get rid of prepaid problems. get chase liquid. live on campus.... s-j-s-u's open campus has always raised concern for campus safety. what university police say students can do to not become victims... ....i'll have a live report with november's election around the corner, c-s-u's strategy to influence students is raising legal questions...

and... we'll show you how a local law school has gained a national reputation for freeing innocent people from prison... update news starts now! hello and welcome to update news... im tim vantress. and i'm briana villalobos... thanks for joining us. three people were injured in two separate on-campus assaults in recent weeks. amanda del castillo has more on the story... amanda... two of the assaults involved students and occurred during the day... san jose is a campus of 30-thousand students, one of those students says she wished she knew earlier about the available safety resources. " nguyen: i wasn't aware that they were even available on-campus, so i kind of waited til like... normal hours, 'cause it happened at one in the morning" senior hospitality major, sophia nguyen (new-yen) was assaulted in an on-campus elevator last year.

she waited until the morning to contact university police.. ... and due to the delay, the suspect was never caught. nguyen: i'm aware that they're there now, just in case i ever need anything." it's a useful resource to use and to know you have." u university police department says campus' prime location presents more opportunity for crime. belcastro: we are an open campus... we're in the heart of downtown san jose..." university police captain frank belcastro, says the campus is relatively safe, but the surrounding area raises concern. he says most on-campus crimes are committed by non-students. university police provide an anonymous text-in tip line, a new rape aggression defense program, and an escort and shuttle service for students and faculty. captain belcastro says the greatest tool u-p-d has is student involvement.b

belcastro: behavior draws our attention, it's not the way the person's dressed or looks... it's the behavior. so if someone's behavior makes you uneasy- call us." this year students were auto-enrolled into alert s-j-s-u... the university's emergency communication system. the captain says the alerts are very helpful in notifying the entire student body about possible threats. captain belcastro says students need to utilize all of the resources available to them, and help aid in the safety of s-j-s-u. he says bike theft is the biggest crime on-campus. but crimes of violence has the highest priority live on campus, amanda del castillo, update news. students who thought parking at san jose state was already a big headache last semester .... may be facing a bigger headache this semester. according to the san jose state police department ... the university has sold more than twice the number of parking passes than spaces available. " kinesiology senior nicole young ... has to get

up pretty early in the morning to catch a vacant parking space. " i have to get to school 1 hour before class just to find a parking spot." police don't count open parking spots ... they count open parking hours. john law says: "we only have 4800 parking spaces for students on the university property. of those 4800 spaces they turn over 2 and half times a day. so about 14 or 15 thousand available space hours for students to use the parking spaces as a result -- parking serivces has sold as many as 13-thousand parking permits for 48-parking spaces. " i paid $400 for a parking permit which doesn't guarantee me that i get a parking spot.they are telling us to use park and ride but what is the point of having a $400 parking permit? " with more permits sold... than parking spots available... the police department has some advice to beat the stress of parking.

"if people realy must drive to campus we recommend the park and ride if you don't get here early enough i would recommend going directly to the park and ride lot by the stadium i personally take light rail to work at least twice a week so light rail is a viable option for most of the students." many students like jessica garcia are already taking the advice . "i take vta because it is cheaper and its actually cheaper for for me and its right by my house so it is convenient and the money issue is the biggest problem that and the parking."" nearly five million dollars is collected a year and is put back in to parking services to keep things running smoothly. election day is less then two months away and here on campus a drive is under way to get students to vote. the associated students call it the rock the vote campaign voter registration tables are set up on campus. any student who will be over the age of 18 before november is eligible to sign up.

proposition 30 is a ballot proposition that can effect students. if the measure doesn't pass the csu system will lose 250 million dollars and sjsu will lose 16.3 million dollars alone. " "we want all students to understand how important education is and if this money gets cut it could come out of faculty it could come out of students and we wanna make sure that the students have their voice heard. we wanna make sure students stand up for their right to have an education." students will also be handing out fliers on campus to encourage their fellow peers to vote this november. this november voters will decide whether to pass proposition 30 ... which would increase income and sales taxes to fund public schools ... including the california state university system. however the c-s-u board of trustees is coming under fire for using public funds to promote the initiative. elliot alagueuzian has more on this issue. opponents of prop 30 are speaking out against a plan by the c-s-u chancellor to send a letter to c-s-u applicants urging them to vote for the initiative.

