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high 75˚F low 52˚F Sports editor runs the SLO Marathon INDEX News............................. 1-3 Arts...............................4-5 Opinions/Editorial ..............6 ClassifiedsComics.............. 7 Sports..................................8 CHECK OUT MUSTANGDAILY.NET for articles, videos, photos, & more. Volume LXXVII, Number 86 Tuesday, April 9, 2013 YES NO MAYBE President Armstrong shocked campus last quarter by announcing Cal Poly would “most likely” begin converting to the semester calendar by 2020. Now, an email making the rounds through faculty has some questioning whether the controversial conversion is actually in the works. al Poly’s road to semesters met another obstacle this past week, as an email saying there was no official system mandate to convert made the rounds through faculty, but California State University (CSU) officials say the email does not contradict Cal Poy President Jeffrey Armstrong’s announcement of an impending switch. In the email, which was addressed to faculty senators at CSU San Bernardino, Aca- demic Senate Chair and psychology professor Jodie Ullman wrote that CSU Chancel- lor Timothy White would not require the school to convert to semesters and was not planning a mandate for the system to collectively do so. She wrote the email aſter a discussion with CSU San Bernardino President Tomas Morales, which followed com- munications between him and White. Ullman did not respond to a voicemail Mon- day, and CSU San Bernardino spokesperson Joe Gutierrez referred questions about semes- ter conversion to the CSU chancellor’s office. Some are calling this email a departure from the all-but-sure conversion plan Arm- strong announced to the campus community in March. en, he said the university would likely convert to semesters as part of a larger CSU effort, originating from multiple conver- sations between Armstrong and White. e plan, as announced, was to conclude a system- wide conversion with Cal Poly entering the planning phase by 2020. Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier said he was made aware of the email Monday, but didn’t see a contradiction from the university’s previous message. It falls in line, Lazier said, with what Armstrong told campus in March. “We don’t see much difference in what’s said in the email versus the note that was sent out to campus earlier,” Lazier said. Lazier explained that the language in Armstrong’s email did not definitively refer to a semester mandate, but instead informed campus of continuing discus- sions between White and other university stakeholders: “e Chancellor is … moving toward a decision that the quarter-based campuses should convert to semesters in phases,” the March note read. Some on campus, however, disagree. Cal Poly English professor Todd Pierce, who forwarded Ullman’s email to colleagues, wrote to Cal Poly’s College of Lib- eral Arts faculty and staff that San Bernardino’s situation had “obvious” implica- tions for Cal Poly. “At this point, it will be impossible for the administration to further pursue semes- ter conversion (without) either our President or our Chancellor backtracking on the statements written and reported in these documents,” Pierce wrote in his email. e documents Pierce referred to included Ullman’s email, as well as a letter Armstrong wrote to White in February in which he recommended Cal Poly not convert to semesters. In the letter, Armstrong cited evidence found by the Semester Review Task Force — which he appointed to examine conversion in September — suggesting Cal Poly should stay on quarters. Armstrong also admitted in the letter the pro-semester opinion he held in fall, but that he had since changed positions. CSU spokesperson Liz Chapin also said Ullman’s email did not add new infor- mation, but instead represented one person’s opinion on recent semester discussions. She said White has not yet made a formal deci- sion on semesters, but prefers the system, and will likely end negotiations with a mandate. “I don’t want to look into exactly what the message was behind that email,” Chapin said. “But it was correct by saying there’s no man- date — as of right now.” e San Bernardino email was first forward- ed to leadership in the California Faculty As- sociation (CFA) — the union that represents faculty throughout the CSU — by CSU San Bernardino physics professor and local CFA official Karen Kolehmainen. She said her cam- pus, which is located east of Los Angeles, was under the impression all CSU universities would need to be on semesters by 2020, simi- lar to Cal Poly’s deadline to begin conversion. “Last week, there was this email from our chair of our faculty senate, saying that she had gotten a phone call from Presi- dent Morales,” Kolehmainen said. “He had just spoken to Chancellor White on the phone that same day, and had been told that no there was not a mandate to switch.” It is still unclear to professors at CSU San Bernardino whether they will be forced to convert to semesters. Kolehmainen, a 25-year CSU veteran, said Ull- man is trusted as a reliable source of information, but said she’s received “mixed messages” from the chancellor’s office before. Kolehmainen said faculty at CSU San Bernardino are split 50-50 on semesters versus quarters, but some expect more confusion from the chancellor’s office before an official decision is made. “We’re just in the situation where we’re waiting to see if this is in fact the final word,” Kolehmainen said. “Or if there’s going to be yet another reversal.” SEAN MCMINN [email protected] SEMESTERS? IN THIS ISSUE WEATHER — LIZ CHAPIN CSU SPOKESPERSON I don’t want to look into exactly what the message was behind (the CSU San Bernardino) email. But it was correct by saying there’s no mandate — as of right now. THE EMAILS From CSU San Bernardino Academic Senate Chair Jodie Ullman “Chancellor White told President Morales clearly that there was no system mandate to convert to semesters. Chancellor White does believe that semester(s) would be better for our students but there is no mandate. President Morales stands by his statements to the (Faculty Senate Executive Committee) on semester conversion. Semester conversion simply is not on the table for us. We will consider semester conversion when Chancellor White states specifically that San Bernardino must convert.” From Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong “The Chancellor is finishing his consultations with the various campuses, as well as with the statewide Academic Senate, and is moving toward a decision that the quarter-based campuses should convert to semesters in phases. In consideration of the different perspectives on this matter ... Cal Poly would not convert to semesters until the other campuses have gone forward. If all goes as expected, Cal Poly would begin the process of converting to semesters by the end of the decade.” CAL POLY SAN BERNARDINO C Be greek for a week pg. 2 SPORTS, pg. 8 Pluto’s hits downtown SLO pg. 4
Transcript
Page 1: Mustang Daily 4-9

1

high 75˚Flow 52˚FSports editor runs the SLO Marathon

INDEXNews.............................1-3Arts...............................4-5

Opinions/Editorial..............6ClassifiedsComics..............7Sports..................................8

CHECK OUT

MUSTANGDAILY.NET for articles, videos,

photos, & more.sunny partially cloudy cloudy foggy windy light rain rain thinderstorm snow hail sleet

Volume LXXVII, Number 86Tuesday, April 9, 2013

YES NO MAYBE

President Armstrong shocked campus last quarter by announcing Cal Poly would “most likely” begin converting to the semester calendar by 2020. Now, an email making the rounds through faculty has some questioning

whether the controversial conversion is actually in the works.

al Poly’s road to semesters met another obstacle this past week, as an email saying there was no official system mandate to convert made the rounds through faculty, but California State University (CSU) officials say the email does not contradict Cal Poy President Jeffrey Armstrong’s

announcement of an impending switch.In the email, which was addressed to faculty senators at CSU San Bernardino, Aca-

demic Senate Chair and psychology professor Jodie Ullman wrote that CSU Chancel-lor Timothy White would not require the school to convert to semesters and was not planning a mandate for the system to collectively do so. She wrote the email after a discussion with CSU San Bernardino President Tomas Morales, which followed com-munications between him and White.

