THIS SUN GOD NEEDS MORE STUDENT TRIBUTES ▶ OPINION, PAGE 4 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO www.ucsdguardian.org Thursday, April 10, 2008 The Student Voice Since 1967 THE NEW FACE OF SUN GOD A.S. ELECTIONS 2008 Rue Banks on Students A Debate Without Dispute to Pay for Larger Festival Vice President of Programming Kevin Student affairs rejects Highland, to commission an all-cam- council’s request for pus review of the festival that opened up its operations to critiques from help with security costs, almost every department. The com- which are doubled this plaints were compiled into a 22-page Sun God Planning Report released in year with new festival. October, and programmers have since By Charles Nguyen rebuilt the festival to alleviate worry Senior Staff Writer about botched security and safety mea- sures. The report detailed electronic Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs entrance lines that malfunctioned last Penny Rue turned down a request year and stranded crowds of unruly from student officials to cover extra concertgoers. security expenses for this year’s Sun In past interviews, Rue has said that God Festival, now made a larger the festival was becoming increasingly endeavor after administrators and A.S. unmanageable for student program- councilmembers joined in an effort to mers and event coordinators. remake the concert into a community- “[Sun God started] as a homegrown building event. event and developed to a point where In recent years, programmers its infrastructure is overwhelmed,” she employed contracted security person- said in January. “But we believe it can WILL PARSON/GUARDIAN nel and undercover officers at a $15,000 be reined in.” Sixth College senatorial candidate John Cressey addresses the crowd in Price Center Plaza during the A.S. vice presidential and senatorial debates Tuesday. The vice flat fee. However, concerns over securi- Rue also backed the report’s claims ty management have increased, follow- that the festival had diverged from ing a concert last year that saw a rise in its original community-building ide- the number of event-related arrests and als. Programmers responded by gut- citations. A.S. Programming requested ting the event’s layout and operations, over $17,000 from Student Affairs in establishing a new day-long, carni- Amendment Will Regulate Fee Referenda the hopes of defraying security expen- val-like attraction located on RIMAC ditures that have doubled this year. Field. The new event, hosted this year By Reza Farazmand a set of standards by which to draft have the chance to review multiple, A.S. Vice President of Student Life on May 16, adds a nighttime DJ-hosted Associate News Editor the text of any fee-related referen- explicitly stated facets of a referen- Donna Bean, whose office oversees the dance, booths for both vendors and dum, was designed in part to ensure dum included directly on the bal- programming department, said that student organizations and an area for In a move to establish greater stu- that students voting on such mea- lot and thus better comprehend the nearly one-third of students were too student-produced artwork and films. dent influence over the allocation of sures are provided with all informa- measures proposed before casting intoxicated during the day to make it But hosting the new festival will funds derived from student fees, the tion relevant to the implementation their vote. to the nighttime concert, which last be a significantly costlier undertaking, A.S. Council voted unanimously last of any proposed fee changes. “This amendment kind of aims year featured hip-hop artist T.I. according to Festival Director Garrett week to pass a constitutional amend- Chair of the Registration to get people to really understand Last year’s alarming figures spurred Berg, especially in the near future. ment that places new, more extensive Fee Advisory Committee Garo what’s being included in a ballot Bean, a presidential candidate in this “We truly were depending on regulations on all future campus- Bournoutian, who authored the measure and what they’re actually week’s A.S. elections, and the program- based student fee referenda. amendment’s original draft, said that ming department, headed by Assistant See FESTIVAL, page 7 The amendment, which institutes with these changes, students will now See AMENDMENT, page 7 K-12 Budget Cuts May KENNEDY Affect Higher Education CHOSEN By Peter Feytser Senior Staff Writer Trickle-Down Effect AS GRAD Year K-12 State Funding* Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2004-05 .........................$30.9 billion recently proposed cuts to public 2005-06 ..........................$33.1 billion SPEAKER education funding have sent a shock- 2006-07 ..........................$41.3 billion wave through K-12 public schools, 2007-08 ..........................