C A L I F O R N I A
S T A T E
U N I V E R S I T Y ,
F U L L E R T O N Women’s tennis season comes to an end with defeat in Big West Championship
INSIDE NEWS: A few lewd acts on campus are 4 nexposing students to a different education
—see Sports page 5
opinion: Writers sound off about the 6 nrecent Internship and Job Fair on campus
weekend
Vo l u m e 7 4 , I s s u e 3 5
A p r i l 26, 2002
Lopez re-elected as presi-
nRESULTS: About 1,800 students voted this year, 1,200 less than the organizers expected By Theresa Salinas
Daily Titan Staff Writer
Students exercise their right to vote in the Associated Students, Inc. elections Thursday in front of Langsdorf Hall.
Chris Dunn/Daily Titan
Associated Students, Inc. President Alex Lopez will lead Cal State Fullerton’s student government for the second straight year, after garnering 63 percent of the votes cast in this week’s spring 2002 ASI election. Lopez and running mate L. Matthew Martinez received 1,143 votes, compared to 646 garnered by opponents Jeremy Harrison and Melinda Crawford. Write-in candidates received 25 votes. Lopez and Martinez said in 200203 they will expand programs like the Titan Tusk Force and the Alumni Mentor Program. They’ll also tackle the ongoing parking problems. “We’re going to continue what we started,” Martinez said. “A lot of times, new administrations come in and erase programs. We have good ideas and we’re going to keep them going.” Harrison and Crawford promised to bring new, fresh perspectives to student government if elected. “I needed to be there for the people,” Harrison said. “Those 600 people who voted for me actually wanted someone other than Alex to win. That’s why I ran.” Seven students also were elected to the ASI Board of Directors. Drew Wiley, who ran unopposed, will represent the College of the Arts. He garnered 165 votes. Thirteen votes were cast for write-in candidates.
Benjamin Gold will represent the College of Business and Economics. Gold received 186 votes, incumbent Aaron Terreri received 105 votes, Mohamed Al Kamalee received 129 votes and 16 votes went to write-in candidates. John D. Bernal will represent the College of Communications. Bernal garnered 141 votes, Mary Lawrence received 100 votes and write-in candidates garnered three votes. Incumbent Christina Machado will represent the College of Human Development and Community Services. She ran unopposed, receiving 130 votes. Write-in candidates received 10 votes. Mimi Su will represent the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Su won 216 votes, incumbent Courtney Patterson won 149 votes, Rolando Soriano won 92 votes and write-in candidates won 16 votes. Linda Solorio will represent the College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics. Solorio received 59 votes, incumbent Trevon Owens received 53 votes and five votes were for write-in candidates. ‑ Victor Vega will represent the College of Engineering & Computer Science. Vega, a write-in candidate, garnered 36 votes. Write-in candidate Kenara Ly garnered four votes. About 1,800 students voted in the election – 1,200 less than organizers hoped for. “Turnout has been slow,” said Jennifer Wagner, who manned the
ELECTION/ 7
Rallying for Palestinian support
The Muslim Student Association held a rally to inform students of injustices facing Palestinians Thursday at the Becker Amphitheater
nPOLITICS: Students marched silently in a protest sponsored by the Muslim Student Association By Sandra Ascencio
Special to the Titan Poster board signs waved in the air with wording such as, “Stop U.S. Aid to Israel,” “Invest your money on Israel…you will get a return of blood…with 0 % interest from you …,” and “Attention: Read all about it! Israel taking over U.S…right under their noses!!!” A student read a passage from the Koran and a silent march around the Becker Amphitheater followed thereafter. Focusing on the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) sponsored a rally Thursday. This was the first of its kind organized by MSA here on campus. Approximately 12 students participated in the silent march with green ribbon strands
Titan
extras online n
Check out the Daily Titan online this year at http:// dailytitan.fullerton.edu. New features and sections will be available this year!
u p co m i n g n
Once again CSUF voter turnout is lower than organizers expected. Find out the reasons why in the Titan next week.
