the daily aztec - vol. 95, issue 83
DESCRIPTION
Students protest The KoalaTRANSCRIPT
Some San Diego State seniorsapplying for graduation thisspring might be confused by thedegree they had to apply for.Students majoring in advertising,public relations and media studieswill now receive a degree in jour-nalism instead of communication.
The name change took effectlast December, ending a three-year-long process to change jour-nalism, advertising, public rela-tions and media studies from theSchool of Communication to theSchool of Journalism and MediaStudies. Before then, students’information still appeared asthough they were to receive adegree in communication.
While the change was finalizedat the end of last semester, stu-dents are just now being notified.
Advertising senior KatharineWentz discovered the change afew weeks ago when she applied.
“If I had known (of the namechange) I would have changed mymajor when I transferred. But nowI am about to graduate and it’s toolate,” Wentz said.
Dr. Diane Borden, director ofthe School of Journalism andMedia Studies, said the changewas made because a journalismdegree fits better with thecoursework completed in theseemphases than a communica-tion degree.
“Journalism is more closelyaligned with the study and prac-tice of mass media forms of com-munication, while communica-tion is more closely aligned withthe study of non-mediatedhuman interaction, such as pub-lic speaking, interpersonal com-munication and rhetoric,”Borden said in an e-mail.
Although some studentswould still like to receive a bache-lor’s degree in communication,the university does not award adegree based on catalog year andcannot change the degreesthroughout an extended period oftime. All students in these majorswill graduate with bachelor’sdegrees in journalism with anemphasis in public relations,advertising or media studies.
SDSU’s School of Journalismand Media Studies was created in2007 and became nationallyaccredited last year.
The first of the month brings with ita few inevitable events: Bills are dueand a new issue of The Koala landsin the hands of hundreds of SanDiego State students.
Yesterday signaled the start ofanother monthly event as stu-dents from several on-campusorganizations gathered to protestThe Koala while the March issuewas being distributed.
“We’re out here … because wedon’t believe in what they standfor,” Natalie McKenna, of theAndrea O’Donnell Women’sOutreach Association, said. “Everyissue is very discriminatory, veryhateful, very racist, very sexist.”
Associated Students passed aresolution Feb. 24 against the publi-cation after it ran a flow chartdescribing ways to get away withrape. McKenna said the article par-tially prompted yesterday’s protest.
The A.S. resolution demanded aretraction and an apology. Whileneither were published in the recentissue, a quiz titled “How Not To GetRaped!” and a list of the “Top 5Reasons NOT to Rape a SororitySister” were included — the first rea-son being that “A.S. will draft a res-olution condemning you.”
“The misconception with thearticle in November, I think, hasbeen a big problem for us,” politicalscience sophomore and The Koalawriter known as Alex G. said. “All ofour suggestions on … ‘getting awaywith it’ were comical.”
Chris Hurtado, marketing juniorand art director for The Koala, saidongoing fraternity-related rape
offenses have prompted the satiricalpaper to make light of the issuewhile reporting the news.
McKenna said she was not satis-fied with the attempt to rectify thearticle, and she plans to protest thepaper alongside its distributorsevery month when a new issuecomes out.
Another problem the protestorshad with the paper was distributionof pornography to minors.McKenna said the SDSU PoliceDepartment has told The Koala staffnot to distribute the newspaper tominors and to card anyone wholooks underage.
Still, she said that while she feelsthe university is sympathetic to hercause, the lack of action on the partof police and administration isunacceptable and police shouldmonitor the distributors.
The Koala writer Richard Cano,television and film productionsophomore, said he knows distrib-uting to minors is a crime and thathe obeys the law by randomly ask-ing people if they are 18 and by pay-ing attention to who he gives copiesto. Alex said because most minorsget the ones left lying around cam-pus, people should bring the paperhome with them.
While the protest deterred somefrom grabbing the issue, the contro-versy actually prompted others topick up a copy.
“I’m going to read it nowbecause there’s controversy,” said aman who wished to remain anony-mous. “I’m going to find out whatthe controversy is, if there’s need forcontroversy. I’ve started to read twoissues before and literally I wasturned off right away, basicallybecause of the English, the style.But about the controversy — I wantto read about it now.”The Koala, which started at UC SanDiego about 25 years ago, beganprinting and distributing an SDSUversion in September 2004.
WWHHIITTNNEEYY LLAAWWRREENNCCEEC I T Y E D I T O R
TRAVEL & ADVENTURE
IINNSSIIDDEE TTOODDAAYYOPINION
SPORTS
CONTACT
INDEX
Tuesday, March 2, 2010 Vol. 95, Issue 83
Students should attendThursday’s budget rally to fight the crisis.
page 2
Find out how the San DiegoState dance team fared at lastmonth’s Nationals.
