i'm tiffani tofani, students are axcited for springudents break, but are they prepared to be safe?.... ....i'll have a live report students are apprehensive about their safety after another attempted robbery on campus. san jose state says godbye to an a revered professior who dedicated his life to helping students. update news starts now.

hello and welcome to update news... i'm christian ceaser. and i'm melody gonzales... thanks for joining us. the university community gathered wednesday to celebrate the life of man who dedicated 53 years to san jose state university. tiffani tofani has the report. thanks christian.... spring break is next week, but if students aren't careful, it might not be the party they signed up for. " (nat sound spring break footage) spring break is a time for partying, but some students tend to party too hard... according to time magazine last year, three million students drove while intoxicated, nearly two-thousand died from alcohol related deaths, and six-hundred were injured... sigma alpha epsilon fraternity hosted alcohol 101 about partying responsibly in an attempt to lower those statistics... (nat sound)t the event began with a mock party that had students acting out various situations that can happen at a real party...

"we're trying to bring awareness to it and we're trying to bring more light to the stuff that can happen to people so that they're prepared and they know how to encounter that situation, how should they mediate it." associated students also hosted an event called party with a plan where they gave students quizzes to test their knowledge of safe drinking... "we have what a standard drink is and students, how to measurer it on your cup to make sure that everything's, you know, measured out and how much you're body can process in an hour. and then on top of that we have what the signs to look for alcohol poisoning." students attempted walking a straight line wearing goggles simulating intoxication... "we know that drinking has a lot to do with spring break so we try to educate the campus as much as we can in order to make sure that they are safe." this past september, cal poly student brett olson died as a result of excessive drinking... he was attending the chico float, a notorious annual event for college students..." authorites say sometimes some students don't make it back from spring break because of irresponsible

decisions and they say don't become one of those statistics... in san jose, tiffani tofani, update news. a longtime, loved professor at san jose state has passed. update news reporter ingrid almarez attended his memorial. " natso family, friends, and colleagues gathered at the spartan memorial chapel to remember the life of retired political science professor ted norton, who passed away at the age of ninety on february 7th. his journey at san jose state started in 1960. nortons nephew, steve rule, says since then sjsu was his uncles home. i really now as i get to know the situation better and hear the kind things that were said about him today is just i realize that this was truly his family and i think he would want everyone to remember him

that way and to remember san jose state the same way. this is a community and a family and i think he was proud to be on it. peter buzanski, who once shared an office with norton, says his frien and colleague brought big changes to the university. he fought very hard to turn this university into a liberal arts university, know he had a great deal of help from president robert clark. today sjsu is a liberal arts school. norton used his modest professor salary to fund multiple endowments to help faculty and students. he gave virtually all he had back to this university and that is a very rare thing, that shows the kid of generosity he had he also did all of this by the way without telling people about it. his family asks remembrances be made to the "sjsu political science faculty endowment" or the "sjsu t.m. norton campus enhancement fund."on campus, ingrid almaraz, update news." the withdrawal of american troops from hotspots around the world is bringing more veterans to college campuses. update news profiled one student who traded in his weapons for books.

" marlon scott is a 3rd battalion united states marine corps veteran. before joining the corps in 2004, going to college was never in the equation. i didn't plan on going to college, none of my family went to college so it wasn't a priority. one day on a mission in iraq, a close call from enemy fire changed his way of thinking forever. i was shocked the debris from the round smacked me in the face, so i thought i was shot in the face, and they told me to turn around, they missed you, and i am pointing in the picture and i will show you, i am pointing at the round, the impact. i was like i want to do something else, lets go to school. marlon was able to transfer to san jose state university from de anza community college and says in some ways the military is the one that got him ready for this educational journey.i i would treat school like a military operation, like i would recon my resources, recon my major and plot out my sources and de anza helped me with that. it a serious deal and a lot of people don't understand that school is serious. when asked how is his classroom edict, marlon says he is very studious

but...i im not going to lie i surf facebook sometimes during class, you know its a bad habit but i am breaking it. marlon is proud to have served his country for four years in the united states marine core. he will be graduating from san jose state with a degree in political science this fall." scott is proud to have served his country with the united states marine core for four years. he will be graduating from san jose state with a degree in political science this fall. the search for an sjsu student is over after he was reported missing by someone in the residence halls. pictures of gabe lorette-smith, a junior civil engineering major were posted on the internet after his disappearance. the royce hall r.a. was found safe tuesday night in the ben lomond area of santa cruz, close to his childhood home.

