Campus MovieFest A&E p. 3
Personal experiences with drinking and driving
SPARTAN DAILY
Thursday September 15, 2011 Volume 137, Issue 10
Student's thoughts on tailgating Sports p. 5
Opinion p. 6
Following assaults, police urge vigilance
Rollin' on 7
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byy Chris Marian Staff Writer
After two sexual assaults in less than a week, University Police Department officers stressed that student vigilance is critical in preventing further attacks. The first attack occurred at around 10 a.m on Sept. 5, when a female student was allegedly lured into an alley behind the Engineering building where she was assaulted by a black man in his 30’s or 40’s. The student managed to escape without injury and reported the alleged attack to campus police, who are now pursuing an investigation. “We have made some good progress in that investigation, and are following some very strong leads,” said Sgt. Manuel Aguayo of the University Police, who expressed confidence that the case would be resolved soon. The second attack occurred at around 2 a.m. on Sunday near Campus Village, where a pair of young women reported being approached and assaulted by a Hispanic man in his 30’s. This case falls under the jurisdiction of the San Jose Police Department, who are conducting their own investigation.
Chuck Clifford stands outside his shop, Bicycle Express, on Monday afternoon. Clifford owns one of two popular bicycle shops in downtown
SEE ASSAULTS PAGE 4
— see page 2 —
Campus water residue monitored by systems Strange taste, bubbles found in water due to calcium, magnesium by Aliza Saeed Staff Writer
Students have complained about the taste of the drinking water on campus in different ways and how it should be improved in the near future. “I used to be really grossed out by the water until my friend told me that is was just air bubbles, so I filled up my bottle of water, shook it really hard and the water suddenly became clear,” said Hillary Bradfield, senior animation illustration major. There is scientific explanation to why the water is white in certain areas on campus.
Water Hardness
San Jose. Bicycle Express and the other shop, iMiNUSD, mostly target a student audience. Photo by Jasper Rubenstein / Spartan Daily
“The reason the water has white residue is because of the hardness of the water, and hardness is minerals in water,” said Chandra Gowda, environment health and safety analyst at SJSU Facilities Development and Operations department. “The air bubbles in the water from the drinking fountain is due to the pressure distributed when the water is being pumped out from the well.” Gowda said that just because the water is white it doesn’t mean that it’s bad for your health. “The water suds you see in the drinking fountain is calcium and magnesium which isn’t harmful towards your body, but essential for your health,” said Gowda. Though, according to cleanairpurewater.com, many health practitioners and other professionals will
SEE WATER PAGE 4
Caused by naturally-occurring chemical compounds of compounds of calcium and magnesium, water hardness is a measurement directly referring to the concentration of Calicum Carbonate — CaCO3 — in an area’s water. San Jose’s water hardness varies as low as 31 mg/L for imported surface water to 372 mg/L for groundwater.
Soft: 0 - 60 mg/L Moderately hard: 61 - 120 mg/L Hard: 121 - 180 mg/L Very Hard: 121 - 180 mg/L
Source: USGS.gov website article on water alkalinity, San Jose Water website Compiled by Leo Postovoit Image by Nick Rivelli
Protesters dispute Paracel Islands Rally attendees at City Hall seek boycott of imported Chinese products by Christina Molina Staff Writer
A chanting crowd of 70 gathered outside San Jose City Hall Wednesday in protest of the ongoing issue of sovereignty over East China Sea islands. “We discovered that in 1958 the North Vietnam Prime Minister Pham-Van-Dong signed a letter recognizing Chinese occupation in the East Sea which is nonsense,” said protestor Tam Nguyen. “That island belonged to South Vietnam. It was a secret deal and now it is revealed,” he said. The demonstrators, located at Santa Clara Street, between Fourth and Fifth streets, stood curbside with South Vietnam and American flags, large banners in Vietnamese, informational fliers and signs that read “democracy for Vietnam.” Truong Vu, member of the Vietnamese Community of Northern California and coordinator of the protests, spoke to the crowd through a megaphone connected to large speakers facing the street. “We want to join the Vietnamese community of the world to condemn the Vietnamese government because they are giving away Parcel Islands and surrounding borderlands to China,” Vu said.
Protesters hold a rally outside of San Jose City Hall to dispute a controversal matter on Wednesday afternoon. Photo by Jack Barnwell / Spartan Daily
He said protestors are also here to warn everyone of the growing problem that is China and gain support in boycotting Chinese imports. Most of China’s products do not meet basic standards for manufactured goods and often have been found toxic or deadly, Vu said. In its race to produce materials fast and cheap, China has disregarded rules and regulations at the expense of peoples’ lives, Vu said. Vu lead the protest with synchronized chants and songs for several minutes before greeting rally participants. “We came out to protest the same day this document was signed,” said protestor Huang Long. “We have been out here maybe an hour but in the morning we went to San Francisco.”
People have gathered from many Bay Area cities in support such as Stockton, San Francisco, Oakland and Hayward, Vu said.
Spartan Daily Serving San José State University since 1934 Volume 137 / Issue 10
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