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OPINION.........................................................................2TRAVEL & ADVENTURE...............................................4SPORTS.............................................................................5CLASSIFIEDS....................................................................7THE BACK PAGE............................................................8
BUDGET RALLY
ROUTE CHANGE
CENTER STAGE
Art Exhibit
Noon to 4 p.m.
University Art Gallery
Danish artist Simone Aaberg Kaern's“Seize the Sky” exhibit uses flight as ametaphor for political freedom.
Prepare for some MTS busroutes to change or discontinuebecause of budget cuts.
page 4
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Students protest The Koala
On Feb. 25,The Daily Aztec incorrectly listed the author of “Host returns to roots” asAshley Morgan. The byline should read: Sarah Kovash, Senior Staff Writer. The DailyAztec regrets the error.
FOR THE RECORD
Students protesting the newspaper stood alongside writers and editors distributing the latest issue. LGBTSU, Pride Action Committee and MEChA were among the protestors.Glenn Connelly / Photo Editor
College changesnames of degrees
AAPPRRIILL FFLLOOWWEERRSSC O N T R I B U T O R
Nicholas Santiago / Staff Photographer
A recent article aboutrape had studentsrallying in protest
The Daily AztecTuesday,
March 2, 20102 OPINION
College produces rationalists
Rally defends students’ rights
Earthquake in Chile
POINTS TO PONDER
8.8
2010 WinterOlympics
Current price offamily coverageper year:
Health care
Magnitude:
2 million
9
37
14, Canada
$13,000
30 million
—Compiled by Assistant Opinion Editor Reneé Villaseñor
Number of people displaced:
Number of total medals won bythe U.S.:
Most gold medals won by asingle country:
e are in an education cri-sis. Budget cuts haveforced students to face fur-loughs, faculty layoffs andtuition hikes.
Students are angry and want to changetheir situation.
Students, teachers and laborers areuniting for a protest on Thursday becausethe conventional means they have avail-able — be it voting or contacting someonewho is serving in the state legislature —are not working for them.
On Thursday, actions will be taken onthe San Diego State campus in defense ofeducation. There will be a student walk-out at 11:30 a.m. followed by a rally atnoon in front of the Open Air Theatre.Following the rally, students will takepublic transportation to Balboa Parkwhere they will meet with students ofother San Diego colleges and march tothe governor’s office downtown.
The rally is not going to be meaning-less noise. It is about students comingtogether not only to express anger at thedeclining state of education, but also tobecome more politically aware of the cri-sis they are now faced with.
Our powerlessness as workers and stu-dents is the underlying problem of theeducation crisis. Our needs are not beingmet because the few people who canafford to influence the governmentrepeatedly ignore them. That is why stu-dents have organized protests on cam-puses throughout San Diego and at everyCSU and UC campus. That is why manyteachers and labor unions in Californiaare also endorsing Thursday’s rally.
A protest is not about a few people get-ting together to yell about what they
think of budget cuts. A protest is abouteveryone who feels some sort of angerabout our situation being able to learnmore about it. This is about studentshearing what others have to say about theeducation crisis.
Students want to know what is goingon. They want to learn why our schoolsdo not have enough teachers or classes,why tuition is through the roof whileclasses are being cut and what they cando about this situation that leaves themfeeling cheated. To get answers, you haveto ask questions.
If someone asks you what all of theprotesting at SDSU is about, you mightsay it’s about defending education, butthere still might be some confusion as towhat that means exactly. Every studentand faculty member should attend theevents on Thursday to find out.
This event will create discussionsabout where we are headed and how weshould approach the situation. Studentsshould pay close attention to what thespeakers at the rally will say about our sit-uation. Some speakers will explain thatthe solution is not to just get more moneyfor education, but to find a way for ourvoices to be heard in the future.
The crisis in education is occurring atthe same time that we are seeing crises inunemployment and health care.Democrats and Republicans are choosingnot to solve these problems. PresidentBarack Obama won the election in partbecause masses of people wanted tomove away from former President George
W. Bush’s war policies and financialbreaks for the wealthy. Now Obama ischoosing to spend billions of dollars onunpopular bailouts for banks and increas-ing troops in Afghanistan instead of tack-ling the problems with education, healthcare and unemployment.
More and more people are notimpressed with the Democratic andRepublican parties because they feel thatthey do not represent their interests. Weknow our government is not strongly rep-resenting the students’ interests. If itwere, we would not be having tuitionhikes right now. Likewise, if teachers hadany say, they would not be getting laidoff. The point is we are not getting whatwe want because our two-party systemleaves us powerless. This powerlessnessthat students, teachers and laborers arefeeling is the reason they have chosen toprotest together at the statewide level.
