department. This year, Kate Sugar took first place in poetry, while Aaron
Rowley won for fiction. Both will receive $100 at the unveiling event. The winning pieces and a number of editors’ selections are published as “Byzantium.” “This journal, in a way, hosts the future of California writing,” said English Professor Kevin Clark, who oversees the making of “Byzantium.” The annual has been compiled, edited and designed by students since its first volume in 1991. Before that, Mustang Daily published the contest’s winning works but stopped for budgetary reasons. English senior Brita Shallcross, English junior Chrissy Berry and art and design senior Catherine King undertook “Byzantium” as their senior projects. Clark said this year’s editors
have been “spectacular.” “Being an editor of Byzantium is not simply (choosing the editors’ selection pieces),” Clark said. “It’s much more than that.” Shallcross and Berry spent several months fundraising, proofreading and working with the contest judges. As art director, King crafted the journal’s design theme. Shallcross said this year’s theme, dubbed “Journey,” draws from the nostalgic image of a typewriter. The cover art features an oldfashioned typewriter, and the typeface throughout mimics that of a typewriter. “Anyone can interpret (the title) the way they want — a spiritual journey, an emotional journey, a physical journey,” she said. “But a
typewriter kind of condenses that into one image, and I like the iconic, almost rustic feel of the typewriter.” Shallcross said she “couldn’t be happier” with the finished product. “I definitely teared up when I was opening the first box and I pulled it out,” Shallcross said. “It was kind of surreal to be working on something for so long and then to hold it in my hands and know that I did this.” Shallcross said the poems and stories chosen this year also reflect a high caliber of work. Sugar’s first-place poem, “Corpses of Lovers Planted Here,” is a see JOURNAL, pg. 6
GRAPHIC BY MELISSA WONG/MUSTANG DAILY
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Make your ice cream, eat it too at Doc Burnstein’s Erin Hurley is a journalism senior and Mustang Daily SLO lifestyle columnist. When the weather gets really hot, there are very few things I actually feel like doing. Everything is suddenly way too much effort. And the only activities that sound good involve some way of cooling down — at least those are the kind that appeal to me. One thing I feel is a universal go-to when the weather gets hot is ice cream. There’s nothing better than a crunchy waff le cone filled with your favorite f lavor. And if you want a local ice cream experience that’s unique and fun, it’s got to be Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab in Arroyo Grande. Owner Greg Steinberger calls it “the ultimate ice cream experience.” “The neatest thing about ice cream is everybody loves it because it always evokes memories, and they’re always positive memories,” Steinberger said. This place is a lot more than just your average ice cream shop. It’s got an old-fashioned feeling that is really fun. And you can’t miss the model train track going around the top of the walls. The shop’s original owner, Chuck Burns, loved trains, Steinberger said, so they have been a part of the place from the start (when it was Burnardo’z Candy Kitchen and Ice Cream Parlor). Steinberger continued the tradition when he took over the shop in 2003. Burns taught Steinberger his secrets and shared his recipes, Steinberger said, and he even combined his and Burns’ names in creating the name for the new shop. Get it? Burnstein? I love it. Obviously a great ice cream shop has to have a great product, and this place has
the reputation to prove it. The original store opened by Burns in 1976 was two years before Ben and Jerry’s, Steinberger said, and by the time Burns sold it in the early 1990s, he had seven locations and shipped his ice cream as far as Fresno. Doc Burnstein’s has all the standard flavors for the traditionalists, but it also has some really distinct ones. The flavor I noticed immediately was the Merlot Raspberry Truffle — Steinberger said it’s become his signature flavor made with a specially-produced wine. Then there’s Motor Oil, which was originally made for a car show weekend in Pismo Beach, but Steinberger said people wanted it to be a regular flavor. Right now, the shop is even making an avocado ice cream for Sunset magazine. “The inspiration comes often from customers and ideas, but sometimes it’s just a special event,” Steinberger said. “Sometimes they stick, sometimes they don’t.” The best part about Doc Burnstein’s flavor offerings is the shop gets a new addition each week from the Wednesday night ice cream lab show. During the “show,” the audience decides on a flavor and ingredients; and those are made into the weekend’s featured flavor right before their eyes. Doc Burnstein’s has been doing the labs for six years, Steinberger said, and lately, it’s been getting more popular. Last week it was “Rooster Cream” — root beer ice cream with gummy worms, Poppycock popcorn, candy corn and Robin Eggs. And Doc Burnstein’s does more than just offer great ice cream — the shop is also involved in the community in a number of ways. Last summer, employees built a 100inch version of one of their
