UCSD MEN’S BASKETBALL PREDICTED TO PLACE 11th IN CCAA

October 31, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Oct. 30, 2013
Scott Flanders
Associate Athletics Director
Communications  UC San Diego Intercollegiate Athletics

LA JOLLA, Calif. – The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) released its annual men’s basketball preseason coaches poll Wednesday and UC San Diego is predicted to finish 11th in the league’s regular season standings.

Cal State San Bernardino garnered 115 points and six first-place votes to take the top spot in the poll. Cal Poly Pomona, last season’s regular season champion, was just behind in second place with 112 points and the remaining six first-place votes. San Francisco State amassed 92 points to round out the league’s top three.

Chico State (91 points) was fourth, Cal State Dominguez Hills (86 points) fifth, Cal State L.A. (75 points) sixth, Sonoma State (60 points) seventh, Humboldt State (48 points) eighth, Cal State Stanislaus (40 points) ninth and Cal State East Bay (32 points) 10th.

The Tritons, who finished seventh in the CCAA last year, totaled 24 points for 11th place. Cal State Monterey Bay (17 points) was 12th.

Last season, UCSD compiled an 11-15 overall record and a 10-12 conference mark. The Tritons earned a berth in the CCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009.

First-year UCSD head coach Eric Olen returns a pair of starters in senior guard James McCann and sophomore forward Drew Dyer. McCann earned All-CCAA Second Team accolades last season after averaging 13.6 points and a team-best 4.8 assists per game. His assist average was the second-highest in the league. Dyer averaged 9.3 points and 5.2 boards a game and hit 41 three-pointers, the second-most on the team.

Lost to graduation were guard Tyler McGrath and forward Justin Brue. McGrath, also an All-CCAA Second Team selection, led UCSD in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game. He made a team-high 52 three-pointers and led the conference in free-throw percentage (.888). Brue was the Tritons’ top rebounder (7.0/game) and shot blocker (1.0/game), while also scoring 10.7 points a game.

Last week, the Tritons played an exhibition at Pitt, which is expected to finish sixth in the uber-competitive, 15-team Atlantic Coast Conference this season. The game was tied at 49-49 with 7:46 remaining and UCSD trailed by only two points with just over four minutes left. The Panthers picked it up late and went on to win by a score of 72-59. McCann and senior MacKenzie McCullough each finished with 13 points.

UCSD plays a second and final exhibition at Grand Canyon on Nov. 1, before opening its regular season at home against Daemen College on Nov. 15.

For a complete season schedule, click here.

2013-14 CCAA Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Cal State San Bernardino (6), 115 points
2. Cal Poly Pomona (6), 112 points
3. San Francisco State, 92 points
4. Chico State, 91 points
5. Cal State Dominguez Hills, 86 points
6. Cal State L.A., 75 points
7. Sonoma State, 60 points
8. Humboldt State, 48 points
9. Cal State Stanislaus, 40 points
10. Cal State East Bay, 32 points
11. UC San Diego, 24 points
12. Cal State Monterey Bay, 17 points

(first-place votes)

#TritonsRising

Scott Flanders
Associate Athletics Director
Communications  UC San Diego Intercollegiate Athletics
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“Beat the snot out of them”

October 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

 

Ralph —

“Beat the snot out of them.” — former Rep. Steve LaTourette, R-OH
“If they refuse to fight for us, we must fight them.” — Erick Erickson, RedState

Those aren’t Republicans talking about what they are going to do to Democrats next year. Those are Republicans talking about what they want to do to each other — just as the GOP’s approval ratings implode in the aftermath of the government shutdown.

I assume you’ve heard the phrase, “strike while the iron is hot.” Well, if you want to hold the Tea Party accountable, irons don’t come much hotter than the upcoming election in the purple state of Virginia — in just one week. With voters livid about the government shutdown and Republicans embroiled in a civil war, progressives are in prime position to shock the political world in Virginia, setting the stage for Democrats taking back the House in 2014.

Do you want to seize this opportunity to cripple the Tea Party’s political power for good? Then join fellow DFA members to Call Out the Vote in Virginia.

Yes, I can volunteer to make calls from home into Virginia on Wednesday.

No, I can’t make calls but I can chip in to support DFA’s Call Out The Vote program in Virginia — and in states all over the country in 2014.

DFA went into Virginia early, endorsing and supporting bold Democratic candidates across the state. The polls are extremely tight, and our Purple to Blue endorsed candidates have never been in a stronger position to win.