The choice is yours. You can sit backlooking confused as a seemingly wildparade of your peers at SDSU and otherpublic universities in California do some-thing together, or you can get out andlearn what is really going on.
This is education beyond the class-room. Don’t be left in the dark.
This is about you.
—Sally Schilling is a political science senior
—This column does not necessarily reflect theopinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail [email protected]. Anonymousletters will not be printed. Include your fullname, major and year in school.
LOYAL DISSENTER
SSAALLLLYY SSCCHHIILLLLIINNGGS TA F F C O L U M N I S TW
ome people think going to col-lege makes them more liberal.Parents send their children tocollege to receive a good edu-cation, only to have them
come home with entirely new politicalbeliefs. It’s a common scenario that, moreoften than not, comes to fruition after stu-dents are dropped into a system with a tra-dition of discussing progressive views.
In reality, college doesn’t influence stu-dents in a way that moves them politicallyto the left. Rather, the years spent in col-lege is a time in a person’s life when theyare ripe for personal and intellectual devel-opment that inherently nurtures broadand progressive views. Parents are mistak-enly blaming liberal professors of prosely-tizing their beliefs to students. Collegedoesn’t make students liberal, it simplymakes them rational.
I would argue that of the many benefitsof pursuing a higher education, such asbetter job prospects and higher incomeratios, no benefit is more valuable than theexposure to different ideas. Exposure topeople, texts and subjects that one mightnot independently pursue is the greatestbenefit of attending college. Higher educa-tion has long-held traditions of analyzingexisting systems and challenging the statusquo. In this setting, students are exposedto people with different beliefs than theirown while simultaneously experiencingcurriculum either completely foreign or incontrast to their upbringing.
Inquiring minds find solace in highereducation and are part of a system thatsupports investigations into the arts, sci-ences, humanities, politics and life. Thebasic question that fuels higher educationand personal development is “Why?”
There’s a reason it’s called a liberal artseducation. Being exposed to so much pro-vides greater context to life. Simple founda-tional knowledge of a myriad of subjectsleads to a well-rounded individual who can
think critically and examine issues from allsides. Increasing one’s knowledge of howthe world works greatly aids in under-standing the challenges that face our com-munity, country and world.
In a study that will be published inthis month’s issue of Social PsychologyQuarterly, researchers from the LondonSchool of Economics and PoliticalScience found that on average, peoplewho identified as liberal had higher IQs.The study does not conclude that peoplewith higher IQs automatically have liber-al views, but it does show a correlationwith intelligence and political beliefs.Whether or not this can be attributed toobtaining a college education isunknown, but it certainly adds credenceto the existing train of thought.
An educated person is cogent, reason-able, logical and rational — all characteris-tics of liberalism.
That’s why the media is constantlycharged with having a liberal bias. Whatpeople fail to recognize is people in themedia have a certain worldview becausethey are educated. Having gone throughthe system themselves, they can’t help butpresent a certain reasoned perspective thatothers may label as liberal. They use logicand reason to present the news, whereastheir conservative counterparts use dema-gogic and ad hominem rhetoric.
Another study conducted and pub-lished by the Intercollegiate StudiesInstitute last month found that peoplewho graduated from college are more like-ly to support progressive social issues,such as same-sex marriage and abortionrights. Conversely, they are less likely tosupport teacher-led prayer in publicschools and the belief that the Bible is theword of God. Educated individuals chal-
lenge such normative beliefs pervadingmore traditional societies.
The notion of viewing universities asbastions of liberalism may have sometruth, but that is because of the students’own developments and not the inherentbias of the instructors. Instead, it shouldbe characterized as providing the knowl-edge necessary to be a rational, criticalthinker. The institution of higher educa-tion, sparking exploration and argument,is a powerful tool in society. Instead ofcharging an educated person as liberaland elite, we should charge them ascogent and rational.
There may be an innate naiveté thatfuels students’ move to the left. After all,for the average-aged college student, lifeexperiences are few and the mind isimpressionable. But that same naivetéshould be celebrated as strength in ourformative years, and not as a flaw.
—Andy Lewandowski is a media studies senior
—This column does not necessarily reflect theopinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail [email protected]. Anonymousletters will not be printed. Include your fullname, major and year in school.
