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 T U E S D AY, M A R C H 7 , 2 0 0 6
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SPORTS
OPINION
Alumni root for menʼs basketball from Section K Page 6
Klima: Take it from a pro, drugs are bad, usually Page 4
Model Teachers Protest Contracts, Cuts U.N. Takes 3 Awards Faculty, students, staffers rally for salary boosts, end to state budget cuts By Cristina Rodriguez
Daily Titan Staff Writer
At conference, students win 3 honorable mentions, CSUF program’s best showing By Nohemy Martinez
Daily Titan Staff Writer
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hree Cal State Fullerton students were recognized at a recent Harvard Model United Nations conference, an event with approximately 4,000 student participants. This is the groupʼs third year attending the Harvard Model U.N. conference. Students have brought home awards on all occasions, but in 2006, students brought back the most awards. Jeffrey Gonzales, Michael Warner and Nishad Marathe received individual honorable mentions. At the Harvard conference, an honorable mention is equivalent to a thirdplace award. About 25 students are enrolled in the CSUF Model U.N. course led by Choudhury Shamim, associate professor of political science and a former U.N. delegate for Bangladesh. “I am really pleased to say that my students can negotiate and win the best of the best,” Shamim said. Shamim started CSUFʼs Model U.N. program about 15 years ago. The conference at Harvard is an international event, with about 400 schools attending. The event requires students to participate in mock U.N. conferences. While representing a country, students must form a peace treaty by coming to a consensus with all other countries. At the Harvard event the CSUF students were assigned Pakistan, and the designated year was 1971. All of the students agreed that keeping in character was the most difficult aspect. “If Pakistan is advocating womenʼs rights, you can lose points,” said Mike Schreiber, a senior and a Model U.N. member. During the conference, students work in larger committees composed of students from participating schools, such as Yale and Stanford. Each student is a member of a committee of up to 300 members, and only four to five students from a committee receive awards. Awards are determined by how well students conduct speeches, write research papers and discuss proposals with other countries. “It teaches you how to work in stressful and time-consuming situations,” Warner said. “The hardest thing is putting ourselves in another countryʼs place.” Gonzalez, a member of the human rights committee, gave an example of one project. “We focused on worldwide human trafficking and worked to combat SEE MODEL U.N. = PAGE 3
Several students and a few staffers joined numerous faculty members Monday in an on-campus rally against university budget cuts and to support raises for faculty. The rally was scheduled to be held in the Quad but was moved to the Academic Senate Chambers inside Titan Shops because of rain in the forecast. Nevertheless faculty members were out in full force and were motivated in showing their support for the California Faculty Association “We, as faculty, staff and students can no longer balance the budget on our backs,” said Lynda Randall, a professor of secondary education, in her speech given at
SEE RALLY = PAGE 3
Songha Lee/Daily Titan
PICKETS: Sophomores Diana Lira, left, and Marteni Gonzalez join a rally with faculty members in the Academic Senate Chambers on Monday. Teachers and others were protesting salaries in the CSU system.
When Love Is in Bloom, Special Ceremonies Arboretum Has Room Highlight Culture 75 to 80 couples wed in Fullerton’s leafy enclave each year By Lisa Maiorana
Daily Titan Staff Writer
Spring is approaching, and the wedding season is in bloom. Students and faculty planning a wedding this season can save money by exchanging vows at Cal State Fullertonʼs Arboretum. Twenty-six acres of flowers, plants, lakes and wildlife create the right amount of landscape to show off a private garden wedding. Arboretum facility manager Elizabeth Gilson organizes between 75 and 80 weddings a year. This year sheʼs already lined up 55 weddings. Gilsonʼs staff helps to create weddings and receptions big and small. The
Arboretum can accommodate more than 200 guests, and with prices in the low thousands, newlyweds can save money for a honeymoon. “My wife and daughter went to about six different sites in the country and they decided upon the Arboretum,” Ephraim Smith, vice president of academic affairs, said. After having heard friends rave about their own weddings, Smith, his wife and his daughter, Leah, said this was the best place to book the wedding. The large space and accommodating staff has enticed many to the Arboretum. Smith is one of many faculty and CSUF alumni to share a piece of Arboretum wedding history. With the rise in trendy weddings, a few saved pennies could not hurt. Take CSUFʼs Milly Heaton, vice president of university
advancement, for example. One call to a caterer made her 215-guest wedding simple by transforming an expensive formal meal into a comfortable, elegant buffet dinner. Heaton, a longtime Arboretum supporter, tied the knot under a tree July 31, 2005, in a ceremony reminiscent of a Great Gatsby garden party. “It was hotter than Hades,” Heaton said. But that wasnʼt going to stop her from enjoying a day of clinking champagne glasses with close friends and relatives. Though the Arboretum offers rentals from February through December, Gilson recommended that couples book their wedding dates as soon as possible. Booking is done on a first-come, firstserved basis, and couples SEE WEDDING = PAGE 3
Photo provided by Milly Heaton
SETTING ROOTS: Vice President of University Advancement Milly Heaton, right, was married in the Arboretum in July. Weddings among the trees are relatively inexpensive.
