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
THE DAILY TITAN W E D N E S D AY, F E B R U A RY 2 2 , 2 0 0 6
w w w. d a i l y t i t a n . c o m
Vo l u m e 8 2 , I s s u e 8
SPORTS
OPINION
Titan pitcher hopes to recover after injury stalls career Page 8
College newspapers are entitled to freedom of press Page 5
Students Question ‘Budget Crisis’
Financial Aid Eases Tuition, Fee Burden CSUF administrators urge students to complete FAFSA form by March 2, to compete with emtying wallets, financial woes
Lobby Corps pleads with Orange City Council for monetary support
By Elizabeth Simoes
Daily Titan Staff Writer
A
round this time of year, students usually have empty wallets and a lot of complaints. After they pay off tuition, books, parking permits and other school supplies, they wind up broke. With financial aid, loans, scholarships and work-study, students can pay off all of the fees without breaking the bank. Students simply need to fill out a free application for federal student aid. “The best thing you can do is to file a FAFSA by the March 2 deadline to maximize your eligibility,” said Jessica Schutte, the assistant director of financial aid at CSUF. In 2003, there were 28,000 applicants for financial aid from Fullerton. According to Schutte, this was a 40 percent increase in applicants. A combination of income, assets, family size and number “It’s free money. The worst answer they can of people in the family that are attending give you is you can’t college determines the get any money. So it’s award. all worth it.” “Itʼs a free application, fill it out [and] Angelete Comford let us tell you if you are eligible. Maybe Fullerton Student youʼre disqualifying yourself.” Schutte said. “We encourage online [filing]. Itʼs easier for edits.” When applying online at www.fafsa.ed.gov, itʼs best to have a pin number, which students can get at www.pin. fafsa.ed.gov. Schutte warns that when filing out a FAFSA online students to only do so at the official government Web site. If a student is a California resident and has completed less than 24 units at CSUF, theyʼre encouraged to go back to their previous school and fill out a GPA verification form in order to be eligible for a Pell Grant. For students whoʼve completed more than 24 units, this is automatically sent to the state by CSUF, Schutte said. Students donʼt apply for the various grants individually, though. By filing out the FAFSA, the officials in the financial aid office will offer students the best financial aid package available, Schutte said. Once the financial aid package is determined, students SEE FAFSA = PAGE 2
By Jody Cason
Daily Titan Staff Writer
Songha Lee/Daily Titan
UNDERGROUND DRIVE
The City Drive band member Scott Waldman, on bass, perform at the TSU Underground Thursday afternoon. The Los Angeles based band will come out with a new album called Always Moving Never Stopping on March 21.
Dean Named New VP
California First Amendment Coalition plans to appoint Pullen as 2008 president By Jimmy Stroup
Daily Titan Staff Writer
R
ick Pullen, Cal State Fullerton dean of communications, has recently accepted the vice presidency at the California First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit organization that advocates open government meetings and records. Following his work for six years as part of the coalitionʼs board, the twoyear vice presidency post will eventually lead to Pullenʼs appointment to coalition president in 2008. “Itʼs quite an honor to be asked to serve,” Pullen said, reckoning that his appointment will mark the first time an educator has been asked to fill a position historically held by newspaper editors
or First Amendment lawyers. Holding meetings a half dozen times a year, the coalition consists of more than 200 members, as well as newspapers and media organizations throughout the state. The coalition works to improve media access to government, frequently involving itself in litigation to that effect. The organization also holds regular events at institutions like CSUF to educate those with journalistic aspirations about government responsibilities in regard to disclosure. “The real purpose of CFAC is to support open meetings and open records in government,” Pullen said. “And to ensure and encourage legislation that requires openness.” Pullen, co-author of two media law books and still an active teacher in media law courses after more than 30 years at Fullerton – though most deans no longer teach after assuming administrative positions – said his new appointment wonʼt interfere with his work at CSUF.
Phil Gordon/Daily Titan
DEAN TO PRES: Dean of College of Communications, Rick Pullen new Vice President of the California First Amendment Coalition (CFAC). He admits that other areas of media law are more “sexy,” but Pullen said open meeting requirements become extremely important once entering the media industry. “The area of open records is pretty relevant to all of us,” he said. “Especially in this time of privacy concerns.”
Women’s Center Combats Community Violence Program divides women into ethnic groups to educate them on preventing cultural-specific abuse By Jody Cason
Daily Titan Staff Writer
The Womenʼs Center at Cal State Fullerton is continuing its battle on domestic abuse this spring. The center will be hosting its fourth Cultural Awareness of Violence Against Women training this March and April. The training involves a free, three-part certificate program that explores the impact of intimate partner violence on women within specific ethnic groups. “The main objective of this program is for women to become advocates for the prevention of violence in their own communities,” said Sue Passalacqua, associate director of the center. “If a student wants to sign up for her own educational purposes however, she is welcome.”