80%
237
$24,000Estimated number of uninsuredcitizens who will die prematurelythroughout the next 10 years:
275,000
Amount of population affectedby the earthquake:
Number of goldmedals won bythe U.S.:
Total number of medals won bythe U.S. in all Winter Olympicgames combined:
Estimated price of family coverage in 2020:
Number of individuals who arenow uninsured, but will be covered by the Democrats’ plan:
MASS MEDIUM
AANNDDYY LLEEWWAANNDDOOWWSSKKIIS TA F F C O L U M N I S TS
approximately 700Death Toll:
College is a time in a person’s life when theyare ripe for personaland intellectual development thatinherently nurturesbroad and progressiveviews.
OPINIONTuesday,March 2, 2010 The Daily Aztec 3FREEDOM HAWK
round this time lastyear, PresidentBarack Obamawarned the nationthat if his stimulus
bill was not passed, unemploy-ment would increase to morethan 10 percent. But if it were topass, unemployment wouldremain below 8 percent. Congressapproved and Americans paid$862 billion to fund Obama’splan. Now, a full year later, notonly has unemploymentincreased to more than 8 percent,but at times has surpassed 10percent. As of January, unemploy-ment is at 9.7 percent, accordingto the Bureau of Labor Statisticsin the U.S. Department of Labor.We are in the same positionObama warned we would be, butwith $862 billion added to ourfederal debt.
The stimulus plan was calledthe American Recovery andReinvestment Act. Taxpayers paidbillions to stimulate the economyby employing Americans. Thosewho champion supply side eco-nomics knew this Keynesianstrategy was doomed for failure.To begin with, every time yougive the government that muchmoney, especially a liberal gov-ernment, most of it will be wast-ed on pork barrel spending and
special interest groups, which isexactly what happened. But con-gressional spending to buy voteswas not the main factor thatcaused the stimulus bill to fail.The money was allocated to gov-ernment programs that do notactually stimulate the economy.
Obama said the bill would begeared toward “shovel-ready” and“green-collar” jobs and it wouldhelp unemployment. Those jobsnever came. Only 2 percent of themoney was spent on governmentconstruction highway programs.More than 80 percent of themoney, however, was spent on fiveprograms: Medicaid, unemploy-ment compensation, SocialSecurity, grants to state and localgovernments and student aid,according to www.investors.com.Telling the taxpayers this bill wasmade to save the economy andthen spending it on social pro-grams is unacceptable.
Last year, the ARRA extendedfederally funded benefits by 53weeks, then in November, 20 moreweeks were added, bringing it to atotal of 99 weeks in some stateswhere workers would get paid bytaxpayers for doing nothing. Not
many people would be in a rushto find work if they had a 99-weekpaid vacation provided by peoplewho work every day.
The stimulus bill was actually astimulus for government transferpayments: cash and benefits thatreward people for not working.
In the current budget, nearly50 percent of the money left inARRA will be for programs admin-istered by the Department ofHealth and Human Services or theDepartment of Education, accord-ing to the non-partisanCongressional Budget Office.
Congress spends outrageousamounts of money on bizarre petprojects to buy votes. For example,around $400,000 has been allocat-ed for a study of the “relationshipbetween pluton growth and vol-canism at two active intrusions inthe central Andes,” with another$391,875 for the research of “com-binatorial therapy for treatment ofperiodontal disease.” Or better yet,stimulus funding includes$25,000 to pay partial salaries fortwo full-time employees forShakespeare in the Park. There iswasteful pork spending hidden inthe bill. The CBO has said that 39to 44 percent of the $862 billionwill go to further increasing ofgovernment transfer payments.
The one aspect that is as
dependable as periodic recessionsis that our economy alwaysrebounds from them. This wastrue even before the governmentthought it could borrow ourmoney to create jobs. A famousstudy in 1999 by Christina Romer,who now heads the Council ofEconomic Advisers, found theaverage recession in the years1887 to 1929 lasted only 10.3months, with the longest lasting16 months. During the GreatDepression, Franklin D. Rooseveltgave birth to the idea of govern-ment intervention to save theeconomy. It failed.
It was not until the U.S.entered World War II that massproduction for the war pulled theeconomy out of the depression.However, Roosevelt’s policy didset a precedent. Now the govern-ment feels it needs to take ourmoney to help us out of a reces-sion. This gave us the situation weface today — a recession lastingmore than two years.
After all of the waste and liesputting our recovery moneytoward stimulating jobs and theeconomy, the president has thegall to ask us for yet another stim-ulus bill, which he cleverlynamed a “Jobs Bill.” The last stim-ulus bill was intended to createjobs and after hundreds of bil-
lions of dollars, he wants evenmore to save jobs.
Throwing more money at afailed plan that will only gotoward the left’s agenda is ridicu-lous. But because of the clevername, the Democratic-controlledCongress is not feeling as muchheat as it did from the health carebill and will probably pass it. Inthe end, despite all this govern-ment intervention and waste, oureconomy will recover. It will comefrom the spirit of hardworkingAmericans. This unnecessary,unprecedented increase to ourdebt will prolong the recessionand burden our long-term eco-nomic prosperity.