lorette-smith was reported missing by another student after failing to come in for his work shift. he had reportedly been in ill health. friends and family were concerned for his safety after believing he may be high risk due to depression. " now that he's back, i feel that facebook kind of escalated the situation in the fact that he was only gone for like a day in a half and everybody on campus was concerned, just the fact that he was a spartan and he's family to everyone regardless, even if you know him or not." indications are that housing staff and friends did the right thing by promptly informing upd. campus police are looking for a man who attempted to rob a student last week on campus. update news reporter elliot al-a-goo-zee-an shows how apprehension still lingers for some students. " "there does seem to be a lot of robberies, a lot of issues." junior tommy mccormick believes that there is more

university police can do to address the safety of students as well as the crime on campus. "i don't know if they're doing enough to prevent it, i don't want to say that they're not trying to prevent it but i do think maybe there could be more on campus that the police department could do." mccormick is not the only student who feels the fear of walking on campus at night. "it is scary especially when you're by yourself, because usually at night when i'm here i'm by myself." photography major jerica lowman thinks that posting officers at certain locations on campus would put students' minds at ease. "so maybe have the security that they do have on campus maybe more populated toward the entrances or the exits so that students will see them and they feel safer knowing that they're there." "it would be a good thing because their presence will be known and people won't commit crimes especially if they see a police officer at least to my knowledge." sergeant jon laws insists that the upd is doing its best to inform and protect students from potential threats.

"so we put out these safety alerts so that students will be aware of their surroundings, will be aware that there was an attempted robbery in clark hall on the second floor and that they can take the appropriate steps to make themselves safer." laws is confident that the upd will progress both in campus safety and the attempted clark hall robbery." "our officers are actively patrolling twenty four hours a day we are focused on making sure that if we can contact and stop this violator that we do so."" san jose state university president mohammand qayoumi is now a member of the homeland security academic advisory council. homeland security secretary janet napolitano announced the appointment this week. qayoumi will advise homeland security on issues of student and recent graduate recruitment , international students and campus resilience. the s-j-s-u president is also spearheading plans for the the nation's first university based cybersecurity center. students use a facebook page to confess their deepest

secrets... and later...an update on a previously reported story... the arrest of a suspect in a robbery on the light rail...but first we ask students what they're doing for spring break. " " i am going to be partying at my friends cabin drinking and having fun." " i'm going to san diego this saturday. just gonna be there chillin." "pretty much just relaxing and also doing more homework studying for mid terms and finals." "all i'm doing for spring break is doing homework and studying for finals and midterms coming up." "studying my butt off for midterms." "oh tons of homework to do and i have a speech to prepare for humanities." " i never look forward to doing any of my homework. oh yeah i have math homework to do too i forgot."" thanks to tips via phone and social media, san jose police have made an arrest

in the light-rail purse snatching case. twenty-year-old... jozette rios of san jose was arrested last thursday. police are still searching for rios's brother jonathan ziprioano rios. he is believed to be homeless and is described as 5-foot-8 about 165 pounds with brown hair a hazel eyes. jozette is accused of punching an kicking a female rider last month. her brother is accused of then stealing the victim's purse. although vta platforms are equipped with 24-7 surveillance cameras... san jose police are urging anyone with any information about the whereabouts of jonathan ziprioano rios to call 911 or the anonymous tip line. her brother is accused of then stealing the victim's purse. although vta platforms are equipped with 24-7 surveillance cameras... san jose police are urging anyone with any information about the whereabouts of jonathan ziprioano rios to call 911 or the anonymous tip line.