Ullman did not respond to a voicemail Mon-day, and CSU San Bernardino spokesperson Joe Gutierrez referred questions about semes-ter conversion to the CSU chancellor’s office.

Some are calling this email a departure from the all-but-sure conversion plan Arm-strong announced to the campus community in March. Then, he said the university would likely convert to semesters as part of a larger CSU effort, originating from multiple conver-sations between Armstrong and White. The plan, as announced, was to conclude a system-wide conversion with Cal Poly entering the planning phase by 2020.

Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier said he was made aware of the email Monday, but didn’t see a contradiction from the university’s previous message. It falls in line, Lazier said, with what Armstrong told campus in March.

“We don’t see much difference in what’s said in the email versus the note that was sent out to campus earlier,” Lazier said.

Lazier explained that the language in Armstrong’s email did not definitively refer to a semester mandate, but instead informed campus of continuing discus-sions between White and other university stakeholders: “The Chancellor is … moving toward a decision that the quarter-based campuses should convert to semesters in phases,” the March note read.

Some on campus, however, disagree. Cal Poly English professor Todd Pierce, who forwarded Ullman’s email to colleagues, wrote to Cal Poly’s College of Lib-eral Arts faculty and staff that San Bernardino’s situation had “obvious” implica-tions for Cal Poly.

“At this point, it will be impossible for the administration to further pursue semes-

ter conversion (without) either our President or our Chancellor backtracking on the statements written and reported in these documents,” Pierce wrote in his email.

The documents Pierce referred to included Ullman’s email, as well as a letter Armstrong wrote to White in February in which he recommended Cal Poly not convert to semesters. In the letter, Armstrong cited evidence found by the Semester Review Task Force — which he appointed to examine conversion in September — suggesting Cal Poly should stay on quarters. Armstrong also admitted in the letter the pro-semester opinion he held in fall, but that he had since changed positions.

CSU spokesperson Liz Chapin also said Ullman’s email did not add new infor-mation, but instead represented one person’s opinion on recent semester discussions. She said White has not yet made a formal deci-sion on semesters, but prefers the system, and will likely end negotiations with a mandate.

“I don’t want to look into exactly what the message was behind that email,” Chapin said. “But it was correct by saying there’s no man-date — as of right now.”

The San Bernardino email was first forward-ed to leadership in the California Faculty As-sociation (CFA) — the union that represents faculty throughout the CSU — by CSU San Bernardino physics professor and local CFA official Karen Kolehmainen. She said her cam-pus, which is located east of Los Angeles, was under the impression all CSU universities would need to be on semesters by 2020, simi-lar to Cal Poly’s deadline to begin conversion.

“Last week, there was this email from our chair of our faculty senate, saying that she had gotten a phone call from Presi-dent Morales,” Kolehmainen said. “He had just spoken to Chancellor White on the phone that same day, and had been told that no there was not a mandate to switch.”

It is still unclear to professors at CSU San Bernardino whether they will be forced to convert to semesters. Kolehmainen, a 25-year CSU veteran, said Ull-man is trusted as a reliable source of information, but said she’s received “mixed messages” from the chancellor’s office before.

Kolehmainen said faculty at CSU San Bernardino are split 50-50 on semesters versus quarters, but some expect more confusion from the chancellor’s office before an official decision is made.

“We’re just in the situation where we’re waiting to see if this is in fact the final word,” Kolehmainen said. “Or if there’s going to be yet another reversal.”

SEAN [email protected]

SEMESTERS?

IN THIS ISSUE WEATHER

— LIZ CHAPINCSU SPOKESPERSON

I don’t want to look into exactly what the message was behind (the CSU San Bernardino) email. But it was correct by saying there’s no

mandate — as of right now.

THE EMAILS

From CSU San Bernardino Academic Senate Chair Jodie Ullman “Chancellor White told President Morales clearly that there was no system mandate to convert to semesters. Chancellor White

does believe that semester(s) would be better for our students but there is no mandate. President Morales stands by his statements

to the (Faculty Senate Executive Committee) on semester conversion. Semester conversion simply is not on the table for

us. We will consider semester conversion when Chancellor White states specifically that San Bernardino must convert.”

From Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong “The Chancellor is finishing his consultations with the various

campuses, as well as with the statewide Academic Senate, and is moving toward a decision that the quarter-based campuses

should convert to semesters in phases. In consideration of the different perspectives on this matter ... Cal Poly would

not convert to semesters until the other campuses have gone forward. If all goes as expected, Cal Poly would begin the

process of converting to semesters by the end of the decade.”

CAL POLY SA N BERN ARDINO

C

Be greek for a week pg. 2

SPORTS, pg. 8

Pluto’s hits downtown SLO pg. 4

Page 2: Mustang Daily 4-9

2

@Call 805.756.1143 or e-mail advertising mustangdaily.netWant to advertise in Body & Soul?

MDnews 2 Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Greek life preps for week of competition, gamesMore than 3,000 active mem-bers of Cal Poly’s fraternities and sororities are scheduled to participate in Greek Week at the start of next month. Houses will face off March 4-11 in three different catego-ries of events in hopes of win-ning the Greek Week trophy, winners’ shirts and bragging rights for the rest of the year.

Greek Week committee rep-resentative for the Sigma Pi fraternity, Dean Wampler, said houses will compete in beach day activities, sports and philanthropy events to accumulate points for their teams. Teams typically con-sist of one sorority, two fra-ternities and one cultural fraternity, and points are awarded for participation or for winning events.

Beach Day will take place at Pismo Beach and will include a sand volleyball tournament, limbo, tug-of-war and an ob-stacle course. Sports include arm wrestling, sumo wres-tling, basketball and more.

Alpha Phi sorority president Rachel Savas said Alpha Phi members tend to take the soc-cer event extremely seriously.