We can fix our economy likewe have in the past, but we needsomething different to fix the lib-eral spending in Congress.
—Patrick Walsh is a political sciencejunior
—This column does not necessarilyreflect the opinion of The DailyAztec. Send e-mail [email protected] letters will not be print-ed. Include your full name, majorand year in school.
PPAATTRRIICCKK WWAALLSSHHS TA F F C O L U M N I S TA
President Barack Obama and his administration are simply putting the government in deeper debt by providing stimulus plans in an effort to fix the financial crisis. Instead, the economy should be left to heal on its own.MCT Campus
Obama digs the economy into deeper debt
www.thedailyaztec.comMCT Campus
The Opinion section of The DailyAztec is currently accepting applications for columnists. If youenjoy voicing your opinion aboutpolitics and social issues and haveprior writing experience, applytoday. Call 619-594-0509 formore information.
The Daily AztecTuesday,
March 2, 20104 TRAVEL & ADVENTURE
Scavenger hunt for Alzheimer’s awareness
There are few moments more pre-cious for people than their first kiss,wedding day or seeing a smilestretch across their newborn baby’sface. But for those in the later stagesof Alzheimer’s disease, these specialmoments are lost in the void of afading memory.
As the fourth leading cause ofdeath in San Diego, Alzheimer’s is atopic worth talking about — and onSaturday, that is just what SanDiegans were doing.
To help raise awareness aboutthis disease, San Diegans took tothe streets to participate in afundraising event called Quest toUnravel Alzheimer’s ScavengerHunt. Raising more than $31,000 intotal, all of the proceeds went to theAlzheimer’s Association to help payfor local services such as supportgroups, educational seminars,research and a 24-hour help line forthose affected directly or indirectlyby this disease.
QUASH is one part scavengerhunt and one part obstacle course,where teams compete to solveclues, answer trivia questions andcomplete challenges on the QUASHcourse, according to its Web site. AsQUASH’s third year in San Diego, itproved to be just as successful asthe last two years. Despite rainyconditions, participants arrived atthe Embarcadero Park South by 10a.m. to register.
Each team captain was handed apacket with clues to help find cer-tain spots where QUASH questionswere placed throughout downtown.Once teams reached these spots,they had to answer different ques-tions and move on to find the nextone. Each team was given a coupleof hours to compete for the largest
number of points.Top fundraisers include Tammy
McCarthy, who raised $2,535,Roberta Spoon, who raised $1,025and Breanne Leinum who raised$900. To raise funding, QUASHteams composed of two to four peo-ple were encouraged to e-mail every-one they knew to ask for support,advertise at offices and bring dona-tion forms to various communities.
The Happy’s Gals team raised$3,070, the Leo’s Lions team raised$1,465 and the Capstone Long-Term Care Insurance team raised$1,245; these three teams rankedthe best the competition.
Public Relations and MarketingCoordinator for San Diego’sAlzheimer’s Association BradMakaiau encourages student organ-izations to help raise awareness bycompeting in the event next year.
“Alzheimer’s disease is some-thing everyone should worry about,not just San Diegans,” Makaiau said.“It affects over 5 million people inthe United States and is the sixthleading cause of death amongAmericans and fourth here in SanDiego County. Alzheimer’s has nocure and (there is) no way of stop-ping the disease.”
Whether they participated inthis year’s QUASH or not, theAlzheimer’s Association encouragesstudents to start talking aboutAlzheimer’s to help contribute tothe global conversation about thisdisease and to take steps towardfinding a cure in the future.
“All the funds raised throughQUASH benefit the support, careand research efforts of theAlzheimer’s Association,” theQUASH Web site states. “With yourhelp, there is hope we can turn thisepidemic around.”
For more information, visitwww.alz.org.
The San Diego MetropolitanTransit System intends to makeone of the largest cutbacks in MTShistory this month. Budget short-falls have resulted in the agency’schoice to radically reduce publictransportation, specifically MTSbus services.
This month, 145,000 Sundaybus routes will either be terminat-ed or reduced. That’s a $7 millioncutback. Changes will affect asmany as 200,000 San Diegans.
On the other hand, the trolleywill be running more frequently.This is great news for San DiegoState students who choose to com-mute to and from campus via thegreen line.
According to The AssociatedPress, MTS has $600 million incapital that can be used toupgrade trolley lines and plans toallow passengers to travel any-where they wish with just one tick-et. MTS intends to have 60 newtrolley cars for green, orange andblue lines in service by next year.
