BREAKING NEWS

Bringing back old traditions and cre-ating new ones — this is what Home-coming 2010 aspires to achieve and much more, said the executive director of the SJSU Alumni Association.

Paul Richardson said Homecoming is about Spartans, recognizing past stu-dents and celebrating present students.

“We want our students to take own-ership over their week,” he said. “It’s their week and alumni’s week too.”

Junior kinesiology major Michelle Avendano said she just transferred from a junior college and isn’t sure what she should expect in regards to Homecom-ing week.

“I’m excited but I don’t really know what it’s about,” she said.

Th e Homecoming festivities started off Monday with free muffi ns handed out at parking garages along with a schedule of homecoming events and will end with the Homecoming football game, Richardson said.

He said Interim President Kassing brought back the tradition of Home-coming four years ago during his initial term.

Kassing then brought together a team to create a strategic plan that would en-hance the student body experience and its success, both inside and outside the classroom, Richardson said.

“And as part of that, looking at the homecoming experience and engaging alumni back and also providing a series of events for our students,” he said.

Two of the old traditional Home-coming events were brought back, Rich-ardson said.

“Back in the ’50s and ’60s they were called pushcart races,” he said. “It’s part of Greek Week now.

“Greek Week, actually, does Greek Olympics and depending on the year, they do a similar type of pushcart race, they use chariots or, I think this year they are going to do wheelbarrow instead.”

Another old tradition that has been brought back is the old bonfi re, which

Richardson said will be done diff erently.“We are not going to be able to build

this huge bonfi re in the middle of Tower Lawn, so there’s a huge butane fi re that they bring in,” he said. “Th ere’s a main stage and they also bring in fi re dancers and it’s all sponsored and coordinated by A.S.”

Britt any Erickson, director of pro-gramming aff airs for Associated Stu-dents, said the Fire on the Fountain is a great way to celebrate Homecoming.

“(Homecoming) brings students together and reminds them that it’s not

just about the football game,” she said. “It’s about the tradition and it brings parents, students, alumni and faculty together and shows them how SJSU has grown and how SJSU will continue to grow.”

Junior business major Sandy Ardian said she doesn’t care much about the Homecoming game, but will be att end-ing Fire on the Fountain.

“I went freshman year,” she said. “I didn’t go last year, so I’m going to go this year. It’s fun.”

On Wednesday, SJSU fraternities

and sororities participated in the Greek Olympics, taking place on Paseo de Ce-sar Chavez at 4 p.m. on the grassy area near the barbecue pits.

Starting at 4 p.m. today on Tower Lawn, students can participate in car-nival games, juggling lessons, decorate cupcakes, and have salsa dance lessons hosted by a variety of student organiza-tions and diff erent departments on cam-pus, according the the SJSU website.

According to the website, Spartans

Support the Spartans in Saturdayʼs Homecoming game by using the back page of todayʼs Spartan Daily.

Thursday, September 30, 2010 spartandaily.com Volume 135, Issue 18

Serving San José State University since 1934INSIDE

ONLINE

NEWS• Professor urges

collaborative solutions to social problems 22

• Hopeful students seek out opportunities at job fair 22

• Historical Homecomings 33

A&E• Local indie band chases

stardom 44

SPORTS• Spartans face Aggies for

Homecoming 55• Spartan Briefs:

Men’s and women’s golf 55

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OPINION• The old ‘too much caffi ene’

defense 66• Growing into one’s

face 7 7 • Immigration issue gets

Colbert ‘bump’ 77

• Police offi cer abused his power 77

SOCIALMEDIA

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OUTSIDE

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Alpha Phi member Caitlin Leathers holds the legs of sorority sister, Amanda Blass, as they wheelbarrow race against Gian Winzer of Alpha Tau Omega and Sarah Ngo of Alpha Omicron Pi on Wednesday, Sept. 29.

Homecoming festivities foster student fellowship

ALEXANDRA RUIZ-HUIDOBROStaff Writer

See HOMECOMING Page 3

SJSU receives federal stimulus money

SJSU now has $6.7 million to work into the budget thanks to the fi nal installment of federal stimulus dollars for all 23 campuses in the California State University system, said the director of media relations for SJSU.

Pat Lopes Harris said SJSU is still in the

process of trying to fi gure out how that money will be used.

One option is using the new funds to in-crease spring admissions, she said.

“Right now we don’t have enough funds to admit any new students in the spring,” Harris said. “Th ese federal stimulus dollars open up the ability of admitt ing new stu-dents in the spring.”

But, the university needs to fi nd a fair way to admit the growing number of appli-cants, she said.

“If the $6.7 million will only pay for half of the number of students that qualify for admission,” Harris said. “We are going to need to fi gure out which half we are going to admit.”

She said this is a diffi cult situation and decision to make because SJSU is commit-ted to admitt ing everybody who is minimal-ly qualifi ed in Santa Clara County.

KELSEY LYNNE LESTER-PERRYStaff Writer

See STIMULUS Page 3

University offi cials work to allocate last installment of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds

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The San Jose State Police Department was alerted about a stabbing victim on campus at about 9 p.m. Wednesday, according to Robert Noriega, an offi cer of the University Police Department.

Noriega said the victim, who was in his late 20s to early 30s, was sitting on a bench between Tower Hall and the Science building where he stopped a student and asked the student to call 911.

The victim had a wound on the right side of his torso, which Noriega said he received at Plaza de Cesar Chavez.

Noriega said it was unclear to UPD why or how the victim came to SJSU.

HOMECOHOMECOMIMINNG 2010

An associate professor of social work at SJSU present-ed her research on drugs and alcohol Wednesday in the King Library.