Our volunteers know that the frustration and fatigue with obstructionist Tea Party tactics is real. Not only is it reflected in the polls — it is reflected in the daily conversations DFA members are having with voters in Virginia. In recent Call Out The Vote phone banks to Virginia, I’ve spoken with several Democrats and independents who can’t wait to run out and cast a ballot for our endorsed candidates on November 5. And I’ve even spoken to Republicans for whom the government shutdown was the last straw.

This isn’t just about one state or one election. This is about seizing an opportunity to change the congressional campaign landscape for 2014. Can you volunteer to help Call Out the Vote in Virginia this week?

Yes, I can volunteer to make calls from home into Virginia on Wednesday.

No, I can’t make calls but I can chip in to support DFA’s Call Out The Vote program in Virginia — and in states all over the country in 2014.

Thank you for helping us win,

Karli

Karli Wallace, Campaign Organizer
Democracy for America

P.S. As an added incentive, the top caller from each COTV shift will receive a signed copy of Howard Dean’s Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform. Click here to sign up now.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

It’s Time to take back the House….

October 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Dear RALPH,

House Republicans just caused the shutdown of the entire government. Not only that, they did so because their priority is to deny healthcare to women and families, and because they want to let your boss decide whether you have coverage for birth control.

Enough is enough. It’s time to take back the House from the extreme GOP and replace these guys with pro-choice Democratic women. Women who will step up, govern, and fight for policies that actually help women and families.

Luckily we have an opportunity to really put these guys on notice: 2014 is right around the corner, and we have an opportunity send these guys packing. It’s our time to take back the House.

If you agree that it’s time to restore sanity to Congress, EMILY’s List needs your voice. If you want to help us fight over the next year to replace these guys with pro-choice, Democratic women, we need you behind us. If you’re fed up with the House GOP, and want to do something about it, you need to join us.

2014 may seem far off, but these House GOP Members need to know that their seats are not safe. EMILY’s List knows that early support for women candidates is critical. We have to be there for women candidates, right from the get-go. If we want to take back the House, we need to act now. Sign up to learn how you can help us take back the House, and restore some sanity to Congress.

Thanks for all you do!

Bob Fertik

Democrats.com is the oldest online community of progressive activists, with over 2 million supporters. We fight for jobs, justice, healthcare, education, the environment, and peace. We’re supported by great progressive partners so we never ask for donations. Please join us at Democrats.com!
Filed Under: America Economics, Congress Senate and the House, The U.S Senate, White House Journalist Tagged With: , , , , ,

Outraged by the Government Shutdown

October 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Ralph —

3,083,897.

Outraged by the government shutdown, that’s how many phone calls DFA members have pledged to make to voters in 2014 to defeat Republicans and take back the House of Representatives from Tea Party extremists. And the number is surging with each day the shutdown continues.

217,324.

That’s how many DFA and Daily Kos supporters have signed on to a petition asking 21 moderate House Republicans to buck John Boehner and sign a “discharge petition” that would force a vote to end the shutdown — and could prevent the impending debt ceiling disaster.

30.

That’s how many Republicans could lose their seats because of the shutdown, according to Sam Wang, a Princeton professor called “one of the best poll aggregators out there” by Paul Krugman. Wang’s analysis of recent polling shows that the GOP would lose the House “if the election were held today.”

We can take back the House in 2014 — so this never happens again. Please contribute $5 today to our DFA Dialer program so our members can follow through on making 3 million calls into the districts that matter the most.

Republicans made this mess, gambling on our future to force an ideological point that the majority of Americans continue to reject. Let’s make sure they learn a lesson.

Thanks for all you do,

Eden

Eden James
Political Director, Democracy for America

Filed Under: America Economics Tagged With: , ,

just like humans!!! Are you Smarter that a Monkey? Maybe Not.

September 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment
just like humans!!!
The Monkey Test ~~ this one is OUTSTANDING..!
2 Monkeys Were Paid Unequally; See What Happens
Filed Under: America Economics Tagged With: ,

Take action to protect our communities from nuclear waste!

September 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Dear Ralph,

Take action to protect our communities from nuclear waste!

Leslie March and her mother in 1955

I first learned about “atomic waste” in my high chair; I grew up in the fifties in Washington State and my grandfather frequently had business at the Hanford Reservation (now the most contaminated nuclear waste site in North America). I remember my mother arguing with him about the dangers of nuclear waste: she was concerned about the health of the Columbia River; he trusted that the plant would be safe.