MTS spokesman Rob Schuppsaid the agency offers less expen-sive passes to people with disabili-ties. The current policy allowscommuters with a disability tobuy $18 monthly passes, whichare intended to be purchased byhandicapped riders only.
MTS authorities have beenlenient about enforcing the cur-rent policy. Non-disabled peoplehave been purchasing disabilitypasses and not paying their fair
share, which could be one reasonMTS will be making cutbacks.
Schupp wants to make sure dis-abled rider passes aren’t beingpurchased by those who don’tqualify and are supposed to bepurchasing $72 monthly passes.
Some MTS commuters, such asstate prison parolees, have beenallowed to purchase the lessexpensive passes by showing cer-tain documents, such as lettersfrom a parole officer.
This month, MTS officials mayreview the current policy and pos-sibly change it, which may resultin disabled riders having to pro-vide one of four official docu-ments in order to purchase amonthly disabled riders pass. MTSwill require a doctor’s note, proofof Social Security Disability
Insurance, an identification cardissued by a state Department ofMotor Vehicles for disabled per-sons or a Medicare card.
Some people worry changes inthe disability pass purchasingprocess may hurt the handi-capped. Many disabled ridersclaim the current policy of pur-chasing disabled passes is alreadydifficult enough.
The MTS advisory panel, thesame panel that decided to makethe cutback, has yet to object tothe proposed changes, accordingto Schupp.
Regardless of whether or notthe panel decides to revise thepurchasing process, San Dieganswho ride MTS busses on Sundayswill be have substantially fewerroutes to choose from.
AAMM YY EEBBEERRSSOOLLEEA S S I S TA N T F E AT U R E S E D I T O R
JJAASSOONN HHEENNRRYY MMCCCCOORRMMIICCKKC O N T R I B U T O R
The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System is cutting 145,000 Sunday bus routeswhile using $600 million to upgrade the trolley lines, affecting 200,000 San Diegans.
Mariam Bier / Staff Photographer
Mariam Bier / Staff Photographer
Alzheimer’s is the fourth leading cause of death in San Diego and QUASHers are raising funds to bring awareness about the disease.Kallie Larsen / Staff Photographer
Bus services suffer from severe MTS cutbacks
Tuesday,March 2, 2010 The Daily Aztec 5SPORTS
If the San Diego State dance team wasn’tfamiliar with Murphy’s Law that “whatevercan go wrong, will go wrong,” the team sureis now.
But even with the head coach abandon-ing the team a month before the biggestcompetition of the year and a team memberquitting soon after, not even Murphy’s Lawcould stop the dance team from placingfifth at the 2010 USA Collegiate Nationalson Feb. 14 and 15 in Anaheim for the sec-ond season in a row.
SDSU was one of 17 teams in the USACollegiate Nationals competition, which con-sisted of a preliminary round (worth 40 per-cent of the overall score) and a final round(worth 60 percent), which were overseen byseven esteemed judges.
Although the top three spots were won byCSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach and IdahoState, respectively, the Aztecs felt their per-formance was deserving of a top three finish.
“This year we should have placed in thetop three,” junior Sara Mason said. “I thinkwe were more deserving this year than weever have been in the past since I’ve been onthe team.”
What makes their fifth-place finish evenmore special is that they did it without thehelp of their head coach, who left the team atthe end of December, 10 days before theystarted training for Nationals.
According to junior co-captain StacyJohnson, the coach told them the newsthrough an e-mail and didn’t even give a rea-son for departure.
“(Our coach) left without talking to us orthe athletics department,” Johnson said. “She
wouldn’t even answer their calls; she literallyjust quit and that was it.”
Slightly panicked, the dance team had tofly in an outside choreographer, who taughtthem the Nationals routine in one day fornine hours straight.
To make matters worse, a team memberquit on the second day of practicing forNationals, almost ruining the entire routine.
“It was tough,” Johnson said. “We havemore than 20 formations and some girls hadto learn completely new choreography withonly a couple weeks left to train for Nationals.”
Even with these unexpected mishaps,the team managed to stay positive and con-tinue training.
“This season has been a ride,” juniorShari Gordon said. “Yeah, we did lose acoach and a team member, but everyonestepped up and came together, whichwouldn’t have happened before. In a way, itwas a blessing in disguise.”
For Johnson, this year’s Nationals compe-tition was just one of the many life-changingexperiences she’s had since joining the team.
“Me and the 12 other girls on the teamare like sisters because we all share the samepassion for dancing,” Johnson said. “Howmany people can say that they’ve danced infront of 65,000 people or performed atChargers games? Even Viejas Arena is a hugevenue to perform in.”
