Discussions are currently underway within the Cali-fornia State University system about the possibility of transitioning universities on quarter systems to semes-ter systems — which might directly affect Cal Poly.

If implemented, this new academic system could affect students’ experiences at Cal Poly in a vari-ety of ways. One could be a possible reduction in stress, counselor Mary Peracca said.

Peracca is no stranger to stressed students — she runs the Student Success Seminars on stress management each quarter through the Academic Skills Center. Peracca said during the past four or five years, Cal Poly students are more anxious and over-

whelmed; she attributes this to events such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina that raised national anxiety, as well as the state of the economy. She’s seeing more students with higher course loads trying to finish their degree sooner and more with jobs trying to support themselves or help pay for school.

“When you add any other kind of stress in your life, it becomes cumulative,” Peracca said. “There’s only so much time in the week.”

And stress doesn’t just mean academics — it’s a “big umbrella word,” Peracca said — a student saying they’re stressed could mean they’re depressed, angry or overwhelmed. Stress related to academics is one of the top five reasons students come to Counseling Services, along with anxiety, depression, relation-ship issues and drug and alcohol issues, she said.

Stress can lead to obsessive thinking, Perac-ca said. Students tell her they spend up to 90 percent of each day thinking about all the things they have to get

done. Academic stress can be a focus of that,

Peracca said, but often it’s more generalized.

“They have a hard time focusing on the present moment or what they’re do-

ing because there just seems like so much that still needs to get done,” Peracca said.Cal Poly’s quarter system can contribute

to that academic stress in multiple ways. The length of the quarters is too short, Peracca said: It doesn’t al-low for repetition and for information to soak in, and students get anxious early on. Illness, injury or family tragedy can have an impact too — if students lose a week or two, “the quarter’s pretty shot.”

“There’s just no room for personal or medical prob-lems or emergencies without it being pretty impactful on their academics,” Peracca said.

1

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What’s the most stressful thing about your life in college?

WORD ON THE STREET

“Tests, because they’re very tedious.”

•Derek Morefield wine and viticulture freshman

“Midterms. I don’t like to study.”

• Jody Chan food science freshman

“Grades. You only get one shot.”

• John Davidson business administration freshman

Stress more or less

SEMESTER SYSTEM

QUARTER SYSTEM

ERIN HURLEYerinhurley.md@gmail.com

Coffee lovers are celebrating as “Frappy Hour” returns to Starbucks this week. The 10-day event offers half-off any frappuccino between 3 and 5 p.m.

Cal Poly’s Starbucks has taken extra measures to pre-pare for the inf lux in custom-ers. These include assigning three to four employees to the frappuccino station and doubling up on all supplies.

“We basically make sure we have extra of everything,” Starbucks employee and busi-ness administration freshman Eric Bodenbach said. “We have lots of extra whipped cream, and we make sure we have milk everywhere.”

The three to four people at the frappucino station each have individual jobs to make the process quicker. The first person pumps liquid into the cup, the next per-son adds ice, then someone blends and so on.

Last year, Cal Poly’s Star-

bucks made a record-high 284 frappucinos in two hours. So far this year, the 205 drinks made on Friday is the highest, with 194 drinks on Saturday close behind.

Not everyone thinks half-off frappuccinos are excit-ing, though.

Wine and viticulture fresh-man Nina Carruesco didn’t know it was Frappy Hour un-til she arrived at Starbucks.

“Health-wise, it’s better to get a coffee,” Carruesco said. “I’ll probably get here sooner if I want coffee the rest of the week. Or I’ll just make some in my room.”

But “Frappy Hour” has more than just the perk of half-priced frappuccinos. The Starbucks website links to a “Frappuccino Happy Hour” page dedicated to the 10-day event.

And according to the

AMBER DILLERamberdiller.md@gmail.com

We basically make sure we have extra of everything. ...

We have lots of extra whipped cream.

ERIC BODENBACHSTARBUCKS EMPLOYEE

Get ‘frappy’ with Starbucks happy hour

see FRAPPY, pg. 2“Frappy Hour” returns to Starbucks for 10 days, where all frappuccinos will be half-off until Friday at 5 p.m.

NHA HA/MUSTANG DAILY

see STRESS, pg. 2GRAPHIC BY MELISSA WONG/MUSTANG DAILY

Students, professors discuss the different stress levels in semesters versus quarters.

If Cal Poly switched to a se-mester system, Peracca said she thinks it would reduce students’ academic stress — and by reducing stress in that area, it would hopefully help in other areas of stress. The longer semesters would also allow students to have more time with the therapy groups Counseling Services offers, which cover a variety of areas including depression, stress management and sub-stance abuse. Stress manage-ment seminars are held once a week for four weeks around the middle of the quarter, and Peracca said the attendance varies each quarter.

Psychology emeritus profes-sor Charles Slem, who created the psychology department’s class on stress in the ‘80s, said stress is a response from the body and the person to a de-mand placed on it. That de-mand can be good or bad, but the critical issue for psycholo-gists is how people interpret those events: neutral, somewhat negative or extremely negative.

And several things can affect the way individuals interpret stress, according to Slem, such as the environment, past experi-ences and biology.

