Vol. 89 Issue 51
May 10, 2011
ONLINE
EXCLUSIVES dailytitan.com
Heidi Jones, teacher in the making..........................................6
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Graduation ticket shortage dilemma Commencement organizers give out tickets based on safety standards FRANCES LEE Daily Titan
CAMILLE TARAZON / Daily Titan Starting yesterday, the TSU and food court will be open longer than usual for ASI’s Late Night Study, where students have the opportunity to prepare for exams and write papers from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Late Night Study Sanctuary
Associated Students Inc. offers students an all-night area to study in the Titan Student Union just in time for finals JULISSA RIVERA Daily Titan
It’s that time of the semester again – cramming for exams, getting by on four hours of sleep and last-minute study sessions. The Titan Student Union will be open 24 hours a day until the end of the semester to provide students with a place to study for finals. The main level and the Mainframe Lounge of the TSU, as well as other places throughout
the TSU, will be open at all hours of the night. The All Night Study program will feature a superhero theme, focusing on defeating the “Evil Exam,” said Daniell Whittington, Associated Students Inc. marketing coordinator, adding that a lot of students like the theme because of the popularity of comic books and superheroes. “As a student I think it’s really important that we do have this, just so that we show the students that their ASI fees are at work, and we want to give them as much of it back as possible,” Whittington said.
Hungry while studying late at night? The food court will be offering extended hours during finals week. If students want to take a break from the books and have some fun, Titan Bowl and Billiards will be also be open late. For students who need to relax, chair massages will be offered Monday through Wednesday from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the Fireside Lounge in the TSU. A party-cart wagon with goodies will be circulating through the TSU every 30 minutes with giveaways, drinks and snacks that you
can nibble on while you study, said Tiffany Santana, ASI Productions Union and Special Programs coordinator. “I think it’s really cool. I think students should take advantage of it because it is here for us to use to study, and it’s open for 24 hours,” said Santana. “And if you need a study break you can just go downstairs and get a free massage. The massages are really relaxing, and I know I get stressed out during finals.” See LATE, page 2
First-time skydiving in the city of Taft Skydive Taft takes one student skydiving CHRISTOPHER PARK Daily Titan
CAMILLE TARAZON / Daily Titan In the 25 games he has appeared in, baseball’s junior infielder Joe Terry is hitting .260 with nine RBIs and five stolen bases this season.
‘Terry-ing’ up the basepaths The infielder was drafted by the MLB twice before opting to be a Titan WESLEY RUSCHER Daily Titan
The familiar beat drops and the classically smooth, laid-back voice of Snoop Dogg begins filling Goodwin Field’s stadium air. Striding in rhythm in his classic, confident demeanor as the melodic bass of Dr. Dre drops in asking, “Guess who’s back?” junior third baseman for the Cal State Fullerton Titans Joe Terry, number 25, steps to the plate.
“He thinks he’s really gangster, thinks he’s really hard, but he’s not,” said Titan All-American junior pitcher Noe Ramirez jokingly about Terry’s walk-up music. “He’s a really good guy, a good player and definitely a great addition to the team.” Terry’s walk-up music represents his hometown. Like Snoop Dogg and the recently deceased Nate Dogg, Terry grew up in Long Beach, Calif., an area that has brought about many influential rap artists. Nate Dogg’s recent death hit Terry hard, especially
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since they both attended the same high school, Long Beach Polytechnic High School. Long Beach Poly, a school that has produced an impressive amount of baseball greats such as Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn and current Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley, is where Terry began to hone his talents. See TERRY, page 8
The plane ascended into the air. Everything started looking awfully small. “I’m fine, this is going to fine,” I thought. After driving nearly 150 miles to Skydive Taft, there wasn’t any turning back. Five-thousand feet now. Flying above the clouds, all that was there was a clear blue sky and the sun shining down. “I’ll... be okay,” I said. The doors opened and 120 mph winds screamed at my face. My instructor Joey Preston and I prepared to jump out of a perfectly fine airplane. The clouds parted and I could see the earth, where it was clearly seen how commercial and housing zones are neatly organized into squares and rectangles. “Bad idea. Bad idea! I’ve just realized this. I’m going to die. Forget this, I’m going back home without a story. The editors can be as angry as they want. I’ll still be alive,” I decided. Too late; we jumped out of the plane. Spinning circles, any sense
of what’s up or down disappeared. My instructor, attached to my back, tapped me on the shoulder to spread out my arms and legs. I realized that I was falling like a rock, but the sensation was that of simply floating, flying while the winds whipped my face. Something felt like it snagged me up into the air; Preston deployed the parachute and we hit our landing zone spot-on. After five minutes of falling with style, my first skydive was over. “Totally terrifying, but fun,” said David Chrouch, owner of Skydive Taft, summing up his first skydive. He couldn’t have put it any better. “Once you get out of the airplane, you realize that it’s actually a lot of fun and it wasn’t as bad as you thought it was going to be.” Skydive Taft, located in the small town of Taft near Bakersfield, is where experienced skydivers with thousands of jumps under their belt jump with you to make sure your jump goes smoothly. Chrouch personally has over 11,000 jumps under his belt with 15 years of experience. See SKYDIVE, page 5
Students at Cal State Fullerton feel a pinch in graduation tickets, but this is no surprise to school officials. “This is something that is very common every year,” said Victoria Scott, the graduation coordinator for the College of Business and Economics. “There is only so much capacity on campus, and the city and state regulate for emergencies. We can’t have so many people on campus at one time in case of earthquakes or else we put a lot of people in jeopardy.” Scott also said the most common complaint is about the shortage of tickets and lack of capacity, when in reality it is the number of students participating in the graduation ceremony that dictate the amount of tickets per graduate. “It is difficult because we have to limit the number of tickets we give out because of our venue sizes. We don’t have large venues,” said Mary Jo Medyn, media contact for Academic Affairs. “The average amount of tickets we give out to students is eight. Some venues we go down as low as six and others go up as many as 10, but everybody usually gets eight. If you were graduating from USC, you would only get two.” According to Medyn, the only area that has an unlimited amount of tickets is the soccer field north of the stadium. As large as the Titan Stadium is, there is a limit because of a capacity issue. The rest of the areas designated for graduation ceremonies have a very strict limitation of seating. “Everybody who tried to get their tickets during ticket distribution were guaranteed tickets,” Medyn said. “We figured about 80 percent of students will walk in every department. Evidently, more walked so we ordered more. There was no shortage of tickets; we have this problem every year.” An “extra ticket” distribution was held Wednesday through Friday at the TitanCard office. According to the commencement website, not all college ceremonies had extra tickets to disperse and those that did were in limited supply, given out on a firstcome, first-served basis. See TICKET, page 2
WHAT’S INSIDE NEWS False fire alarm in Dan Black Hall ........................................2 OPINION Getting a BFA is more stressful than you think ........................................4 FEATURES For Your Health: Free fitness options on campus ........................................5 SPORTS Men’s golf coach turns things around for the Titans ........................................8