“My favorite event is by far the soccer tournament be-cause it brings back fond memories of playing in high school,” Savas said. “The ma-jority of us played soccer and have competitive edges.”

One of Greek Week’s major pillars is philanthropy. Savas said throughout the week, teams will volunteer at local philanthropies such as Grow-ing Grounds and the Maxine Lewis Memorial Shelter. Last year, a restaurant fundraiser was held at The Habit Burger Grill and all proceeds were do-nated to the homeless shelter.

“Philanthropy plays a piv-otal role in greek life as a whole,” Savas said. “This year, we are planning on expand-ing this fundraiser to en-compass multiple businesses on multiple days in order to donate even more and maybe add another beneficiary.”

A new philanthropic event that will be incorporated this year will be “like wars.” Savas said in this competition, five to 10 local philanthropies which are not already benefi-ciaries of Greek Week philan-thropic efforts, will compete for donations by submitting a picture representing their organization to the Greek Week 2013 Facebook page. The picture that receives the most “likes” by the end of the competition will receive

a check donation from Cal Poly Greek Week.

Wampler said events are always pretty similar to the previous year, but there are some new events or new ways that the competition is orga-nized. In addition to “like wars,” the Greek Week com-mittee is looking to add paint wars, a canned food drive bowling competition and a SLO Donut Company donut eating contest.

“Greek Week is important because you get to meet and make connections with other greeks who you may not have before,” Wampler said. “Since the teams are different every year, you get to meet new people every year.”

History junior and Chi Omega member Emmalee Austin said she takes pride in her chapter for winning Greek Week 2012. She said the pur-pose of the week is to bring together the greek commu-nity and build friendships.

“I loved cheering on my sis-ters during ‘lip sync’ last year,” Austin said. “Each Greek

Week team performs a song and dance that they choreo-graph themselves and it’s usu-ally to a theme.”

Savas said Greek Week is crucial for Alpha Phi because it allows its house to unite and fight together for a great cause.

“Our house thrives in these situations, and our pride and love for greek life, and each other in general, really shines through,” Savas said. “Greek Week is important for greek life because it builds camaraderie and strengthens our relationships with other houses, which consequently fortifies the power of greek life as a whole.”

The Greek Week mission statement composed by the Greek Special Events Coun-cil of 2013 states the council is “dedicated to creating and fostering an environment of healthy competition, mu-tual friendship and respect.” Events are meant to show-case greek involvement to demonstrate unity and phil-anthropic value to the local community.

AMANDA [email protected]

PHOTOS BY ALLISON MONTROY/MUSTANG DAILY

Greek Week 2012 included games such as the “hamster race” (pictured above) where participants raced in giant plastic hamster wheels, and “gladi-ator jousting” (below). This year’s events include paint wars, a canned food drive bowling competition and a SLO Donut Company eating competition.

Since the teams are different every year, you get to meet new

people every year.

DEAN WAMPLERSIGMA PI FRATERNITY GREEK WEEK

COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE

Page 3: Mustang Daily 4-9

3

MDnews 3Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Margaret Thatcher dies at 87HENRY CHUPATT MORRISONLos Angeles Times

Margaret Thatcher, the gro-cer’s daughter who punched through an old-boy political network to become Britain’s first female prime minister, stamping her personality in-delibly on the nation and pur-suing policies that reverberate decades later, has died. She was 87.

The BBC read out a statement early Monday afternoon from Thatcher’s friend and former adviser, Tim Bell, saying: “It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announce that their mother, Baroness Thatcher, died peacefully fol-lowing a stroke this morning.”

Prime Minister David Cam-eron, the current leader of Thatcher’s Conservative Party, said that his country had lost “a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton.”

The woman many regard as Britain’s most important peacetime leader of the 20th century shook her country like an earthquake after mov-ing into 10 Downing St. in 1979. In nearly a dozen years at the top, she transformed the political and economic landscape through a conser-vative free-market revolution bearing her name, Thatcher-ism, which sought to reverse Britain’s postwar decline and the welfare state that she felt accelerated it.

Her policies ushered in boom times for go-getter Britons but also exacerbated social inequalities. Such is her legacy that every prime minister since has had to deal with aspects of it, toiling in the shadow of a woman wor-shiped by her fans and vilified by her foes.

The formidable persona she crafted also earned her a string of unflattering nicknames, such as “Attila the Hen” and her best-known moniker, the “Iron Lady.” The latter, from a Soviet newspaper, was meant as an insult. But Thatcher char-acteristically wore it as a badge of honor, a compliment to her conservative mettle, and it was the inevitable title of a biopic starring Meryl Streep, who won an Oscar in 2012 for her portrayal of a once-fearsome political leader debilitated by Alzheimer’s disease.

Thatcher’s increasing de-mentia meant infrequent public appearances in recent years, though new prime ministers still stopped by her home to pay their respects and invited her to glittering state occasions. In 2011, she was said to be bitterly disappoint-ed at being too frail to attend an unveiling of a statue of her political soulmate, President Ronald Reagan, outside the U.S. Embassy in London.

Thatcherism proved a potent brew of capitalism, patriotism and business-driven indi-vidualism that helped Britain throw off its reputation as “the sick man of Europe” — de-spite producing mixed results.

Thatcher said of her unyield-ing methods: “After any ma-jor operation, you feel worse before you convalesce, but you don’t refuse the operation when you know that without it you won’t survive.”

Her capacity for hard work and little sleep was legendary.

“She was very macho,” Sir Bernard Ingham, her long-time press secretary, told the Los Angeles Times. “She was absolutely determined to demonstrate that she could beat the men.”

She became prime minister

in May 1979. In all, Thatcher led her Conservative Party to three election victories, in 1979, 1983 and 1987. But by the end, her imperious style as prime minister and party leader had sown serious dis-sent among her Cabinet mem-bers and in the parliamentary ranks, and her disastrous ex-periment with a new kind of local tax, quickly dubbed the “poll tax” because it charged everyone the same amount regardless of income, ignited protests across the country and

a riot in the heart of London.In November 1990, Heseltine

decided to run against her on an internal Conservative Party ballot. Thatcher was in Paris when she learned that she had only barely outpolled Hesel-tine, not by a strong enough margin to be the uncontested leader, in the first round of voting. In spite of her pledge to “fight on — I fight to win,” she went home to discover that support from her colleagues was crumbling. On Nov. 22, 1990, Thatcher announced

that she would step down from the Tory leadership and, hence, from the prime minister’s job.

Fighting back tears, she moved out of 10 Downing St. less than a week later.