" san jose state university's cheif spokesman ... sees no harm in telling the public about how prop 30 will help the university system. larry carr says: "the indiviual campuses are educating students, community members, and faculty about the importance of voting, the importance of being registered to vote." david wolfe -- legislative director of the howard jarvis tax payer association -- was on campus this week. he says it's illegal to use public funds and resources to promote a political campaign. "we became aware last week of a draft letter proposed to be sent out by the csu system to incoming students. that we believe advocates for the passage of proposition 30." wolfe says if the chancellor's letter is sent ... there will be legal action. "there would obviously be certainly the potential for a lawsuit if they infact mail out that letter" wolfe's organization opposes prop 30 because it

represents a tax increase ... and says the state must do a better job of spending the money it already has. "6 billion dollars allocated for a partial high speed rail line in the middle of the central valley that doesn't connect to a major metroplitan area, the list can go on and on." "i think that they're argument is very petty" matthew lanza is an attorney who backs prop 30 ... he says the state's fiscal crisis needs to be fixed.. "jerry brown who is a registered democrat and is usually a friend of labor has made the hard decisions, has made the cuts on my back and on the backs of my workers. knowing that if we don't do it now we're going to have to do it twice as much later."" the howard jarvis group is urging c-s-u chancellor charles reed to stop using public funding to promote prop 30. pedro garcia is live on campus with how proposition 30 could effect students who want to become teachers.

there are some 2000 students here at san jose state in the educational department studying to become teachers. we talked to one of those students about what prop 30 means to her. " rachel weisser says she has always had a passion to help children. currently a student in the teaching credential program at sjsu, becoming a teacher is something weisser envisions herself doing. rachel weisser:" "i love to see how kids think they will give me an answer and i'll be like man how did you come up with that and it's kinda cool it's definitely fun." proposition 30 could help her achieve her dream. the ballot measure would increase sales tax from 7.25 to 7.5 percent and increase income taxes for people who make more than 250 thousand dollars a year. it would also allocate temporary tax revenues 89 % to k-12 schools and 11 percent to community colleges. governor jerry brown, a big supporter of prop 30 says the measure will generate nine billion dollars of revenue. elba maldonado-colon is the elementary education chair at the san jose state college of education. she says the extra money will have a positive impact on future teachers. elba maldonado-colone elementary education chair.

"there will probably be more jobs because maybe...maybe people will feel more secure that there is some support, measure of support that is stable now." the harvard jarvis taxpayers association is against the initiative. the association's president says prop 30 is a dirty trick ont tax payers. a radio ad -- paid for by the association -- says the initiative provides no new funding for schools. radio ad: "even the california school board association says the initiative provides no new funding for schools...none." supporters of prop 30 say if it doesn't pass some difficult choices will have to made. elba maldonado-colon" "we would have to make adjustments, for the students first of all, they would have to pay another hike." voters will decide the fate of prop 30 on november 6th reporting from san jose, pedro garcia update news.

many san jose state students are wondering what's next after cal grant awards were slashed by five percent this semester. some students could face a reduction of more than four-thousand dollars. as tuition continues to increase and grants decrease students are scrambling to make ends meet. " "the $2000 less has made me have to work in between the days that i would take for rest and homework now i have to go to work than come come late in the evening and it is stressful not only financially but emotionally as well."" not only are cal grant award renewal students at risk of not reciving the award but so are incoming students as well. this fall, voters have the choice to abolish or retain the death penalty with proposition 34. some say the practice is inhumane, while others see changing the law as a slap in the face to victims' families.

