Since you've been gone…The top six stories of the summer

While many students took advantage of the warm days and long nights during summer vacation, a few of us Mustang Daily reporters faithfully stayed behind to cover all the news on campus and throughout San Luis Obispo County. Here is a recap of the top six stories to hit the Mustang newsstands over the break.

Poly alum John Madden inducted into Hall of Fame

The king of Monday Night Football commentary and football video games, John Madden, can now add having a bronze bust of himself in the hall of fame to his long list of accomplishments.

On Aug. 5, the Cal Poly alum and former Oakland Raiders head coach was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Madden, who played both football and baseball for Cal Poly (1957-58), was commended for having been one of the youngest head coaches to lead a team to a Super Bowl victory. He accomplished this feat in 1967 with the Oakland Raiders when they defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI.

Madden joined Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, Rayfield Wright, Harry Carson and the late Reggie White in this year’s class of Hall of Famers.

Identity Theft becomes big scare for 3,000 students

For many students returning to Cal Poly this fall, you may have already been notified by Administration that your student information has to be altered for your protection.

Identity theft has now become a risk for over 3,000 students because a laptop stolen from the residence of physics professor John Mottmann on July 5 contained class lists for his physics and astronomy classes from fall 1994 to fall 2004.

Cal Poly is currently taking steps during the fall quarter to replace social security numbers with unique forms of identification. Currently, the San Luis Obispo Police Department is still investigating the theft and the laptop remains missing.

Two Cal Poly students die over summer break

Cal Poly students Richard Spencer Wood, 22, of Newport Beach, and Justin McCutcheon, 19, of San Luis Obispo, perished in unrelated yet tragic circumstances over the summer.

Wood, a history and political science major and vice president of Lambda Chi Alpha, was found dead in a shallow drainage wash-off of Avila Beach Road July 22 in Avila Beach after attending a 311 concert the night before. Wood, who had last been seen leaving a bar the night of the concert, was found to have suffered a hematoma due to a fractured skull, according to a coroner’s report.

McCutcheon, a redshirted Cal Poly golfer and the son of former Athletics Director John McCutcheon, died early Aug. 9 after his Volkswagen Jetta collided with a Volvo semi-truck on a Massachusetts interstate.

The memory of both students will not be forgotten as both will have memorial bricks placed in the new Spanos Stadium. A scholarship in McCutcheon’s name was also created through San Luis Obispo High School.

Spanos Stadium opening ceremonies delayed

Originally scheduled to be completed by Sept. 2 for the first football game, officials have delayed the grand opening of Spanos Stadium until late October.

Completion of the west bleachers near California Boulevard was delayed due to heavy rains throughout the winter, but officials say the construction efforts have increased considerably since then.

Officials now say the stadium will be completed in time for the homecoming game against South Dakota State on Oct. 21.

The delays have not affected Cal Poly football as home games are still taking place in Spanos Stadium. Similar to last year, all fans will sit on the east side of the stadium until construction is complete.

Cal Poly Aerospace satellite launch ends in failure

The first attempt by aerospace engineers to coordinate and launch satellites designed at Cal Poly ended in failure when the Russian-made rocket carrying the payload failed to reach orbit.

On July 26, a rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying a payload of small (pico) satellites from various universities as part of the CubeSat program created by Cal Poly and Stanford University. The rocket failed to reach the second stage of its launch cycle and crashed near the launch site.

Though dismayed, the aerospace department was not shaken by the incident and plans for further satellite launches are under way.

Animal Science Department adds new buildings

The animal science department has undergone expansion and modernization over the summer with the construction of four new buildings.

A newly built hay barn and beef center are located across from Cuesta Community College off Education Boulevard, while the other two buildings, a meat processing center and feed mill, are in the works next to Cal Poly’s poultry unit on Stenner Creek Road.

Construction of the feed mill, which will supply campus livestock and specialty diets for animal research, is currently underway; however, construction of the meat processing center has been delayed due to a shortage of funds.

When completed, the meat processing center will feature the latest technology to assist in low-stress bull raising.