In her memoirs, she fondly recalled her years at the pin-nacle of British politics and the cut-and-thrust of parliamen-tary debate, when “the adren-aline flows (and) they really come out fighting at me.”

Even as her health weak-ened, her influence endured. In 2007, a 7 1/2-foot-tall bronze statue of Thatcher — unveiled, unusually, in her lifetime — was placed in the House of Commons, opposite that of her fellow Tory leader Winston Churchill. Despite her obvious frailty, Thatcher was on hand for the ceremony.

“I might have preferred iron,” she told a delighted crowd, “but bronze will do.”

MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE

She was very macho. She was absolutely determined to

demonstrate that she could beat the men.

SIR BERNARD INGHAM THATCHER’S PRESS SECRETARY

Do you know who Margaret Thatcher is?

WORD ON THE STREET

“It sounds familiar, but not off the top of my head.”

•Matt Philley mechanical engineering junior

“Yeah, the ex-British prime minister. She died today, didn’t she?”

•Aaron James business administration junior

“No, I don’t know who she is.”

•Lauren Gallogly business administration senior

China condemns North Korea

BARBARA DEMICKLos Angeles Times

In a sign of exasperation with rogue ally North Korea, new-ly installed Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday con-demned nations that throw the “world into chaos.”

Without mentioning North Korea by name, Xi told dele-gates at an international forum in Boao, in the southern prov-ince of Hainan: “No one should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gains.”

Xi advised turning “our global village into a big stage for common development, rather than an arena where gladiators fight each other.”

The warning came as South Korean intelligence warned of an imminent missile launch from North Korea, which moved an intermedi-ate-range missile into posi-tion for what is most proba-bly a routine test but one that could possibly target Guam.

Adding to the urgency, a Japanese official was quoted Monday as saying that De-fense Minister Itsunori On-odera had ordered armed

forces to shoot down any North Korean missile that comes near its territory.

Pyongyang has been try-ing to whip up hysteria for weeks. Its propagandists have issued daily warnings of a coming war, and it has said its nuclear weapons are “treasures” that will never be bargained away. Embassies in Pyongyang have been ad-vised to evacuate personnel by Wednesday.

The United States is looking to Beijing to take an active role in pulling Pyongyang back from the brink.

In a rare break with its communist ally, China sided with the United States in im-posing United Nations Se-curity Council sanctions on North Korea after a nuclear test in February.

“This is the first foreign pol-icy test for Xi Jinping,” said Lee Chung-min, dean of in-ternational studies at Seoul’s Yonsei University. “I think the Chinese leadership is re-alizing that the North Ko-reans are more of a liability than an asset and that if they don’t control North Korea there will be consequences.”

Kerry to resolve conflict in Middle EastHANNAH ALLAMSheera Frenkel

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that the “festering absence of peace” between Israelis and Pales-tinians only fuels extremism and that the time is right for renewed efforts toward resolv-ing the decades-old conflict.

Kerry, speaking to a small group of reporters during his third trip to the region in a month, said he was embark-ing on a “quiet strategy” to wade through the deep reser-voirs of mistrust on both sides in hopes of restarting serious negotiations. However, he em-phasized that he’s fully aware of the difficulties of reaching an enduring Israeli-Palestin-ian resolution and said he re-fused to be pinned down by guidelines or timetables.

“I understand it is a compli-cated, well-trod path of disap-pointments and/or moments of hope followed by breach of agreement or process,” Kerry said. “And that mistrust is very high, and that one of the reasons for these early inter-ventions is to get right at the issue of mistrust.”

While the State Depart-ment plays down talk of a new shuttle diplomacy, it’s clear that a Middle East peace deal is inching its way up the Obama administra-tion’s foreign policy agenda. The Obama administration was thrilled with its tenta-tive success in thawing the icy relations between iron-clad ally Israel and Turkey, a rising regional player that aspires to a leading role in the peace process.

And the fact that Kerry already is back for a third time, not quite a month af-ter accompanying President Barack Obama to the region,

signals that the adminis-tration is willing to devote real effort toward getting the parties back to the ne-gotiating table. Both Israeli and Palestinian officials told McClatchy Newspapers last week that Kerry was interested in dusting off a long-ignored Arab initiative — called the Arab Peace Ini-tiative — that would grant Is-rael full normalization with Arab states across the region in exchange for a final status solution and an independent Palestinian state.

Kerry landed in Jerusalem on Sunday evening and went straight to the Ramallah compound of Palestinian Au-thority President Mahmoud Abbas; he saw Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Fayy-ad. On the Israeli side, Kerry met with both Prime Minis-ter Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres.

“My dear friend, there is a new wind of peace blow-ing through the Middle East,” Peres told Kerry as he greeted him just before their private talk. “A belief in peace is possible, is needed, is real. And peace is possible ... I believe that the gaps be-tween us and our Palestinian neighbors can be bridged and I speak out of experience.”

Palestinian officials told Kerry on Monday that they would take part in the new U.S.-led peace initiative if Is-rael agreed to a series of good-will gestures to help empower the Palestinian Authority gov-ernment in Ramallah. A re-lease of Palestinian prisoners and bolstering Palestinian se-curity forces in the West Bank were mentioned as two possi-ble gestures that Kerry would discuss with Netanyahu.

Still, officials from both sides remained skeptical about

these nascent U.S. efforts.“With the track record be-

ing what it is, the Palestinians feel that a goodwill gesture, a serious one, is needed. We are not just a plaything that the Americans can pick up and play with and then drop when they are bored,” said one se-nior Palestinian official, who took part in a meeting with Kerry in Ramallah who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to discuss the talks. “We need a serious process with serious and sig-nificant gestures.”

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has confirmed that Kerry has been floating the Arab Peace Initiative as a way out of the current dead-lock. Kerry had proposed key changes in the plan to light-en the language on borders, among other issues, to make the deal more attractive to the Israelis.

“Kerry asked us to change a few words in the Arab Peace Initiative but we refused,” Er-ekat told the Voice of Pales-tine radio station on Sunday.

Palestinian officials said, however, that if Kerry were able to secure goodwill gestures from the Israelis, they would agree to discussions over the language of the initiative.

Palestinian officials have

long maintained that Israel must agree to a full freeze in settlement building before sitting down at the nego-tiation table. Current talks ground to a halt almost four years ago, and previous me-diation efforts have failed to move the parties forward.