ice cream sandwiches for the city of Arroyo Grande’s 100th anniversary. It was so big it had to be put together in two pieces, used 30 gallons of ice cream and served 1,200 people. No joke. Steinberger said these ice cream sandwiches are available for fundraisers or company events, or if you just have a group of 1,200 friends who want ice cream. He also said he wants to get the Guinness Book of World Records to recognize it as the largest commercially available ice cream sandwich in the world. The shop also holds reading labs on Tuesday nights where kids can come and listen to books read by local storytellers, and every two months, it has blood drives. Steinberger said the shop pledges 10 percent of yearly profits to local schools too. Being involved in the community is important for Doc Burnstein’s, he said. “It’s a big part of who we want to be,” Steinberger said. “We want to do what we can to give back.” Doc Burnstein’s has another location in Orcutt which opened in late February, and Steinberger said he wants to expand to San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles in the future. It’s “very uplifting” for Steinberger to help people make lasting memories at the shop, and he has come to realize how much his business
can impact the community. “It’s very meaningful to know that it’s going to be well-remembered even after I’m gone and hopefully carry on after I’m gone.” At Doc Burnstein’s people don’t come just to get ice cream, Steinberger said, people come here to feel good, so the shop tries to create that kind of experience for customers with everything they do. “We want to make sure that every experience here is memorable, and that it’s just something that stands out above other ice cream shops,” Burnstein said. “It’s not just about the ice cream, it’s about the ice cream experience.”
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JOURNAL continued from page 4
conversation between two dead people, one of them questioning how they died. “It is a strange piece that was originally inspired by the literature I was reading for one of my major courses,” Sugar said in an email. “It started out as a poem about nature and death, and somehow became more of a love poem.” Sugar, an English senior set to pursue a master of fine arts degree at Columbia University in the fall, originally wrote the piece for a literature class, but she refined the poem in Clark’s advanced poetry workshop. Creative writing professors, such as Clark, do not judge the contest because students often submit work written in their classes. Rowley, on the other hand, is a biomedical engineering senior who has never taken a creative writing course. His first-place story, “A New View,” follows a dialogue between an old man and a younger man whose paths have crossed at a crucial moment. Although Rowley has been published in “Byzantium” twice before, this is his first time winning the contest. “I feel like it was way more meaningful than it would have been if I had won it another year because it’s my last year to even enter,” he said. “So I feel like going out with that win is rad.” Rowley said he doesn’t have any firm plans to pursue writing after graduation, but he holds it in “equal regard” to engineering. “Maybe I’ll be able to balance both those fields in some way, but just because I’m majoring in engineering doesn’t mean I won’t pursue writ-
This journal, in a way, hosts the future of California writing. KEVIN CLARK ENGLISH PROFESSOR
ing,” he said. “It’s just a matter of figuring out what I’m going to pursue.” For now, Rowley said he is looking forward to Saturday’s unveiling event, where he and the other selectees will have the opportunity to read their works. “It’s going to be a blast,” Rowley said. “I’m extremely excited to hear the other pieces, because they’re al-
ways so good.” Starting at 7 p.m., the chosen poets will read their poems, Rowley will read his entire story and the other fiction selectees will share three minutes worth of their stories. “Byzantium” will be available for free at the event, as well as in the English Department office in Faculty Offices North, room 32.
“Park it like it’s hot” • PHOTO CREDIT Krisha Agatep •
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Thursday, May 17, 2012 Volume LXXVI, Number 124 ©2012 Mustang Daily
“Don’t touch my face!”