But my mother was right: the tanks containing highly radioactive waste are leaking, and the Columbia River is at risk.1

We now have the opportunity to protect communities across the nation from radioactive waste. Please take action today!

The reactors at Hanford are now closed. But when I discovered that another nuclear reactor (the same kind used at Fukushima) now operates within miles of the Columbia River, I was motivated to take action to protect the river, and began organizing in my community. I was dismayed when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently relicensed the Columbia Generating Station for another 20 years — even though they don’t have a solid plan for storing the waste safely.

Our records indicate that you’ve taken [0] Sierra Club actions with this email account — but this is the perfect opportunity to make your voice heard.

The courts are now requiring the NRC to have a moratorium on licensing until they do an environmental impact statement on the radioactive waste. Now we have a chance to protect the river by demanding that the waste be stored safely.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is now developing new rules for the long-term storage of highly radioactive waste from the nation’s nuclear reactors. These rules will determine whether or not your state becomes a transportation route for thousands of shipments of highly radioactive waste on super-trucks, or a storage site for some or all of the 70,000+ tons of radioactive waste.

The federal government is now taking public comments on these rules: please tell the NRC to enact strong rules to protect our communities and environment.

We have a very unique opportunity to have a say in how our country handles radioactive waste from nuclear reactors in the future.  If we don’t step up and comment, we will have lost our ability to protect our grandchildren, and many generations to come, from the deadly dangers of radiation.

Let the NRC know that we are not confident with the current way they have regulated radioactive waste – they need to do more.

Thank you for everything you do for the environment,

Leslie March,  Sierra Club Nuclear Program Volunteer Lead

P.S. After you’ve taken action, pleaseforward a copy of this messageto five of your friends and family. Or spread the word on your social networks with the share buttons below.

[1] “Hanford Nuclear Reservation Tanks Leaking Radioactive Waste Underground, Governor Inslee Says,” AP/Huffington Post, February 22, 2013.

Filed Under: America Economics, Animals and Protection for them, Journalist, Nuclear waste! Tagged With:

Fukushima Radiation, Global Change, Food Security and More: CSU Event Tackles One Health Challenges

September 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment

FORT COLLINS – Radiation scientists at Colorado State University are the first representatives of an American university to have entered the shuttered exclusion zone surrounding the disabled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan to collect samples of soil and plant material for analysis of radioactivity.

The investigative trip in June was a rare scientific opportunity after the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 triggered a nuclear meltdown and release of radioactive material, causing the world’s worst nuclear disaster of the new millennium.

The sample collection – expected to take a year to fully evaluate – involved scientists from the University of Tokyo and Fukushima University and resulted from a partnership between CSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and some of Japan’s top universities and health institutions. The project will be the focus of a presentation on Oct. 3 called “Radiation Risks and the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: Measurements and Myths,” featuring two Japanese researchers who accompanied CSU scientists in the evacuated zone.

The presentation is part of a three-day conference at CSU called the International Colloquium on Global One Health, highlighting compelling research projects with problem-solving potential at the confluence of human, animal, and environmental health. CSU’s radiological work with Japanese collaborators is but one example of the burgeoning One Health scientific movement.

“The samples we collected are precious,” said Georg Steinhauser, an assistant professor in the CSU Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences and one of five people in the Fukushima investigative party. “I’d compare the material we got to moon rock in the field of planetology.”

Recent leaks of contaminated water from Fukushima Daiichi into the Pacific Ocean have alarmed scientists and citizens alike. At the same time, there are unanswered questions about levels of radioactivity in soil and plant matter, and the potential impact on people, animals, and the environment, said Thomas Johnson, associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences and another member of the research team.

Johnson called the Fukushima calamity “the most important radiological event of the new millennium,” and its inclusion in the One Health colloquium exemplifies CSU’s collaborative teaching, research, and outreach on pressing international problems.

Much of this One Health work – on issues including global environmental change, infectious disease, business sustainability models, food security, and wildlife conservation – will be highlighted during more than a dozen panel discussions and presentations during CSU’s fourth international colloquium.

All the presentations are free and open to the public, and all are set in the Lory Student Center on campus. For a complete list of sessions, visit http://www.international.colostate.edu.