but what if some of these inmates, as well as those not on death row, are innocent? one group specializes in giving people their lives back. " the first thing you notice when go to paige kaben ... are the photos of all the innocent people she has helped free from prison. she still keeps in touch with some to this day. "obie anthony, who was one of my exonerees, he was actually charged as a capital case. even though they didn't end up pursuing the death penalty, they had the option to be sentenced to death. kaben is a supervising attorney with the northern california innocence project ..... which has one aim ... freeing people convicted of crimes they didn't commit. the project -- affilliated with the santa clara university school of law -- is staffed by students and professors. kaben says nearly every case they take on is successful, but there are specific requirements. kaben: "we have to find just overwhelming evidence that the person is innocent enough to convince everyone in this office, enough to convince the judge, hopefully enough to convince the da as well." the project is funded through donations from alumni and grants from the federal government. even though they are often successful, it takes a lot

of time. kaben says it can take anywhere between 3 to ten years or more from beginning to end . . . . time that is especially precious for those on death row. "the chances of them getting executed, we know there's no coming back from that, so that's a really scary thing for us." dustin seesemann is a law student at s-c-u and finds this line of work intriguing. dustin seesemann, scu law student: "we're looking into these witnesses, were looking into police reports, were looking into trial transcripts, were really trying to figure out, 'ok, looking at everything on the record, does this person have that kind of comprehensive claim of innocence, how could the courts have gotten it wrong, and if we find that, how can we rectify that wrong?'" for kaben, there's nothing like being able to give someone his or her life back. "there's really no words to describe how it feels to watch someone who you know is innocent walk out of prison for 20 years and get to hug a family member for the first time, its just amazing." ###" since its founding, the norther california innocence project has had 11

exonerations, one acquittal, and one parole. if your looking for a way to relax, come to the health center in the wellness and promotions office room 209 students there have access to a free massage chair for fifteen minutes. besides the chair you can kick back and enjoy a nice waterfall.....soothing music..... and a cool breeze. the program coordinator says that studies show that the massage chair is something that students need. " when we do national surveys and we ask what's the number one thing that affects students academic performance for students, the number one thing is always stress, so we thought at the health center we wanted to offer services that will help students distress" for access to the massage chair, just bring your student i.d. and make an appointment. the health center is open monday through friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. coming up on update news... who says a twenty-four year old can't change the world?? we'll introduce you to a young woman who changed the

face of college football. and one classic pulitzer prize winning novel is being brought to the stage of the university theatre. but first... we ask students how the school's budget has affected them... " "budgets cuts have raised my tuition three-fold its been pretty hard when i started i think i paid $1,200 a semester and now its up to over $4,000." "tuition prices paying more for books, paying more for school so less vacations and less shoes less sneaker game."" "my dad has to work really late, he's been doing it but he's been trying to help me out more as much as he can because of the budget cuts and its been really expensive."

"i've been in school for seven years and mostly that the largest reason is because classes are hard to get into, there's larger class sizes so when i need to add into them i cant be added into them so as a result i'm taking two to three classes per semester now and not the usual four classes."" a pulitzer prize winning journalist was on campus this week offering insight into one of the biggest stories of the year...the penn state child sex scandal. lexy nuno has the story of a young reporter's determination. " 25 year old sara ganim, three years ago was a rookie police beat reporter in pennyslvania when she got a phone call from a source that eventually rocked a legendary football program at her alma mater, penn state. "i got a tip...i said is there anything else going on, it was late at night and this person said to me...jerry sandusky has been accused of molesting a boy at a sleepover at his house." sandusky was a former assistant football coach of penn state's iconic head coach joe paterno. sandusky is now facing prison for his misdeeds. digging up the truth behind that tip....changed ganim's life forever. the young reporter published her first story on sandusky in march