Laurie Drabble said the main focus of her research is drug- and alcohol-related is-sues and fi nding ways to suc-cessfully collaborate for ad-diction treatment and child welfare services.

About 15 people att ended the aft ernoon lecture and slideshow, which lasted an hour.

Drabble said her research points out the importance of cross-system collaboration and addressing social prob-lems and complex issues such as child welfare, and working with families who are aff ected by addiction and who are in-volved with the child welfare system.

“Th ose families have seri-ous problems and we want the kids to have a safe place,”

she said.Drabble said some of the

counties she worked with were San Diego County, Contra Costa County and Sacramento County.

She said she eventually worked in Santa Clara Coun-ty aft er the study, and she would consider Santa Clara exemplary in terms of col-laboration.

“Th e theme was really about fi nding ways to advance collaboration,” Drabble said. “And one way to do that is to learn about what success for collaboration is made of, so that is the main theme of a lot of the studies. What are some of the pieces for successful collaboration?”

Th e program was the fi rst presentation in the Univer-sity Scholar Series hosted by Provost Gerry Selter.

“Th is series promotes a unique opportunity for showcasing important work, research and scholarly activi-ties at SJSU for faculty mem-bers,” said Gina Marin, an ad-ministrative analyst at SJSU.

Marin said Drabble’s re-search tied in with the cam-pus reading book, “Th e Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.”

Maria Hernandez, a senior

justice studies major, said we are in a community that evolves around alcohol abuse and children being abused

and that the research Drab-ble presented gives answers to questions on the spot and small tips that help students in the future.

“Th e most important thing is how eff ective collaboration can be for future problems or future things that can rise up with the whole domestic violence system and how our system is running right now,” she said.

Drabble said students can benefi t by deeply thinking of the systems they need to understand because each stu-dent is being trained in his or her own discipline but will have to interact with other people from other disciplines.

She advised students to ask themselves questions such as:• What systems or disci-

plines am I going to need to work with?

• How can I learn to work with them more eff ec-tively?

• What do I need to know about them in order to work eff ectively?

• How can I communicate about what it is I do, in order to make that work?

“Th ey also have to learn to understand some of these

complex systems not just about your own discipline but how the whole profes-sional fi eld works,” Drabble concluded.

As temperatures soared above the 90s out-side, students kept cool inside the Event Cen-ter on Wednesday aft ernoon as the Fall 2010 Job & Internship Fair got underway.

More than 300 employer representatives and more than 100 employers were present and ready to talk to prospective interns and employees, said Susan Rockwell, assistant di-rector for employer services at the SJSU Ca-reer Center.

Tawan Sutt amitr, a freshman electrical en-gineering major, said he came to the fair with the intention of landing an internship.

“I brought my resume,” he said. “I have mostly every-thing from speeches to my advertisement for myself.”

He said his motivation for att ending the fair was to beat out the competition.

“Electrical engineering is really tough ... “Sutt amitr said. “So I’m trying to get a head start against other peo-ple.”

Th e Career Center has been hosting many prepara-tory events hoping to help students get ready for this fair, Rockwell said.

“Resume writing, inter-viewing skills and job fair success workshops ... those events were all designed to help students be prepared,” she said.

Bhoj Rai, a Peace Corps regional recruiter, said he came to the fair to inform students and graduates about the opportunities available to them through the company.

“We are looking for people from various backgrounds to fi ll thousands of positions that we have opening next year,” Rai said.

He said he is looking for students who are persistent, proactive and show genuine interest.

Financial analyst Natasha Makovskaya is a recent SJSU graduate and has come back to the fair to recruit for her current employer, National Semiconductor.

She said her company is looking for someone to fi ll a position that will become available in December right aft er fall graduation, and they will begin to set up inter-views in November.

Makovskaya said she at-tended some career fairs

while she was a student at SJSU.“I came to a few career fairs and although

this is not how I got my current position, I defi nitely had some doors open up to me and I had some people calling me and asking me for interviews,” she said.

Beata Nagy, a senior business administra-tion fi nance major, said she is hoping to start her fi nancial career aft er her fall graduation and found the recruiters to be approachable and friendly.

“I feel like I had some positive feedback and ... I think they are going to contact me,” she said.

Nagy said one company was only off ering

an internship, but when she told them that she was graduating, the recruiter made a note of her expected graduation date on the resume for a potential position with the company.

Edna Shamouni, a junior electrical en-gineering major, said she stood in a line of about 20 people, waiting to speak with a rep-resentative for Advanced Micro Devices.

“I had a mock interview with them last week and they suggested that I come back to the fair and see them again,” she said. “Th ere are a lot of people, and its hard because there are so many applications and so many people. I’m going to keep my fi ngers crossed.”

Since SJSU is located in the Silicon Val-

ley, Rockwell said there are many employers that represent the fi nancial and engineering industries.

However, there were other industries pres-ent.

“Th is fair is open to any employer ... there are lots of opportunities for students who are from a wide range of majors, not just busi-ness and technical,” she said. “But we do have about 25 percent of the employers that are open to all majors and about 20 percent of them were looking specifi cally for liberal arts majors.”

Th e Career Center will host its next Job & Internship Fair in the spring.

NEWSNEWS2 Thursday, September 30, 2010

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Comerica Bank recruiter Reatrey Rin speaks with Michelle Nguyen, a graduate student in accounting, during the Job and Internship Fair in the Event Center on Wednesday Sept. 29.

Professor urges collaborative solutions to social problems

ALEXANDRA RUIZ-HUIDOBROStaff Writer

Hopeful students seek out opportunities at job fair

REBECCA HENDERSONStaff Writer

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Laurie Drabble, an associate professor of social work, gives a talk about addiction treatment and child welfare services on Wednesday, Sept. 29.