When looking at how stu-dents deal with a semester sys-tem versus a quarter system, the demands of each must be looked at as well as how each individual fits those demands, Slem said — and it’s different for every student.

“For each individual, there is an optimum kind of situa-tion,” Slem said.

For Cal Poly students coming from high school or junior col-leges with semester systems, the quarter system is a faster pace, Slem said. He also said block scheduling can intensify the stress caused by the quarter sys-tem — and there are university and parental pressures for stu-dents to max out the number of units they take per quarter.

If Cal Poly were to change to a semester system, the effect would be different for each class level, Slem said. Juniors and se-niors used to the fast pace of a quarter would get bored, but semesters would ease freshmen into university life.

Slem said the semester system is like a soap opera: getting up to speed after missing a few days isn’t a problem.

“That’s the semester system — it moves very slowly. People disappear, they leave for a week and come back and they’re at just about the same place as they were before,” Slem said. “You do that at Poly — you miss

two days, and it’s like they’ve covered 12 chapters and there’s been two papers assigned.”

It’s difficult to say what the im-pact of switching to a semester system would be on individual Cal Poly students, but Slem said he does anticipate a drop in the “frantic demand” of classes in the short run because things such as midterms or papers would be more spread out in semesters.

On the other hand, Slem also said he’s met Cal Poly students who “eat up the quarter system” — especially because they only have to be in “bad” classes for 10 weeks, compared to 18 or 20 weeks in a semester. It depends on the individual, he said.

Leland Swenson has also taught the psychology class on stress and been an instructor in the semester system — he cur-rently teaches at Cuesta College. There are pros and cons to both systems, he said.

Students in the semester sys-tem take longer to get motivat-ed, Swenson said — and some peak early but burn out faster. There’s also a higher chance of dropouts in a semester sys-tem than in a quarter system because there’s more time to choose to leave a class, he said.

In contrast, Swenson said he thinks students perform at a higher level in the quarter sys-tem because “things start fast” and students stay at a higher

level of stress throughout the quarter. However, being stressed all the time is more exhausting, he said.

“When you’re on all the time, your body never has a chance to rest and repair itself,” Swen-son said. “My feeling is when students finish a quarter they’re pretty exhausted.”

If Cal Poly switched to a se-mester system, it would lower overall stress but would also do the same for academic perfor-mance, Swenson said.

It isn’t unusual for kinesiology professor Kris Jankovitz to see stress among students either. She said it changes depending on the week of the quarter with a peak in the first week, another at the fourth and another from weeks eight to 10 where students develop a sense of desperation.

“If you had no other gauge other than looking at stu-dents, you can guess what week of the quarter you’re in,” Jankovitz said.

Although there are those more intense times of stress, Jankov-itz said she sees “a pervasive feeling of being overwhelmed” in Cal Poly students. When stu-dents feel overwhelmed, some-times they focus on what they have to get done rather than recreational activities they like to do. Doing those things can give time away from daily stress and keep students focused and

on task, she said.Being overwhelmed can also

lead people to neglect caring for their physical health through habits such as healthy eating or exercising, Jankovitz said — that can contribute to the wear and tear caused by stress.

The effects of stress aren’t just limited to psychology — it can lead to a range of physical symp-toms, said Jankovitz, including headaches, stomach problems, change in eating habits, muscle tension and an inability to sleep.

The quarter system can be an “unforgiving pace” amongst a very competitive peer group, Jankovitz said, and echoed the idea that something unexpect-ed such as a week-long illness or family emergency makes it hard to catch up. The semester system (which she has taught) allows for more time to recover from something like that, she said. And unexpected life events don’t just happen to students — faculty deal with them too, Jankovitz said.

Under a semester system, students will still be in school the same number of days and learn the same things as in a quarter system, Jankovitz said — the things that will change is “the mechanical part of it,” like how many times students have to sign up for classes, buy books or prepare for finals.

“I don’t know that it will be less stressful on people’s lives, all I know is that their calendar is going to be different,” Janko-vitz said. “And where I think a semester could potentially be more favorable is when you have those unexpected things come up.”

Business administration junior James Kirschner is also no stranger to the se-mester system. Kirschner transferred to Cal Poly from a college with semesters and said students aren’t moving at such a fast pace, so they have less periods of stress from midterms and finals.

However, Kirschner said he was more stressed with se-mesters, and in the long run, it would be more stressful if Cal Poly switched because of the “slack-off factor.”

“Since it was a semester system, you kind of slacked off for the first few weeks, and then it all kind of hit you at once,” Kirschner said. “Whereas here, since you ex-pect it to be fast paced, you kind of can prepare for hav-ing a final every nine or 10 weeks instead of every 17.”

It remains to be seen wheth-er Cal Poly will make the move to a semester system, but one thing seems clear — student stress levels won’t be immune to the transition.

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2

MDnews 2 Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Psychology emeritus professor Charles Slem (above) said if Cal Poly were to switch to a semester system, the effect on students’ academic experiences would be different depending on the class and the individual student’s life.

ERIN HURLEY/MUSTANG DAILY

STRESScontinued from page 1

You do that at Poly — you miss two days, and it’s like they’ve

covered 12 chapters and there’s been two chapters assigned.