White House press secretary Jay Carney wouldn’t confirm a McClatchy report that quot-ed officials as saying Obama had won a two-month cool-ing-off period during which Israel would stop announc-ing settlement activities and Palestinians wouldn’t press their case before the United Nations or the International Criminal Court, allowing Kerry to work his diplomacy without absolute deal break-ers. But Carney said those are actions the U.S. government has long championed as help-ful to reviving talks.

“I can simply confirm that it is our position and it is a po-sition the president reflected in his conversation that it is counterproductive for either side, whether it’s the Palestin-ians through the U.N. or the Israelis through settlement construction, to take unilat-eral action that makes it more difficult to engage in con-structive negotiations towards peace,” Carney said.

MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE

Page 4: Mustang Daily 4-9

4

MDarts 4 Tuesday, April 9, 2013

College students know just how they like it.

Louis Kimball and Gerry Bugas, the founders of Pluto’s, a restaurant chain based in the San Francisco Bay Area, know this.

After all, completely cus-tomizable, made-to-order salads and sandwiches are the reason for their restaurants’ success in college towns such as Davis, Chico and Palo Alto. They’re hoping that college town success spreads to San Luis Obispo.

“We actually came to San Luis over five years ago, and it

reminded us of other college towns that we’ve done well in, except even more vibrant and with such beautiful weather,” Kimball said. “We knew then that we wanted to be a part of the neighborhood and be a part of this community.”

So Kimball and Bugas opened Pluto’s ninth location last week in San Luis Obispo’s Wineman Hotel building at 1122 Chorro St.

Pluto’s claim to fame is its create-your-own salad sta-tion. Customers tell their server their choice of lettuce, mix-ins and dressing, and the server tosses together a cus-tomized salad. The variety of ingredients ranges from

grilled fennel to roasted bell peppers to flax seed.

The sandwich station also uses Pluto’s signature made-to-order protocol.

Pluto’s has set salads and sandwiches for the indecisive and offers sides and desserts to complete the meal.

The restaurant aims to fit a niche between fast food and full-service restaurants, Kim-ball said. Patrons order at the counter and do not tip, but food is fresh and served on glassware in a contemporary atmosphere.

As for the local competition, Kimball says Pluto’s tri-tip is unparalleled.

“I got to admit it, although San Luis has some incredible

tri-tip sandwiches, some it’s really well-known for, we still think nothing can beat our Big Bang Lunar Dip tri-tip sand-wich,” he said.

Pluto’s opened in the roughly 2,200 square-foot space across the street from Black Sheep Bar and Grill on March 26.

The space was vacant for years after earthquake retrofit-ting, Daisy Sharpe, office assis-tant at Anderson Commercial Real Estate Services, said.

Stan Carpenter, owner of the FedEx Office building across the street from Pluto’s, is ex-cited to see the restaurant con-tinue the ongoing revitaliza-tion of the Chorro Street area.

Other recent restaurant

openings near Pluto’s include The Habit Burger Grill, Raku Japanese Fusion Cuisine and Chipotle Mexican Grill.

“I love Pluto’s because it’s fresh — and it’s on Chorro Street. I own the building across the street, so I want to see this street do well,” Carpenter said. “I think Chorro has the poten-tial to be just as desirable of a location as Higuera.”

Pluto’s is attracting lots of foot-traffic, Kimball said.

The San Luis Obispo loca-tion has roughly 25 employees, and although the exact number of customers was unavailable, Kimball confidently says Pluto’s patronage is growing daily.

“It keeps building and

building,” he said. “It’s defi-nitely one of our best open-ings, even compared to the other college towns.”

In the San Luis Obispo loca-tion alone, diners go through 15 to 20 20-pound roast tur-keys a day.

“They love that turkey straight off the bird in San Luis,” Kimball said.

Other bestsellers in San Luis Obispo so far include the “big, bountiful salads” and comfort foods sides, such as macaroni and cheese, garlic fries and sweet potato fries, he said.

Pluto’s is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week.

ARYN [email protected]

Pluto’s moves into SLO’s orbit

Recently opened Pluto’s offers custom salads (top photo) and Brussels sprouts with bacon (bottom photo).

PHOTOS BY ARYN SANDERSON/MUSTANG DAILY

PHOTOS BY ARYN SANDERSON/MUSTANG DAILY

Page 5: Mustang Daily 4-9

5

MDarts 5Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Something you might say to your body‘Sorry for partying’Sam Gilbert is a journalism sophomore and Mustang Daily health columnist.

Let’s take a minute to remem-ber the middle of senior year in high school: You received your acceptance letter, shed tears of joy at the thought of living in the happiest city in America and bought your Cal Poly sweatshirt to show off to your peers which school you were going to in the fall.

Sound famil-iar? Good.

Remember what happened after that? If you don’t, let me spark your memory by re-minding you of the alcohol sur-vey we were all required to take before the first day of school.

At the time, it just seemed time-consuming and a reit-eration of what our parents have been lecturing us on ever since the idea of under-age drinking was brought to their attention.

We all know it happens,

even though Cal Poly is not necessarily known for being a huge party school.

However, mistakes often oc-cur when under the influence of alcohol, and I think it’s im-portant to take us back to the middle of senior year to reflect on those three hours we spent completing this dreaded-but-important survey.

According to the University

of Miami Police Department, approximately 300,000 of modern-day college students will die from alcohol-related incidents, such as seizures, alcohol poisoning, needless injuries, drunk driving, cir-rhosis of the liver, cancer and heart diseases.

If that doesn’t scare you, I

know this will: Apparently, one beer, one glass of wine and one shot of hard liquor all contain the same amount of alcohol.

In perspective, just three shots of hard alcohol is the equivalent to three beers or three glasses of wine.

Binge drinking can be de-fined as about five or more drinks for men and four or

more drinks for women on any one occasion. I bet you’re feeling like an alcoholic now, aren’t you?

Hearing sta-tistics like these makes you think that our genera-tion is doomed since the most common stories from the weekend

normally start with, “So, I was wasted last Friday night … ”

Good news: There’s hope. Indiana University Bloom-ington offers tips on how to be responsible when getting buzzed: Eating food while drinking is a good way to slow down the absorption of alcohol into the circulatory

system. The best foods to eat are high in protein, such as cheese and peanuts. Even knowing the names of nice wine, whiskey and beers with certain foods can help cul-tivate a taste with regard to quality while remaining re-sponsible with quantity.

Not that Taaka can culti-vate a taste with anything, but hey, it’s worth a shot (pun intended).

Another tip courtesy of Indiana University is to be aware of unfamiliar drinks.

Drinks can often taste fruity, which makes it hard to realize how much alcohol is in them. For example, the drink Caribou Lou: danger-ously deceiving.