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The theme was really

about fi nding ways to advance

collabora-tion.

LAURIE DRABBLESocial work

associate professor

can make Homecoming posters and enjoy enter-tainment performed by SJSU students.

Drinks and carnival-type food will also be available, according to the website.

At 8 p.m. SJSU’s version of a traditional bon-fi re, Fire on the Fountain, will begin with Fire

Pixie, an entertainment group of fi re dancers, fol-lowed by a rally that will introduce the Spartan football team, Richardson said.

Th e crowning of SJSU’s Homecoming King and Queen will end the evening, he said.

Friday is Service Day, starting at 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., and will be taking place in diff erent areas of San Jose, stated Richardson in an e-mail, in which members of Greek organizations will be execut-ing projects to give back to the community.

He stated that Campus MovieFest will be

hosting a VIP Reception in the Tower Hall lobby starting at 5:30 p.m.

Th e fi nale of Campus MovieFest will follow at 7:30 p.m. in Morris Dailey Auditorium, Richard-son stated.

Homecoming tailgate, both the Grand Home-coming Tailgate and the Greek Week Tailgate, will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Richardson stated.

Th e Spartans will batt le it out against Universi-ty of California, Davis, at the Homecoming game

on Saturday starting at 5 p.m., he stated.Richardson has been with SJSU for more than

10 years and although he is not an alumnus, he said he defi nitely has Spartan pride.

He said he wants students to get the full stu-dent experience, be proud Spartans, and make Homecoming their own.

He said he is working on doing this by provid-ing traditions that were here before, but also try-ing to reconceptualize and create new traditions for our students today.

NEWSNEWS 3Thursday, September 30, 2010

Cliff ord Lacro, a junior hospitality and management major, said he looks for this money to benefi t the students — new buildings, space for classes and cheaper tuition.

“Every litt le bit counts,” he said. “Th ey say the recession is over but we are still feeling it.”

Lacro said he sympathizes with stu-dents who have been trying to get into

SJSU during spring semesters — he dealt with that fi rsthand before being admitt ed as a transfer student this se-mester.

“It is kind of unfair,” he said. “I’m here already, but I guess I should stop thinking about myself and think about other people. Th at’s fi ne with me. Let them in.”

Stefani Villela, a sophomore oc-

cupational therapy major, said tuition should not be increased if SJSU is re-ceiving funds.

“I feel like the money should be used toward classes now,” she said. “Defi nite-ly not given to more people because if this school is trying to have us get out of college sooner, they need to have more classes available for us with less students in them.”

Increasing sections and student ser-vices is another possibility for the stim-ulus funds, Harris said.

“People tend to think that when we receive funding to increase the number of sections we off er, that we will take a 100-person biology class, and then of-fer two 100-person biology classes,” she said.

Harris said the problem with doing that is a short-term increase in enroll-ment at the university.

If SJSU doesn’t have the funding to support all those students, she said it’s more likely that the 100-person biology class would be split into two smaller classes.

Th e class would get more faculty, but not necessarily increase the capacity of class, she said.

Once the capacity increases, Har-ris said SJSU has to make sure there is enough funding to provide students with counseling, advising and all of the other services that come with being a student here.

“Th is is what the administration now has to look at and fi gure out how to proceed in a fair and eff ective manner that refl ects the intention of the federal stimulus dollars,” she said. “Which is to create jobs, which is why we hired fac-ulty.”

Senior art major Rachel Acosta said the school should use the money where it is needed most.

“It could be more,” she said. “But Dudley Moorhead could use some of it. I mean, come on.”

Acosta said another option would be to hire back old staff that had been laid off as a result of the budget cuts.

Th e chancellor’s preference is that these funds be put to use in Spring 2011, Harris said.

“We are not quite ready to commit to spring just yet,” she said. “We are go-ing to study the situation and make sure we can do this in a somewhat organized manner.”

STIMULUSFrom Page 1

HOMECOMINGFrom Page 1

HISTORICAL HOMECOMINGS

Eric Bringas of Sigma Chi dives for a water balloon during Greek Olympics on Wednesday, Sept. 29, as part of Homecoming.

PHOTOS: CLIFFORD GRODIN | SPARTAN DAILY

On October 16, 1995, the Spartan Daily reported that ... about 150 students cheered on the Spartans at the Student Union Ampi-theater for the Yellfest pep rally put on by As-

sociated Students for Homecoming (top).

On October 31, 1997, the Spartan Daily reported that ... the “Mr. Cool” contest took place at the Homecom-

ing pep rally in the Stu-dent Union Ampithe-ater with cheerleaders putting the pressure on the contestants. The contestant who stayed on the block of ice the longest was declared “Mr. Cool.” It was a tie (above).

On October 25, 1999, the Spartan Daily re-ported that ... a fire at the Spartan Stadium, causing the power to fail, forced the resched-uling of the Homecom-ing game (below).

““““

... if this school is trying to

have us get out of

college sooner,

they need to have more

classes available

for us with less

students in them.

STEFANI VILLELASophomore occupational

therapy major

A&EA&E4 Thursday, September 30, 2010

Greek mythology claims that the month of April belongs to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.

In the basic sense of the word, “chase” means to follow or seek something. Combine the two ordinary words and you are left with a saying that roughly means “to seek love.”

Th is is what fi ve local musicians had in mind when they set out to perfect the craft of play-ing music, creating a band and dubbing it “April Chase.”

“Our motivation right now is our fans and the people who are listening,” said lead guitar player and vocalist Tim Ferguson. “It’s always fun to go out to play a show and have people sing your lyr-ics. You can see them mouthing the words to the song — it’s awesome.”