CHARLES SLEMPSYCHOLOGY EMERITUS PROFESSOR

website, customers can tag photos of their discounted

FRAPPYcontinued from page 1

drinks on Twitter using #frappuccinohappyhour for the chance to win prizes.

“Daily challenges” are list-ed on the website to inspire the pictures. For example, the challenge for May 8 is: “Despite the thousands of ways to make it totally your own, every Frappuccino®

blended beverage has one thing in com-mon — the iconic green straw. Show us some-thing truly iconic from your own neighborhood, town or city.”

The daily challenges con-tinue through May 13 when “Frappy Hour” ends at 5 p.m.

Visit our website

for more on

“Frappy Hour”

3

MDnews 3Tuesday, May 8, 2012

YEMEN —

The CIA thwarted a plot by al-Qaida’s affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisti-cated new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden.

The plot involved an up-grade of the underwear bomb that failed to detonate aboard a jetliner over Detroit on Christmas 2009.

This new bomb was also de-signed to be used in a passen-ger’s underwear, but this time al-Qaida developed a more refined detonation system, U.S. officials said.

NATIONAL INTERNATIONALSTATE

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

Intent on taking his presi-dential campaign all the way to the GOP conven-tion this summer, Texas Rep. Ron Paul has mounted an offensive in key caucus states, swiping would-be delegates from presumed nominee Mitt Romney in an effort to gain relevance in a race that is generally considered over.

While there does not ap-pear to be a path for Paul to win the nomination, that isn’t stopping the Texas congressman’s fer-vent supporters.

GROVER BEACH —

The Grover Beach City Council plans to lay off six city employees to bal-ance an estimated 10-per-cent deficit.

The council discussed which positions will be eliminated Monday night.

The layoffs would reduce Grover Beach’s number of full-time employees, which is already the lowest in the county, to 49.

The city is also planning on combining the Parks and Recreation Depart-ment with the Community Development Department.

SLO COUNTY

An American aid worker kid-napped last year by al-Qaida militants in Pakistan has made an impassioned video appeal to President Barack Obama to save his life.

Seventy-year-old Warren Weinstein, abducted by a squad of armed men from his home in the eastern city of Lahore in August, begged Obama to meet his captors’ demands in the video released by al-Qaida’s media arm — the first footage of Weinstein to surface since his capture.

“My life is in your hands, Mr. President. If you accept the de-mands, I live. If you don’t ac-cept the demands, then I die,” Weinstein said in the recording, which was released late Sunday and made available on YouTube.

The video — whose recording date was unclear — followed an audio recording released in December in which al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri ac-knowledged holding Weinstein and demanded that the United States end airstrikes against his group and release its prisoners being held in American jails. Among those held is Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who was ar-raigned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center Saturday along with four other defendants ac-cused of orchestrating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Weinstein spoke calmly, dressed in a traditional Paki-stani outfit of baggy trousers and shirt, and appearing against a plain white backdrop. He said he would like his wife, Elaine, to know that he was well and re-ceiving his medication for heart problems he suffered from be-fore his capture. In front of him was a table with books and some

food, which Weinstein ate as he spoke, as if to show he was be-ing fed.

Addressing Obama directly in the video, Weinstein said, “I know that you have two daugh-ters that you enjoy. You are with them, you spend time with them, but I get the feeling that you’re not paying any attention or care about my problem or my needs, and you’re not paying at-tention and you don’t give much importance to my situation.”

In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that Obama was aware of the video but didn’t believe that the president had seen it. He said the White House was “greatly concerned for Mr. Weinstein’s safety and his well-being” and called for his immediate release, but he said, “We cannot and will not negotiate with al-Qaida.”

Humanitarian work in Paki-stan has been rocked by a se-ries of kidnappings of locals and foreigners, including the beheading last month of a cap-tured British aid worker in the western city of Quetta, who was presumed also to have been in the hands of Islamic extrem-ists. While the abductions often have ideological motives, they are also a means for Pakistani militants to raise money.

American aid professionals in Pakistan help oversee a wide ar-ray of programs funded by $1.5 billion in annual U.S. civilian assistance to a country that is supposed to be a key strategic ally of Washington.

Weinstein, who has a home in Rockville, Md., and was work-ing at the time of his capture for a private American aid contrac-tor, J.E. Austin Associates, also spelled out a career in public service that includes a stint with the U.S. Agency for Interna-tional Development, the U.S. government body dedicated to humanitarian assistance.

“I’ve done a lot of service for

my country, and I would hope that my country will now look after me and take care of me and meet the demands of the mujahedeen,” or holy warriors, Weinstein said. “I think that it is important that you act quickly.”

Analysts believe that Wein-stein is being held in Pakistan’s tribal area, the lawless border zone that runs along the border with Afghanistan and where U.S. officials have suggested that al-Zawahri also is hiding. Mis-sile strikes by unmanned U.S. drone aircraft in the tribal belt, which continue despite opposi-tion from Pakistan, have killed more than three dozen high- and mid-ranking al-Qaida op-eratives in recent years.

Last week marked the an-niversary of the U.S. raid that killed al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden in a town north of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Speaking Monday during a visit to India, Pakistan’s archenemy, Secretary of State Hillary Clin-ton called al-Qaida’s presence in Pakistan a top concern.

