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Leaving Their Marks
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Since 1960 Volume 83, Issue 8
From the Stage to the Field
Student artists express themselves in different ways Introspect, p. 6
After fullfilling his dream, coach returns to baseball SPORTS, p. 11
Daily Titan
Thursday September 14. 2006
The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton
Alleged Murderer ‘Very Bonded’ to Son Students’ records show domestic disputes prior to death of young son BY ADAM LEVY Daily Titan News Editor alevy@dailytitan.com
The road to the Gideon Walter Omondi’s Orange County jail cell was paved by years of bitter court
battle with his wife Helen. The pair riddled each other with contentions of domestic violence and child abuse. Omondi, a Cal State Fullerton mechanical engineering major, is currently being held with no bail on first-degree murder charges in the death of his 4-year-old son Richard. Sunday night, he confessed to drowning the child to Fullerton Police officers. He was taken into custody and arraigned two days later.
The couple left a long paper trail of hearings, mediations and visitation arrangements over the past 18 months. They chronicled the contempt they had toward one another as they battled through the stages of a divorce and custody battle. Gideon had originally filed for divorce in March 2005. Along with the split he sought custody of Richard and child support. This set off a domino effect of vitriolic incidents between the estranged
pair in both the spoken and written word. Through their respective declarations to the Orange C o u n t y Superior Court L a m o r e a u x Omondi Justice Center, the estranged couple painted portraits of violence and instability about
DANCING WITH CYRUS
each other. Many of the documents were sealed as “confidential,” more than likely these were reports from the California Department of Social Services. The agency was contacted three times over the course of eight months in regards to the child abuse allegations that hovered over both the mother and father. The CSUF student put his disenchantment on the record with his May 2005 declaration, which characterized his 4-year marriage with
Helen as “turbulent.” He alluded to a November 2004 incident in which she had threatened suicide to the employees at the Fullerton College daycare facility and how Helen had often raised the idea of placing the child up for adoption. He detailed the pattern of psychological warfare Helen allegedly waged on him in the waning days of
Professor has spoken on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” about subject
broad range of twin related topics including identical, fraternal and “virtual twins” – same-age children raised together. She has written two books: “Indivisible by Two: Lives of Extraordinary Twins” and “Entwined Lives: Twins and What They Tell Us About Human Behavior.” She also appeared on other nationally syndicated shows such as “Good Morning America” and “Dateline NBC.” CNN is producing a one-hour special about happiness. It delves into the scientific and emotional aspects of happiness and how to achieve it. The special brought CNN to Cal State Fullerton to speak with Segal. Sanjay Gupta, senior medical correspondent for CNN, sat down with Segal in the quad to talk about whether or not certain traits, like happiness, are genetic or emotional
Expert on Twins Visited by CNN By Katy French Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
The television network CNN came to campus Friday to interview Nancy Segal, professor of developmental psychology and director of the Twin INSIDE Studies Center on campus. The crew Check out filmed Segal giving page 2 for a profile a class lecture on her research in twin studies on Nancy Segal. and interviewed her for an upcoming segment. Segal runs the Twin Studies Center, a research center on campus that she established in 1991. At the center, Segal conducts research about twins’ physical and mental development. Her work covers a
By KARL THUNMAN/Daily Titan Staff Photographer
PErsian Festival - The Aghili & Siamak Pouian perform a cultural dance during the Persian Festival of Autumn (Mehregan) at the Orange County Fair & Expo Center Sept. 10. See story on page 3.
The Three Percent - Part Three of Three
Gordon Making Strides To Diversify Campus Segregation of CSUF and Orange County is an issue on president’s mind By Adam Levy Daily Titan News Editor alevy@dailytitan.com
As a young child growing up in inner-city Chicago, Cal State Fullerton President Milton Gordon was exposed to a diverse mix of cultures bonded together by their common plight. His formative years were a multicultural tapestry of people and experiences, bonded by class rather than ethnicity. “The area I grew up in, in Chicago, I went to my first Bar Mitzvah when I went to my first Gospel church,” Gordon said. “It was all integrated – we were all poor together.” Gordon’s exposure to a variety of cultures at a young age would eventually lay the template of a man who understood diversity and would later apply that knowledge in his career as the university’s
By Ian Hamilton/Daily Titan Assistant News Editor
Between Classes - Uche Ollawa, psychology major, watches tele-
vision in the African American Resource Center. President. Through its educational options and solid relations with the community, CSUF has trended upwards when it comes to improving those conditions. The leader said he believes that the keys to this awakening lie in
educating the open-minded youth about racial myths. “I think our campus does a fairly good job – the younger people are in an integrated situation, the easier it is for them to reject myths,” Gordon said. “When people are separated, they have myths about each other.”
“The climate is getting better,” said Afro-Ethnic Studies Professor Wacira Gethaiga. “The mere fact that there is a so-called ‘minority President’ gives young [blacks] hope. For the longest time, the University had no black president – they were always white.” The improvements can be attributed to, amongst other factors, an educational program that gives all students a multicultural prism in their classroom exchanges with others; an on-campus location intended for black students to congregate; and the steady hand of an esteemed leader who has made huge strides in diversifying the campus over the past 16 years. “The 3.41 percent is higher than it has ever been,” said Gordon. “Because of our size, we are attracting more students outside of Orange County, we’re getting them from L.A., Pomona and Riverside as well.” President Gordon took his chair
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SEE THREE - PAGE 5
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SEE OMONDI - PAGE 5
SEE CNN - PAGE 5
My School is Better Than Your School CSUs have similar costs, but money is spent on different programs By Christina Martinez Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
The CSUs seem to be the “go-to” colleges after high school because of their reasonable prices and popularity. However, each school in the system differs from the other in price and majors offered, among other things. Enrollment at the different CSUs varies. Cal State Fullerton is the largest with 35,040 students enrolled for the fall of 2005, but is built on a mere 236 acres. Long Beach State has about the same number of students enrolled at 34,547, however their school sits on 323 acres. “Larger campuses can usually manage to offer more choices,” said Dave Dowell, vice provost, director of strategic planning and professor of psychology at Long Beach State. Also the differences in the cost of living, transportation, degrees offered and job opportunities can make the different CSUs vary in
weather
TODAY
Extra CSU Fees
Each year, campuses add fees for materials, services and facilites:
Fullerton — $470 Long Beach — $344 Dominguez Hills — $471 Los Angeles — $515 Northridge — $486 San Bernardino — $572 Source: CSU Web Site
enrollment. Undergraduate adviser and CSUF Professor of economics Radha Bhattacharya said in an email interview that we have a larger population in Orange and Los Angeles Counties compared to a city like Fresno or Bakersfield. The state university fee for a resident full-time undergraduate student at every CSU is currently $2,520 a year. However, each CSU has extra costs students pay depending on which CSU they are attending. CSUF tacks on extra fees of $470 per year while Long Beach State students pay an extra $344, SEE COST - PAGE 4
TOMorrow Partly Cloudy High: 75 Low: 61
Partly Cloudy High: 71 Low: 58