BASEBALL
Country boys rock out at Event Center
Men’s team slugs past Southern Illinois with 18 runs
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Serving San José State University since 1934 Thursday, March 11, 2010
www.TheSpartanDaily.com
Volume 134, Issue 23
A.S. presidential candidates strive for change
Students break away from driving alone Justin Albert Staff Writer
Parking permit revenue sales are down this semester as students may be looking to use alternative forms of transportation to get to SJSU, said a public information officer for the University Police Department. “People are not parking illegally any more than they normally are,” said Sgt. John Laws. “We’re just not getting as many cars as we use to.”
He said the garages may be having difficulty reaching capacity because of cuts in enrollment and other budget-related issues. “The garages tend to fill up mostly between 8 a.m. and noon,” Laws said. “And so far we’ve only had the Seventh Street garage fill up completely once.” Laws said he didn’t know exactly why students aren’t frequenting the garages and buying permits. “I don’t know if they’re finding other alternatives, but we are seeing a definite drop in parking use,”
Eric Van Susteren Staff Writer
he said. The lack of parking permit sales hasn’t hurt parking services in a significant way, but there could come a time when parking services has to reduce staff in order to meet the budget requirements of losing significant amounts of revenue, Laws said. “Parking is one of those auxiliaries on campus that is self-funded, so no general fund money comes to run parking,” he said.
See PARKING, Page 2
*Photo illustration by Stefan Armijo
Students, faculty weigh in on Proposition 8 Donovan Farnham Staff Writer
The federal court case regarding the validity of Proposition 8 is a question of whether the 14th Amendment applies to same-sex couples and the LGBT community, according to James Brent, a SJSU political science professor. In November 2008, Californians passed Proposition 8 establishing that marriage is defined as a union between a man and a woman, according to the
San Francisco Chronicle. If the decisions regarding marriage were left up to SJSU students, then Judge Vaughn Walker, the federal judge hearing the case, would hear different opinions. Billal Asghar, a global studies and health science double major, said if a person's actions aren't hurting someone, then they should be given free rein on how they live their lives, but that majority decisions should still stand. "I'm for a democracy if we want our
system to work," he said. "I do believe we should vote on something over and over again and it shouldn't be up to one person, one judge or a group of people to decide for the majority." Asghar said that minority groups, be they religious or ethnic or otherwise, should stick together to protect one anothers' rights because if the rights of one group are taken away then there isn't a guarantee for the rest. Billy Ray Haynes, a senior political science and justice studies double ma-
jor, said he voted in favor of Proposition 8, but takes a centrist point of view and thinks that same-sex couples should still be allowed to legally be together. "I didn't really have a reason," he said. "It may have been an ignorant choice on my part, but I see marriage as between a man and a woman." The ruling on the Proposition 8 case depends on whether same-sex couples are considered a suspect class said
See PROP 8, Page 2
HISTORY OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IN CALIFORNIA *Courtesy of UC Berkeley's Same Sex Overview and issues Web site, The Christian Science Monitor, The Los Angeles Times
1977: California defines marriage as legal union between a man and a woman.
1999: California allows domestic partnerships for same-sex couples
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2000: Proposition 22 passes. California now only recognizes marriages between a man and a woman.
May 2008: California Supreme Court overturns Proposition 22. Same sex marriage allowed.
2003: the Domestic Partnership Rights and Responsibilities Act passes, giving same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples, except for the title of marriage.
THESPARTANDAILY.COM Video: Meet the candidates: A.S. presidential election at thespartandaily.com
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SPARTAN DAILY BLOGS Learn more about honorary degrees for Japanese-Americans interned in World War II. Also, check out a VTA phone app made by an SJSU student at spartandailynews.wordpress.com Check out the coverage on the first-round matchups at today’s Western Athletic Conference Tournament at spartandailysports.wordpress.com
Nov. 2008: Proposition 8 passes, defining marriage as between a man and a woman in the California Constitution.
Jan. 2010: Proposition 8 goes to the U.S. District Court.
See ELECTION, Page 4
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Stefan Armijo / Spartan Daily
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May 2009: California Supreme Court upholds Proposition 8 and the ban on same-sex marriages.
Presidential candidates for the 2010 Associated Students election in April are preparing to face issues such as budget cuts, low student involvement and a lack of student awareness, said the A.S. chief elections officer. "We've always had a low turnout for the elections voter-wise, and we're really just trying to get more awareness of A.S. government," said Cree Daniels, a senior hospitality management major. Daniels said voter turnout is the major priority for the 2010 election. "We have 32,000 students and only 2,000 showed up to vote last year," she said. "That's an extremely low percentage. It's less than the people who live on campus." Daniels said this year the A.S. elections board will be increasing the money spent on raising awareness and student involvement. "I think especially with the budget cuts people are going to want to know what their money is going to," she said. "This is technically their organization. They need to know what kinds of things A.S. can do for them." Budget concerns are one of the most pressing issues for students, said senior kinesiology major Domingo Castellanos, who is running for A.S. president. "If this costs any more, I'm not going to be able to go to school here either," he said. Castellanos said his position as president of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity has helped him prepare for the A.S. presidency. "I learned to set deadlines for myself, be efficient and make tough decisions," he said. "The correct decisions." Ivan Ng, a member of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, said he thinks being in a fraternity would give a candidate an edge in the elections. "The Greek community is really active about voting from what I've seen," said Ng, a junior graphic design major. "It definitely helps if you have that many more friends and brothers and sisters as support." Ng said he would want a qualified candidate elected to office. "It shouldn't just come down to who has the biggest group of friends," he said.
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