“We want to disable al-Qaida and we have made a lot of prog-ress in doing that,” Clinton told an audience in the city of Kolka-ta. “There are several significant leaders still on the run. Zawahri, who inherited the leadership from bin Laden, is somewhere, we believe, in Pakistan.”

In response, Pakistan’s for-eign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, said that Pakistan had no information on al-Zawah-ri’s whereabouts.

“Al-Qaida is a mutual en-emy of Pakistan and the U.S.,” Khar told a parlia-mentary committee.

Al-Qaida works closely with the Pakistani Taliban and oth-er domestic extremist groups, which analysts say are more likely to carry out kidnappings. While Pakistan’s government cooperates in the fight against al-Qaida, it has a more am-

SAEED SHAHMcClatchy Newspapers

bivalent attitude toward other jihadist groups and is currently seeking a peace deal with the Pakistani Taliban.

Separately, on Sunday, Paki-stani militants captured soldiers and executed two of them, stick-ing their severed heads on poles in Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, part of the tribal area.

Warren Weinstein, 70, was kidnapped Aug. 13, 2011.

MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE

American kidnapped by al-Qaida pleads for life in video

CARSON —

A 14-year-old boy ac-cused of killing his father, federal ICE agent Myron Chisem, did not enter a plea to a murder charge at his initial juvenile court appearance Monday and will face a May 21 hearing on his fitness to be tried as an adult.

The boy, whose name has not been released by au-thorities, is accused of fir-ing a single shot that struck Chisem in the head as he sat watching TV in the family room of their home in Carson.

4

MDarts 4 Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Downtown San Luis Obispo may be getting an upgrade. Lo-cal developers Rob Rossi and John King are working to po-tentially bring an IMAX movie theater to the area.

The proposed theater would be built in the small parking lot behind the already existing Fre-mont Theater. The two cinemas would be connected to create The Fremont Square Entertain-ment Complex.

“The backside of that lot is dead at night, we would like to create a great venue to liv-

en up Higuera Street,” Rossi said. “It would be more than an IMAX; it will be a multi-purpose building.”

IMAX is known for larger screens, superb sound qual-ity and immersive technology. There are approximately 600 IMAX theaters around the world, and the closest one to San Luis Obispo is at the Hearst Castle Visitor Center.

With a new IMAX, the Fre-mont Square will be a focal point of entertainment down-town. Rossi said he wants con-struction to begin in 2013. The plan for the new entertainment complex is already submitted

and awaiting the outcome of an administrative hearing that should take place in June.

If constructed, the proposed theater would be used for IMAX films, live performances, private meetings and educa-tional exhibitions, Rossi said. IMAX has an extensive library of education films that would be available to use in the proposed theater, which will seat approxi-mately 300.

Such events could be held at the neighboring Mission Cin-emas, but at a smaller level. The Mission Cinemas, neighbor-ing the Fremont, was built in 1984 and is in dire need of re-

pairs, Rossi said. The proposed plan will include renovations to the three screens, allowing a smaller theater experience with approximately 90 to 100 seats, Rossi said.

“We just want to dress up this great venue,” Rossi said. “When it is done, it will be perfect for private events and meetings.”

Though downtown will get a new building and old ones are being upgraded, Rossi said he wants to keep the vin-tage feel of the Fremont alive. He purchased an old Warner Brothers fully neon marquee that was once on the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara. The

sign is the same vintage as the Fremont’s, but significantly different, he said.

According to Tim Ronda, the principle architect at SDG Architects, one main lobby will connect the three theaters: IMAX, Fremont and Mission. This allows access to all of the theaters from either Monterey or Higuera streets.

Another interesting feature of the proposed IMAX theater is a sawtooth roof. The roof is de-signed to support photovoltaic solar panels and to enhance the acoustics of the theater.

“There is a big buzz going around about this theater,” Ron-

da said. “We submitted it earlier this week and have gotten a fa-vorable response from the city.”

The locals are also excited about the proposed Fremont Square. San Luis Obispo resi-dent Nate Christian said he thinks a new IMAX will im-prove the moviegoing experi-ence and is interested to see the neon marquee.

“I’ve been to IMAX a few times now and love it,” Chris-tian said. “It’s a different ex-perience — seeing a movie or documentary on a such a large screen with perfect sound. It would be an awesome addition to downtown.”

IMAX brings new life to downtown SLO

COURTESY GRAPHIC

The proposed Fremont Square will connect the two already existing theaters, Fremont and Mission Cinemas, to a new IMAX theater that will face Higuera Street in downtown San Luis Obispo.

DAVID YRIARTEdavidyriarte.md@gmail.com

5

MDarts 5Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Heather Rockwood is a food science senior and Mustang Daily food columnist.

This Sunday marks a very special day: A day in which we recognize Mom for all the things she did, and still does, for us. As I was perusing the many gift ideas Google has so graciously provided, I saw two recurring gift ideas: flowers and food (more spe-cifically, brunch).

As a food columnist and avid proponent of all things food, one would assume I would automatically go for the food gift, but I’ll have you know there is a special place in my heart for flow-ers as well. So, I’m left with a tough choice, but being the bright Cal Poly student I am, I did what any other Mustang would do; I combined them and went for the best of both worlds — edible flowers.

