STATUS QUO: CSUN students Wednesday were obviously...

STATUS QUO: CSUN students Wednesday were obviously not in the mood for any major changes. They overwhelmingly opposed the idea of switching the school’s nickname from “Matadors” to “Quakes,” and narrowly voted against an increase in athletic fees (B3, C4). . . . Meanwhile, school officials say they’ll try the fee proposal again this fall.

STAYING ALIVE: Score one round for the poor pigeons of Glendale. But the battle is far from over. City officials had planned to trap and kill the downtown birds, but residents and animal rights activists saw it as foul play and got the city to call it off. . . . So, instead, officials say they now favor non-lethal methods of pigeon control such as repellents, netting or plastic owls or falcons (B1).

BULLET: There’s no crying in baseball, everyone knows that. But there’s certainly some Cress. Missy Cress. The former CSUN softball star (above) has made the all-woman Silver Bullets, which will crisscross the country this summer playing hardball against men’s minor league and semipro clubs. . . . “It’s so exciting, but it’s so hard,” she said. “I never thought I would play baseball.” (C1)

FILM DEAN: CalArts took its sweet time. Two years, to be exact. But it found the right man. He’s Hartmut Bitomsky, who became the new dean of the school’s film/video department last fall. . . . Bitomsky, a highly regarded documentary filmmaker from Germany, welcomed the opportunity. “In a way, it was the last chance to do something very different,” he said. See Valley Life! Page 3.

BASHING TIME: She’s not Japanese, and she’s not 400 pounds. So what? Free-lance writer Cindy LaFavre Yorks found out anyone can sumo wrestle. Actually, it’s called sumo basho, a modified version of the popular Japanese sport. And, believe it or not, you can do it at a restaurant in Burbank. . . . Yorks, hardly the aggressive type, couldn’t wait to basho her opponents. See Valley Life! Page 28.