NEWS
OPINION
SUPREME COURT
EDITORIAL
Unanimous decision upholds military recruiting law
PAGE 3
the rally. “Faculty cares deeply for students. We want them to have a quality education. We need the resources to give them a quality education and maintain vitality and vigor in teaching,” she said after her speech. “We need to raise awareness so people realize that we have gone too long without salary increases.” California State University faculty members received a 3.5 percent salary increase in the fall, retroactive to July 2005, but salaries still remain 13.1 percent lower those at comparison institutions such as the University of Nevada at Reno, North Carolina State University and the University of Colorado at Denver, among others. Despite CSU efforts to increase the salaries of its faculty, some say itʼs not enough. George Diehr, a professor from Cal State San Marcos, spoke to the crowd about fee
INSIDE
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Cultural groups host events before main commencement to honor students’ successes
izes the connection between the student and the mentor, and is also used to acknowledge the belief that the student is of royalty. Following the ceremony, the gradBy Jessica Horn uates and their family members are Daily Titan Staff Writer invited to a dinner reception hosted by the African American faculty and staff ach year, before the official association at CSUF. commencement ceremony “All of the ceremonies are conducted for all graduates, Cal State by the Multicultural Leadership Center,” Fullerton invites cultural Hymes said. organizations to celebrate the Many students may wonder why they success of their graduating donʼt see their own cultural organistudents and the individuality of their zations participating in conducting a graduation ceremony. cultural group. According to Norene Protacio – an The graduation celebrations this year include the 18th annual Pan-African assistant at the Multicultural Leadership Center – anyone student recognition who goes through ceremony, the 18th “This is a great catalyst the steps of creating annual Chicanoan organization on Latino celebration, for education growth campus is allowed to the seventh annual within a culture.” set up a graduation Pilipino American celebration. celebration, the Andreas Serna “Anyone of any fourth annual Asian Fullerton Student ethnicity can say, Pacific Islander celebration and the secʻHey, we want to ond annual lavender pride celebration. make a committee and a graduation cerEach organization celebrates gradu- emony,ʼ ” Protacio said. “An example ates in a unique way. is the lavender pride recognition cerThe Pan African celebration “is emony, which just started last year and for any African-American or person was a success. They said, ʻWe would of African descent who is graduating like to have a ceremony, so letʼs make it from Cal State Fullerton,” said Patricia happen, and they did.ʼ ” Out of the many cultural clubs on Hymes, Pan African ceremony co-chairwoman. campus, few take advantage of holding The theme for the Pan African cere- a graduation celebration. Many people mony is Ujamaa, “cooperative econom- arenʼt aware of the opportunity. ics,” which is the first of the seven prin“Iʼm for any way people can find ciples of Kwanzaa. Ujamaa signifies the commonality,” said Andreas Serna, a importance of building and maintaining marketing major. “I feel proud of my oneʼs own store, shop or other business Filipino heritage and feel itʼs a great and as a community, profiting from motivator for people within a specific them together. The other six principles cultural background to bond together will be the themes over the next gradu- and celebrate. This is a great catalyst for ation celebrations through 2012. education growth within a culture.” The Pan African graduates each Each graduation ceremony is takreceive a kente sash, a gift, a commem- ing place between May 11 and 21. orative booklet of short biographies of For information, visit the multicultural graduation candidates and a certificate leadership center in the Titan Student of participation. The kente sash symbol- Union, Room 234.
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