At first glance, eating flow-ers sounds a tad absurd, but when you get down to it, we eat fruits that are part of flowering plants, and dried flowers can often be found in many teas, which makes the idea not too farfetched after all. Although, like any foods that are gathered from the floor of nature, there is a po-tential danger as not all flow-

ers are edible. Take a mo-ment to discover the world of edible flowers in order to give Mom a gift that is not only delightfully beautiful but will also make her taste buds sing.

Dating back to cultures in 140 B.C., eating flowers is old news to humanity as a whole. But if you’re anything like me, I’m a flower-eating nov-ice — though I do distinctly remember growing up on sweet honeysuckles (but not the berries which are actu-ally poisonous).

As a flower novice, it is vital to research the flowers you plan to eat and make sure they are indeed a safe vari-ety. These edible varieties do not include flowers from your florist. They also don’t include any buds sprayed with pesticides. One of the best ways to obtain edible flowers is to actually grow them yourself (this method may have to wait until next Mother’s Day for some of us).

If you don’t have the time or will power to grow your own edible flowers, they are increasing in culinary popularity, and some vari-eties are easier to get a hold of than others. One popular type, the squash blossom, is commonly found during

its season right here in the streets of San Luis Obispo at Farmers’ Market. This par-ticular blossom actually ends up tasting like the squash it comes from; just as if you let a basil plant blossom, it tastes like basil, but with a little more spice.

There are many common herbs that if allowed to blos-som, add quite a style to sal-ads and other dishes; however, I am particularly drawn to the flowers that seem too pretty to eat, but actually are. Some of these include roses, violets, pansies, hibiscus and even dandelions. These flowers can be candied, placed on top of cakes, cookies and ice cream and add not only decorative beauty but delicious flavor.

Many of these flowers are not uncommon and are not too hard to get your hands on, but I do want to remind you that before you go pick-ing the flowers on the side of the road or from your neighbor’s garden, do some research and be sure it is a bud that will tickle your tastebuds and not turn your tummy. This Mother’s Day, I encourage you to remind Mom just how much you ap-preciate her by giving her the flowered cake and letting her eat it too.

Celebrate Mom’s Day with edible flowers

6

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©2012 Mustang Daily

“He’s like the journalism slut ... he tries all the concentrations.”

MD op/ed 6 Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Throughout the year, current Mustang Daily staff is con-stantly reminded of past staff. Whether it’s telling someone to check an article written by a former reporter or hearing from a potential source that “in the past the Mustang Dai-ly has done (fill in the blank), so I don’t want to be quoted,” we’re constantly reminded of the past.

One thing most people around campus (and new staff members) probably don’t real-ize is that the Mustang Daily staff turnover rate is extremely high. Each year, Mustang Daily gets basically an entirely new staff. Some of the people might be the same, but they are typi-cally in entirely new positions.

Take myself for example. I started out as a copy editor during Summer 2010, and this year, I found myself with my own desk in an office as the managing editor. And this is the best example of why the top editors sometimes need to be filled in or do some research on what Mustang Daily did four, five or six years ago. Our general manager has stayed the same, but for as long as I’m aware, the two “management” positions on the editorial side of the paper — the editor-in-chief (EIC) and their right-

hand-(wo)man, the managing editor — change every single year. Even the Mustang Daily adviser position has done some shuffling amongst professors in the past five or so years.

The yearly staff shuffle, hiring of new staff members and, most importantly, hiring of the two top editor positions comes every spring quarter. So it’s that time of year again.

On Tuesday of last week, I was able to sit in on the EIC interview process and give my two-cents because of my cur-rent position at the paper, and the fact that I’m graduating in June. The three candidates pre-sented themselves amazingly considering they were faced with seven journalism faculty members and myself (prob-ably the least intimidating of the bunch), and each of them survived the Q-and-A por-tions of the interview. But like any hiring process, only one person can be chosen. So on Wednesday — after letting the hopefuls sweat it out for a night and probably run through their individual interviews a million

times — the position was of-fered to journalism senior Brian De Los Santos, who accepted.

The way the process works is that next year’s EIC offers the managing editor position to someone they feel is fit for the position. It’s only a matter of days until De Los Santos com-pletes this task.

And once that happens, I will enter my dreaded lame-duck period. It had to happen some-time, and it should help me overcome the stage of denial I’m in about graduating in a month.

After the managing editor is chosen, he or she and the EIC conduct interviews to hire next year’s staff.

For anyone — no matter your major — who is interested in applying for a position at the Mustang Daily, now is the time to polish up your résumé and decide where you’d fit best on the staff. And if you have ques-tions, feel free to stop by the newsroom; someone should be here to help you out. Until then, I’m going to go try to enforce a bunch of policies to prove I’m not a lame duck.

Doing the staff shuffle

KARLEE PRAZAK karleeprazak.md@gmail.com

I am writing in regards to the article titled “Sexual As-sault Report Explained.” This article was quite alarming to read as the coordinator of Safer at Cal Poly and some-one very involved in the movement to prevent sexual as-saults at Cal Poly. My main concern is how reporting of sexual assault was portrayed in the article. This article made the reporting process at Cal Poly seem very con-fusing, long and too much work to even consider. This is the opposite feeling Safer would like to have when con-sidering reporting a sexual assault or any other crime.