April Chase currently boasts fi ve extremely talented members: Ferguson, Carina Valdes on vocals, Roderick Sajor on the drums, Brian Walker on bass and Mark Sahagun on guitar.

With an average age of 20, the the up-and-coming indie-pop band has experienced excep-tionally fast-paced success, performing more than 60 shows in the last year and releasing their fi rst album in January.

Combining catchy lyrics with outstanding vocals, their record is titled “In the Midst of Sirens” and is an extended play (EP) record, meaning it is shorter than a full album and con-tains only fi ve songs.

Out of its fi rst fi ve tracks, the band’s most popular song is titled “Turn It Down” and tells the story of leaving a lover behind.

“You’re all the things I can’t ignore / I need to leave you for now,” Valdes sings. “And it’s break-ing me under the fl oor / but I think I’ll be fi ne in this parallel divine / With nothing by my side, I think I’m fi ne.”

Containing simple yet addictive melodies, the majority of the band’s music focuses on the subject of love.

“It’s the easiest thing to write about,” she said. “It’s relatable to other people and it correlates with our band name.”

All of the songs on the album contain lyrics writt en mostly by Ferguson, with additional help from Valdes.

“I just want to portray something that is hon-est for me and make it into a song,” Valdes said. “Hopefully it will mean something to other people and they can relate to it. Just to create an honest song — that’s all that matt ers.”

Th e group released their fi rst album with a

litt le help from My American Heart, a rock band from San Di-ego that inspired April Chase’s music.

My American Heart held their last Bay Area show in Janu-ary, with April Chase perform-ing the opening act and using the occasion as an opportunity to release their fi rst CD.

“I think that is when things really started taking off ,” Fergu-son said.

April Chase gained immense popularity aft er it won the fi rst annual Bay Area College Activi-ties Network Batt le of the Bands and were given the opportunity to perform on June 25, 2010, as part of the Vans Warped Tour.

Since then, the band has gone on to perform at a variety of venues throughout the Bay Area, including the San Jose Civic Auditorium, which can house more than 3,000 people, and alongside well-known acts such as Th e Higher and Story of the Year.

Th e band’s fame hit a peak when it hosted a music video release party for the song “Turn It Down” at an open-mic cafe. Th e entire place was sold out, which was a fi rst for the band.

“It was really crazy because that same time a year ago, we could barely get 10 people to go to our shows,” Ferguson said. “Now we could get 100-plus.”

Long before anyone imagined the level of success April Chase would achieve, Ferguson and Valdes were bandmates in a Christian group that Valdes played bass for.

Ferguson had joined with the other three members of the band to form April Chase and was auditioning singers when he fi lled in for the guitar player at Valdes’ church.

Th e two musicians quickly became friends and when Ferguson heard Valdes sing, they left the group and devoted their passion to April Chase.

Th at was about two years ago, and in the meantime they have been at-

tempting to produce a diff erent type of music.“We wanted to make music that would ap-

peal to a larger audience,” Ferguson said.While Ferguson said it is hard for the band to

be classifi ed within one particular genre, April Chase loosely fi ts into an alternative, pop-rock category, with indie traits and infl uences from groups similar to Paramore and Phoenix.

With strong motivation and determination, the group is currently in the process of releasing a new EP. Even though it doesn’t have a release date yet, the new album will most likely be re-corded and mixed by the end of the year. Th e new tracks will express a shift in theme, taking on more of a dance feel than the fi rst album.

Aft er the new record is released, Valdes said she hopes the band can collaborate on a full-length album once they receive the studio time.

“We want everyone to experience the full April Chase and experience all of our songs,” she said.

Emphasizing that music is more than a hobby and that each member is in it for the big picture, the band is itching to get the next album released, hoping that it will determine what happens for the group within the next fi ve years.

“(We want to) put out something we are re-ally proud of and keep pursuing it as far as we can,” Ferguson said.

In the meantime, April Chase is building its network through local shows while planning the possible adventures of a West Coast tour.

Th e group hopes to travel through Califor-nia by the end of the year, pairing with Th e Pa-rade, a similar band that was awarded $10,000 in a recent Batt le of the Bands competition.

Ferguson said the rush he experiences from performing motivates him to pursue music, especially when fans come out just to hear the band play.

“Aft er releasing a CD, playing at Warped Tour and winning Batt le of the Bands, we have a fan base,” Ferguson said.

Before the pressure of schedules and adult

responsibilities took over their lives, the mem-bers of the band practiced twice a week. Now, they try to practice as much as they can — once a week on average — in the bandmates’ garages and bedrooms.

Th e life of an artist is not always easy but the band advises aspiring musicians to keep trying.

“Th ere was so many times where we go to a show that we are so stoked for and there is only a bartender and one other person watching us,” Ferguson said. “I just feel like as long as you keep at it and keep trying, you will get somewhere.”

“It falls on determination and putt ing your-self out there,” Valdes said. “A lot of people give up easily and if you don’t and you keep pursuing what you want, it will get really easy for you to get where you want to be.”

April Chase plans to perform at Morris Dai-ley Auditorium at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 7. Th ey will also be showcased as part of the Dare to Love benefi t concert at the Korean Community Cen-ter in San Francisco at 6 p.m. on Oct. 8.

Local indie band chases stardomJAIMIE COLLINSStaff Writer

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NSJSU senior photography major Tim Ferguson plays the bass guitar and writes songs for band April Chase during their performance at Left Coast Live in San Jose, June 25, 2010.

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Carina Valdes performs as lead singer of April Chase.

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TIM FERGUSONSenior, photography major

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Up and coming alternative-rock band April Chase is from San Jose.

SPORTSSPORTS 5Thursday, September 30, 2010

MELISSA SABILESports Editor

Spartans face Aggies for Homecoming Th e Spartans will face the UC Davis Aggies

for the third time in the past four seasons in the SJSU Homecoming football game Satur-day at 5 p.m. at Spartan Stadium.