An important aspect to keep in mind is the combi-nation of drugs with alcohol. This seems like an obvious statement, but even over-the-counter sleeping pills or cold or cough medicines can cause a problem.

I know this all seems like common sense, but now that it’s spring quarter, it’s time to remember safety precautions since it’s day-party season and the booze may be flowing.

According to Truestar Health, about 40 percent of all beer sold in the United States is consumed between May and August. Summed up, this is a party animal’s fa-vorite time of the year.

Alcohol generally makes

you extremely dehydrated, so if you plan on drinking in the sun, don’t forget about water. Dehydration can lead to heat stroke, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Another thing to be aware of are the possible side ef-fects to drinking in the sun. In addition to heat stroke, hypoglycemia, defined as heart rhythm irregularities, strokes and weight gain from the calories in alcohol are also common dangers.

Now that we’ve got the ba-sics covered, keep these tips and possible outcomes in mind next time you crack open a couple of brewskis this quarter.

Stay safe, Cal Poly!

wellness101

... approximately 300,000 of

modern-day college students will die from alcohol-related

incidents ...

Page 6: Mustang Daily 4-9

Almost four years ago, long before the 2012 presidential campaign heated up, CNN took a poll to learn who Republi-cans might choose as their party’s next nominee. There were two clear front-runners: former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Hucka-bee. The former governor of Massachu-setts, Mitt Romney, limped in third.

By the time the campaign arrived, of course, Palin and Huckabee were pursu-ing careers as television pundits and af-ter-dinner speakers, not presidential can-didates. It’s in that spirit that we should contemplate last week’s burst of poll-ing on the 2016 presidential campaign. Three years before the New Hampshire primary, these surveys aren’t predictions; they’re exercises in fantasy baseball.

With the consumer safety warning out of the way, here’s what you wanted to know: The front-runner at this point for the 2016 Republican nomination is

Marco Rubio.In two polls of Republi-can voters re-

leased last week, the freshman senator from Florida turned up in first place, with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Rep. Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush fairly close behind.

Rubio won his first place status with the support of about a fifth of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters. Pundits will call him the front-runner because they like to pin that label on somebody, but it’s a tenuous perch. Just ask Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain.

So why pay attention to polls that amount to little more than beauty contests?

Because even though they can’t predict the winner three years from now, these surveys tell us something about the mood of Republican voters today.

A closer look at the results tells us that it’s a wide-open race. Republican voters are looking for a new face, not a familiar figure. But they’re also looking, it seems, for a reliably conservative face; no moder-ates need apply.

Here are the numbers from last week’s Quinnipiac University poll: Rubio was first with 19 percent, followed by Ryan (17 percent), Paul (15 percent), Christie

(14 percent) and Bush (10 percent). In a survey from Public Policy Poll-ing, a respected Democratic firm, the results were similar: Rubio (21

percent), Paul (17 percent), Christie (15 percent), Ryan (12 percent) and

Bush (12 percent).So Rubio’s in first place, but he

doesn’t have anything like the com-manding lead that Hillary Rodham

Clinton has in similar polls of Dem-ocratic voters. At 64 percent in the Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey, Clinton really does merit the title of

front-runner; no non-incumbent in memory has ever held so wide

a lead. Of course, she hasn’t said for sure that she wants the job; nor have any of these Republicans we’re handicapping with such zest.

GOP voters, meanwhile, are still shop-ping around. Two months ago, for exam-ple, Paul drew only 10 percent in a PPP poll; his filibuster on domestic drones last month appears to have made him what one GOP campaign manager wryly called “the shiny new object” in the race. But there’s still plenty of time for others, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, to move up.

In earlier elections, Republican voters often turned to the most experienced candidate in their camp, a phenomenon known as “next in line.” Not this time: Of the five names on the list, none has run for president before, and only one, Bush, was a nationally-known figure five years ago. The average age of the top four — Rubio, Paul, Ryan and Christie — is 46. And Ryan doesn’t seem to get many extra points for serving as his party’s vice presi-dential nominee in 2012.

“It looks as if Republicans are looking for a generational change,” noted Scott Reed, who managed Bob Dole’s 1996 presiden-tial campaign. If the Democrats nominate Clinton (who will turn 69 in 2016) or Vice President Joe Biden (who will turn 74), the GOP will have youth on its side — at least on the ticket.

But the apparent front-runners are all solidly conservative. Taken together, Rubio, Ryan and Paul win support from about half of the Republican electorate; Christie and Bush, the relative moderates, only about one-quarter.

“There’s no such thing as a moderate base in the Republican primary,” notes John Brabender, who managed Rick San-torum’s second-place finish in the 2012 GOP primary campaign. “And the voters who show up for the primary are often

more conservative than the ones these polls are sampling.”

That doesn’t just mean Christie or Bush would have a hard time winning. It also means that GOP voters aren’t press-ing their party to move toward the cen-ter on issues such as taxes, gun control or gay marriage.

After Romney’s 2012 defeat, polls found that most Republican voters took the loss as proof that their party should move further to the right. In a survey by the Pew Research Center, 60 percent of Republicans said they wanted the GOP to become more conservative, not less; only 31 percent said they wanted “more moderation.”(Strikingly, Democrats felt the opposite way about their party: 55 percent said they thought Democratic leaders should move toward the center, 35 percent in a more liberal direction.)

Does a party more conservative than Mitt Romney’s stand a chance of winning a presidential election? It won’t be easy — but it’s not impossible. The GOP won in 1980 when it nominated Ronald Reagan, a conservative who was said to be outside the mainstream of opinion at the time.

And in 2016, Republicans will have an-other factor in their favor: a Democrat will have held the White House for eight years in a row. Only once in the last 70 years has a party succeeded in holding the presidency for three terms in a row; by 2016, voters are likely to feel it’s time for a change.

That’s not what the polls say, though. In the PPP survey, Clinton beats Rubio in a presidential matchup, 49 percent to 42 percent. She beats every other potential Republican candidate, too.

If that turns out to be the story of the 2016 presidential election, just remember: You read it here first. And if it’s wrong — well, you know how unreliable those crazy polls can be.

6

Ashley Pierce is a political science freshman and Mustang Daily conservative columnist.