First, I would like it to be known that if a student would like to talk to someone regarding a sexual assault, Safer is the best first-stop resource. Everyone working with Safer are state-certified rape crisis counselors and are trained people on campus on how to be effective first respond-ers to sexual assault victims. Safer acts as advocates for the survivor as we plan for next steps for the survivor. Safer students do not need to report anything and are safe people to talk to if you are concerned with talking about your situation.

Second, I would like it to be known that reporting a sexual assault to any faculty or staff is not an overwhelm-ing and difficult process. The Title IX officer/Jean De-costa’s main function is to support and protect the edu-cational environment for all students. This means giving students all resources available to them.

Safer would like the student body to understand that reporting a sexual assault is not a treacherous process. It is something that can empower survivors and give them the support and safety to succeed after the incident. Ev-eryone has a choice to do what is best for him or her to heal and Safer supports any decision the survivor makes. Although, the more reports we receive, the more we can-not ignore the need to change behaviors and attitudes around sexual and relationship violence.

Recapping the information:

• Safer is the first stop resource for anyone affected by sexual assault, relationship violence and stalking.

• Safer has advocates for all the Cal Poly community.• Safer can talk to you about hypothetical’s and dis-

cuss any options for survivors and loved ones. • Safer has a six-week program for accused per-

petrators.• Reporting a sexual assault is not a complicated

process.• Call 805-756-2282 or email safer@calpoly.edu for

any more information

Christina Kavianickaviani@calpoly.edu(805) 756-2282Staff Member

Letter to the Editor

Mustang Daily reserves the right to edit letters for grammar, profanities, and length. Letters, commentaries and cartoons do not represent the views of the Mustang Daily. Please limit length to 250 words. Letters should include the writer’s full name, phone number, major and class standing. Letters must come from a Cal Poly email account. Do not send letters as an attachment. Please send the text in the body of the email.

It had to happen sometime, and it should help me overcome the stage of denial I’m in about

graduating in less than a month.

again. We eat promptly so we can digest our food before the race starts at 9 a.m.

We put on uniforms, double check we have everything we need in our transition bag and bike down to the lake marina. The area is full of racers, volun-teers and spectators, and I can feel the excitement building in-side of me.

We set up our transition stations, get our race num-bers written on our bod-ies, go to the bathroom one last time, then slip on our wetsuits and head down to the boat ramp for the swim start. As the race announcer prepares us for the hours to come, we were told that Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack and Julie

Moss (famous for crawling across the finish line at the Kona Ironman Champion-ship race in 1982) are joining the racers.

Then, it’s time. We holler out our last team cheer in the re-maining minute before the start.

Ten, nine, eight … three, two, one. Go! The water is a flurry of legs, arms and white water as swimmers push and shove their way to the front of the pack. I have to keep my head out of the water (to avoid the misfortune of being kicked in the face) until the pack breaks up and I have a clear area in front of me. Then, I’m able to speed up. The buoys seem so far apart, and halfway through the swim I feel like I have been swimming forever. Finally, I see the last turning buoy and make my way to the shore. My arms are tired and my heart rate is high. But as I drag myself up the boat ramp,

I hear my teammates cheering for me as I run to transition.

I strap on my helmet, slip into my bike shoes and grab my bike. Go time! I try to slow my heart rate as I begin the ascent up the dreaded mile of Lynch Hill. When I finally make it to the top, I am exhausted, but I steady my breathing and carry onward. The hills are rough, but I use the downhills and flats to my advantage. As I pass by the volunteers I hear cheers for Cal Poly. I see my teammates go by as I encroach upon the turnaround. By the last uphills of the bike course, my legs are worn out and I still have an hour-long run ahead of me.

OK, this is going to be the hard part. When I get into transition, I hoist my bike back up on the rack and grab my running shoes. It is now 11 a.m. and 82 degrees, and I am exhausted. All I think about is

moving one leg in front of the other. It takes every effort I have just to do this. When I hit the long hill at Mile 3, I decide to walk since my run would be about the same pace as my walk at this point. I need to conserve my energy if I am going to fin-ish. All I can think about is how much I want to quit the race and sit down in the shade. But I carry onward. As I reach each aid station, I force myself to keep going and the volunteers’ cheers make all the difference.

When I finally reach the last uphill, my teammates are there once again to cheer me on. This is it. All I have to do is run the last mile down Lynch Hill. I can do that. I feel out of control as I hurtle myself downhill. And as I reach the last turn of the hill, I hear the announcer and enter the finish chute. Most people sprint this last portion of the race, but I have one pace left:

slow. I finish in 3 hours and 15 minutes. I’ll take it! The only other time I have felt so relieved was when I ran under the finish arch at last year’s Wildflower.

Wildflower is ironic. For be-ing such a painful race, I will always think of it as my favor-ite race. At the end of the day, I forget the pain of those last 6.2 miles. I remember how pumped I felt cheering for my teammates racing the Long Course. I remember the cheer-ing crowds and the passing athletes telling me “Good job” and “You can do this.” I am in-spired by the disabled athletes that are missing limbs and are not only still able to race, but annihilate me on this course. Most of all, I love the positive, motivating and uplifting at-mosphere of Wildflower. Even though this course puts me through so much pain, I just can’t stop racing it.

