Opinion
Sports
Editor recaps CSUFʼs top 20 sports moments of the year 6
State treasurer proposes radical concept – generating more funding for colleges 4
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
Tu e s d a y, N o v e m b e r 3 0 , 2 0 0 4
RAs reveal dorm stories
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Camp Titan hosts annual toy drive
Fall leaves
Charity event aims to generate 400 presents for children this year
have been collected, adding that the main goal is to beat last yearʼs donation, which totaled 325 gifts. She said usually those working at the Information and Services desk are the first people to bring in gifts for the drive, adding that their whole staff participates. “We encourage other departments to have their complete staff take part,” she said. Ben Kwak, an advertising major, said he wanted to do something to help out and is planning on bringing in a few gifts. “Itʼs something I can do at least once a year,” Kwak said. Gifts can be purchased for boy and girls ages 7 through 14. Alex Chung, the co-director of camper management at Camp Titan, said he
encourages students to participate. “I believe itʼs important to take time during the holiday season to do something nice for the community, which is a humbling experience,” Chung said. Chung, who has been involved with Camp Titan for two years, said that although not every underprivileged child in Orange County will receive a gift, Cal State Fullerton students “can bring a smile to a handful of children.” The gifts are to be turned in to the TSU Information and Services desk unwrapped with the nametag attached to it. On Dec.18 the gifts will be distributed at a holiday party for campers who were involved with Camp
PHILADELPHIA — A federal appeals court on Monday barred the Defense Department from withholding funds from colleges and universities that deny access to military recruiters. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals said a decade-old federal law which allows withholding the funds infringes on the free speech rights of schools that wish to limit on-campus recruiting in response to the militaryʼs ban on homosexuals. Ruling in a lawsuit brought by a coalition of more than a dozen law schools, a three-judge panel said the governmentʼs threat to withhold funding amounted to compelling the schools to take part in speech they didnʼt agree with. “The Solomon Amendment
requires law schools to express a message that is incompatible with their educational objectives,” the court wrote. By a 2-1 vote, the panel overturned an earlier decision by a federal judge that those challenging the law were unlikely to prevail at trial. The ruling affects all institutions of higher learning, but the case revolved around law schools because most had developed poli-
sick people who use homegrown cannabis with their doctorsʼ permission and their statesʼ approval. A defeat for the two California women might undermine laws passed by California and 10 other states and discourage other states from approving their own. A loss for the government, on the other hand, could jeopardize federal oversight of illegal drugs and raise questions in other areas such as product safety and environmental activities. A Bush administration lawyer told the justices they would be encouraging people to use potentially harmful marijuana if they were to side with the women. “If theyʼre right, then I think their analysis would extend to recreational use of marijuana, as well as medical use of marijuana, and would extend to every state in the nation, not just those states that
made it lawful,” said Paul Clement, acting solicitor general. Justice David H. Souter said an estimated 10 percent of people in America use illegal drugs, and states with medical marijuana laws might not be able to stop recreational users from taking advantage. Justice Stephen Breyer said the government makes a strong argument that as many as 100,000 sick people use marijuana in California, and “when we see medical marijuana in California, we wonʼt know what it is. Everybodyʼll say, ʻMine is medical.ʼ Certificates will circulate on the black market. We face a mess.” And Justice Antonin Scalia said there are many people with “alleged medical needs.” Despite the tenor of the debate, the case is hard to predict. The justices will rule before next summer.
The marijuana users won in the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that federal prosecution of medical marijuana users is unconstitutional if the pot is not sold, transported across state lines or used for nonmedicinal purposes. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the federal government has a stake in interstate commerce, but with the California medical marijuana patients: “Nobodyʼs buying anything. Nobodyʼs selling anything.” Her colleague, Justice Sandra Day OʼConnor, observed that homegrown medical marijuana never makes it to the interstate market. Conservatives like Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, Justice Clarence Thomas and Scalia generally have supported statesʼ rights to
By ASHLEE ANDRIDGE Daily Titan Staff
Some underprivileged children in Orange County are depending on the snowman in the lobby of the Titan Student Union for a joyful Christmas. The snowman, holding a basket of snowflakes with childrenʼs names and ages, is part of the Camp Titan Holiday Toy Drive. “Weʼd like to get around 400 gifts this year,” said Pamela Skawin, manager of Information and Services in the TSU. Skawin said that so far 45 gifts
Resident advisers share behind-thescenes experiences By ANNABELLE CARIAGA For the Daily Titan
“This is an emergency, please evacuate the building. Do not take the elevators,” announces an automatic voice system that echoes throughout the building as the fire alarm wails at around 2:30 a.m., waking up students in every suite of the on-campus apartments. Two resident advisers on duty scurry down every hallway, knocking on doors and directing residents to exit the building through the stairwells. Within minutes university police arrive to help deactivate the siren and investigate what caused it. This time, someone had blown out a candle and the smoke accidentally set off the alarm. Fifteen to 20 minutes later, RAs instruct everyone to go back to their warm and cozy beds. Responding to fire alarms is only one of the many duties of a resident adviser. There are currently 21 RAs for Cal State Fullertonʼs Housing and Residential Life and each RA is primarily in charge of between 36 and 48 students. With 800 students living in on-campus housing, the life of an RA is not always easy. “RAs are the frontline contact for students that live in the residence halls,” said Darlene Stevenson, director of housing. “They help determine the quality of life outside the classroom. They assist students in navigating their way outside CSUF.” Some of the responsibilities of being an RA include, but are not limited to providing guidance and support to residents, planning programs and socials, and enforcing rules and regulations. According to the CSU Fullerton Housing and Residence Life RA manual, this group of student leaders is required to have about DORM 3
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TOY DRIVE 3
Campus recruiting limited Court allows denial of recruiters without loss of government funds The Associated Press
SIERRA WEBB/Daily Titan
Leaves fall over Cal State Fullerton during Thanksgiving break, littering the campus grounds. Winter is officially here. It’s time to take out the snowboards and head for the mountains.