"Th ey are a very good football program," said head coach Mike MacIntyre. "Th ey have a history of winning, 32 seasons, I believe, of a winning record. Coach Biggs has been a great coach, they have a good team."

Aft er the Spartans' 56-3 loss against No. 13 Utah last Saturday, MacIntyre said the team is preparing for its next opponent by un-derstanding what went wrong in last week's game.

"We've got to learn from our mistakes we made and correct some things we did in the kicking game wrong," he said. "I'm a fi rm be-liever that each Saturday is a game of its own — you put behind the negative things, carry forward the positive things and take the nega-tive things with corrections and learn from them. Th e other team is going to try to att ack those same areas you are weak in."

Senior safety Dominique Hunsucker said the team is excited for Homecoming but isn't going to look at beating the University of Cal-ifornia, Davis, as a simple task.

"Last week it was a tough game for us," Hun-sucker said. "We came out and played hard but we just made mistakes here and there and playing a good team like Utah, they're going to capitalize on those mistakes. So this week we really have to minimize those mistakes and continue to play hard with great intensity."

Hunsucker, who previously played as run-ning back, will be switched to safety for Sat-urday's game, since the Spartans are dealing with the loss of senior safety Duke Ihenacho.

"Prett y much my whole career here I've been fl ipped around a lot, just according to what the team needs," he said. "I've always been a willing guy just to go wherever the team needs me. I'm a well-rounded football player I guess you could say."

Th e Spartans have lost many key players be-cause of injuries — some for just a few games, others for the remainder of the season — in-cluding sophomore tight end Ryan Ott en, ju-nior cornerback Alex Germany, sophomore linebacker Kyler O'Neal, and sophomore cor-nerback Ralph Johnson.

"We've got quite a few men who are hav-ing to step up and play more than they have been playing, on defense especially," MacIn-

tyre said. "We've moved a couple guys over, Wade O'Neill and James Orth from off ense to defense — Bené Benwikere and Dom Hun-sucker having to start and play the whole time as safety."

MacIntyre said despite the change of posi-tions, the team will be prepared to take on UC Davis.

"Th ere are some guys playing some spots that they haven't had a lot of reps at but they understand what to do and so they'll be ex-cited about playing," he said.

Returning this game will be senior off en-

sive guard Ailao Eliapo, who has been out from an injury he suff ered during the fi rst game against Alabama.

"A couple of guys who were injured have more serious injuries than I did," Eliapo said. "So I'm just thankful that I get the chance with

rehab and all the trainers, working out with the strength and conditioning coaches — they're gett ing me back, gett ing me right physically, mentally and even emotionally."

Eliapo, who suff ered a high-ankle sprain during the end of the fi rst quarter of the game in Tuscaloosa, said he feels ready for this weekend's game.

"Just seeing how everything is going right now, you can't always take things for grant-ed," he said. "I feel real good about it overall. Hopefully we'll come out and mesh together and get ourselves a W."

Senior quarterback Jordan La Secla said the team is coming off of a hard loss and needs to learn from last week's mistakes.

"As good as Utah was, I feel like we still un-derestimated them a litt le bit," La Secla said. "Never underestimate any team you play, no matt er how good they are."

He said the team made some good plays last week, but this week it needs to play with intensity and toughness.

"We ran the ball at times prett y good last game," he said. "I don't think we ran the ball in the spots we needed to run it well, but we did have some big runs and it's something we can look to. We just have got to take care of busi-ness. We're coming off a prett y hard loss so we need to be excited to play, but we think we're going to have a lot of big plays."

MacIntyre said the team is excited about playing for Homecoming and playing in front of its own fans.

"It's going to be a great game and I hope we come out on top," he said. "If we do what we do and take care of our own business and play hard we will have a good opportunity to do that."

Eliapo said he is anticipating a lot of good things from the whole team.

"Th is game we are expecting a real compe-tition, we're not trying to overlook UC Davis, they're a real good team," Eliapo said. "Coach is preaching to us — ‘It's not what they do, it's what we do.’ So right now, on both sides of the ball, with diff erent guys stepping up, we're trying to build up that swagger and come out here and compete. All we need is that chance. It's all we can do."

PHOTO: C

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Senior safety Dominique Hunsucker attempts to take down Alabama’s Trent Richardson during the Sept. 4 game in Tuscaloosa. Hunsucker, who started as a running back, will be moved to safety in the Spartans’ Homecoming game against the UC Davis Aggies.

For senior Mark Hubbard, a Denver, Colo. native, the best part of winning the Mark Simpson Invitational in Erie, Colo. was play-ing for a home crowd.

"My dad, growing up, came to every one of my sporting events, and my mom too, but she gets to fl y out to tournaments," he said. "Th at was the fi rst time he had seen me play in college so it was super cool to do it in front of him."

His three-round score of 209 — seven un-der par — put him in fi rst individually.

"It was really fun to watch because he hadn't really been to Colorado in his whole career ac-tually here, so for him to go there and win was exciting," said senior Matt Hovan.

Hovan scored 212 in the tournament, which was good for third individually. Th e two seniors led the team to fourth of 14 teams overall.

"I actually felt prett y good, I wasn't that ner-vous at all during the tournament," he said. "I feel like the tournament was easier than prac-tice because I've been practicing at such a high level."

Hubbard's best hole of the tournament was in the second round, when he shot an eagle on the seventh hole — one hole aft er a double bogey. Hubbard birdied both holes on day one, and stroke for par on each in the third round.

"My coach was there to get me through the tough spots," he said.