“The International Colloquium on Global One Health is a wonderful example of how to facilitate cross-campus dialogue on a critically important topic,” said Jim Cooney, CSU vice provost for International Affairs.

The CSU event precedes the second Global Risk Forum One Health Summit, set next month in Davos Switzerland. The summit will convene a brain trust of scientists and policy makers to identify urgent issues and interdisciplinary problem-solving strategies on the broad issues of human, animal, and environmental health; agriculture; and food safety and security.

“With its expertise in these fields, CSU is uniquely positioned to build a substantial One Health program and to make significant contributions to help feed the world while enhancing animal, human, and ecosystem health,” said Mark Stetter, an organizer of the CSU event who is a veterinarian and dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

The annual colloquium is just one reason CSU President Tony Frank will travel to Washington, D.C., in November to receive a 2013 Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization, which recognizes excellence in integrating international education across all aspects of college and university campuses. The award is conferred by NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

The colloquium presentations include:

Tuesday, Oct. 1

3-4:30 p.m.
• Opening Plenary: Global Disease Threats: Bacteria, Viruses, and Parasites – Oh My!

5-6:30 p.m.
• One Cure: International Cooperation to Advance Cancer Radiation Therapy for Humans and Animals
• Why Global Corporations Care About the World: The Evolution of Sustainability from an Add-On to a Business Imperative
• Clean Water, Health, and Ecosystems

Wednesday, Oct. 2

2:30-4 p.m.
• Linking Human, Wildlife, and Ecosystem Wellbeing: The Care of Big Cat Conservation in India
• Health Impacts of Global Environmental Change
• One Health and the Built Environment: Healthy, Thriving Places that Leave a Positive Legacy

4:30-6 p.m.
• Global One Health Leadership: Research and Training Opportunities
• Food Safety and Security: The Sustainability Challenge of Feeding 9 Billion People

Thursday, Oct. 3

1:30-3 p.m.
• Redefining How We Communicate About Health in the 21st Century: The Role of One Health
• Radiation Risks and the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: Measurements and Myths

3:30-5 p.m.
• Concluding Plenary – Operationalizing One Health Globally and Locally

The International Colloquium on Global One Health is sponsored by the CSU Office of International Programs, Office of the Vice President for Research, and College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Reporters: Friday, September 27, 2013, Jennifer.Dimas@ColoState.EDU

Filed Under: America Economics, Animals and Protection for them, Colorado State University News, County Fair, Daily Kos, Food Stamps, Fox NEWS, Fracking up the Earth, Fukushima Radiation, GOP Spin, Journalist, Medical care, MSNBC, OIL, People Tagged With: , ,

Tell FWS to maintain federal protections for gray wolves.

September 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Keep federal protections for wolves

Below is an email from Elissa Wagner, a MoveOn member in Aptos, California. Elissa started a petition on the MoveOn website, where anyone can start their own online petition.

 

Dear MoveOn member,

Gray wolves in the lower 48 states have been hunted, trapped, and poisoned to near-extinction. With the passage of the federal Endangered Species Act in 1973, the gray wolf was designated an endangered species. In places like Yellowstone National Park, the health of ecosystems depends on the presence of top predators, such as the gray wolf.

Now, however, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) wants to remove the gray wolf from its endangered species status in all of the lower 48 except in the Southwest, claiming the wolf has recovered. The science says otherwise: In the lower 48 states there are fewer than 5,500 wolves, less than 1% of their original numbers. Wolves are found in only 5% of the area they once roamed.

Tell FWS to maintain federal protections for gray wolves.

In an outrageous, unprecedented action in which politicians, rather than scientists, decided the fate of an endangered species, a 2011 rider attached to a Congressional appropriations bill delisted wolves in the Northern Rockies. And in 2012, the FWS removed endangered species status for wolves in the Western Great Lakes area. In the past two years, wolves in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes regions have been hunted down, gassed, and trapped, in aggressive, state-sanctioned hunting and trapping seasons. In this short amount of time, more than 1,700 wolves have been killed in these states. At this rate, wolves—which are in the early stages of recovery—will be quickly wiped out.

The FWS should not delist the gray wolf but should instead maintain the wolf’s endangered species status and embark on a national wolf recovery plan that would restore wolves to significant portions of their former range.