Nearly there: Marriage equality in America Andrew Bloom is an English senior and Mustang Daily liberal columnist. It’s not that I occasionally have to scrape the bottom of the political barrel to find Lasagna-worthy subject matter, it’s just that so much of the news out there bores me to such tears that I cannot bring myself to contribute to any more redundant opinions and tossed salads of speculation. But last week, I knew this Lasagna would flow abundantly. Last week, President Obama admitted his support for same-sex marriage in America. Granted, it came in an ABC interview in the hurried aftermath of Joe Biden in full Jason Sudeikis-mode spilling the beans, and only after polls measuring Americans’ support for marriage equality reached all-time highs, but Obama’s support is support nonetheless. It is time for the federal government to recede from our bedrooms, for a sitting president to rally behind the endeavor to make it happen. No matter what happens next, last week’s announcement will be remembered with unanimous goodness, the sincerest praise. But before the goodness, first some of the bad and the ugly. The bad: There are obviously going to be wide-rippling consequences for the election. I am used to averting my cynical eyes whenever a politician claims a major policy decision was motivated by talks with “friends and family and neighbors,” as Obama put it. (And neighbors? What neighbors does the President have?) But for an entire electorate of Americans to swallow that this course-correction was something other than a coldly calculated political stratagem seems unlikely. This is not necessarily a deal-breaker, but certainly a reminder that the idealism which marked this leader’s campaign in
2008 has been mulled somewhat by these years of vitriol and obstructionism. Nevertheless, I feel if there ever was a decision that ought to be made in the smoky White House corridors of a lame-duck President, it is this one. That same-sex marriage is now a real issue — one that will considerably jiggle the final numbers on the November referendum — has given me, and I suspect others, the first real jolt of the season. Instead of feeling historical, the conjoining of the prospects for same-sex couples with those of President Obama’s re-election feels awkward. A Presidential election is too silly, too garish, too conflated with dueling personalities (blonde reporters asking passers-by: which candidate would you rather have brunch with?) to mother an issue so serious and important. And the ugly? If this gambit of Obama’s goes south and we somehow end up with a bewildered Mitt Romney holding the highest office in the land, I feel we can rest assured that same-sex couples will have another extraordinarily long wait before another serious, progressive-minded leader dares to touch the issue again. The contentious issues in a democracy evolve over time; political suicide does not.
Though the projections for the Electoral College (this is the thing that matters in a presidential election, those of you who scrunch your eyebrows) continue to forecast Obama’s re-election by an adroit margin, the popular polls are leveling off lately. While the Obama administration enjoys the boon in fundraising from cats fat and thin in the announcement’s wake, culminating perhaps with the $40,000-per-plate dinner thrown by none other than the leader of our generation’s rat pack, George Clooney, the Romney camp has enjoyed a flux of voters whose chief demographic feature is intolerance more than anything else. And this brings us to the bleakest possibility liberals must confront as the same-sex marriage issue seems poised to be decided one way or another, once-and-for-awhile: just as China tyrannizes Tibet, just as Russia stifles protest, perhaps in America we just don’t like gay people. Certainly not married ones. All nations must have their own jaundiced eyes for one group or another — why should America be any different? Why should the Medievalists who somehow still manage to keep Limbaugh on the air be denied yet another victory? Why should the free
and equal society promised by the Constitution, among other things, be actualized anywhere beyond taunts and cries of socialism? These are certainly among the most jaded, sardonic words I’ve penned here, but I feel the seriousness of this issue, the sheer multitude of hopes that now rest in our democratic politics, warrants them. To regard this issue without this sobering caveat carries the odor of triteness, of a teenager’s wistful arête. I promised good news, so here is some: The left is reenergized. Here is a worthy cause that you can support without having to pitch a tent anywhere. Here is cause that is objectively meaningful: the chance to extend a bit more freedom to a few more people seems to me one of the most laudable civic accomplishments one could hope to be a part of. (Think of how silly all these zealous protestors will look in 40 years.) Just as marriage inequality seems oddly misplaced in the 21st century, it is high time our generation accomplished something measurably awesome. So let’s all get on the bandwagon, support this president through the election, and keep the pressure on him to prioritize same-sex marriage in the next four years.