In the fi rst round of her college career, Tiff any Nichols led the SJSU women's golf team by shooting one-under par. But like the rest of the team, her scores suff ered the following two rounds because of what head coach John Dormann called, "a very diffi cult walking golf course, kind of side of a mountain type of thing."

Th e Spartans fi nished 12th of 18 teams."I think fatigue set in for a lot of players,"

Dormann said. "I think that's generally why the scores rose for prett y much everybody over the second and third days."

Nichols tied with junior Madeleine Ziegert at 230 for the tournament, good for 40th of 90 golfers. Junior Judy Ho placed 61st with a score of 240 in three rounds.

"(Nichols) might have gott en a litt le ahead of herself aft er shooting 71 (in the fi rst round), maybe started thinking a litt le too much," Dormann said.

He said the team has been struggling so far this season.

"We need to take advantage of our birdie opportunities, we need to make our birdie putt s," Dormann said. "We have to stop making the big mistake. We need to iron those two things out."

SJSU made it to the NCAA National tournament last year, which he said means the team has a higher level of competition at tournaments this season.

"Our team is going to have to rise to the challenge," the coach said.

Colorado air stifl es women’s golf team

in Golfweek Conference Challenge,

fi nish 12th

Mark Hubbard wins Mark Simpson

Invitational golf tournament, men’s golf team

takes fourthStaff Report

Staff Report

SPARTAN BRIEFS

Sparta Guide is provided to students and faculty, free of charge. The deadline to submit is at noon, three working days prior to desired publication date. Entry forms are available in Spartan Daily, DBH 209. Entries can be emailed to spartandaily@casa.sjsu.edu titled “sparta guide.” Space restrictions may require editing or exclusion of submissions. Entry is not guaranteed. Entries are printed in order of which they are received.

SPARTA GUIDE

SJSU Homecoming Events

Sept. 30

Fire on the Fountain: SJSU’s Homecoming Pep RallyPlace: Tower LawnTime: 6-11 p.m.

Oct. 1

International QuizPlace: Barrett Ballroom, Student UnionTime: 12:30-4 p.m.

Greek Week Service DayPlace: N/ATime: 8 a.m. -5 p.m.For more information contact Blake Balajadia: (408) 924-5961

Campus MovieFest Grand FinalePlace: Morris Dailey AuditoriumTime: 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 2

Homecoming Pre-Game PartyPlace: East Field, Spartan StadiumTime: 1-4:30 p.m.

Homecoming Football GamePlace: Spartan StadiumTime: 5 p.m.

Hats off to Teachers: Tailgate SocialPlace: East Field, Spartan StadiumTime: 3-4:30 p.m.

OPINIONOPINION6 Thursday, September 30, 2010

Th e intake of excessive amounts of caff eine from so-das, energy drinks and diet pills have led one man to ad-mit to a murder he now says he didn’t commit.

It took jurors only 1.5 hours of deliberation on Friday to re-ject Woody Will Smith’s claims of caff eine intoxication and to convict him of murder.

Th e Kentucky man, 33, had been charged with the May 2009 strangulation of his wife Amanda Hornsby-Smith, 28, and went to trial last Monday.

Th e jury convicted Smith and recommended a life sen-tence. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 20.

Smith’s att orney argued that his client had ingested so much

caff eine that it left Smith tem-porarily insane and unable to consciously know what he was doing, let alone commit a crime such as murder.

Prosecutors, however, have said their expert witness can testify that Smith tested nega-tive for having any diet pills or energy drinks in his system soon aft er the killing ocurred.

But wait, this is not the fi rst time the caff eine intoxication excuse has been put to use. In 2009, a man in Washington state was cleared of charges for running down two pedestrians with his car.

Each victim survived with a broken leg aft er Daniel Noble of Idaho, awoke one morning, left his house in his pajamas and slippers, went to Starbucks and downed two large coff ees and then drove the eight miles to Washington where the two men were hit.

Th ere is a slight catch in the scenario, however — Noble was diagnosed with a rare form of bipolar disorder that is triggered by extremely large amounts of caff eine. Two large cups of Starbucks’ overly strong coff ee will surely do the trick.

But back to the Smith case, Dr. Roland Griffi ths, a behav-

ioral biology professor at John Hopkins University, has stated that caff eine intoxication can cause nervousness, excite-ment, insomnia and rambling speech.

In the weeks prior to the kill-ing, Smith said he hadn’t been sleeping, was downing fi ve to six soft drinks and energy drinks a day and was taking diet pills.

He ingested more than 400 milligrams of caff eine a day, while the American Psychiatric Association defi nes an over-dose as consuming more than 300 milligrams.

Smith’s insomnia was ap-parently caused by his fear that his wife would take their two children and leave him. If you ask me, that sounds like more of a motive than some caff eine defense.

Smith strangled his wife with an extension cord, bound her feet with the same cord and used another electrical cord to tie her hands.

All that work combined with the fear of losing his kids, and I am being told that he wasn’t aware of his actions.

Smith had a close personal relationship with his victim, while Noble’s was random.

I can believe Noble’s caff eine defense more than I can com-prehend Smith’s.

If Smith had gott en off with his caff eine defense, next thing you know everyone would be using the too-much-caff eine defense, especially in today’s society where Starbucks’ cof-fee and No Fear energy drinks are running rampant among an overworked and over-stressed population.

A day doesn’t go by on SJSU’s campus where I don’t see at least a dozen students with an energy drink in hand.

Just last week, the Mon-ster Energy drink truck was parked outside the Seventh Street parking garage, giving away free cans of its beverage.

Are the people involved in the Smith case trying to tell me that the Monster Energy employees handing out free drinks are lending to society’s next crazed killers?