of 2011...months before his eventual arrest. "i slept fine the night before the story ran. it was fact only, there was no opinion in it. we didn't say he was guilty, we didn';t say he did it...we said he was under investigation." ganim says the story didn't create real interest until coach paterno was implicated. ganim calls paterno "larger than life" and says the penn state community worshiped him. "ya know certain things are right in their life and certain things are wrong. joe paterno and football and penn state is right and other things are wrong. if it's in the right category...then they're never gonna sway from that." lexy nunoéon campusg ganim says she has moved on, but believes penn state has not. this week she was here on campus inspiring students and talking to them about her experience covering this huge scandal" the patriot-news reporter won the 2012 pulizter prize for exposing the penn state sex scandal. sjsu new media professor, kim komenich introduced

ganim at an appearance in morris daily auditorium. komenich is a 1987 pulitzer prize awardee for spot photography covering the fall of philippines president ferdinand marcos. komenich won his pulitzer the year ganim was born. "the people who win these awards usually work very hard and they pay their dues. and it's nice to see someone who's been working as a journalist for nearly 15 ah 10 years to get this award at this young age." after a whirlwind year of honors...what's next for this award winning journalist. "you know the story's not over, so i'm not going to abandon it yet. we have a trial coming up in january. he has been sentenced yet. so, i'm just kinda staying put for now." ganim, a graduate of penn state's journalism program says she is taking a look at possibilities in broadcast journalism. in san jose, lexy nuno, update news."

rashida gilmore is here for arts and entertainment... hows a&e going this week rashida? theres a lot of great stuff this week tim... theater students are going back in history this fall by performing a classic play ... that the director says is still relevant today. " nat sot up full cast member are busy rehearsing "to kill a mockingbird". which opens on october 5th in the university theatre. the play set in the 1960s is the story of an african-american man in the deep south wrongly accused of raping a white woman ... and the white lawyer who passionately defends him. director laura long says the message of the classic novel and play still resonates today. laura says: "were in an interesting place in this political season, weve seen racially motivated issues come up with blocking the vote, or the attempt to block the vote in certain swing states, we've seen people denigrate our president because he's african american, although they wont really admit to racism." the actors spend four hours a day monday through friday

crafting their performance. (nat sot spencer up full) sophomore film student spencer green cant wait to hit the stage. spencer says: "im just happy to really be in this play and i hope that it comes out great on opening night." eventhough it deals with racial injustice, to kill a mockingbird, is also filled with warmth and humor, this play is still popular after so many years because of its timeless message. the play will be held october 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, and the 13th in the university theather, tickets cost 15 dollars for students, and 20 dollars for faculty.

every wednesday san jose state's very own piano man plays classical music in the beethoven center on campus. (nat sound :05) that's the sound of beethoven's famous song 'fur elise' performed by dr. richard sogg. he plays on the center's historical keyboard collection of five different pianos...two of which date back to the 1800's. sogg believes san jose state has a lot of musical talent. " absolutely. we have good string players, wind players, and also great opera department...so a lot of good singers there, some of them go on to sing professionally..and some don't. but we certainly have a great program here." the classical musician holds a mini concert every wednesday at two o' clock in the beethoven center located at the m-l-k library.

campus moviefest is now in the process of choosing the best films from this past week. students showed up in droves to pick up equipment so they can shoot a 5-minute film about anything they wanted. all equipment was provided free of charge, which included a camera, laptop for editing, and a tripod .... equaling roughly 5 thousand dollars. " san jose state's one of our best schools out of all the schools that we go to. they're the most enthusiastic, every year consistently they produce some of the best films of the country." some of the top prizes for the contest include cash and various filming gear. the top sixteen films will be screened at the morris dailey auditorium on october ninth. thats arts and entertainment for you, back to you guys. still ahead on update news... sports fans have managed to turn fantasy sports into borderline addictions...

and one spartan's skill of burying opposing quarterbacks is beginning to give him national recognition... we'll talk to him after the break... but first we ask students how they will feel if the san jose sharks' season is cancelled. " "well the sharks have been in my life my whole entire life. so i'm going to miss the games and just going with my family. you know me and my friends, i've met a lot of friends through the sharks. we just go to the games and socialize. it's just a fun event that we all go to." "i won't really be affected by that at all. i'm not a huge hockey fan." "i'm going to miss buying tickets and going with my friends and celebrating either birthdays 'cause my friends are big sharks fans."

