031215

Page 1

VOLUME 48, ISSUE 40

THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015

WWW.UCSDGUARDIAN.ORG

AROUND CAMPUS

STUDENT ORGS

UCSD WRITER TALKS SCI FI

C.H.E. Cafe Collective Addresses VCSA Letter The open forum discussed the letter from University officials that asked the collective to voluntarily vacate the cafe space by March 14.

PHOTO PERMISSION OF DAVID BRIN

ALUMNUS DAVID BRIN, PHYSICIST AND AWARDWINNING WRITER IGNORES UCSD GUARDIAN’S QUESTIONS IN ENLIGHTENING, IF CRYPTIC INTERVIEW ABOUT COLLEGE LIFE, SCI-FI Weekend, PAGE 6

UC IRVINE FLAG DECISION

THE EDITORIAL BOARD WEIGHS IN OPINION, Page 4

MECKLING'S RETURN a journey to bout again sports, Page 12

FORECAST

TOMORROW H 88 L 58

SUNDAY

H 85 L 59

SATURDAY H 87 L 62

MONDAY H 86 L 60

BY BRUCE B.Y. LEE

Contributing Writer

-JORDAN UTLEY-THOMSON

GUARDIAN WATCH

OPINION, PAGE 4

INSIDE AVERAGE CAT...................2 PROPOSED UC CAMPUS... 4 SHOREHOUSE KITCHEN.... 8 SUDOKU........................ 10 BASEBALL..................... 11

Meyer told the UCSD Guardian. “But the abilities to conceptualize formally and construct ever deeper, consistent theories as we begin to learn in high school geometry and as math majors continue to develop in their upperdivision undergraduate courses.” Dr. Patil graduated from UCSD with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1996 and went on to earn a doctoral degree in applied mathematics from the University of Maryland in 2001. Many people credit Patil for devising the term “data scientist” to define his job on networking sites earlier in his career. The field of data science encompasses several subjects within mathematics, Meyer told the Guardian. “In the specific area of data See PATIL, page 3

See CHE, page 3

The UCSD Tritones performed at their Fourth Annual A Cappella Winter Show, held at The Loft this past Monday. The opening act featured the all-male American University group On A Sensual Note. Photo by Matthias Scheer/ UCSD Guardian.

UC SYSTEM

CA Assemblyman Calls for New Tech-Based UC Campus

C

By Brynna bolt senior

alifornia Assemblyman Mike Gatto announced his proposal for a new University of California campus in a press release on March 2. The new school, whose location is not specified in the bill, would focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics as areas of study. The legislation, titled AB 1483, is comprised of two parts. The first would initiate the process of planning and building a new campus by pushing the UC system to study the feasibility of the project and potential locations. The Assembly bill further requests the appropriation of $50 million for land acquisition and initial building costs. Gatto, a Democrat from Glendale, called for a UC campus primarily concentrated on the STEM fields but that also provides an interdisciplinary

staff writer

education in the arts. In his press release, Gatto claimed that graduates of this background are in growing demand within the workforce, but that this type of education is not always readily available in the state. “Tech and creative jobs are the future, yet too many California students are unable to get the education they need here in California,” Gatto said. “It is time for the legislature to prioritize higher education with bold moves, ones that will make a meaningful difference in the educational levels and skillsets of Californians for generations to come.” Gatto further argued that the UC system is currently overcrowded, and that this has resulted in a drop in recent admissions. The press release cites acceptance rates for UC Berkeley, which had over 40,000 applicants and less than 9,000 acceptances in 2014, to support

See STEAM, page 3

VERBATIM

DO WE REALLY HAVE TO DROP EVERYTHING WE DEEM OFFENSIVE DOWN THE MEMORY HOLE, AS IF WE WERE ALL BUREAUCRATS HIRED BY THE MINISTRY OF TRUTH?”

The C.H.E. Cafe Collective held an open forum last Friday, March 6, to discuss different ways to approach UCSD administration’s letter that asked the Collective to leave the facility by March 14. In the letter written by Juan Gonzalez, vice chancellor for student affairs, administrators petitioned the collective to accept the A.S. Council and Graduate Student Association resolution to vacate the facility and reoccupy it in Fall of 2016, under the condition that “financial stability and sustainability has been achieved, student involvement has improved, funding has been secured to repair and renovate the Che facility and renovations and repairs have been completed.” According to Gonzalez, if the collective refuses to vacate the facility by March 14, the administration will proceed with a formal eviction process. The discussion at the open forum mainly revolved around whether the collective should abide by the resolution or find an alternative that may potentially include physical confrontation. Monty Kroopkin, a UCSD graduate and member of the collective, suggested that the administration’s reasoning on why the collective needs to vacate was improper. “It makes no sense for us to be out of this place,” Kroopkin said. “It does not make any sense for A.S. [Council] and GSA to buy into there being any need to be out of this space.” The A.S. Council and GSA resolution focuses on reintegration of the Che Cafe Collective into the UCSD community. However, the collective members expressed that the 2016 resolution is impractical since it is very difficult to sustain interests of the members during the lapse of evacuation. Muir College junior Ariana Padilla, a core member of the collective, described how the resolution was designed adversely to the collective. “The way it’s framed right now is [that the Che Cafe Collective] will be revisited in 2016 [to see if the conditions are met],” Padilla said. “So it’s not really guaranteed that we will be let back in our space.” Members of the collective also proposed a different approach to follow the administration’s order. According to a collective member Richard Flahive, preparation on potential cooperation is vital and urgent. “If we are going to relocate, then there definitely should be set

ALUMNI

Obama Selects Alumnus as Chief Data Scientist DJ Patil graduated from UCSD with a degree in mathematics and is a pioneer of data science. BY kriti sarin

associate news editor The Obama administration appointed UCSD graduate DJ Patil to the positions of deputy chief technology officer for data policy and chief data scientist on Feb. 18. Dr. Patil, who is the first-ever chief data scientist in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, explained the responsibilities of the unprecedented position on the official White House blog. “My role as the U.S. CDS will be to responsibly source, process and leverage data in a timely fashion, to enable transparency, provide security and foster innovation for the benefit of the American public, in order to maximize the nation’s return on its

investment in data,” Patil said. Patil added that he will focus on developing personalized health care and precision medicine through President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative, integrating data from multiple sources to make connected data sets and ethically executing datascience policy. According to UCSD mathematics professor David Meyer, Dr. Patil’s achievements are proof that an education in mathematics offers much more than moderate proficiency in arithmetic, and gives students an edge by encouraging critical thinking. “DJ Patil’s success demonstrates the advantages that mathematical training provides. These are not, of course, the abilities to calculate using arithmetic, or algebra or even calculus, as we learn in elementary mathematics classes,”


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