there is a student at san jose state university who suffers from a disease that causes him to uncontrollably speak out. update news reporter lisa doo-tree explains how he copes with this ailment. " twenty six year old sophomore james mackay is not you're typical san jose state university student. james has a neurological disorder called tourettes syndrome that is based in the brain. he says he had it since he was a young child. james mackay/tourettes syndrome sufferer"i was in there playing with my army men like any other eight year old. i am sitting there and i just started hitting myself. i got so frustrated that i hit the table." there is no cure for tourettes syndrome butjames says every semester he tries to work on his affliction. he says its gotten easier.j james mackay- "essentially its gotten easier over time. cuz, i'am probably going to be dealing with this the rest of my life. and, if i don't figure out how to deal with this. if i don't figure out how to make this work. then, you know i might as well give up now." one of the things james is most proud of is the difference he makes in other people's lives as the president of the disabled student's association.j

james-" i couldn't let the students go without leadership, go without someone who could help them. and, i wanted to be a special education's teacher. so, i figure why not run an organization. why not work with students with disabilities." stand-up- james is very passionate about helping others whether or not they have disabilites. when he graduates from san jose state university he wants to be able to say that he made a difference in people's lives. i'am lisa dutrieuille with update news.del delete reply reply all forward move actions next previous" the search for missing bay area teenager sierra lamar reached a sad milestone this week. update news' chris chandler was on the scene. " "and although my heart feels empty every day without her, i'm lifted up and encouraged to stay positive."

it's been a long year for sierra lamar's sister. she and her family gathered in morgan hill for the one year anniversary of the disappearance of sierra lamar. "sad day. like i said, i was hoping we wouldn't be here doing this. so it's a sad day for all of us." search volunteers and concerned citizens alike were at burnett elementary school to thank those who have helped in the search over the past year, and urge that efforts continue. "we need to find sierra for her mother and her father, and all these people that i met here, we just keep on coming hoping that maybe today will be the day we find sierra." while the focus remained on sierra, the gathering was aware that antolin garcia-torres, the man currently held in police custody for alleged involvement in her disappearance, may be withholding information. "they keep piling charges on to this character, yet he has never entered a plea, he is in protective custody, the police can't even talk to him, because he's invoked his right to have a lawyer, and there's absolutely

nothing going on, and he's playing you, he's playing me, he's playing this family, and he's playing this system for everything that it's worth." nonetheless, the group maintains hope. at the end of the meeting, scores of balloons were released, to symbolically... "find sierra!" in morgan hill, i'm chris chandler, update news" we have bobby dupree here with arts and entertainment, what's happening bobby? thanks melody...here's what is happening in arts and entertainment. students are making anonymous confessions through a popular facebook page. update news reporter sean wince explains how it works and why the page has been so successful. " "the professor i am madly in love with is getting married this weekend." "its freezing in my classroom so i sat next to the largest girl in class, hoping she would give off the most heat."

these are some examples of san jose state university confessions, which gained over seven thousand likes on facebook in just two months, making it a third as popular as sjsu's official fan page. it allows students to anonymously submit confessions for viewing by anyone who subscribes. "so i think it's kinda good that people have--they get to write what they feel and then people get to respond and they may not like it, but that's what it's there for." "but it's still hysterical. it's fun to see what other people are really thinking and you're not laughing at them, you're laughing at them, so to speak. so it's a way for people to speak out without getting embarrassed." even professors are joining in the fun. "i have to admit that i love sjsu confessions. i'm kind of a bottom-feeder when it comes to this kind of stuff and i really enjoy reading what the students have to say." the administrator of the page didn't respond to a request for an interview, but on wednesday he posted a note explaining why he only posts a fifth of the confessions that actually get submitted. "i am grateful that this page is still going strong, as other bay area's confession pages have not been so lucky and have been shut down. we do not want that to happen, this is why i censor and redact confessions."

university officials are aware of the page and see it as a benefit to the community. "everyone knows it's a neat way to kinda get an idea of what's going on, what people are thinking about, what people are worrying about, and all of that is important in terms of supporting our students." reporting in san jose, sean wince for update news." over 70 fans gathered at m-l-k library tuesday to hear poet and writer, kim addonizio (ad-oh-ni-zi-oh), read some of her works. the evening began with refreshments followed by a series of poems, short stories, harmonica music, and ended with a book signing. addonizio says that writing makes her feel good but the best part of being a writer is the impact her literature has on people. " sot it makes me feel great i'm happy to do that and i love it that somebody came up to me and said "oh i though i hated poetry but you are changing my mind" and i feel