"if the sharks season was cancelled? i would just miss the whole downtown vibe. everyone just not being here going crazy over sharks games. that's, i mean that's half the fun of it, just watching the city go crazy."" bentli bejan is here with us for sports... how about that spartan football bentli?? they're looking good briana... they even received one top twenty-five vote in the coaches poll this week. after another convincing win over colorado state the spartans head down to socal for a game at san diego state. spartans head coach mike macintyre says that any game against a fellow csu especially one they haven't beaten in san diego since 1952 is a rivalry. this will be the spartan's first away game out of the bay area this season. coach mac says the spartans will be going against a tough opponent guided by head coach rocky long. " "they've got some really good football players, they got a lot of speed on offense on defense. they're aggressive and get after it with rocky's three-three scheme that he runs. it's going to be a very very tough test for us.""

both teams are on a two game winning streak ... and are both two and one. after san diego they head to the east coast to play navy before returning home against utah state. ever heard of the saying offense sells tickets and defense wins games? well that's just the saying that comes to mind when it comes to spartan football's key defensive player... tori green has the story... " fans have finally got something to root for and it wouldn't be without the help of one of the teams key players in number 43 defensive end, travis johnson. "he's a beast, i mean he's just...that's why he's the best sacker in america, in wac history. he's gonna probably...he had 4 tonight and 6 tackles for a loss. he just has a motor" johnson recorded 4 sacks in the win against uc davis and 1 against colorado state but he is most remembered for the blocked field goal and extra point against hawaii last season. just recently he was named wac defensive player of the week for his huge contributions in the september 8th game against uc davis.

"it's a cool feeling knowing that all of the teams, they recognize me of having the best performance. but it just means that like that's one week and our coach always talks about you know forgetting the week before and playing for the next week. so that's what that means one week, but i gotta do it again this week and the week after for the rest of the season." the star defensive player is just 6 shy of tying former nevada defensive back, dontay moch's career sacks of 30, set in 2010 but believes the number is within his reach. "i could beat it, i'm just going to keep going and see what happens you know? one game at a time." for his last year as a spartan, johnson hopes to win the wac conference with a possibility of getting to a bowl game and after graduation his sights are set on the nfl...i in san jose, i'm tori green, update news."

fantasy sports allows people to create their own teams using existing professional players. but for some people, it becomes much more . " san jose state junior jeff samra is a huge sports fan, and a big fantasy sports fan too. he has been involved with fantasy sports for five years. "i started like, some of my friends were playing it, and they asked me to join a league a few years ago, and i was like, ill try it, and from then on i fell in love with it" samra says fantasy sports is part of his daily life. he is constantly on top of his teams because most of the time, money is involved. he spends time making sure he is prepared as well as he can be. "especially at the beginning of the year, i spend about an hour, maybe thirty minutes to an hour a day, just checkingit, changing my roster, checking other peoples roster." kinesiology professor daniel murphy thinks fantasy sports is a way for people to take there fanaticism a step further.

"the most powerful thing about fantasy sports is that it allows sports fans to interact in a deeper way with their team, and in a way, control their teams." professor murphy believes fans can become overly obsessed with following their fantasy team. "with anything in life when we border on the levels of addiction or we overdue it, of course, now were getting into some psychosocial issues here, so the key thing with fantasy sports is to have a nice balance to integrate it into my sport fandom experience, but to have it under control." fantasy sports has grown into a 800 million dollar industry, and has more than 30 million participants each year. thats it for sports today guys... back to you. thanks bentli... thanks... that'll do it for now. thanks for staying up late with us. be sure to check us out on facebook by searching 's-j-s-u update news.' now get some rest so we can see you again next week.