Grads need training in Western civilization Jane Shaw is president of the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy. Something we haven’t heard many university commencement speakers discuss this year is our Western heritage — or the related topics of “Western civilization,” “Great Books” or “the classics.” The hostility to such topics is not new; it goes back at least four decades. It reached its apex in 1988, when Jesse Jackson led a demonstration at Stanford University, chanting “Hey hey, ho ho, Western Civ has got to go” — referring to a Stanford course that featured such authors as Homer and Voltaire. Stanford did, of course, drop the course, and since that time most schools that even bother to teach “Western Civ” have tended to apologize for doing so. Many academics, politicians and self-professed intellectuals dismiss 2,000 years of Western writing and thinking as the offspring of an imperialistic, sexist and despotic European culture, whose last remnant is found in the United States. They view the Great Books of our heritage as antiquated and illegitimate, unworthy of a contemporary education. To the contrary, if we delegitimize “Western civilization” we delegitimize humankind’s long march from drudgery to comparative luxury. As Nathan Rosenberg and L.E. Birdzell, Jr., wrote in their book, “How the West Grew Rich,” “If we take the long view of human history and
judge the economic lives of our ancestors by modern standards, it is a story of almost unrelieved wretchedness.” What made this transition from “unrelieved wretchedness” possible? While experts offer many opinions, there is widespread agreement among serious scholars that the economic forces of the Industrial Revolution largely were responsible — and that these forces were closely intertwined with the development of ideas about liberty. Liberty was a necessary precursor to the Industrial Revolution because it made possible the freedom to own property, the freedom of scientific inquiry and the freedom to explore new ideas. But how did we get those freedoms? The idea that people have an inalienable right to be free (however much they are enslaved in practice) must have come from somewhere. The study of Western civilization explains the origins. Some people (I am one) argue that the transformation of the West started with new concepts introduced as far back as early Judaism and Christianity, such as the separation of divine and earthly sovereignty. Others credit the Middle Ages, thanks to competition caused by fragmented power (popes, kings, nobility and cities vying with one another) and the development of property rights out
of feudalism. Others believe the phenomenon came much later, reflecting the science of Francis Bacon, the support of free speech by John Milton, the property theories of John Locke and the classical liberalism of Adam Smith. To argue for the study of Western civilization is not to argue against the study of Eastern civilization or African or native American civilizations. At the very least, however, the intellectual history of Europe — with its foundations in the cultures of Greece and Rome and in the religions of the Middle East, including Islam — chronicles the gradual, fitful and often violent progress of humans toward freedom. While the writings of “dead white males,” such as Bacon and Locke,
may not have caused the transformation of the world into its modern condition, in which liberty is considered inalienable, those writings accompanied that development and shed light on it. Not all “Great Books,” of course, are inherently great in terms of their insights, beauty of language or precision of logic — though many are. They are worth reading and studying, however, because they chronicle human progress and the monumental changes that enabled vast numbers of people to move out of desperate poverty to a decent life. Commencement speakers who focus only on the here and now do us a great disservice.
Perhaps the greek community could have raised more, but this article is intended to celebrate the amount that was actually raised. And while $6,000 may not seem like a huge amount, I think it’s extremely important to note that it is still a TERRIFIC contribution to our community — EVERY little bit helps! Additionally, raising money is not the only way in which the greek community gave back during this week. Many of these men and women donated their time and energy by doing community service. I also think you should look at how much each chapter raises individually to give money to their philanthropies of choice before you mock the greek community’s philanthropic acts. Just to leave you with some statistics: • As undergraduates, greeks raise approximately $7 million per year for charities. • As undergraduates, greeks give approximately 850,000 volunteer hours per year In conclusion, QWERTY, shame on you for mocking this philanthropic contribution to our community. Voicing your opinion about how the Mustang Daily conducts itself is respectable, but to insult and minimize a philanthropic act of any kind is immature and pointless. If you’d like to see a change, get involved and make a difference. —* In response to “Greek life donates thousands” The quarter system might have some perks, but the schedule isn’t one of them. Getting out of school in early May is awesome. Being in school in early May is not. Going back to school in August is fun and exciting. Being at home after all your friends have already left is not. Sorry, the quarter kids have the better schedule; that’s just how it is. —Semester Student In response to “The truth behind freshmen lies” Qwerty my man. I’m going to make a bold prediction and assume during Greek Week you did not donate a single dollar to charity on your own time. I don’t see how this is a useless article. It reported the facts as they were and brings to light a more balanced view of greek life. It’s a shame you were blackballed during rush or else you could’ve done some good for the community during this week.
— Qwerty wears cargo
shorts In response to “Greek life donates thousands”
BARRIE MAGUIRE/NEWSART
MUSTANG DAILY
NOTE: The Mustang Daily features select comments that are written in response to articles posted online. Though not all the responses are printed, the Mustang Daily prints comments that are coherent and foster intelligent discussion on a given subject. No overcapitalization, please.