like yes got another one." fraternities and sororities participated in a lip sync and dance competition known as kappa delta's shamrock showcase this past weekend. organizations took turns performing their dances in front of the greek community. and were judged on lip syncing abilities and uniqueness. raffle tickets were also sold to win prizes such as spa packages, gift cards, and even laptops. the event raises proceeds to two charity organizations: child quest international and prevent child abuse america. anthony gonzalez, a representative from child quest international, served as a judge for the night's event. " every year the shamrock showcase always impresses us. it get's bigger and better every year, more people come out for it, more support, the routines get crazier and funnier and more entertaining as they go. so it's really nice to see the younger generation, the college generation, paying attention to real causes and real concerns in the real world so it's nice." delta sigma phi fraternity took 1st place with alpha phi winning the "pump up day" festivities leading up to the night's event.

world renown jazz pianist hal galper put on a free preformance with his dynamic trio this past week inside san jose state's music building. the band played a jazz infused mixture of up beat and low tempo songs in front of aspiring student musicians. at the end of the performance hal galper and his band opened up the floor to questions. galper gave update news a tidbit on how to become great jazz musician. " you have to memorize it till you can play what ever it is that you are copying, without the papaer, and that has been the traditional way jazz has been learned is through copying not by going to a college...and they still stuff from the best." if you want more information regarding hal galper, you can visit hal galper .com nasa scientists say planet mars could have supported life in the distant past. [nat sound the curiosity rover made the discovery by drilling into martian rock and analyzing the powder for clues. results show that water once flowed there, meaning the area was friendly to simple life forms. although more

missions are needed to verify whether life existed, experts say these findings are significant. " "that's very strongly suggestive that, at least based on what we see on earth, where there's water there's life, so by extension, if we look at mars, well there was water there and it's pretty compelling that there probably was life if there was water."" scientists are using the results from curiosity to plan the next martian rover which will launch in 2020. there you have it...that's all for arts and entertainment...back to you guys. coming up next...the one year anniversaryof the disappearnce of sierra lamar. and later...downtown san jose reacts to march madness returning for the first time since 2006. but first we ask students if they've used the downtown wifi. " "i actually have not. i didnt even know there was doewntown wi-fi. i always use the 3g on my phone." "yes i have but its really fast and its really convenientcause you dont have to wait at all for

it." " no. so you havent used it? no. and did you even know there was free wifi. nope." " no i actually i was not aware there was any free wifi in the downtown area i knew of the schools wifi but i havent used any beyond that." "i actually didnt know there was wifi free downtown so no i havent used it before." "no not yet haha." "i do if i'm going outside and a go outside of school campus an b sit down somewhere and i dont want to walk somewhere and use public wifi nota a good habit."" we have brittany cohen here with sports. what's going on brittany? a lot of excitement in san jose... it's march madness in san jose this weekend...thousands of college basketball fans have converged on the hp pavillion for the ..n-c-double a.. basketball tournament...it's brought excitement ..and.. money to

downtown san jose. " downtown san jose is experiencing more colors than just teal and black. we're ready for something else other than the sharks.. go sharks i mean don't doubt me i'm just saying bring something else here we're ready march madness is in san jose for the third time since 2006.. fans from around the country came to cheer on their favorite teams.. we're here to support the ducks..!! fans walked downtown to nearby restaurants in between games to grab a few rounds of drinks as well as attempting to satisfy their hunger i came here to get chocolate wasted in between the games.. we want to drink a little bit and then we're going to go back.. cuz they don't serve any alcohol there so we have been drinking soda all day and i'm all jacked up off of mountain dew.. so i would like an adult beverage.. we walked by and it was packed we wanted to get something to eat but we didn't know if they had stuff to eat here and it was a little bit to packed so on the way back we wanted to get a few shots and ya know.. head back to the arena downtown commerce hopes the city of san jose will continue to hold march

madness in the future.. i'd love to have it back next year.. i'm glad it's only once a year business has been absolutely great today we've had a ton of people the bar was packed and our dining room was packed as well so its awesome to see a lot of people come out especially from oregon to support march madness was more than just a series of games for the atendees... it was a chance to reconnect with family memebers and have a good time with friends.. we are here watching the oregon state basketball ball team play in the ncaa tournament.. i have friends visiting from portland.. this goofball who wont drink his beer. i got my younger brother who's trying to grow a soul patch and then a couple of other friends here so we're all just watching the game and having a good time" cal is playing in the tournament and is of course the local favorite...but.. no matter who wins or loses on the basketball court.. san jose is definitely a big winner.. it's estimated the tournament will bring in twenty-million-dollars to downtown businesses...the bars and hotels are packed..

