The Mad Moxxi approved trailer for the highly anticipated sequel to 2009’s surprise hit Borderlands from Gearbox Software has finally arrived online and boy is this one a wild one for all the fans of the original.

It comes with the promise of more skills, an bazillion more bazilliondier guns (or, in simple terms, a lot more), a glimpse at the four new heroes and a few familiar faces (I missed you Scooter.) All of this is put together with what has apparently become a trend among game developers, 98.7% more loud droning dubstep music (or wubstep, if you will).

Everyone who is excited about the return of Claptrap and the world of Pandora can “catch a ride” to Borderlands 2 on September 18^th.

Let us know in the comments below how you feel about the trailer and game itself.

Paige Nelson, Staff Photographer

As the U.S. Congress currently debates a new national transportation bill, advocates for safer streets have gathered at 54th Street & University Avenue not far from the San Diego State campus, to shed light on one of San Diego’s most dangerous intersections and focus attention on pending cuts.

The bill, sponsored by California Sen. Barbara Boxer, would reauthorize federal aid for transportation and highway construction projects. The last deliberation on the bill occurred last Friday, and ended with Sen. Harry Reid recommitting the bill to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works for further examination. Currently, there are 223 proposed amendments to the bill.

Walk San Diego, an advocacy group interested in improving the pedestrian experience in San Diego County, is opposed to passing the bill without first reforming it. The group said the bill will strip dedicated transit funding from the federal transportation bill.

“States and regions would no longer be assured of a regular and consistent stream of funding for transit investments,” the group said.

Walk San Diego said the bill is the “most dangerous move we have seen from the House, and would threaten the ability of our regions to plan and invest in transit projects and long-term plans.”

The group’s statement asked for supporters to contact their representatives and urge them not to cut funding for what it has called “complete streets”; which are defined as streets that are safe to walk near and bike on.

Transportation for America, a coalition of transportation reform advocates, has a national sign-on letter that was sent to Congress, urging it not to cut additional funding for safer streets.

“Funding for biking and walking and Safe Routes to School programs is critical in fighting the obesity epidemic, which is one of the biggest health and economic challenges facing our nation and state,” San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts said, according to a press release from Transportation for America.

Local media have also brought attention toward the growing issue. In a report by ABC Channel 10 in San Diego, one advocate was quoted as saying, “The roads are for people, not just for people in cars. We’ve got to share.”

Jim Baross, a bike safety advocate, said there is a desperate need for bike lanes and better signals.

Kathleen Ferrier, urban planner, SDSU alumna and Policy Development Manager at Walk San Diego, said there is currently a need for change in transportation methods.

“The younger generation want to bike and walk and generations ‘Y’ and ‘X’ are moving to communities where there are complete streets; where there are cycle tracks and safe biking and pedestrian-friendly streets.”

Ferrier said the issue has been building for some time.

“We have got these decades-old policies that favor car and speeding cars along, rather than prioritizing pedestrian or bike safety.”

She then explained Federal Transportation funding for biking and walking is a meager 1 percent of what is spent on highways; so any cut in the funding is critical.

“Areas that are proven dangerous for walkers can be made much safer with redesigns,” Ferrier said, “But funding for that is hard to come by.”

San Diego State’s Office of Intercultural Relations, along with Student Life & Leadership, held its annual Leadership and Diversity Summit in the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center last Saturday. The theme of the summit was “Differences Affirmed: Making an Impact in our Global Community.” Students participated in workshops and diversity-awareness training focused on developing cultural awareness, sensitivity and competency in their leadership skills. SDSU’s cultural competency program implemented in the summit represents the first of its kind in the California State University system. SDSU’s Director of International Partnerships Dr. Paul Wong served as the opening keynote speaker. Wong’s message focused on the importance of viewing diversity as an institutional asset and vital part of the college experience. SDSU student Keisha Mello-Hall gained a new perspective on what diversity means.

“Being half black and half white, I thought I knew what diversity was about. Coming here and learning that diversity was much more than ethnicity or race was eye-opening for me,” Mello-Hall said.

The summit moved to the Arts and Letters building for three breakout sessions hosted by several student organizations, university officials and community volunteers. Students had the option to choose between several workshops structured to raise cultural awareness and enhance leadership skills.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex Speaker’s Bureau Student Panel hosted a session to raise participants’ cultural consciousness about the LGBTQ community, as well as strengthen leadership and ally behaviors. Ashley Boyd, a graduate assistant in SDSU’s Cross-Cultural Center, led the session.

“Part of being a leader is having a comprehensive awareness of diversity,” Boyd said. “If a leader isn’t aware of communities like the LGBTQ community, they can’t be effective.”

Associated Students’ executive officers held a session discussing the diverse paths they took to become A.S. leaders, and offered advice to those interested in student government.

“As a leader, you have to have an effective and appropriate message and the ability to communicate it to anybody,” A.S. President Cody Barbo said. “Being culturally competent is the best way to do that.”