$41.4 billion By Matthew L’Heureux both forcing principals statewide 2008-09 ........................$39.6 billion† Senior Staff Writer to downsize their staffs and raising *From General Fund statewide concerns about students’ †Proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger The planning committee for this level of preparation for postsecond- SOURCE: CALIFORNIA DEPT. OF FINANCE year’s Senior Celebration recently com- ary work. pleted a six-month search for a speaker, In order to compensate for of Schwarzenegger’s proposal, issuing selecting attorney and environmental a $14.5-billion state deficit, over 900 pink slips since February in activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead Schwarzenegger’s proposal calls for an attempt to curb its budget by $80 the first all-campus graduation in more a 10-percent funding reduction to million. than a decade. nearly all state programs and depart- Additionally, the statewide col- A.S. Biological Sciences Senator ments. The reduction would cut $4 lege preparatory classes — such Emma Sandoe, co-chair of the Senior billion from the amount formerly as Advanced Placement and Celebration Planning Committee, guaranteed by Proposition 98, a International Baccalaureate courses said that Kennedy was an ideal choice number equivalent to approximately — are in danger of elimination, along because of his extensive experience $800 per year for each California with various other extracurricular working with social issues. WILL PARSON/GUARDIAN FILE public school student. programs. “Robert Kennedy has an extensive Security costs for the Sun God Festival will double this year, as programmers plan to substitute the use of The San Diego Unified School undercover officers for uniformed authorities from other universities in a completely remade day-long event. District has already felt the effects See SCHOOLS, page 6 See GRADUATION, page 6 HIATUS SPORTS INSIDE WEATHER Majority Rules New Business .......................3 Don’t Wait to Go Word Up ...............................4 April 10 April 11 A fresh-faced Urinetown ensemble proves a cult Baseball took three out of four games against Cal State Letters to the Editor .............5 H 70 L 50 H 78 L 55 pee satire can have knee-slapping appeal. Stanislaus to move into second place in conference play. Druthers ................................8 page 8 page 16 Classifieds ..........................14 April 12 April 13 Crossword ..........................14 H 80 L 57 H 77 L 56 2 NEWS THE UCSD GUARDIAN THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2008 POORLY DRAWN LINES BY REZA FARAZMAND Charles Nguyen Editor in Chief Matthew L’Heureux Managing Editors Matthew McArdle Hadley Mendoza Nicole Teixeira Copy Editors Teresa Wu Jesse Alm Associate News Editors Kimberly Cheng Reza Farazmand Charles Nguyen Opinion Editor Hadley Mendoza Associate Opinion Editor Rael Enteen Sports Editor Jake Blanc Associate Sports Editors Janani Sridharan Alyssa Bereznak Focus Editor Katie Corotto Associate Focus Editors CURRENTS Serena Renner Chris Kokiousis Associate Hiatus Editors ders that are caused by the same Chris Mertan UC Faculty Members Claim Sonia Minden genetic mutation and can lead to Will Parson Guggenheim Fellowships leukemia. The degenerative blood GUARDIAN ONLINE Photo Editor disorder affects more than 100,000 Erik Jepsen Associate Photo Editor The University of California Americans. Richard Choi Design Editor received more Guggenheim The study was led by Catriona Wendy Shieu Associate Design Editor Fellowships this year than any Jamieson, assistant professor of www.ucsdguardian.org Christina Aushana Art Editor other college system, with 18 of medicine and director for stem cell Patrick Stammerjohn Web Designer its researchers honored for their research at the Rebecca and John Page Layout accomplishments. Moores Cancer Center, and fund- Emily Ku, Sonia Minden, Kent Ngo, The John Simon Guggenheim ed by the California Institute for Michael Wu, Kathleen Yip FOCUS HIATUS Copy Readers Memorial Foundation donated $8.2 Regenerative Medicine. Allie Cuerdo, Rochelle Emert, Matthew L’Heureux, million in grants to 190 artists, Slideshow: An Inside Look Blog: The Mixtape Christine Ma, Elizabeth Reynders, Anita Vergis scholars and scientists from a pool Associate Photo Editor Hot tracks reviewed weekly. Mike Martinez Advertising Manager of more than 2,600 applicants in Scripps Offers Chance to James Durbin Advertising Art Director the United States and Canada. The Erik Jepsen chronicles his This week: Cuts from Jay Michael Neill Network Administrator Name Ocean Species Student Advertising Manager foundation, based in New York, has journey to a rural village in Electronica and Reflection Julia Peterson awarded over $265 million in fel- Advertising/Marketing Reps Responding to severe budget India.