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INSIDE Congress reaches compromise 3 nonNEWS: details of Bush’s education reform plan OPINION: New bankruptcy legislation 5 nleads to more credit card junk mail
George Horton’s Titans have reached the top in latest college baseball poll —see Sports page 9
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M a y 8, 2001
Struggle to free alleged police killer continues nACTIVISM: More than 20 years after Mumia Abu-Jamal was imprisoned many still believe he is innocent By Trinity Powells
Special to the Titan Sighs of disbelief and murmurs of disapproval surfaced as the events and people that determined Mumia AbuJamal’s fate flashed on a television. The crowd of about 60 students and activist gathered in the Ontiveros rooms of the Titan Student Union on Thursday for many reasons, but all came to learn more about the circumstances and impact of an international movement to free this political prisoner. Coordinated and sponsored by the Sociology Student Association and supported by activist groups like Refuse and Resist (R&R), the Orange County Green Party and M.E.Ch.A., the event was organized to educate students and get them involved in the effort to free Mumia. “Hopefully people will be more interested in getting involved in the movement,” said Monica Vera, event organizer and activist. Featured speakers were from the L.A. chapter of Refuse and Resist, a non-partisan national membership organization with a mission “to build a climate, culture and community of resistance to defeat the whole reactionary agenda.” Azi Zorhrabi, 18, a representative from R&R’s youth network knows personally the plight facing Abu-Jamal. Having a mother that is a political prisoner Zorhrabi thinks activism is not just personal for her. “I think it’s personal for every activist because they want a better future,” she said. The gathering of students and activist began with HBO’s one-hour docu-
mentary on Abu-Jamal’s case entitled “A Case for Reasonable Doubt” aired originally in 1996. Following the video, questions were fielded on current aspects of AbuJamal’s case and why certain actions, like the testimony of his brother, never happened. “A lot of people recognized that he didn’t get a fair trial,” said Gordon Johnson, secretary of the Green Party of Orange County. As a lasting thought for those in attendance, Scott Sink, 22, a student claiming no affiliation but self-described as a person in “solidarity with the movement,” read a letter from the Zapatista Army of National Liberation written to Abu-Jamal on his birthday in honor of his cause. Linking the relevance and proximity of the issues involved in Abu-Jamal’s case, two minutes of home-shot video were shown of a protest by anarchists in Long Beach last Tuesday where chaos erupted between police and participants and 100 demonstrators were arrested. Mumia Abu-Jamal, born Wesley Cook, was a radio journalist for WUHYFM in Philadelphia and known by many as “the voice of the voiceless.” As an active member in the Black Panther Party as Minister of Information, and a supporter of the MOVE organization, Abu-Jamal from the age of 15 has voiced his opinion enough to have over 800 pages of reports accumulated by the FBI on his activity. The events that ushered in two decades of political controversy occurred on Dec. 9, 1981 with a routine traffic stop. Abu-Jamal’s brother, William Cook, was pulled over at the corner of 13th and Locust streets in Philadelphia for driving the wrong way down a one-way street. Problems occurred when the traffic officer, Daniel Faulkner, and AbuJamal’s brother got into an argument
Mayra Beltran/Daily Titan
Ten-year-old Laurance Truong of Perry Elementary school slam dunks at the 16th annual Special Games held Friday.
CSUF hosts Special nEVENT: Volunteers and children benefit from the annual festival for the developmentally disabled
songs on a trailer-mounted stage, and enormous big-top tents sheltering the crowd from the heat of the afternoon sun. In many ways, the 16th annual CSUF-Kathleen E. Faley Memorial Special Games was like a carnival. For the 2,200 developmentally disabled and special-needs students who came for the sports, food, ribbons and other festivities, Friday was a day of pure fun, designed just for them. However, for the 2,200 volunteers who spent the day at their sides, the games were about much more.