A few Christmases ago in Santa Monica, Calif., a group of atheists became of-fended (how they love that word) by Christmas decora-tions at a local park. Then they challenged the city about it.They were told the park

had lots that people bid for to put decorations on every year (Hanukkah decora-tions included). The athe-ists naturally decided to buy their own lot (even though they have no holiday to cel-ebrate). But they did not stop at one lot, or even a few: they outbid almost all the Chris-tian and Jewish members of the community.That holiday season the

park, once full of Christmas and Hanukkah scenes, was full of anti-Christian decora-tions (a non-religious Santa or Rudolph would have been just fine).Today, Christianity is un-

der attack. Readers, you can all roll your eyes and send me hate mail, but it’s occur-ring and the evidence is ev-erywhere. This nation has turned against 78 percent of its own population and the mainstream media has com-pletely ignored it.Christians in Egypt were

persecuted and tortured on March 26 in Egypt for pro-testing the Muslim Brother-hood. They were dragged to a nearby mosque and tor-tured (some Muslim protes-tors included). But the news

networks were completely silent about the entire affair.After hearing about it, I

tried to find out more so I Googled “Christians perse-cuted Egypt.” The Internet findings were disappointing.Fox News and unheard-of

news websites were the only sources that came up on the first page of the search, be-sides one article in the Wall Street Journal. With any oth-er huge catastrophe, CNN, Los Angeles Times and The New York Times would all have been on that first page of searches. Why weren’t they? They have no articles about it.CNN and Los Angeles

Times have no articles cur-rently covering that story. The New York Times does have one article that came up about Christians being targeted in Egypt — but it’s from 2011.CNN should have been all

over that. Am I right? Am I wrong to think that Chris-tians being tortured in Egypt should be news? Doesn’t

CNN cover big stories like that? Yes, they do, but appar-ently this wasn’t newsworthy enough.The media ignoring a story

that is newsworthy horrifies me. The mainstream media, much like Hollywood, frowns upon Christianity and it is seen time and time again. Our country seems to be headed in the same direction.An InterVarsity Christian

Fellowship at the Univer-sity of Michigan was recently denied approval from the school’s board for breaking its non-discrimination code. The code was put in place to be sure that campus clubs wel-come all types of students.The Christian club appar-

ently broke the school code by not allowing members who were non-Christians to run for club leadership posi-tions. Another branch of the InterVarsity club has since been kicked off another col-lege campus in Florida for the same reasons.That would be the equiva-

lent of demanding an on-

campus Democrat club to allow its leadership roles to be given to anyone: Repub-licans, Libertarians, that one guy in your class that still thinks George Bush is presi-dent and so on.It would be a silly rule. I

cannot even begin to fath-om why the school’s board would even begin to think this is a logical reason to re-move the club.While the majority of Amer-

icans affiliate with some de-nomination of Christianity, those in charge of the media, the school systems and Hol-lywood (but that’s a whole other discussion) don’t seem to understand that. They ig-nore a huge majority of the population and it seems to be getting worse every day.Christianity isn’t forced

upon Americans — it’s not the national religion and would never be stated to be — but Americans are forcing it out and lashing out against it as though it were an op-pressive dictator.For a country and a younger

generation that have become so obsessed with tolerance and accepting all people, Christians don’t seem to be on that list. So listen up main-stream media, and practice what you preach. Tolerate Christians and actually cover stories that are important — such as a group of people be-ing tortured and targeted in Egypt or an on-campus club being unfairly and ridiculous-ly accused of discrimination.

MUSTANG DAILYGraphic Arts Building Building 26, Suite 226 California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, CA 93407

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Tuesday, April 9, 2013 Volume LXXVII, Number 86

©2013 Mustang Daily

“He’s not watching the game, I swear.”

MD op/ed 6 Tuesday, April 9, 2013

One nation, no longer under God

DOYLE MCMANUSLos Angeles Times

For a country and a younger generation that have become so obsessed with tolerance and accepting all people,

Christians don’t seem to be on that list.

Republicans take swing at the polls

MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE

Do you feel comfortable expressing your religion or non-religion at Cal Poly?

WORD ON THE STREET

“Yes. I feel confident in my views, and that I will not be attacked for it.”

•Brian McAllen biological sciences junior

“Yeah. I feel more people aren’t as judgemental here than all other places.”

•Patrick Michniuk mechanical engineering freshman

“I do, yeah. I’m proud of my faith.”

•Alyssa Eszlinger biological sciences junior

Page 7: Mustang Daily 4-9

7

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8

SUDOKU ANSWERS

MDsports 8 Tuesday, April 9, 2013

“You need some energy gel?”Until I hit mile 20 of Sun-

day’s SLO Marathon, I never would have thought those words would save me. After cranking through the most of the course at a 7:30-minutes-per-mile pace, an ugly side-

cramp forced me to stop and stretch out my midsection in a feeble attempt to get back into my groove. Luckily, a kind woman walking the half-marathon asked if she could help.

Unless I wanted to finish the race crawling, I was out of op-tions, so I accepted her offer despite never having consumed

the substance in my life.Then she pulled it out of her

sports bra. I immediately had second thoughts.

“It’s nice and warm for you,” she said.

But, like I said, I was shit out of luck. I tried to open it with my hands but eventually caved to my last resort — teeth it was.

Thank God it was worth it.Now, rewind five hours.Though my alarm was set for

4:30 a.m. in order to be at San Luis Obispo High School for a 6:00 a.m. start time, I bolted wide awake twenty minutes ear-ly. The body has a strange ability to gear up for big events.

So I rolled out of bed and climbed into my running attire for the day: a T-shirt, spandex, shorts and my Hoka One One running shoes. The simplicity of running always appealed to me; you don’t need much equipment to hit the road or trails, no mat-ter the distance.

The last thing I wanted to do at four in the morning was eat, but I knew I’d pay for it

later if I didn’t, so I scarfed down every runners’ secret weapon, a banana, in addi-tion to some toast with honey. That was the pre-race meal for my father, who ran in six Boston marathons and in the Olympic Trials, so I figured there was something to it.

There, sitting in the pre-dawn darkness, I flashed back to a cre-do he recited to me since I could understand spoken language. Even before he knew I’d follow in his footsteps and take on the task of running 26.2 miles, he told it to me over and over.

“You know, there are two halves to a marathon,” he’d say. “The first 20 miles and the last 6.2.”

Those words were echoing through my head as ultra-mar-athoner and Cal Poly alum-nus Dean Karnazes gave the marathon mob a brief speech before San Luis Obispo Mayor Jan Marx squeezed an air horn and sent the group on a 26.2 mile journey.

The plan was simple, hang with a pace group that would average eight-minute miles through-out the race (translating into a 3-hour-and-30-minute finishing time), then break away from the group midway through the race and start clocking in low seven-minute miles to the finish.