MDsports 8
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Lacrosse into national semifinal ALLISON MONTROY
allisonmontroy.md@gmail.com
Seniors Scott Heberer and Matt Graupmann started playing lacrosse together when they were in the seventh grade. Ten years later, they are leading the Cal Poly men’s lacrosse team into nationals ranked as the No. 1 seed in the country. This week, the lacrosse team made it past the first round and quarterfinals to the final four playing for the top spot in the Men’s College Lacrosse Association (MCLA) national tournament in Greenville, S.C., after winning the West Coast Lacrosse League (WCLL) title for the fourth year in a row. “It’s always exciting when we get our bid to nationals,” Graupmann said. “I’m excit-
ed, it’s pretty much lacrosse all week. We fly out Saturday, practice Sunday, our first game is Monday; if we win that, we have another game Tuesday, semi-finals Thursday and finals Saturday.” The Cal Poly men’s lacrosse team is a club sport operated under Student Life and Leadership. Of the 50 players on the team, 41 will be competing this week. Cal Poly has never before won a MCLA championship, Graupmann said. In the past three years, the team has lost in the first round every time. “It kills me,” Graupmann said. “Cal Poly doesn’t have a very deep history of going far in this tournament, but that’s why there’s a lot of excitement (this year). I’ve been getting a lot of calls from alumni cheering us
on and encouraging us because they’re excited about the chance we have.” Right now, the team’s record stands at 18-1 and with the bracket lineup, it has a good chance of going far in nationals, Graupmann said. “All the teams that I wouldn’t want to see until the end of the tournament are on the other side of the bracket,” he said. “I think we can go all the way. Everyone is ready to go. We’re fired up. We can win it all.” With more than 80 teams in the league, “being the best is just a huge gratification of hard work paying off in the end,” Graupmann said. “I would get a huge sense of pride being able to say I won a national championship.” Graupmann said the team’s success this year has a lot to do
with the players’ confidence at each game. “It’s not really are we going to lose or win, it’s when are we going to win,” he said. “You might mistake it for cockiness, but we have a really confident team this year, and having that mental edge can really push you through a game.” Founded in the ‘80s, the team practices an average of 10 hours a week, and starting in February, travels almost every weekend to divisional games for the WCLL. Balancing school and sport takes a lot of time management, Graupmann said, but professors are generally understanding. “A lot of the teachers at Poly acknowledge what we’re trying to do, and push us to achieve our goals athletically while pushing us academically,” Graupmann said. “I’ve found a lot of teachers will go out of their way to help us because they know we’re making a good name for the school.” see LACROSSE, pg. 9
PHOTO COURTESY OF GLENN FUJINAKA
Cal Poly men’s lacrosse defeated Minnesota Duluth in the first round of the MCLA national tournament in South Carolina on Monday.
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CROSSWORD PUZZLE
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Thursday, May 17, 2012
LACROSSE continued from page 8
The WCLL requires a minimum 2.0 GPA and an average enrollment of at least 12 units per quarter. Team captain and senior Tim DeSimone said most of the members of the team are used to days filled with school and sport, and being students at a competitive school hasn’t stopped them from being No. 1 in the nation for the past month. “There’s something to be said for being so highly ranked on just a club team, with a hard school that’s hard to get into and still playing at such a high level,” DeSimone said. “There’s a lot of kids that are very smart and have very difficult majors that are at every practice without an excuse.” DeSimone said the lacrosse team has already beaten every team they could face this week. “It’s more of our tournament to lose; I think we could run the table for sure.” This season, more than 11 players on the lacrosse team are seniors. Captain and senior Scott Heberer said not only have he and Graupmann been on the same team for many years, but there is a strong core of seniors that have been playing together since their freshman year. “We have all grown together, and the leadership has sort of evolved throughout the years,” Heberer said. “This is our last year together. This year, this is our year.” Heberer said the key to doing well in nationals is to keep practices competitive. “We have a little chip on our shoulder,” Heberer said. “We know we have confidence that we can pull off the game and come from behind; we know we are capable and have the maturity.” Heberer and Graupmann
both said playing together for so many years has been fun. “You can see our chemistry on the field,” Graupmann said. “(Heberer) will make eyes with me almost and throw the ball and I’ll be able to go catch it and shoot. It’s just one of those things from playing together so long, we’re usually on the same page.” Even after 10 years of playing lacrosse, “all the time is worth it to me,” Graupmann said. “I just really love the game. I hate losing. I love being involved athletically. It’s so much fun to me that there’s no reason why I would not play.” If Cal Poly defeats Arizona State University in the final four round today, the team will play the winner of the Brigham Young University versus Colorado State University game for the MCLA championship.