That’s why I started a petition to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe and Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, which says:

We oppose the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s plan to delist the gray wolf from endangered species status, as the wolf has not approached recovery. Instead, the delisting could lead to the wolf’s extermination. We ask that the wolf’s endangered species status be maintained and that the FWS embark on a national wolf recovery plan that would restore wolves to significant portions of their former range.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

–Elissa Wagner

This petition was created on MoveOn’s online petition site, where anyone can start their own online petitions. Elissa Wagner didn’t pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 8 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

Filed Under: Animals and Protection for them Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fight for progressive change in Eureka : Becky Bond and Murshed Zaheed, CREDO Action

September 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment

 

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret MeadDear Ralph,

This isn’t like most of the emails we send you. We generally ask you to sign a petition, make a phone call or attend a protest. Those are all incredibly important things to do, and they’ve helped CREDO activists win countless victories over the years, from defending women’s rights to fighting fracking to shutting down dirty coal plants.

Now we’re trying something new: putting the power to fight the right and win progressive campaigns directly in your hands. We recently launched a new people-powered campaign platform called CREDO Mobilize, which lets CREDO activists start their own petitions to fight for progressive change.

Ready to get started? Click here to create your CREDO Mobilize petition today.

Start a petition!

CREDO activists across the country have already started using the platform to launch hundreds of campaigns to protect the environment, hold extremist Republicans accountable, fight back against the war on women and much, much more. They’re making a difference by engaging thousands of fellow CREDO activists to build grassroots pressure on key decision makers like their mayors, governors, members of Congress and local companies to do the right thing – and it’s working:

  • On August 30, 7-year-old Tiana Parker was sent home in tears from her Tulsa, Oklahoma, charter school after being told that her short and tidy dreadlocks “didn’t look presentable.” The school’s prejudiced dress code spelled out dreadlocks and afros, two styles worn almost exclusively by African-Americans with natural hair, as unacceptable. Wagatwe Wanjuki, a CREDO activist and organizer with RH Reality Check, heard the heartbreaking story and started a petition on CREDOMobilize.com demanding the school change its policy and apologize to Tiana. In just five days, over 20,000 CREDO activists signed the petition, stirring up national publicity in outlets like MSNBC, Huffington Post, and United Press International. The school’s independent governing board felt the pressure and quickly voted unanimously to remove the offensive policy regarding hairstyles from its dress code.

 

  • On August 14, the City Council of Columbia, South Carolina approved one of the most draconian anti-homeless measures ever proposed in a U.S. city. David Calef, a CREDO activist in Columbia, decided to fight back and worked with friends at the National Coalition for the Homeless to start a petition on CREDOMobilize.com, demanding that the City Council of Columbia suspend its plan to criminalize 1,621 homeless people in Columbia. Within days, hundreds of CREDO activists signed his petition and helped convince the City Council to unanimously rescind the plan.

Now it’s your turn. Is your city or state government considering bad legislation? Or is there a local company or elected official doing something wrong that needs to change? Click here to start a petition on CREDO Mobilize and fight for the change you want to see in your community.

Thanks for helping lead the people-powered movement for progressive change.

Becky Bond and Murshed Zaheed,
CREDO Action from Working Assets
Filed Under: Food Stamps, Fox NEWS, Fracking up the Earth Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Unbelievable: Chuck Todd says debunking GOP lies isn’t his job

September 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment

What’s Up With Chuck? 
Ralph, in an outrageous affirmation of “he said, she said” journalism, NBC News’s chief White House correspondent and MSNBC host Chuck Todd said that it’s not the media’s job to report the facts or debunk right-wing spin about Obamacare.Sign the petition to tell Chuck Todd: Journalists are not stenographers. The news media should report the facts.

On “Morning Joe,” Todd made the following remark about Americans’ perceptions about Obamacare:

“But more importantly, [Americans would repeat] stuff that Republicans have successfully messaged against [Obamacare.] They don’t repeat the other stuff because they haven’t even heard the Democratic message. What I always love is people say, ‘Well, it’s you folks’ fault in the media.’ No, it’s the President of the United States’ fault for not selling it.”

Chuck Todd seems to think that “reporting the news” is nothing more than “Democrat said X, Republican said Y.”

The news media is supposed to separate truth from spin and report the facts to the American people.

Tell Chuck Todd: It is your job to report the facts, not “he said, she said” lies and spin.

Keep fighting,
Michael Langenmayr
Campaign Director, Daily Kos
Filed Under: America Economics, Daily Kos, Fox NEWS, GOP Spin, Journalist, MSNBC, People, Planet Earth, SBC CBS NBC Independent New, White House Journalist Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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