Patience has never been my strong suit, and watching a hoard of runners burst down the city streets and duck out of eyeshot put my desire to pass people to the test. I mean, when you don’t catch the dude running in a gingerbread man costume until mile five or the barefoot runner holding a mini-boombox until mile eight or the guy rocking massive Beats by Dre headphones and swinging his arms at his side until mile 17, it can weigh on a competitor.

“It’s a long race, it’s a loooong race,” I repeated in my head over and over. “I’ll catch them later.”

So step after step, the race churned through the rolling hills of Edna Valley and the run-ners who once disappeared over the next hill slowly reappeared then disappeared behind me.

Paradoxically, I was prob-ably feeling too good during the midsection of the race. Each runner who I caught and each mile that slipped by faster than expected gave me a renewed confidence that I’d finish the race without a hiccup.

And not wanting to mess with my vibe, I continued passing aid stations without grabbing water or food. I tried drinking once but ended up choking on the water and coughing for the next

200 yards. I didn’t want to give it another go.

But as the crowd of runners thinned out between miles 19 and 21, a headwind picked up and the rolling hills that I once climbed with ease turned into mountains. The smile I sported while pass-ing supporters on the roads turned into a grimace.

As my father predicted, I was entering true the second half of the marathon. And when I needed the boost, my afore-mentioned friend handed me her boob-sweat coated energy gel that got me to the next wa-ter station on the run. Another energy goo got me back into a rhythm as the course headed back down Johnson Avenue where a group of supporters had set up a table of Dixi cups with a sign reading “Beer.”

Having already experiment-ed with the idea of eating and drinking while running and not wanting to introduce a new substance to my confused system (and not wanting to get carded), I declined their Pabst Blue Ribbon and continued on the homestretch.

I don’t remember too much of the final four miles, other than just repeating how long I had left over and over in my head and dodging grandmas finishing the half-marathon, but at long last I finished the final hill climb at the base of Cerro San Luis and let gravity pull me to the finish line at the Madonna Inn.

I’d like to tell you, dear reader, that the feeling of hitting the finish line after 26.2 miles in 3 hours and 23 minutes, and after hundreds of miles of training, was some indescribable emo-tional high. But that wouldn’t be true. It hurt like hell.

But it’s the type of hurt that was worth every step and stumble. It’s the type of feeling everyone should experience, even just once.

DON’T SLO ME DOWN

J.J. [email protected]

As far as injuries go, the Cal Poly men’s tennis team has yet to catch a break. But de-spite the loss of two start-ers, the Mustangs split two weekend matches in San Luis Obispo, falling to UC Irvine 4-3 and sweeping UC River-side 7-0.

In their Big West Conference home opener against UC Ir-vine, the Mustangs (9-8, 1-1 Big West) found themselves pitted against the Anteaters (4-15, 1-1) with one final set determining the outcome of the match.

After winning the first set, junior Matt Thomson battled against UC Irvine’s Shuhei Shibahara. The Anteaters pulled into a 1-1 tie in the sec-ond set, and Shibahara finished the match defeating Thomson

6-7, 6-2, 6-2.With the loss to the Anteat-

ers, the Mustangs realized they needed to find a way to win without the aid of senior co-captain Jordan Bridge and ju-nior Jurgen De Jager.

Bridge felt a “pop” in his warm-up during Cal Poly’s match against Nevada and suf-fered a second-degree strain in his right arm. And in his last year of eligibility, the senior who has led his team on the court must find new ways to motivate the players.

“It’s tough timing definitely,” Bridge said. “As a captain, I just want to come out here and get these guys fired up and do what I still can as a captain and teammate. If I can play for conference, that’d be great. It’s my last year, and I’d like to go out there and end it right.”

But while there is hope for the senior co-captain to return in time to compete for a Big West title, the fate of De Jager is set in stone for the remain-der of conference play.

What began as a small hamstring strain turned into something much more, as De Jager also heard a loud “pop” as he attempted to smack a lob in his match against Middle Tennessee State’s Et-tore Zito. Not realizing he had torn his anterior cruciate

ligament (ACL), he contin-ued to compete in the match.

“It may have been the adrena-line and the emotion,” De Jager said. “But you really just want to play for the team. You want to do well for them. That’s why I kept playing.”

It wasn’t until after his match against Princeton that his doc-tor informed him of a com-plete tear of his ACL.

“What hurts the most is not being able to help them play,” De Jager said. “I tried to do my best watching them, but it’s definitely the worst thing not being able to help. Especially after a full season of tough training has built up to this next month.”

Now with the loss of two of Cal Poly’s starters, increased pressure has been directed to the younger players on the team.

True freshman Derek Klein sees his teammates’ absence on the court as a motivation-al opportunity.

“As a freshman, since two of our top starters are out, it just makes us want to train,” Klein said. “We won’t always be able to rely on those guys to clinch it for us, so we need to take on new roles and play even better.”

Head coach Nick Carless understands the implications of his injured players, but he

knows that along with winning and losing, injuries are part of the game.

“Losing (Bridge) and (De Jager) hurts,” Carless said. “But other guys have to be able to step up. Other guys have to be ready to play, be really for this moment and be ready to step in. Especially in the postsea-son, every team deals with in-juries. It’s unfortunate, but it’s a part of sports.”

And on Sunday, a seemingly new team emerged to take on UC Riverside (3-17, 0-3 Big West) at the San Luis Obispo Country Club. After winning all three matches to clinch the doubles point, the Mustangs continued to sweep the High-landers, winning all six of their singles matches.

“I (was) just telling my guys that the ultimate goal was to win the conference tourna-

ment and get to the NCAA’s,” Carless said. “Those goals are still on the table. There’s a difference between playing and playing the right way. I thought today we did a bet-ter job of that, and today was a step forward. I was definitely happy about how the guys re-bounded after a tough loss.”

After Sunday’s victory, the team will take on UC Davis (6-9, 0-2) on Friday.

JEFFERSON P. NOLAN [email protected]

Crossing the finish line on Sunday inspired no flash of brillance or deep wisdom, it just hurt like hell.PHOTO COURTESY OF TRACY JENKINS

Men’s tennis team splits weekend matches

The men’s tennis team travels north this weekend to face Big West foes UC Davis (Friday) and Pacific (Saturday) in its third and fourth conference matches of the season.

IAN BILLINGS/MUSTANG DAILY

Sports editor gives first-hand account of running the SLO Marathon.


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