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
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Friends of Coyote Hills uses two-hour tours to save preserve By NICOLE M. SMITH Daily Titan Executive Editor
Residents of Fullerton are taking a hike while they still can. Coyote Hills, 500-plus acres of “endangered” California Coastal Sage habitat located in the Northwest portion of Fullerton, is home to some 130 species of wildlife and serves as an outdoor recreation haven to mountain bikers, horseback riders and hikers. But this hilly landscape, which is reportedly the last of its kind in the Southeastern Los Angeles region, has become a prime target for development. In an effort to preserve the open space, Friends of Coyote Hills, a grassroots organization devoted to saving Coyote Hills from being bulldozed for development purposes, has invited the public to “take a walk on the wild side,” as one of their bright-yellow, hand-made signs suggests. “People want to see this land saved,” said Annik Ramsey, who has been leading nature hikes for the
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past two years. During the summer months, Fullerton residents have the opportunity to gather as the sun falls behind the hills of the California native landscape for a two-hour nature hike. “We do hikes to get the word out [about Coyote Hills],” Ramsey said. “People turning out [for hikes] says something to City Council.” In 2001, the City Council approved a plan to develop 86 acres of the open space through a 5-0 vote, according to the Friends of Coyote Hills Web site. Now, City Council is awaiting results from a second environmental impact report to decide its next step. Jeff Townsend, who became involved with Friends of Coyote Hills after the first environmental impact report was released last December, said he prefers preservation over development. Coyote Hills is currently zoned for oil and gas, Townsend said. He added that the regionʼs development plan was created almost 40 years ago, and that Fullerton has undergone so many changes since then that City Council should assess these changes and “zone Coyote Hills appropriately.” “We will mortgage Fullertonʼs
NICOLE M. SMITH/Daily Titan Executive Editor
Jeff Townsend, a Fullerton resident since 1996, has been involved with Friends of Coyote Hills since last year. Throught nature hikes like this one at the Nora Kuttner Recreational Trail, the ‘Friends’ hope to educate the public about the endangered California Costal Sage habitat. future if we develop every last piece of zone-able land,” said Townsend, a computer consultant who has lived in Fullerton since 1996. Friends of Coyote Hills has been coordinating public hikes for about three years now, said Helen Higgins,
Satellite facility now identified as CSUF Irvine Campus Cal State Fullertonʼs El Toro campus has got a brand new name. In keeping with the Cal State University custom of naming campuses after their geographic location, university officials announced that the CSUF extension campus will be known as California State University, Fullerton Irvine Campus. “We are proud to be part of the city of Irvineʼs dynamic community and we look forward to a continuing partnership providing high-quality education to south county residents through the Cal State Fullerton Irvine Campus,”
said CSUF President Milton A. Gordon. The decision to rename the CSUF branch campus, which opened its doors in August 2002, is “no indication” of a separate CSU being established, said Clara Potes-Fellow, a spokeswoman for the CSU system. “Rest assured that there is no interest or hope to create a new CSU in the foreseeable future,” Potes-Fellow said. In fact, the CSU system has no intentions of creating a 24th university in the foreseeable future because advances in technology allow students more ways to access an education for less money than it would cost to invest in a new university. In addition to the Irvine campus, located on 11 acres of the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, CSUF has satellite campuses located in Santa Ana and Garden
Grove, as well as Internet and televised courses, which enable studentsʼ access to education from all over Orange County. “Weʼre trying to serve a constituency thatʼs some miles away from [the CSUF main] campus,” said Paula Selleck, the director of public affairs at CSUF. “There are more ways to make education more accessible, which is more convenient for the student. Thatʼs what itʼs all about.” Through the Irvine campus, CSUF hopes to expand its educational resources as well as course offerings, including new “academic program clusters” in children; families and older adults; health, social and physical wellbeing; the economy; the environment; and the arts, museum and library, said Ephraim Smith, the vice president for academic
Summer sets
Monday, August 22 AM Clouds/PM Sun 86º/63º
EL TORO 10
In addition to parking structure, additional projects underway By KIM ORR Daily Titan Asst. News Editor
Students may need to explore alternative parking options this fall, as the second parking structure will remain under construction for the better half of 2006. The new structure has great potential, said Cal State Fullerton officials, who believe the completion of the over $20 million project will provide a much needed break from the parking problems that CSUF has become famous for. Mike Smith, the director of
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Daily Titan Copy Editor
Wednesday, August 24 Sunny 80º/61º Thursday, August 25 Sunny 83º/63º NICOLE M. SMITH/Daily Titan Executive Editor
A sailboat coasts into the Newport Harbor at sunset, signaling the end of summer and the start of a new semester.
design and construction for CSUF said the project wont be as large as the Nutwood Parking Structure, but it will certainly serve as a necessary addition to the campus; not only as a solution to parking congestion, but also as a major piece in CSUFʼs Master Design Plan. “The new structure will be a little smaller than the first one; the first had about 2,500 spaces but the second will only have 1,500,” Smith said. “But the structure will be adjacent to the future Student Recreation Center and will allow students to walk directly across an open mall [walkway] connecting the two.” Smith also said that the second structure would serve as a PARKING 11
Lack of available spaces creates parking scramble By COURTNEY BACALSO
Tuesday, August 23 Mostly Sunny 81º/62º
Compiled from The Weather Channel
“This is an educational resource,” said Higgins, who sported a bright yellow “Save Coyote Hills” T-shirt during the most recent hike. Hikes attract a diverse group of
total makeover
University oversells permits every semester, students find alternative methods to park
Weather
Friday, August 26 Sunny 85º/65º
one of the groupʼs organizers. Higgins said that when the hikes started, the group would be fortunate if five or 10 hikers would show up. Over the past three years, Higgins added, those numbers have more than doubled.
El Toro changes name CSUF to receive Daily Titan Executive Editor
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Nature guides hike to educate
By NICOLE M. SMITH
News
Vo l u m e 8 1 , I s s u e 1
For senior philosophy major Dominic Kingdamo thereʼs a certain trick to dealing with Cal State Fullerton parking. “On a bad day it takes me 20 to 25 minutes to find a parking space,” Kingdamo said. “As the semester goes on, I get to figure out how long it takes me to get a space.” Last semesterʼs statistics show that Kingdamo was only one of 20,595 students who purchased a parking permit and all are vying for the limited parking spaces. According to the Parking and Transportation Web site, there are only 7,484 general parking spaces – 2,170 of which compose Lot E near the Humanities Building, where Kingdamo says he usually parks. “The numbers seem shocking but I figure that students are here at different time schedules and days,” Kingdamo said. “You wonʼt find all 20,000 on campus at the same time.” Due to the fact that he arrives to school when
classes get out, Kingdamo said that heʼs done it all, including resorting to the tactic of offering people rides back to their cars in exchange for their spaces. University staff, instructors and professors also find themselves in a similar position to Kingdamo. While there are a total of 1,541 spaces designated for faculty parking, there were 2,802 permits sold. The only type of permit sold that has the exact number of parking spaces is the Carpool permit, which require two or more registered CSUF students in each vehicle. “The difference in class schedules along with the historical practice of not capping sales are the reasons why we do not cap permit sales,” said Michael Pruitt, the Parking and Transportation Serviceʼs permit program coordinator. “Throughout the semester, we do counts on available space in the parking lots during different times of the days during the week to monitor parking space demand.” Last year, the Parking and Transportation Services provided an evening parking permit which is now discontinued. According to Pruitt, the permit program coordinator who responded through e-mail, the permit PERMITS 11