LEE continued from page 10
“(Lee) is one of the reasons why I chose Cal Poly,” Haniger said. “He really preaches being the best hitter you can be.” Kelly is also a product of Lee’s tutelage and understands his unrivaled ability to connect with the young “kids” on the diamond. Kelly was a pitcher under Lee at Cuesta in 2001. Although Kelly only pitched for a single season with the Cougars, Lee liked what he saw from the hurler and asked him to join the Mustang staff in 2007. In his seven years spent with Lee, Kelly said he most fondly remembers his days at Cuesta. In a regional championship game in 2001, Kelly recounts Lee’s
elation following a walk-off home run hit by the ninth batter in the order. As soon as the ball left the hitter’s bat, Lee put his hands up in anticipation of the gamewinning drive and let out an uncharacteristic, euphoric yell to punctuate an important win for the Cougars. “That was one of the first times when I was like ‘Holy cow, this is big; this is a big deal to him,’” Kelly said. “Seeing that raw emotion from him was a really cool thing.” Raw emotion isn’t necessarily Lee’s thing, though. His demeanor comes off as stoic and professional — those that know him best say that isn’t always the case though. As a leader, it’s necessary for him to present himself in a collected manner for his players to emulate, but underneath that harder outer shell lies a
softer core. He’s a “player’s coach,” Kelly said. Senior starting pitcher Kyle Anderson agreed that Lee’s disposition might be a bit intimidating as a young player, but his ultimate goal is to help players reach their full potential. “He tells you how it is,” Anderson said. “He’s not gonna sugarcoat anything. If you’re not doing well, he’ll tell you you’re bad. It only helps you out though.” Six games left in the regular
season means six more opportunities to make an impression on the NCAA selection committee. But Lee isn’t stressing over the final two weeks of the season. He said he believes that if this team truly deserves to make it to the postseason, all its hard work will pay off and it will earn a bid. When asked if he thinks the 2012 squad has what it takes to make it to regionals, Lee apathetically shrugged and said, “We’ll see.”
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LEE
LARRY
Thursday, May 17, 2012
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MAX ZERONIAN
A DECADE IN THE DUGOUT STEPHAN TEODOSESCU
stephanteodosescu.md@gmail.com
T
he head coach steps out onto the baseball diamond and into the afternoon sunlight. As his team stretches on the outfield grass, Larry Lee can be seen cracking a smile near the dugout. It’s a smile that will likely be replaced by a much more determined face once the practice session begins. In his 10th year on the job, the homegrown coach has plenty to grin at, but today it’s going to be strictly business. Along with the sound of aluminum bats, Lee’s calm, yet hardnosed demeanor resonates through the air as he instructs the Cal Poly baseball team on the structure of practice. The squad is coming off a recent 3-1 series win against non-conference opponent Cal State Bakersfield and is looking forward to the dying stretch of a grueling 56-game schedule. It’s Lee’s job to make sure his guys don’t dwell on the season behind them, but rather, focus
on the remaining six conference games ahead of them. “This team understands how important every win is,” Lee said in a nonchalant tone. “We’ve stressed that throughout the course of the year … but we really don’t bring it up anymore; we know that we have to win as many games as possible. And if that’s good enough, then great; and if not, that will be disappointing.” Lee was raised just a few blocks away from Cal Poly’s campus and Baggett Stadium. As a kid, his life was consumed by sports. His father coached baseball, basketball, football and most notably, the boxing team in 38 years at Cal Poly. His mother was also a coach and a teacher at San Luis Obispo High School. After many successful seasons, including one that produced a national champion boxer in Eduardo Ochoa, Tom Lee was inducted into the Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame in 1990. Lee said that without his dad’s influence, he might not be coaching today. “We were all influenced by my dad,” he said. “We were just brainwashed into sports.” Growing up, Lee was a three-sport athlete playing basketball, football and baseball. While talented in all, the coach decided to pursue baseball in college and professionally, following in his brothers’ footsteps. Lee was the youngest of three brothers and admits he had a better capacity to understand his potential as a professional baseball player