Besides competing at Nationals, thedance team performs at many events, fromSDSU football and basketball games, to SanDiego Chargers games, to women’striathlons and breast cancer walks.
The dance team is having tryouts at noonon Saturday, April 17 at the Aztec RecreationalCenter and is urging anyone with talent and apassion for dancing to try out.
AAGGUUSSTTIINN GGOONNZZAALLEEZZS TA F F W R I T E R
The San Diego State dance team overcame adversity and finished fifth at the 2010 USA Collegiate Nationals.Glenn Connelly / Photo Editor
It all started with a walk.Down 4-0 in the top of the seventh, the
San Diego State baseball team was able tostart a rally that would tie the score andeventually serve as the catalyst for a win.
Sunday was the last of a three-gameseries, and SDSU was able to come backand prevail 9-5 against crosstown rival No.19 USD at Cunningham Stadium.
The first six innings were tough for theAztecs. They left six men on base andcouldn’t make it past third. Luckily, in theseventh inning, they went on a relentlessroll to bring in four runs.
Sophomore third baseman ChrisWilson was the first man up, drawing aleadoff walk. Wilson was then forced tosecond when senior outfielder Josh Chassealso walked. The first run of the game forSDSU would come at the hands of seniorsecond baseman Mitch Blackburn, whowas able to knock a double to left center,
bringing in Wilson.Following Blackburn was sophomore
first baseman Jomel Torres, who also gotan RBI, shooting a base hit into center field,plating Chasse.
Both Torres and Blackburn scoredimmediately after on sophomore leftfielder Brandon Meredith’s third doubleof the season.
The inning ended with a 4-4 tie andwould stay there until the top of the ninth.
Aztec numbers flooded the scoreboardagain at the top of the ninth, at almost theexact same point in the batting order asthey did in the seventh.
With one out on the board, Blackburnand Torres both singled.
Meredith was able to get on firstbecause of a dropped ball by the right field-er in an attempted sacrifice fly, andBlackburn was able to score.
In the clean up spot, junior center field-er Cory Vaughn was hit by a pitch — hisfourth of the season. That loaded the bases.
USD’s pitcher then walked in a runbefore retiring to the bullpen. His replace-ment would bring in three more runsbefore SDSU would hit the field in the bot-tom of the ninth.
After going scoreless for six innings, theAztecs finally led 9-4 when USDapproached the plate for the last time. TheToreros managed one run on an RBI singleoff of junior right-hander Steven Moranda,but it wasn’t enough to take the win awayfrom SDSU.
The Aztecs finished the game with a vic-tory, making them 2-1 for the weekend and3-5 for the season. They brought in 14 totalruns against No. 19 USD, with one win athome and one on the road.
The second scheduled home game ofthe series was postponed indefinitelybecause of rain Saturday afternoon andcould be rescheduled for later in the season.
FFEELLIINNAA TTAAMMBBAAKKOOSSS TA F F W R I T E R
BASEBALL
Without coach, dance team still successful
Glenn Connelly / Photo Editor
SDSU uses big rallyto take down rivals
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The Daily AztecTuesday,
March 2, 20108 THE BACK PAGE
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (3/2/10) Over thenext year you find your dreams take on fargreater significance.Track them in a journalto identify key symbols that recur to deep-en your understanding.You notice thatsome dreams have epic significance whileothers boil down to one simple message.
ARIES (March 21 - April 19) - Today is a 7 -Boost your imagination by surfing theInternet or reading fiction. Images drivecreative effort. A partner provides reason-able feedback, if you want it.
TAURUS (April 20 - May 20) - Today is a 6- What you hear isn't necessarily the finalword on what's required. Ask leadingquestions if you have to.That way you dis-cover the feelings behind the demands.
GEMINI (May 21 - June 21) - Today is an 8 -Now that you've fully articulated yourmessage, you can race ahead to convinceothers that your creative logic will work.Don't forget to inject lots of enthusiasm.
CANCER (June 22 - July 22) - Today is a 6 -If you travel, remember to take your pass-port. Harmony at home could be jeopard-ized. Make sure you've left enough moneyto cover expenses.
LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22) - Today is a 7 -Money remains an issue, but you find away to adjust spending or spread out thepayments. Creative efforts produce analternate income stream.
VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept. 22) - Today is a 7 -Continue to address issues presented by
others. Unless you truly care, allow themto have their way. Meet your own needslater in the day.
LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22) - Today is an 8 -Everyone's on the same page now, andyou reach agreement on the magical quali-ty of the work. Logic still provides thefoundation.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23 - Nov. 21) - Today is a 5- Find concrete words to describe elusivefeelings and ideas.You know what youmean. Make sure others get the point.Dream large.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 - Dec. 21) - Todayis a 6 - What seemed impossible yesterdaybecomes almost ordinary now.Therecould be a flood (literally), but the solutionis self-evident.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 - Jan. 19) - Today isa 6 - Do exactly what you want in a socialsituation. Others have a separate agendathat you don't need to follow. Manageyour own responsibilities.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 - Feb. 18) - Today is a 6- Someone could talk you out of yourcash unless you're careful. Listen to emo-tional persuasions, then season them withpractical logic.
PISCES (Feb. 19 - March 20) - Today is a 6 -Get your message out to the public loudand clear. Be sure to stress why it's urgent.Get under their skin. Also encourage feed-back.
© 2010,TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES INC.
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BBYY TTHHEE MMEEPPHHAAMM GGRROOUUPPSUDOKU
BBYY LLIINNDDAA CC.. BBLLAACCKK,, TTRRIIBBUUNNEE MMEEDDIIAA SSEERRVVIICCEESSDAILY HOROSCOPE
© 2010 The Mepham Group. Distributed byTribune Media Services.All rights reserved.
Instructions: Complete the grid soeach row, column and 3-by-3 box (inbold borders) contains every digit 1to 9. For strategies on how to solveSudoku, visit www.sudoku.org.uk.
SSoolluuttiioonn aavvaaiillaabbllee oonnlliinnee aattwwwwww..TThheeDDaaiillyyAAzztteecc..ccoomm
Staff Photographer Jeff Lewis captured this San Diego skateboarder avoiding a crack in the sidewalk on a sunny
afternoon this past weekend.
TRICKING THE VOID
HUMOR
A general guide for socially awkward individualshen it comes to pri-vacy, I like to thinkof myself as an old-fashioned kind ofgirl. There are some
discussions meant to be held inpublic areas, and some thatshould be left for more personalsettings, such as therapy or “TheJerry Springer Show.” However, Iknow for some it’s tough to knowexactly where to fight with your“baby mama” about child supportand what to leave out of the con-versation when you’re meetingyour boyfriend’s parents. For theselect few who can’t seem to keeptheir issues to themselves, I havecompiled a set of questions to askyourself whenever you’re thinkingabout opening your mouth.
1. “Is the person I’m talkingto a complete stranger?” If the answer is yes, then chancesare he or she couldn’t care lessabout the fight you had with yourmom last week. I know, yourmom really hurt your feelings. Buttrust me, the girl who just hap-pened to sit next to you in chem-istry class has problems of herown. Namely that she’s going tohave to work on avoiding you forthe rest of the semester.
2. “Am I on the trolley?”There is one major problem with
discussing personal issues on thetrolley: The people on board can-not get away from you until theirstop. This means if you decide tohold a conversation on the phonewith your doctor about yourannual colonoscopy appointment,you are giving a whole trolley fullof people mental images theycould have gone their whole liveswithout. It is a cruel thing to doto a person.
3. “Is this a bad time?”It’s not that you and your signifi-cant other aren’t adorable. I’msure everyone thinks it isabsolutely precious that you twohave found each other. Butplease, if you and the peoplearound you are sober, do notbegin to talk about how much
you couldn’t live without eachother. Particularly when yoursweetie in the middle of doingsomething else. You’ll force himor her to make a bad joke just toease the tension and nobody willbe able to look you in the eyes fora long 15 minutes or so.
4. “Did someone ask me aquestion?”I’ll answer … No. There’s nothingworse than ruining a perfectlypleasant conversation with a ran-dom and uninteresting commentabout yourself. All it leads to arelong, awkward pauses. I had aclass with a girl last semester who
managed to give an update of hersinus infection every single weekfor a month. To this day I don’tknow how she managed it, sinceno one was asking.
5. “Why am I saying this?”It’s my experience if this thoughtruns through your head at anypoint during a conversation, youmay have just finally becomeaware of the fact that you’re mak-ing everyone around you uncom-fortable. My best advice is to stoptalking mid-sentence and walkquickly in the other direction. Itmay not be a smooth exit, butit’ll leave people wanting toknow what you were going tosay. This will also give you theopportunity to devise with some-thing more pleasant to say.Besides, you can cover for it later.Just tell them your sinuses werebothering you — and then quick-ly bring up the weather.
—Shannon Clark is an English soph-omore.
—This column does not necessarilyreflect the opinion of The DailyAztec.
SSHHAANNNNOONN CCLLAARRKKS TA F F C O L U M N I S TW
LOOKING THROUGH OUR LENS
I know, your momreally hurt yourfeelings. But trustme, the girl whojust happened tosit next to you inchemistry classhas problems ofher own.