WILDFLOWERcontinued from page 8

Tax reform: how many times do we need to call for it?The following editorial ap-peared in the Los Angeles Times on May 4.

Republicans and Democrats agree the federal tax system is broken, but they couldn’t dis-agree more strongly about how to fix it. That’s true largely be-cause each side clings to a dif-ferent set of theories about how taxes affect the country, only some of which bear much re-lationship to reality. Hoping to dispel a few of the myths per-vading the debate, a Washing-ton think tank offered a report this week laying out a dozen facts about tax reform. The bottom line: Good fiscal policy

comes at a steep political cost.Because the report was re-

leased by the Hamilton Project, an economic policy initiative by the left-of-center Brookings Institution, conservatives may find it easy to dismiss the find-ings. Nevertheless, there’s am-munition here for policymak-ers on both sides of the partisan divide. For example, the report notes that eliminating tax breaks for oil companies, cor-porate jets and corporate take-over artists — three frequent targets for Democrats — would have a trivial impact on the fed-eral deficit.

On the other hand, the report rejects the conservative Repub-

lican notion that tax cuts yield so much economic growth that they practically pay for them-selves. Rounding up data from all U.S. income tax cuts since the Kennedy administration, the report states that reducing individual tax rates leads at best to modest increases in income, employment and work effort. And when the reductions are financed by more government borrowing (as the tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 were), the data suggest that the economy grows more slowly than it would have otherwise over the long run.

The most commonly touted tax reform these days is one that would lower rates while

reducing the number of cred-its, deductions and exemptions. Such “tax expenditures” not only cost the government more than Social Security, Medicare or defense, the report observes, but they distort the market by favoring selected industries, in-vestments and funding sources.

But many of these tax ex-penditures were designed to promote things society val-ues, such as health insurance, homeownership and capital investment. And unless poli-cymakers are willing to curtail such popular breaks, they won’t be able to lower rates much without raiding the Treasury. For instance, to cover the cost

of lowering individual income tax rates as far as GOP can-didate Mitt Romney has pro-posed, Washington would have to roll back the mortgage inter-est deduction and health insur-ance subsidies, raise the tax rate on capital gains and eliminate all itemized deductions.

Romney and President Obama have both spoken blithely about tax reform without specifying how they would accomplish it. The Hamilton Project’s report should make voters skeptical of such promises. Just because the two parties agree that the tax code needs to be overhauled doesn’t mean it will be easy to do so.

7

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MDsports 7Tuesday, May 8, 2012

took second in the men’s 1,500 in a dual meet against UC San-ta Barbara earlier this season hopes his strong performances in his main events — the 1,500 and 5,000 — translate to post-season success.

“I want to set a time for re-gionals,” Cardona said. “Some-where near 3:46 to 3:48. We’ve gotten a lot of guys to step up to the plate this season. We all know each others’ strengths and weaknesses. We all work together and strive to help each

other improve.”Derek Thomas, a junior out

of San Leandro, holds the Big West’s fastest time of 3:46.08 in the 1,500. Thomas and Cardona look to headline a champion-ship push for the Cal Poly men’s distance runners.

Team captain Eric Surpre-naunt also has high hopes for his performance in the 400 meter hurdles. Surprenaunt, who went to finals last year with a time of 52.80, has im-proved to a 51.93 time this year, seeding him at third overall in the event. Surprenaunt said he hopes his run doesn’t end at regionals, but continues on to

nationals and then, eventually, the Olympic trials.

Chris Frias and Sean Da-vidson both are aiming to ad-vance to regionals for the lon-gest race, the 10,000-meter run. Frias holds the second best time in the conference at 29:44.14 with Davidson sit-ting comfortably at 29:56.38.

Pole vaulters Kyle Inks and John Prader went back and forth, both setting personal records during the dual meet against the Gauchos. Inks cleared 17 feet 8.5 inches, while Prader cleared 17 feet 2.5 inches.

As for the sprinters, earlier this season Jamison Jordan posted

a 10.56 which tied him with Cal State Northridge’s Thomas Henry for the fastest time in the Big West. Jordan pulled out of the 100-meter dash against UCSB after he suffered from a cramp in his calf and will at-tempt to rebound in Irvine

“Anything can happen,” Conover said. “Everyone stands a chance. You never know until they run the race or go out on the field.”

On the women’s side, Cal State Northridge has dominated the conference in the last decade and will attempt to win their seventh straight Big West title this weekend. The team had a disappointing sixth place finish last year.

“We are very young,” Conover said. “A lot of people will be getting some experi-ence. We have some seasoned veterans, but we also have some younger women who have a chance to do very well.”

Freshmen mid-distance run-ner Annie Whitford has ben-efited from the leaders on the team and expects they will be successful over the weekend.

“Our girl’s team is extremely close,” Whitford said. “We are all there to support each other and we have a lot of chemistry.”

Freshman Jenna Davis headlines the youthful Mus-

tangs. Davis has posted the fastest times in the 600- and 800-meter races for the Mus-tangs coming in at 1:33.98 and 2:13.03, respectively.