wrapped around their arms to show solidarity, and to grab attention of onlookers as the rally began. The student group hosted the rally to show media bias and inform others of injustices involving Palestinians. “We feel the media is biased, that the association wanted to inform about injustices and who in fact is oppressed and who are the oppressors,” said Maryam Dadabhoy, Cal State Fullerton student and member of MSA. Around 60 students gathered at the Becker Amphitheater to listen to what the club’s message was. Ra’id Faraj, public relations director for the Council on American Islamic Relations, briefly discussed historical events that surround the current situation within the Middle East and led to the military occupation that currently restrains the
Palestinian people. “[It is] hard for all of us here to understand the feeling of waking up every morning and asking ‘how am I going to get to work today,’ ‘will I be able to express myself today,’ or ‘will I have a job?’” Faraj said. He discussed the Palestinian and Israeli differences such as yearly salaries. “Israeli’s are making $18,000 yearly in comparison to the Palestinian average yearly income of $1,500,” he said. “Palestine is dependent on the Israeli economy, not allowing a chance of growth or productivity.” Faraj expressed his view to the audience of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as being a one-sided war because only “one side has weapons and the other only oppression that is rooted out from the military occupa-
tion and economic hardship.” Faraj finished his discussion by asking why people should care. His answer was simple – “to educate us, and fight ignorance,” he said. CSUF student Jason McBeath asked how suicide bombers should be handled. Faraj said that suicide bombers are not justified but if there were no military occupations, such atrocities would not take place. “Oppression, no future and no dreams put people in this situation because of having no options,” Faraj said. “This is why we need to address issues as to why they do it.” One audience member shouted out “You can address them but not by blowing up people.”
Chris dunn Daily Titan
RALLY/ 7
Entertainment feature reporter knows nWRITER: Celebrity journalist Cynthia Wang gives CSUF students a few pointers during a Comm Week lecture Thursday By John Paul Gutierrez
Daily Titan Staff Writer
Rosie O’Donnell, John Travolta, Michael J. Fox, Apolo Anton Ohno – Cynthia Wang has covered them all. Thursday morning, she brought her expertise to Cal State Fullerton and spoke to students during Comm Week about the ins-and-outs of feature article writing. For 10 years, Wang worked her way up from a fact checker in New York for People magazine to Associate Bureau Chief in Los Angeles, again for People. Along the way, she interviewed celebrities, came to understand the magazine business and learned the finer art of dealing with publicists. Wang sat on the table in front of the room waiting patiently for more people to show up. Once enough
people arrived, she asked the reluctant crowd to move up into the first four rows, which were completely empty. She passed out papers with different examples of writing on them, and asked the students if they could match the articles with the audience it was aimed at and what publication it came from. Silence. “I expect completely blank stares,” Wang said. “The more you ease them into what you’re doing the more you get participation.” Knowing the industry was a big part in her lecture. “Do you think much about the magazines you pick up?” Wang asked. “You have to really study People (magazine). I know it sounds absurd but figuring them out makes you a more effective writer. The most effective free-lancers can tell
you backwards and forwards what is in a magazine.” Wang went on to tackle interviewing. “Here’s an easy trick,” Wang said. “Go up to someone and ask them directions to places you know how to get to. You’ll feel comfortable and you’ll know if they’re lying.” She also stressed the importance to checking on the facts of an interview. “You don’t know how many times celebrities lie about their age and don’t think we’ll ever check on it,” Wang said. “We have a little saying at People, if your mama says she loves you, check it out.” Several public relations students asked her about the relationships between journalists and publicists. “Conversations between publicists and writers are never personal,” Wang said.
http://dailytitan.fullerton.edu
A lot of publicists will get angry when the writer is not doing exactly what they want, she said. Being calm and collective is the key to handling the situation. “Some people like to climb Mt. Anger,” Wang said. “Let them climb, be calm yourself, because once they climb there’s only one thing they can do and that’s get off. If they don’t, then hopefully they’ll take a Prozac and be better next time you see them.” At the end of the lecture, students stormed to the front of the room and asked her an onslaught of questions. Michelle Conry, a senior communications major, said she was pleased with the information she had not learned before in any of her classes. “Two things really stood out,” Conry said. “The part on interview-
ing was really helpful, and so was the part on how to submit to publications. That’s something that you don’t hear.” Communications professor Andi Stein said she also was very pleased with the event. “When I talked to [Wang] on Monday I told her what the students were having trouble with,” Stein said. “She did a good job addressing the problems that they needed to know.” Whether it is a highly respected magazine, or a fun underground newspaper students strive to be a part of, hard work can get them anywhere. “Anyone can aspire to write in these publications,” Wang said.