after college. Lee, a 1979 San Luis Obispo High alumnus, played baseball for Santa Barbara City College and Orange Coast College before transferring to Pepperdine University. He had a laudable career with the Waves, batting .304 overall, and helped the team earn an NCAA West Regional berth as a junior. He went on to play a year in the minor leagues with the Utica Blue Sox before making an impromptu decision to leave his playing career behind in his second year as a professional. Lee finished his career in the Seattle Mariners’ organization. “I weighed my options, and I didn’t think I was going to play at the major-league level,” he said. “So, I actually walked out of spring training.” Two days later he was back in San Luis Obispo taking classes, working his way to a master’s degree in physical education. It was where Lee belonged, and he doesn’t regret the decision. “Cal Poly was like my backyard (growing up),” he said. “Especially in the summers, I spent a lot of time here ... I’m sure I made the right choice.” His decision to walk out on a potentially lucrative professional career wasn’t a childish impulse based on poor performance; in fact, it was quite the opposite. Lee, a mature 23-year-old, hit over .300 in the minors, but having seen his brothers’ f u - tile attempts
He’s not gonna sugarcoat anything. If you’re not doing well, he’ll tell you you’re bad. It only helps you out though. KYLE ANDERSON STARTING PITCHER
to make it to the highest level, he opted for a change of careers. His true passion rested on coaching, just like his father. Lee took the reins of the Cuesta College baseball team in 1986 and didn’t let go for the next 16 years. He amassed an exceptional 460-241-3 record with the Cougars and led the team to 11 regional appearances, including four trips to the California Community College State Final Four in his final 13 years. He is currently 15th in all-time wins among community college coaches. “There’s a lot of people in college baseball that know the game forward and backward, but I think there are only a handful of guys who can really teach fundamentals of baseball (like Lee does) in a way that 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kids can really pick up on,” Cal Poly pitching coach Jason Kelly said. Lee brought his coaching touch to Cal Poly in 2003. With it, he inherited a team that plays in one of the toughest collegiate baseball conferences in the country, essentially facing baseball royalty in Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State. In addition to playing Big West foes, Lee schedules tough non-conference opponents to bolster his team’s visibility to the NCAA selection committee. Even so, the fact that it’s a lesser known baseball school on the West Coast has proved tough for Cal Poly to earn an NCAA Regional bid in recent years. Overall, Lee said he is critical of the NCAA’s RPI formula that ranks teams based on their wins, losses and strength of schedule. “You still have to win ballgames,” Lee said. “Each year, there’s always three or four teams out in the West, that should be playing postseason (baseball) that don’t.” The Mustangs have reached the postseason only once in Lee’s tenure — a 2009 stint in the Tempe Regional where they lost 2-0 to Kent State. Nevertheless, he’s produced three All-Americans and has had 45 players sign professional contracts in his time at the helm — Mustang alumni Bud Norris and Kevin Correia are starting pitchers for the Astros and Pirates, respectively. Lee also owns a 303-252-2 record and passed Berdy Harr as the winningest baseball coach in Cal Poly history earlier this season. Among baseball critics, Lee is known to be an excellent developer of young, raw talent on the diamond. But just as with any other acclaim, he simply shrugs off this distinction by mentioning that it’s just the way he’s “wired.” “I’d feel guilty if each day I didn’t try to make each individual better at what they do,” Lee said. “It’s paying attention to detail, it’s being out there with them, it’s creating an environment to develop. That’s just the way I’ve always been.” His most prolific offensive weapon in 2012 has been junior center fielder Mitch Haniger. Cal Poly’s No. 1 pro prospect leads the Big West in home runs (11) and RBI with 54 knocked in. For Haniger, Lee boasts an attitude that fosters success in the clubhouse. “(Lee) brings a blue collar type of mindset to the field, and it reflects on us by working hard,” Haniger said. Lee spends countless hours working with his hitters and position players. He isn’t shy of working overtime after practice to help improve their swing and their mechanics, Haniger said. see LEE, pg. 9
MAX ZERONIAN/MUSTANG DAILY