Look out college students, beware of any cars that are heading in your direction and quickly gaining speed, and double check your room-mate’s electrical cords to make sure they haven’t gone missing.

The old ‘too much caffeine’ defense

JEN NOWELLStaff Writer

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

I think itʼs great that access to education is so accessible to everyone.Iʼve witnessed the phenomenon fi rst hand during my time at West Valley

College.Every semester, Iʼve noticed more and more students on campus who appeared

to be at least 30 years old. If people just want to keep busy or have a desire to learn, then there is no reason why they shouldnʼt pursue going to school.

In addition, I think with a lot of people getting laid off from jobs, those people see going back to school as an op-portunity to start fresh and pursue a different career path.

Great article.- Nick Celario, Journalism Major

om. missing.

This letter is in response to the opin-ion story ‘Matriculating seniors’ which appeared on Sept. 28.

Do you trust your police officers?

The answer should be “yes,” but now I find myself ques-tioning what would normally be a reflexive response.

On Sept. 21, the San Jose Mercury News reported that a San Jose police officer was un-der investigation for carrying out a fake arrest against a teen-age boy for having sex with the officer’s stepdaughter.

According to ABC News, on Aug. 30, the officer came to the boy’s home. He said he was going to arrest the boy for sexual assault and later hand-cuffed him.

The boy’s parents caught part of the incident on video, with the officer saying, “Not a good thing that the person you had sex with is a cop’s daughter … Growing up and be-ing in high school, a cop’s daughter is not someone you mess around with. You’re stupid.”

I understand that it’s sometimes necessary to scare the crap out of people to get a point across, but those words made it clear to me that this was something personal for that officer.

The code of ethics for the San Jose Police Department states “I (the officer) will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, animosities, or friendships to influence my decisions.”

Better yet, Section C 1445 of the San Jose police offi-cers’ duty manual states: “When on or off duty, Department members will avoid becoming officially involved in quarrels or disputes occurring in their own neighborhoods, unless the incident involves an immediate threat to human life.”

The boy had sex with the officer’s stepdaughter before this “arrest” happened, and they had been dating since

middle school — you can’t tell me that the officer’s actions were not influenced by his feelings, nor that this dispute was not in his own neighborhood.

This entire debacle was an exercise in poor judgment.I’m sure the officer was quite restrained in his response,

despite whatever outrage he might have felt about his 14-year-old daughter having sex with a 15-year-old boy.

It’s too bad he didn’t have enough restraint to keep him-self from confronting the boy and his parents by riding to their home on a police motorcycle and in full uniform.

I have no doubt that the officer in question had only his stepdaughter’s well-being in mind, but he should have first acted as a parent, leaving his uniform behind.

Instead, he chose to act as a police officer, with all the authority his position and badge implies, ostensibly to scare the boy straight.

This wasn’t about the boy being “scared straight,” as Terry Bowman, the officer’s lawyer, told ABC News — this was just about scaring him.

As I recall, the original “Scared Straight!” involved pris-on inmates beating juvenile delinquents over the head with stories about their incarcerations, not cops warning teenage boys away from their daughters.

Somehow, I don’t think premarital — and purportedly consensual — sex between teenagers about a year apart in age is quite in the same category as any crime that would earn a life sentence in prison.

This is the sort of thing that undermines the trust the public needs to have in its law enforcement.

Trust should be the foundation for authority, whether it’s between parents and children, politicians and their constit-uents, or police officers and the public they have sworn to protect.

Take a look at my picture.See my face? See my pink

cheeks?My face didn’t always look

like that.I remember being a kid

and having tons of freckles across my nose and cheeks.

I couldn’t tell you exactly when the freckles vanished and the redness crept into my face.

Maybe it was always there, and maybe you’re having a hard time being able to tell be-cause of the g r a y s c a l e photo.

Whatever the case, I’ve had a l o v e - h a t e relationship with my pink cheeks.

A n y -time I do s o m e t h i n g r e m o t e l y athletic, be it playing my drums or hitting the gym, my cheeks turn an em-barrassingly vibrant red, and they stay that way for quite some time. Awesome.

Give me a couple of drinks and there’s no hiding that al-cohol-induced reddish glow from my face.

I have to shave at night be-fore I go to sleep or my face will be so sensitive that I’ll end up being bright red and hot all day long.

Sometimes when the blood rushes to my face, my cheeks get so hot that I’ve sought out cold compresses and ice to make the uncom-fortable heat go away.

They’ve also caused me quite a bit of insecurity.

For a long time, my friends used to call me “Pinky” be-cause of my cheeks.

A friend of mine who fell off the grid recently got back in touch with me aft er years of no contact. He called me that nickname, and he’d been gone six years — it had been at least that long since anyone had called me by that name.

One hot summer day while I was working at my very fi rst job, a 40-something father got angry with me and called me a “pink-faced mother f***er.” I was 15 at the time.

Sometimes my cheeks make me feel unatt ractive and unappealing to girls.

I’ve thought about visiting a dermatologist to see if there was a way they could be treat-ed and made less noticeable.

In an era where you can fi x the things that irk you on your body with surgery and other methods, it’s hard not to end up considering your options.

Th at lack of confi dence in one’s looks can cause folks to go under the knife and regret it.

Airheaded Heidi Mon-tag is a per-fect example of how peo-ple utilize plastic sur-gery to try to feel bett er about how they look and later wishing they hadn’t.

U l t i -mately, the c o n f i d e n c e you can gain by accept-ing who you are and how you look can

make all the diff erence in life.For all the grief they’ve

caused me, I’m glad I have a bit of color in my face.

Aft er all, I am 50 percent Irish, so it kind of comes with the territory.

At 26, I’ve more than ac-cepted the skin I’m in and the face I have.