By Alex Douvas
Daily Titan Staff Writer At first sight, it looked like a giant carnival. Throngs of people bustling about the Cal State Fullerton soccer field, a live band churning out crowd-friendly rock
“This whole event is simply for and about the kids,” said Wylie Aitken, CSUF Special Games chairman. “But what they get from today doesn’t even compare to what we get from them.” What the special athletes got was an opportunity to compete in ten events set up over a large expanse of CSUF’s athletic fields. The football kick, 50-yard dash, football throw, Tee ball swing, long jump, softball throw, soccer kick, obstacle course and basketball toss all gave the athletes a chance to shoot hoops like Kobe, hit like McGuire and sprint like Flo-Jo.
The event wasn’t all about sports, though. A giant elephant for the students to bounce on was one of the more popular ways to spend the day. A special D.A.R.E. unit from the Fullerton Police Department and a fire truck from the Fullerton Fire Department were also hits with the students. According to Jim Faley, a CSUF Special Games board member, one of the things that makes the event different from other Special Games events around the country is the pairing of each special athlete with
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Campus expansion in the works nPLANNING: Three separate blueprints were presented Friday to solve the campus’ growing population issues By Kelly Mead
Daily Titan Staff Writer
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Richard Thompson, a representative from AC Martin Partners, discusses expansion.
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Last week Cal State Fullerton hosted open meetings to discuss development plans for the campus. The series of discussions will continue until Friday, May 11. The meetings give students and faculty a chance to voice their opinions about three hypothetical blueprints for university expansion. During the event the plans were
explained to the attendees through a twohour PowerPoint presentation and open discussion. “We want to hear what people have a positive reaction to and what people have a negative reaction to,” said Jay Bond, the associate vice president for Facilities Management. One controversial alternative outlined expanding campus housing into the arboretum. “There’s a series of trade-offs the university is in the process of making right now,” said Richard Thompson, a representative from AC Martin Partners. AC Martin Partners is the master plan consultant for the CSUF expansion plans. Although many believe the unused land in the arboretum should be saved for further development, Thompson pointed out that it may cost the university a significant amount
of money to preserve it. Each new parking structure will cost the university $20 million. One of the plans excludes using the arboretum out of the assumption that CSUF will be able to buy land south of Nutwood Avenue. Of the two plans that make use of CSUF’s existing land, the one that excludes the arboretum will require two additional parking structures. Thus an extra $40 million. However, Thompson assured the audience that the arboretum would probably not be used. CSUF designed the three plans by comparing the campus to other like campuses, such as San Francisco State University and Cal State Sacramento. They got additional information from discussing the issue with students and faculty.
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Groups advocate animal rights nSOCIETY: Activists work with club members on campus to raise awareness on forms of abuse By Taylor Goldman
Daily Titan Staff Writer On average, a million animals are eaten each hour in America. Despite the fact that people care about animals and don’t want to cause them harm, 98 percent of animal abuse is caused by factory farming, said Veda Stram, an animal activist from
Orange County People for Animals (OCPA). Stram was one of two guest speakers at Roots and Shoots’ “Animals in the Spotlight,” an event put together by the new club on campus to promote animal awareness. Stram, an animal activist for the past 13 years, said that three or four times a week she discovers a new form of animal cruelty worse than previous forms of abuse. She specified that the evening was intended to be uplifting, but that she was available with more specifics after her presentation. One of the OCPA’s guiding principles is that every being has the right to live free from exploitation.
“I’m here to thank you for anything you do to help animals,” Stram told the audience. Preceding Stram was Mike Winikoff, the director of programs from Ark Trust, who spoke about his organization’s Genesis Awards. These awards are presented to media groups that promote animal protection. Cristy Watkins, the president of Roots and Shoots, said that a commercial Winikoff showed for a Land Rover stood out in her mind. In the commercial, a husband and wife encounter a dog sitting in the middle of the road on a dark and stormy night.
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Lorraine Dominguez/Daily Titan
Roots and Shoots works to bring awareness to animal cruelty.