the spartan women's tennis team has begun conference play in dominant fashion. san jose state beat the new mexico state aggies, winning each doubles match, as well as five out of six singles matches. the duo of chau truong and julianna bacelar even managed to pull off a love score. their opponents failed to win a single game. " "i mean, we look at every team like everyone's the same, we don't expect much nor do we expect less. as long as we come on the court aggressive like we've always played, that's all that matters. we don't look much at statistics or anything like that."" the spartans continue the season against louisiana tech before traveling to san marcos texas to face seattle university. sjsu's pitching showed up to play on wednesdays game against the thirteen and eight california bears. daniel chavez pitched the first five innings allowing

only five hits, no walks and one earned run. this was chavez's first collegic victory. the spartans took the three-one win at home ..head coach dave nakama is hoping their solid pitching continues.. " "whats nice is we pitched well, we didn't walk anybody, kept their hitters off balance and it gave us a chance to win. so.. that was a good thing to see our pitching pitch the way they're capable of pitching.."" this win makes the spartans record six-and-fifteen overall.. the season continues with the western athletic conference opener as a three game match up against the dallas baptist patriots.. the world governing board of swimming,fina, has banned the speedo l-r-z racer swim suit fina says the ban is because of the significant rise in world records broken after the high performance suit was introduced in 2008. update news asked sjsu

women's swim team members for reaction. " erika harvey/junior and anthropology major- "i wore the suit a couple of times and i did swim faster.but i think that was a coincidence because after the suits were banned, the next couple of weeks i had beaten those times." caitlin lipton/swimmer and psychology major- "the ban of those suits was a little unfair because people who got opportunities to wear them, it was a little bit harder."" the san jose state women's swim coach says banning the swim suit gets back to the purity of the sport where the person who is going to win is the one who worked the hardest and has the best technique. let's get ready to rumble. at sjsu...boxing has been a club sport for decades. at one point in time...it was a nc- double-a sport. a tragic event in the ring changed everything. pedro garcia reports. " wrap up those hands. strap on those gloves.

it's time to get fighting. oscar gomez, senior mechanical engineering (2012 national welterweight title holder) "i like getting hit and hitting people." oscar gomez has been boxing at sjsu for five years. winning the 2012 national collegiate welterweight tittle. making him sjsu's third national title winner in four years. oscar gomez, senior mechanical engineering (2012 national welterweight title holder) " i felt like i was on cloud nine or something... it felt like a dream or something." the current sjsu program began in 1999 as a club sport. boxing is not recognized as a ncaa sport. it was banned in 1961 when sjsu boxer, stu bartell knocked out university of wisconsin boxer, charles mohr during the ncaa boxing championships on april 20th, 1960. mohr collapsed in his dressing room and fell into a coma...passing away eight days later from a brain hemorrhage. candelario "candy" lopez, sjsu head coach. "they found out later on that, that was kind of the catalyst of it but he had sustained an injury earlier during the season, and was not taken care of." mohr suffered from an aneurism and his predisposition to the condition meant a strong

sneeze might have caused hemorrhaging. regardless of its ncaa standing, sjsu boxers such as joshua villanueva have devoted themselves to the sport. joshua villanueva senior advertising "i was always a fan, but now it's just consumed everything. like you said during class i watch youtube videos of the greats and yeah i'm living it right now it's fun i'm just trying to enjoy it." new members are encouraged to join and become apart of the family. luc mai senior aviation operations "people are very intimidated to join the boxing club but i don't wanna scare nobody away but it's not like that. once you come in everybody shares the love and the passion for boxing and that's what it comes down to."" that'll do it for sports, back to you guys. that'll do it for now. thank you for watching. be sure to check us out on facebook by searching 's-j-s-u update news. and we'll see you again next week.