Dr. Timothy Quinnan, Associate Vice President for Campus Life at SDSU, served as the closing keynote speaker. Quinnan’s remarks focused on the importance of recognizing “a spiritual connection that we all share to create change.”

Katie Foster, Staff Photographer

With a large percentage of San Diego State students registered as business majors, it should be no surprise that any opportunity for students to collaborate with companies on new projects would be a hit. That is why approximately 10,000 students have registered for 1,500 projects through rentastudent.com, a website that pairs college students with companies that need help with specialized projects.

Co-founders Morgan Dierstein and Guillaume Truttman created RentAStudent as a place for students to earn cash by helping companies with tasks geared toward their particular skill sets.

According to the website, “RentAStudent is a way to showcase what you’ve already learned, apply it to real world situations, build your résumé and create connections with companies … all while financing your education.”

Students 18 years and older are given the opportunity to create an online profile that displays a professional description and cover letter, while showcasing skills and competencies.

To open a valid account, student users must have an academic email address to prove student status. Once the profile-building process is complete, students can search through various tasks and projects, such as ad campaigns, proofreading, translation and budgeting. Once they find projects suitable to their needs, they need only apply.

During the selection process, companies can contact potential student candidates via email and even send down payments.

According to RentAStudent, “From there, they will be able to establish guidelines and a time frame for completing the project using our collaboration page. Once the student has successfully completed the project, the remainder of the agreed-upon wage will be paid using our secure payment system. We will provide an invoice on behalf of the student so that all transactions are transparent.”

Students are able to negotiate their pay by suggesting an hourly wage on their profiles. The minimum hourly wage companies are able to pay is $10.

The website was first created in France, where only French students were allowed access to the networking process. Last year, American students were offered the RentAStudent opportunity as well. Since then, 1,500 projects have been posted and the number is growing.

RentAStudent does have a few disadvantages. For example, it only grants students access one year from their graduation date and takes a 15 percent cut from student earnings. However, the opportunity to earn more than $10 an hour may still be enticing to some cash-starved college students.

As budgets continue to be cut and tuition fees continue to increase, a 15 percent loss may be no excuse to avoid the opportunity. RentAStudent is an innovative way to build experience before exiting the relatively comfortable bubble of college life.

Stocks had the day off yesterday for Presidents Day but opened positively today with news of a second Greek bailout. The Dow Jones industrial average increased 39 points to 12,989, the Nasdaq was up 9 points at 2,961 and the Standard & Poors 500 was up five points at 1,366.

Gold is also trading higher at $1,756 an ounce and the yield for the 10-year Treasury note increased to 2.05 percent.

Apple’s factory conditions face scrutiny

A lengthy article from Yahoo Finance focused attention on Chinese factory Foxconn, known for producing Apple products. This factory has been the site of several tragedies, including the suicides of a number of workers, as well as accidental explosions that have caused other deaths.

Now, the Fair Labor Association is auditing the factory with inspections and interviews. Foxconn’s employees were given anonymous touch-screen questionnaires, while the reporters were told to talk to anyone they pleased. Some expressed concern that Foxconn would “clean house” before an inspection, but that remains to be seen until the report is published next month.

Some Foxconn employees said their working conditions are better than other factories, although the dormitories are cramped. One chilling detail they shared was that “everywhere you look, on every factory and dormitory, in every stairwell and atrium, are suicide nets.”

The audit has not negatively affected Apple’s stock price, which is currently trading up roughly nine dollars per share at 511.15.

–Compiled by Staff Writer Chet Galloway

Peter Kluch, Senior Staff Photographer

Sharing notes is a hallowed student tradition, as old and revered as all-nighters and pre-final freak-outs. But not everyone looks kindly upon note sharing, especially not the California State University Office of General Counsel. As the Daily 49er reported on Jan. 4, the council asked Chegg to ban CSU system students from its note-sharing site, notehall.com. A similar note-sharing website, noteutopia.com, was barred from the CSU system in 2010.

Notehall and NoteUtopia allow students to buy and sell class notes online. In accordance with state laws prohibiting the sharing of notes for commercial purposes, the CSU was forced to send a cease-and-desist letter.

This ban on online note sharing reeks of bureaucratic ignorance and an unwillingness to adapt to the times. Students have always shared notes. Many professors encourage it to keep students who missed a class from falling behind. Many college-preparedness classes recommend comparing notes as a way to ensure comprehension. Sharing notes is vital for countless students who are unable to attend all of the class meetings, or who simply aren’t good at taking notes. Yet the California Education Code considers this cheating because it is done for “financial or economic gain.”

The California legislature needs to acknowledge that just because students are able to profit from this doesn’t mean it is cheating.

Let’s compare note sharing to another time-honored activity: study groups. Everyone has attended at least one study group at some point in his or her college career. They aren’t normally considered to violate academic honesty rules. In fact, they are often encouraged by professors, and Love Library even provides rooms specifically for this purpose. Study groups help students prepare for exams in an appropriate way.

