Daily Titan March 21, 2011

Page 1

Vol. 89 Issue 26

March 21, 2011

Judi Garman Classic

Looking Smart

Softball gets plundered in three straight games and one rain-out

Do good looking students get better grades in classes?

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dailytitan.com

Beyond Wonderland San Bernardino goes down the rabbit hole with sold-out festival based on the classic tale of Alice in Wonderland

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The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton

Commissioner Chaos FRANCES LEE Daily Titan

Major Election-Related Dates MARCH

ASI Open House and Elections Festival noon to 1 p.m. in the Quad

APRIL

Write-in Candidate Final Deadline - 5 p.m. in ASI Executive Offices TSU 207

APRIL

ASI Elections Candidate Debate noon to 1 p.m. in the Quad

24th 4th 5th

6th Election Day APRIL

APRIL

7th Election Day

Dominick Prieto was named ASI elections commissioner Thursday as a result of Jay Jefferson’s resignation. The sophomore, 19, a public relations major, was the sole applicant put up by ASI President Joe Lopez and won the majority of board votes. His rise to the position has been questioned by several ASI members due to the fact that none of the other applicants were given interviews for the position. “I have nothing against Prieto personally. I definitely have the utmost faith in him to fulfill the position,” said Lorenzo Frausto, ASI representative for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “But Nikhil Kulkarni has worked alongside (former ASI elections commissioner) Jay Jefferson for the entire academic year and was not even considered for an interview by the ASI president.” Frausto also claimed that Beth Velasco, former vice chair of Board of Directors, served for several terms and was also denied the position as well without an interview. “I was rejected because Dominick Prieto is a Greek member. We should also consider the fact that Joe Lopez is also a Greek member. This might be one of the possibilities that Dominick was given preference over me for the post of election commissioner,” said Kulkarni. “I was not elected because I am not a Greek member and (Prieto) is, one of the possibilities that he was given preference over

me.” Kulkarni added that his application was submitted before the deadline and he met all of the requirements for the position. However, he was not called for an interview. Kulkarni, a graduate student in business administration and marketing, worked with Jefferson from the fall 2010 semester up until his resignation. He was offered the job of polling assistant and was later promoted to election assistant. “As informal vice commissioner, I handled the responsibilities and duties including hiring the polling assistants, which I did without bias and flawlessness,” Kulkarni said. “I also played a key role in organizing promotional events on campus, such as the ASI Festival, the ASI Barbecue and Pizza with the Candidates.” Kulkarni was encouraged by Jefferson to apply for the position and was even mentioned in the official resignation letter that was emailed to the board members last Wednesday evening. “ASI elections currently has two office assistants who have been critical to the success of the ASI Elections Office. Nikhil Kulkarni has been an Elections Office assistant since the fall of 2010 and has a thorough knowledge of the ASI elections process,” said Jefferson in his letter. Kulkarni claimed that he was contacted by Judy Valona, the executive assistant for the Executive Office staff, informing him that his application could not be processed further without any explanation at all. See COMMISSIONER, page 2

The ASI budget: How it aids CSUF

Commuting kills voter turnout

Government works on new budget

ASI elections see poor voter numbers

CAMILLE TARAZON / Daily Titan Titan sophomore center fielder Austin Kingsolver slides in and reaches back for second base.

Baseball sweeps Washington in three “It felt pretty good, definitely better The Titans outhit the than last week,” said Ramirez. “I was Huskies 33-24 for the really trying to emphasize staying in series and improve to control and not being overly excited.” The Titan offense, which scored 11 8-0 all-time against them

WESLEY RUSCHER Daily Titan

After a winless drought plagued the No. 13 Cal State Fullerton baseball team on its four-game road trip, which pitted the team against top schools Louisiana State University and Texas A&M, the Titans rallied with a flood of victories over the visiting University of Washington Huskies in a three-game homestand this weekend. The Titans completed the sweep Saturday night, which saw Sunday’s game moved to Saturday evening for a doubleheader due to the impending threat of rain. The Titans outscored the Huskies 26-8 in the series, improving their record to 11-7 on the year. “We needed that; we needed to get something to feel good about,” said Titan Head Coach Dave Serrano after Friday night’s victory. “It seems like it’s been forever; it’s only been four games, but it seems like a while since we’ve felt good about something, and that was a big win for us.” Right-handed junior Noe Ramirez threw a season-high 11 strikeouts in Friday night’s 11-3 victory over Washington. The win improved Ramirez’s record to 3-2 and the Titans to their ninth win.