My cheeks give my face character.

I can’t imagine what I’d look like without that pinkish hue.

Eyes rolled when Stephen Colbert took his over-the-top “Colbert Report” persona to the steps of Congress to testify on behalf of the United Farm Workers’ “Take Our Jobs” campaign.

Colbert spent a day in the fi elds with migrant workers and was asked to appear before Congress as an expert witness.

Th e comedian’s appearance was absurd.“I certainly hope that my star power

can bump this hearing all the way up to C-SPAN 1,” he said solemnly, holding up his index fi nger.

Th e “bump” Colbert referred to is a term he coined himself for the surge in popu-larity that people and issues receive aft er appearing on his show.

Th at’s exactly what he did for the United Farm Workers, but for the re-cord, Colbert’s testimony only made it to C-SPAN 3.

Media response from the event has made up for falling short on C-SPAN 1, as Fox News expressed outrage and mem-bers of Congress from both sides of the aisle who considered the satire inappropriate.

Republicans didn’t much ap-preciate being mocked in their halls and Democrats feared the repercus-sions of making light of a serious situation.

Th e proposed bill Colbert testi-fi ed for, the Agriculture Job Op-portunities, Benefi ts, and Security Act (Ag JOBS bill), is a measure to legalize undocumented workers with a blue work card and allow farmers to hire as many

workers as they need to har-vest crops.

It would address the is-sues of illegal immigrants and labor by creating a government-certifi ed labor pool.

Th e “Take Our Jobs” campaign argues against the notion that immigrants are taking jobs away from unemployed citizens.

Colbert took the fi eld job and found he didn’t want it.

Maybe, he mused, if there was a system in place to hold farmers accountable and improve working conditions, then more citizens would want those jobs.

“I’m not a fan of the government doing anything,” Colbert said. “But I’ve got to ask: Why isn’t the government doing anything? Maybe this Ag JOBS bill would help. I don’t know. Like most members of Congress, I haven’t read it.”

Quips like that are probably what caused Congress to sour toward Colbert.

Congressional hearings have been host to characters further away from the

political world, such as Elmo and Angelina Jolie, to boost visibility on impor-tant issues.

So if a red, fuzzy citizen of Sesame Street can be an expert witness, there’s no reason a television person-ality who participated in a real campaign can’t.

Colbert used his celebri-ty status to put a headline in the paper and exercised his right to satirize the govern-

ment in his trademark deadpan style.Th e point of the Colbert Report is

exactly to put scrutiny on our political system.

He could have advocated the United Farm Workers through other outlets, but going to Congress was elemental to his underlying message.

Our government can be ridiculous.Shows such as “Th e Daily Show” with

Jon Stewart and “Th e Colbert Re-port” would be out of business if politicians weren’t feeding them material every week.

It’s a good thing Colbert is using his clout to bring aware-ness to a broader audience by calling att ention to issues that might ordinarily get glossed over.

So let the eye rolling ensue. More people listen to Colbert than C-SPAN and that’s a good enough reason to make him a weekly feature at hearings.

OPINIONOPINION 7Thursday, September 30, 2010

San Jose State UniversitySan Jose, CA 95192-0149Phone: (408) 924-3281Advertising Phone: (408) 924-3270

SPARTAN DAILY STAFFEric Van Susteren, Executive EditorKristen Pearson, Managing EditorJustin Albert, Multimedia & Tech EditorKevin Hume, Multimedia EditorDonovan Farnham, Online & Tech EditorMarlon Maloney, Opinion EditorJennifer Hadley, Features EditorDaniel Herberholz, Sports EditorMelissa Sabile, Sports EditorJenn Elias, A&E EditorSalman Haqqi, A&E EditorRyan Fernandez, Copy EditorAmber Simons, Copy EditorClifford Grodin, Photo EditorMatt Santolla, Assistant Photo EditorHannah Keirns, Production EditorRachel Peterson, Production EditorVanessa Alessi, Advertising DirectorTanya Flores, Creative DirectorDaniel Tesfay, Assistant Advertising DirectorDavagy de León, Assistant Creative Director

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OPINION PAGE POLICY

Letters to the editor may be placed in the letters to the editor box in the Spartan Daily office in Dwight Bentel Hall, Room 209, sent by fax to (408) 924-3282, e-mailed to spartandaily@casa.sjsu.edu or mailed to the Spar-tan Daily Opinion Editor, San Jose, CA 95192-0149.

Letters to the editor must contain the author’s name, address, phone number, signature and major. Letters become property of the Spartan Daily and may be edited for clarity, gram-mar, libel and length. Only letters of 300 words or less will be considered for publication.

Published opinions and advertise-ments do not necessarily reflect the views of the Spartan Daily, the School of Journalism and Mass Communica-tion or SJSU. The Spartan Daily is a public forum.

Dan Bergholdt Arielle Cohen Courtney CriswellMicah Dela CruzNathan DixonSarah DominguezAshley EresoRyan GenzoliJennifer Giles

Leo MunozAndrew PauSarah SmithErik Estrada

KEVIN HUMEHumor Me

Immigration issue gets Colbert ‘bump’Growing into one’s face

RYAN FERNANDEZ Rated R

MICHIKO FULLERStaff Writer

“Humor Me” is a biweekly column appearing on Th ursdays.

Kevin Hume is the Spartan Daily Multimedia Editor.

Police officer abused his power““

““

Airheaded Heidi Montag

is a perfect example of how people

utilize plastic surgery to try

to feel better about

how they look and later wishing they

hadn’t.

““

““

Colbert took the fi eld job and found he didn’t

want it.

“Rated R” is a biweekly column appearing on Th ursdays.Ryan Fernandez is a Spartan Daily Copy Editor.

8