Now, let’s imagine there are two very different students in the same class. One is having trouble understanding the course material and is failing. The other is excelling in the class and seems to have a mastery of the subject. Suppose the failing student asks the passing student to study with him for the final, and in exchange he will pay her for her time. In effect, one student is paying the other to be in his study group.

Do study groups constitute academic dishonesty when money is involved? No. Paid tutors are common and widely accepted. Offering someone money to study with you is no different than luring classmates to your study group with promises of free food and drinks.

Sharing notes is the same. No one would consider it cheating if classmates compared notes after class. That shouldn’t change simply because money is exchanged or the transaction occurs online. Instead of banning these exchanges, the CSU system should encourage this way of improving grades and promoting cooperation among students.

Instead of worrying about the possible negative effects of exchanging money for study help, the CSU system should create a site where students can trade notes with each other for free. Then again, the monetary aspects of these sites are some of their most valuable assets.

Aside from raising grades, note-sharing sites can teach students valuable business lessons and provide much needed financial help. Most of these sites allow users to rate the quality of notes, so students are encouraged to take better notes. Students struggling from the financial pressure of raising tuition costs can sell their notes online for cash.

Banning CSU students from note-sharing sites is harmful to our education. But it is also harmful to schools, because they benefit when all students are able to reach their full potential. They shouldn’t be kept from it because they aren’t good at taking notes or weren’t able to attend all the lectures. This law demonstrates the system is unable, or unwilling, to accept the changing academic landscape and adapt to it.

As more of our education and our studying moves online, the CSU system needs to modernize its definitions of what is and isn’t cheating. It needs to encourage sites that allow students to exchange class notes legitimately, while taking a stronger stand against those that illegally sell term papers and copies of exams.

Its ability to navigate this fine line will determine whether the CSU system will continue to be one of the most innovative systems of higher education in the world, or if it will fall prey to out-of-date thinking and backward fears.

“Sometimes I think we’ve already dreamed everything there is to dream.”

We were waiting in the shade of almond trees. Our friends, intent on wine tasting, invited us to Central California to celebrate their recent engagement. They’d already ordered for us an hour ago in the next town over, but Sarah’s car broke down, and so I imagined our plates were probably attracting flies and opportunistic sparrows. It made me hungrier.

Sarah believed her dreams were visions, an unfolding of the future. As soon as the engine spluttered and bucked, she turned to me. “I’ve had this dream before.” I pulled onto the shoulder, next to a massive almond orchard. Sarah got out and stretched her back.

There was something strange about the way the trees were plotted. They grew out instead of up. It looked like they were stretching to get a peek at us. White blossoms fell when the wind passed through. I couldn’t help but think of moths’ wings whipping through the rows.

Sarah sat down on an old crate and rested her back against one of the trees. Everything she did, she did carefully. Everything she did felt like ceremony, an observance of something greater than ourselves. She smoothed out the folds of her dress.

“I called Mike,” I said. “They’re on their way to pick us up. Are you still hungry?”

She nodded. A flower flickered above her and landed softly in her hair. She didn’t seem to realize, so lost in thought. “Tell me — what’s the worst dream you can remember?”

“I don’t remember many dreams. Sometimes I get them confused with real life. With memories. As I get older I find it difficult to separate the two.”

The flower in Sarah’s hair danced but couldn’t escape.

“What about you?” I asked.

Sarah looked up into the black branches above us. The sun seemed to shrink between the canopies. “Mine aren’t very scary,” she said. “I don’t have too many nightmares. My sister does, though. I remember one she told us when she was still little. She dreamt she was alone in our house, and it looked old and empty, like the rest of us suddenly disappeared, and many years had passed, but she hadn’t aged one bit. She heard noises coming from beyond the windows and when she looked to see if it was us, she saw a pack of wolves instead, wolves with human hands. Can you imagine? Every door she closed on them they opened again. Eventually she fled the house, but they chased her up a tree. This tree was big — she said she climbed for what felt like hours and when her arms got tired she looked down, but the branches grew so close together she couldn’t see the ground. Then she felt the tree sway, back and forth, back and forth. The wolves were rocking it. The force was too much. She fell. But here’s the thing — she never hit a tree branch on the way down. She could see the boughs whipping past her but none touched her. She reached out to grab one but they moved away. None helped to slow her fall.”

“Sounds terrifying.”

Sarah nodded. “Do you wake up before you hit the ground in your dreams?”

“Right before.”

“Me too. But she didn’t. She remembers hitting the ground. She remembers being paralyzed, and the wolves came back, and they began to —”

“I get it.”

We heard Mike pull up on the shoulder of the highway next to the orchard. I helped Sarah up from her crate and placed my hand on the small of her back as we walked toward his car. The wind picked up and whirled loudly in my ears. The blossoms fell in sheets so thick I couldn’t see past the pedals. I felt Sarah’s dress move beneath my palm. I felt the fluttering of wings. I think I misstepped, and in my falling, I felt her escape.

— Mason Schoen is a creative writing graduate student.