runs off 13 hits, didn’t take long to get on the scoreboard, quickly scoring in the first inning. After singling to right field and moving up to second on a wild pitch, junior first baseman Nick Ramirez scored the first run of the game when junior designated hitter Tyler Pill ripped a double down the left-field line. The Titans added a second run in the second, but really blew open the game in the fourth, scoring seven runs on five hits. A leadoff triple by sophomore left fielder Ivory Thomas sparked the seven-run onslaught. After redshirt freshman catcher Jared Deacon was hit by a pitch, a passed ball allowed both him and Thomas to advance 90 feet. Two batters later, sophomore shortstop Richy Pedroza knocked in Deacon with a single to right field. After Pedroza, four straight Titans reached base. A double by junior infielder Anthony Trajano scored Pedroza and after a walk to Nick Ramirez, back-to-back triples by Pill and freshman Michael Lorenzen, three more runs were scored. The seventh and final run of the inning came when junior third baseman Joe Terry drove Lorenzen in with a deep fly-out to right field. See TITANS, page 8

Contact Us at dtnewsdesk@gmail.com

best interest, but at the same time the students aren’t fulfilling their CYNTHIA RODRIGUEZ civic duties and going out and votDaily Titan ing for the best representative for the position,” said Frausto. A low voter turnout in AssociOut of the past 18 years, the highated Students Inc. elections could est amount of students who voted be explained by Cal State Fullerton’s was 13.9 percent in spring 1996. reputation as a commuter campus. Krystle Grandy, 21, a radio-TVOver the last 20 years, student film major, said she doesn’t vote bevoting has rarely made it beyond 10 cause she’s often not on campus and percent. According to the statistics feels the events put on by ASI don’t provided by Michael Mikuelwicz, interest her personally. an ASI elections assistant, and the “They never do anything appealCSUF website, only 4.5 percent of ing to me and my major,” said Granstudents voted dy. “I would in 2010. rather be doing Recent voters “(Commutsomething fun, Students voted in the ing) certainly like professional 2010 ASI elections affects (pollthings. It seems ing) because the like a waste of Highest voters majority of the time the things Students voted in the students don’t they throw.” 1996 ASI elections come to this part The ASI of the school Lowest voters Cookouts and which is the ASI Pizza With the Students voted in the and TSU,” said Deans are just 2005 ASI elections Nikhil Kulkarni, some of the 24, a marketing events ASI has graduate student and ASI elections hosted to inform students of the upmember. “Students come and go coming elections. back home because this is a comGrandy thinks there should be muter campus.” more events that pertain to individLorenzo Frausto, 21, one of the ual majors, “not a giant free-for-all.” representatives for the College of “They should hold more specific Humanities and Social Sciences for events to colleges,” Grandy said. the Board of Directors, said it is dis- “I’m a radio-TV-film major, so I couraging when students don’t vote would like to see more radio-TVfor the ASI elections. film-inspired stuff.” “I feel it’s very disheartening when we are working to the best of our See VOTES, page 2 abilities to work in (the students’)

4.5 %

13.9 % 2.8 %

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MARITZA VELAZQUEZ Daily Titan

Every year, Cal State Fullerton’s official student government body is charged with allocating millions of dollars to the university’s academic colleges. The process takes months and Associated Students, Inc. is encouraging students to get involved. “We’re moving right along with the budget process,” said Joe Lopez, ASI president. “Board of Directors meetings are open to the public, so if students would like to sit in on those meetings, any student is welcome to come see.” The board, which is comprised of two representatives from each of the campus’ eight colleges, makes final changes on the budget after it is approved by the ASI Finance Committee and then by the president and executive vice president. These changes from the board are made over the scope of three to four meetings, Lopez said. The meetings will take place following spring break next week, Lopez said. Although this budget affects programs for thousands of students across campus, students surveyed said they didn’t pay attention or get involved in the process. Most said they wouldn’t start paying attention unless their fees went up or were otherwise significantly impacted. Others said they really didn’t

understand the process. “The way I see it, as long as it doesn’t have to do with my tuition, it’s not important,” said Hatem Zakharia, 20, an accounting major. The scandal in the city of Bell in which city officials were being paid outrageous sums of money is a great example of what can happen without civic involvement, said Jeremy Yamaguchi, a political science major and Placentia city councilman. “One of the things that could’ve prevented that situation is more civic involvement in keeping elected officials accountable and making sure that staff is making decisions that are going to be the most effective to the city and that they’re making ethical decisions,” said Yamaguchi. “Oversight and transparency of the government is only as good as the amount of involvement that the public has in the process.” As an elected official, Yamaguchi said some of the best ideas come straight from the public. HOW THE BUDGET PROCESS WORKS The process really begins during budget hearings held in October of each year, which mandate that each inter-club council go before ASI’s Finance Committee to speak on behalf of its budget requests. Each college on campus has its own inter-club council that distributes the money to its various clubs and organizations. See BUDGET, page 2

Shaping up with outdoor fitness boot camp

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