This semester, the program will focus on Middle Eastern and Chicana/Latina participants. Women are divided into ethnic groups for good reason. Rosalina Camacho, coordinator for Womenʼs Cultural Resource Centers, said itʼs better to educate a woman about violence within her own community because there are many cultural differences in differing ethnic groups. “If we train a Latina about intimate partner violence she may be able to speak to other ethnic groups about it, but not necessarily from a personal point of view,” Camacho said. “Weʼre also able to receive feedback about violence in different cultures from the women we train, which gives us even more information to provide to students in future programs.” This feedback can be especially helpful from Middle Eastern participants. Susan Leavy, from the Community Educator for Crimes Against Women, said there hasnʼt been much research done about domestic violence within Middle Eastern communi-
ties. There is plenty of research that has been documented on violence against Asian, Latina and African-American women. The results of the research vary from group to group. But one of the traits they all have in common is that theyʼre all women of color, which may make them less likely to report a violent crime thatʼs been committed against them. K.J. Wilson, author of “When Violence Begins At Home,” said women in the Latino community are often relegated to the role of wife and mother due to their long-established social system. “Itʼs not socially acceptable for a Latina to be divorced, which makes it difficult for her to leave her abuser, let alone turn him into authorities,” Wilson said. He also said Asian women are socialized to depend on mutual help and support within the family unit. Reporting the battererʼs abuse to outsiders will frequently make an Asian woman feel disloyal and that sheʼs caused great shame to her family.
SPORTS
NEWS
LEAVING HER MARK
OUTTA THIS WORLD
Titan senior 15th woman at CSUF to score 1,000 points
PAGE 6
INSIDE
Unsolved extraterrestrial mystery unearthed in Texas
PAGE 3
African-American women also face obstacles that keep them from reporting abuse. A woman in this group may fear that if she reports her abusive partner heʼll be treated more harshly by law enforcement because he is a man of color, Wilson said. Leavy, who will be facilitating the Middle Eastern focus group, said there are many things women are surprised to find out while attending the program. “One thing that always seems to stun the students is how often violence goes on within their own communities, because itʼs hardly spoken of,” Leavy said. She also said students start to realize how much power they have, especially after they find out that immigrant women in their communities canʼt be deported after reporting the crime. The training dates for the Middle Eastern Focus are March 17, 24 and April 7, and the dates for the Chicana/Latina focus are April 14, 21 and 28. For more information, the Womenʼs Center can be reached at (714) 278-3928.
SEE SPEECH = PAGE 3
WEATHER
WEDNESDAY THURSDAY Sunny High: 70 Low: 42
Four Cal State Fullerton students gave a speech during public comment at the City of Orange Council meeting last week, asking council members to be a voice for the California State University system. The students, all members of the Associated Students Inc. Lobby Corps committee, went before the council to ask them for their support on what they called a CSU budget deficiency crisis. “It is the CSU system that is keeping California afloat, while offering poor and middle class people a continuing opportunity to move into the sort of well-paying jobs a college degree affords,” Lobby Corps member Curtis Schlaufman said to the council. Lobby Corps is a committee that tracks state and federal issues that relate to students. They also coordinate the lobbying efforts of the student body and work with the California State Student Association to advocate student interests. Arya Hawkins, who serves as chair of Lobby Corps and is the director of statewide affairs for ASI, said the committee chose to speak at the City of Orange Council meeting because Orange is a CSUF service area. “Many students on campus come from this community,” Hawkins said. The committee also said their case to the Fullerton City Council, and plans to speak at Tustin and Placentia City Council meetings in the near future. Hawkins believes these local city council members can help out CSU students in many different ways. “These council members are constituents of the state legislators, and the legislators will want to know what they think,” Hawkins said. In the speech to the council, Hawkins also asks council members to fight for CSU students by asking State Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher and California State Senator Dick Ackerman to reinvest in higher education by passing a balanced state budget that will give the CSU the money necessary to stop student fees from increasing. The Lobby Corps membersʼ speeches included many arguments that justified the prevention of these fee increases. “[CSU] trains 89 percent of the stateʼs professionals in criminal justice, 87 percent of the teachers and related staff, 87percent of the social workers and 82 percent of
Sunny High: 73 Low: 42
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Sunny High: 72 Low: 46
Sunny High: 75 Low: 47