‘ALICE IN WONDERLAND’ SEE PAGE 8
Serving San José State University since 1934 Monday, March 8, 2010
www.TheSpartanDaily.com
Volume 134, Issue 20
Ex-SJSU student triggers shooting John Patrick Bedell shot and killed in Pentagon incident Kevin Hume Staff Writer
An SJSU graduate student said he was once classmates with the man who died trying to shoot his way into the Pentagon on Thursday. Devanshu Kumar, a graduate student in electrical engineering, said John Patrick Bedell showed no signs of psychological problems.
John Patrick Bedell
“He was a very nice guy, he was helpful, he was helping everybody in the lab,” Kumar said. “Nobody would expect him to do this kind of thing.” Officials say Bedell opened
fire and wounded two police officers at 3:40 p.m. Thursday at the Pentagon, according to the Associated Press. Officers retaliated by shooting Bedell, according to the Associated Press. Officials say he later died from his wounds. Pat Lopes Harris, director of media relations for SJSU, said a student named John Patrick Bedell was an undergrad, postgrad and graduate student at SJSU, but did not receive any degree from the university. Harris said Bedell studied chemical engineering in 1995 and 1996. He came back and took post-
graduate courses in Spring 2008, then enrolled in graduate courses in electrical engineering from Fall 2008 through Fall 2009, she said. He did not enroll in Spring 2010, but was in good academic standing, she said. She said Bedell had no criminal record at SJSU. During a news conference, David Parent, an SJSU electrical engineering associate professor, said he knew Bedell. “He just had a nice way about him,” Parent said. Parent said Bedell was a helpful student. “He formed a Google group to
Protesters call for state action
help people learn circuit design,” Parent said. Sumit Kallo, a graduate student in industrial and systems engineering, said Bedell was involved in the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, a lab where students worked on projects. “He was always helping people in the IEEE,” Kallo said. “He was basically an unofficial teaching assistant.” Kumar said he was a creative student. “He would do a lot of research work and come up with new technique or a new way to do the thing,” Kumar said.
About 700 march in downtown San Jose in hopes that budget cuts end Lidia Gonzalez Staff Writer Several universities peacefully protested against increasing tuition and financial state cuts on Thursday, but one group of protesters took a riskier approach by marching onto Interstate 880 near downtown Oakland and forcing traffic to a
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halt for about an hour, according to the Associated Press. The AP reported that 150 of those demonstrators were arrested, while protesters at the University of Wisconsin threw punches and ice chunks at the Milwaukee police. SJSU did not bring national attention to campus, but that afternoon, about 700 SJSU
students and teachers from all levels chanted “Classmates not cellmates!” at a protest that began at San Jose City Hall plaza. From the plaza, protesters went to the state offices on Second Street. Julian Rosenberg, president of Students for Quality Education, told the protesters to take action by taping a signed piece
THESPARTANDAILY.COM Protest Coverage: See the video and photos from the budget cut protest from Thursday thespartandaily.com
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Read a behind-the-scenes blog on covering the John Patrick Bedell story at spartandailynews.wordpress.com
See PROTEST, Page 2
Thursday night’s screening of “La Mission” demonstrated to the audience why actor Benjamin Bratt was the recipient of the Cinequest Film Festival’s highest honor, the Maverick Spirit Award. The Maverick award is given to an inspiring, influential and innovative individual who is distinctively different from his or her peers in the world of art, according to Cinequest’s Web site. Bratt’s definition of being a Maverick means being a husband and father before being an actor. This year’s award and ceremony was sponsored by the Castellano Family Foundation, said Carmen Castellano, president of the foundation. “We sponsor the Spanish language films, so tonight we sponsored Benjamin Bratt’s award presentation,” Castellano said. “We are longtime supporters of Cinequest.” Based on a true story, “La Mission” was directed, written and shot in 26 days by Peter Bratt, said younger brother Benjamin Bratt. Its lead cast is played by Benjamin Bratt as Che Rivera, Erika Alexander as Lena, Jeremy Ray Valdez as Jess and Jesse Borrego as Rene. “La Mission” was based out of San Francisco’s Mis-
sion District, the Bratt brothers’ hometown and favorite neighborhood in the United States, Peter Bratt said. Mimi Hernandez, an audience member at the showing, said she loved the film’s depiction of the Mission District because it showed all the beautiful colors of the people that live in the neighborhood. “We wanted to tell a conflict story of a Latino family in that setting,” Peter Bratt said. Che, a single father, is a recovering alcoholic who is a city bus driver in the pursuit of having a better life after a rough past in prison confinement. Anita Garcia, a film attendee, thought the plot was nice to see because she said it is not the first time a Hispanic family had to deal with the same issue. The Bratt brothers developed the plot by a using a young man named Che as the template, Peter Bratt said. The original Che was a man who drove a SF Muni cable car and started one of the first low-rider clubs in his high school. “It was very true to the culture and very true to the attitude,” Garcia said. Hernandez, a mother, said she doesn’t completely hate Che when he rejects his son
See CINEQUEST, Page 4
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of paper to state Senator Abel Maldonado’s door, asking him to join the cause. The crowd then marched through SJSU to end the rally at the Cesar Chavez Memorial Arch. Sophomore meteorology major Jeff Forgeron said he was
See SHOOTING, Page 3
Film festival announces award for Benjamin Bratt Lidia Gonzalez Staff Writer
Students march past Clark Hall toward the Cesar Chavez Memorial Arch during the statewide budget cut protest Thursday, March 4. Nick Rivelli / Contributing Photographer
He said Bedell didn’t seem the type to do something like this. “He’s not the same person we saw in class,” Kumar said. “There must have been something else that instigated him to do that.” Parent said the situation was a complete shock to him. “I will miss him,” he said. Officials said Bedell’s parents had previously warned authorities that their son was upset, had a history of mental illness and had a gun, according to the Associated Press. Bedell had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, or manic-
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