Alongside Davis, Jessica Wil-liams looks to make a mark at conference. With strong times in the 100 and 200, she hopes to advance past conference and onward to regionals.

Cal Poly opened the multi-events on May 4 to 5 in Irvine to start off the conference meet.

In the multi-events, Whitney Sisler placed sixth overall in the women’s heptathlon. Calynn Stanford placed 11th overall. UCSB’s Barbara Nwaba took first overall in the end.

Sisler is a top high-jumper nationally, making it to na-tionals last year. Her devel-opment has allowed her to compete in the heptathlon, where she placed sixth at the multi-event Big West Cham-pionships last weekend.

TRACK continued from page 8

Derek Thomas (left) claims the Big West’s top 800-meter mark; he clocked a 3:46.08 in the two-lap race. He and David Cardona will race in the 1,500 meter this weekend.

NHA HA/MUSTANG DAILY

8

MDsports 8 Tuesday, May 8, 2012

As we pull into the camp-ground entrance at Lake San Antonio on Friday afternoon,

my fellow triathletes and I are in our element. Cyclists domi-nate the roads, warming up for the big races ahead. Three of us have been squished together in the cabin of a small Tacoma for the hour-long drive to the lake. There is not much room to stretch out, considering we also have five race bikes, two tents, three sets of race gear

and an unprecedented amount of fuel (food) to get us through the next couple days.

This year more than 900 Cal Poly students came to volunteer for the weekend. Many come to cheer on the athletes, party and generally have a good time. I would say this is a pretty well-known fact. However, what

most people at Cal Poly don’t think of when they hear “Wildf lower” is the team of 80 or so athletes who devote more than 10 hours a week during the entire school year to training for this event. The pain, the suffering and the intensity these athletes experience on race day starts long before Wildf lower.

The Cal Poly Triathlon Team is the biggest sports club on campus and was re-cently awarded “Sport Club of the Year” by Associated Students, Inc. Coming from a mixed array of sporting backgrounds, the members of our club fuse together to train roughly six to nine times a week for several col-legiate triathlons, which cul-minate in our USA Triathlon (USAT) Nationals race as well as Wildflower.

For those who have never volunteered at, raced or even heard of Wildflower, Satur-day’s event features a Moun-tain Bike Course (400 meter swim, 9.7 mile bike and 2 mile run) and a Long Course (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run). Sunday’s event, in which most of our Cal Poly triathletes partici-pate, is the Olympic Distance race (0.9 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike and 6.2 mile run). Known for being one of the hottest and hilliest courses in California, Wildflower has the reputation of one of the most challenging triathlons in the U.S. This year, I took on the Olympic Course for the second time in a row.

As a Cal Poly triathlete, I will break our Wildflower weekend up into three different parts.

Part 1: We cheer.

Saturday morning we wake up around 6 a.m. with the sun.

Our brave long-course ath-letes are preparing for their race. As the racers prepare their spots in the transition area (the place where athletes go to switch out belongings between each leg of the race), the rest of the team treks down to the start of the swim course to cheer them on as they exit the swim. After picking up our packets in the expo, the other Olympic Distance competi-tors and I head back up to the campground to cheer for our racers (and others) on Mile 8 of the run.

Part 2: We feast.

Once all of our long-course athletes have finished their race (imagine a seven-hour workout), it is time for us to eat the amazing food our team parents kindly prepared for us. After dinner, we take a team photo and then engage in a traditional team run around the campground to get ready for the next day. During this year’s run we were even paid a nice visit by Long Course winner Jesse Thomas. As the night rolls in, we get to bed early, but I am usually too ex-cited and nervous to fall asleep right away. I visualize what is to come the next day and run over lists in my head of every-thing I will need for my race.

Part 3: We Race.

We wake up at 6 a.m. once

Wild times at Wildflower event

Cal Poly men’s and wom-en’s track teams are set to compete in the Big West Conference Champion-ship on May 11 and 12 in Irvine where they aim to improve on their third and seventh place finishes in 2011, respectively.

“There will be a lot of strong competitors this year,” head coach Mark Conover said. “A lot of programs are really load-ed up this year. There is going to be great compe-tition all around.”

Long Beach State, the de-fending men’s champion, retained a strong team, Conover said, and will be a main source of competi-tion for the Mustangs.

“We bring an outstand-ing group of individuals in a variety of events,” he said. “It’s where we have been at for some time.”

The men’s long distance runners provide the back-bone to the Cal Poly lineup and are expected to score well for the Mustangs. Sophomores Chris Frias and Sean Davidson both aim to advance to region-als barring strong perfor-mances in the 10K.

Specifically, the men’s 1,500-meter run looks to be a strong spot for Cal Poly.

David Cardona, who

Track & field preps for Big West finalsCONOR MULVANEYconormulvaney.md@gmail.com

see TRACK, pg. 7

RENEE HAMILTONSpecial to the Mustang Daily

see WILDFLOWER, pg. 6Renee Hamilton (above) competes with the Cal Poly triathlon club and raced in the Olympic Distance event at Wildflower, an annual triathlon event held last weekend, at Lake San Antonio.

COURTESY PHOTO

Wildflower 2012 — the Woodstock of the Triathlon Community.