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Medical marijuana clash reaches Supreme Court
State and federal governments discuss prosecution of smokers The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court questioned whether state medical marijuana laws might be abused by people who arenʼt really sick as it debated Monday whether the federal government can prosecute patients who smoke pot on doctorsʼ orders. The stakes are high on both the government level — 11 states have passed medical marijuana laws since 1996 — and the personal. In the courtroom watching the argument were Angel Raich, an Oakland, Calif., mother of two who said she tried dozens of prescription medicines to ease the pain of
a brain tumor before she turned to marijuana, and another ill woman, Diane Monson. They filed a lawsuit to protect their access to the drug after federal agents confiscated marijuana plants from Monsonʼs yard. Their attorney, Randy Barnett of Boston, told the justices his clients are law-abiding citizens who need marijuana to survive. “When people are sick and people are suffering and people are dying, they may be willing to run the risk of these long-term harms in order to get the immediate relief, the lifesaving relief that cannabis has demonstrably been able to provide,” he said. The justices refused three years ago to protect distributors of medical marijuana from federal anti-drug charges. They are confronting a more personal issue this time — the power of federal agents to go after
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Migrant workers risk lives, seek American dream Laborers face border struggles, low wages, limited opportunities By RYAN McKAY Daily Titan Asst. News Editor
SIERRA WEBB/Daily Titan
Jose Raul Gutierrez waits at the YMCA Children’s Immigration Shelter on Friday, Nov. 12, after being denied access into the United States. Gutierrez tried to enter the country by using a fake birth certificate.
Fifteen-year-old Jose Raul Gutierrez dreams of a better life, a life in which his prosperity isnʼt dictated by the size of that seasonʼs crop, a life in which he has a chance to move up. A life in which he can provide his family with the things many people take for granted. But mostly, he longs for the economic security his family lacks. Gutierrez said he is determined to find this better life, well aware that while pursuing this dream, he risks that very life he so deeply yearns to improve.
Sporting a T-shirt and faded blue jeans, the quiet and timid Gutierrez seems at ease in the hustling and boisterous Mexican border town of Tijuana. But this isnʼt his home. Gutierrez, who has no formal schooling, grew up working the fields and planting chilies. He said that while his family isnʼt starving like other Mexican families, it doesnʼt mean they have a good life. Itʼs this good life that Gutierrez said he seeks. Believing he will find opportunity in the form of plentiful employment in the United States, Gutierrez said he has made up his mind. Like many others in his shoes, he has decided to take his chances and cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, and at any cost. He is not alone. U.S. Border Patrol Agent Steven
McPartland said that in the San Diego Sector alone, over 550,000 people were arrested for crossing illegally – all within the 66-mile stretch his San Diego Sector patrols. He added that for every border scofflaw arrested, an estimated 10 to 20 others make it into the United States illegally. Like many drawn north, Gutierrez wants to get to the United States to make money. The incentive is a strong one. In the United States, most illegal immigrants can readily find work. Because these workers are unlikely to report labor-law violations in fear of deportation, they sometimes work under whatever terms their employers choose. This allows some employers to pay them less than minimum wage, sometimes under dangerous working conditions. This can be a boon to employers
willing to shrug labor laws. Despite sub-standard wages paid to many migrant workers, itʼs usually more than they can make at home. While a laborer in Mexico may make $5 a day, a migrant worker in the United States can make $20 or more a day. Getting to that money on the other side is the hard part. Tijuana – located just a few miles south of San Diegoʼs posh suburbs, this Mexican border city lies on one of the few stretches of land where the Third World meets the First. Like many other large cities on the U.S.-Mexico border, it serves as a gathering place for those seeking a portal from one world to the next. But migrants arenʼt the only ones who congregate at the borders. IMMIGRANT
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