Volume 94, Issue 25
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2013
Alum takes on Disney
NEWS | SCHOLARSHIPS
Grant supports special ed teaching
Courtesy of Disney
$1.25 million grant will go to students who hope to work in special education MATTHEW HADDIX
SEE GRANTS, 3
ROBERT REYES Daily Titan
Character sketches plaster the walls of a Cal State Fullerton alumnus’ office in the Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank. Wayne Unten, 34, leans forward in his chair and points out the variations of lines and creases on the face of a 3-D model of Elsa, the ice queen, from Disney’s upcoming feature Frozen. Unten uses human body language, like the way someone’s lips and eyebrows to reveal how a character is feeling, which he translates into his animation. “Even this little line that people don’t even think about, it means a lot,” Unten said. The Disney animation supervisor is responsible for helping create characters like Elsa, Bolt and Ralph from Wreck-it Ralph. Growing up, he related to characters in movies such as The Iron Giant (1999) and Kiki’s Delivery
NEWS | MARIJUANA
OC Weekly writer explores drug trade Students for Sensible Drug Policy host author of drug trade investigation ANDRES GARCIA Daily Titan
Award-winning investigative journalist and author Nick Schou spoke in the Titan Theater Tuesday to discuss his new book and experiences investigating the medical marijuana trade in California. Cal State Fullerton Students for Sensible Drug Policy hosted the event. Chapter President Larissa Sherwood said the group’s top priority is to educate students about harm reduction strategies, current drug policies and the drug war. Jonathan Taylor, a professor of geography, moderated the Q&A panel. Taylor teaches a “Geography of Illegal Drugs” course at CSUF to examine the spatial rates of production and
Daily Titan
Cal State Fullerton will be awarding eight teaching credential students with scholarships in an effort to increase the amount of special education teachers statewide. CSUF aims to catapult the recipients into preschool education, which is particularly suffering from a lack of special education teachers. The Department of Education has awarded a $1.25 million grant to CSUF thanks to Janice Myck-Wayne, Ph.D., who drafted the 50-page grant request to fund her brainchild, “Supporting Teachers Advancement and Retention,” or Project STAR. Project STAR plans to grant eight students a year with a two-year scholarship, to continue for the next four years, for a total of 32 students. California has been in a shortage of special education teachers since 1994, which has been further exasperated by the increasing number of infants and toddlers with special needs since 1997. Project STAR’s objective is to take select students in the Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) credential program and give them an opportunity to complete the preliminary program and other credentials as well. “It does fund the clearing of the credential which is normally an additional cost of thousands of dollars,” said Erica Borrowdale, one of the eight recipients of the STAR scholarship. “We’re receiving mentorship from awesome people which is going to be super helpful in professional development.” The scholarship goes beyond the fees for the credential program itself, aiming to relieve the financial burden of the majority of education-related services for grant recipients. The amount of money issued on the grant will break down over five years to $250,000 a year, with 65 percent of that going directly to student support, Myck-Wayne said. The money will pay for books, fees, parking, attendance at professional conferences and extra materials for seminars. “One of the cool things about the grant is that it will enable us to bring teachers from state preschools and the Head Start program in from those districts to do simultaneous training seminars with grant students,” Myck-Wayne said. The individuals who received the grant demonstrated a respect for diversity and a passion for teaching children with special needs.
dailytitan.com
distribution of illicit drugs. Schou’s book, The Weed Runners: Travels with the Outlaw Capitalists of Americans Medical Marijuana Trade encapsulates the 15-year history of cannabis in California. Taking a business approach when writing the book, Schou said he wanted to explore how the medical marijuana trade operates in the streets as a legitimate business. The book chronicles California’s Proposition 215, otherwise known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 which legalized the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes across the state. The failed Proposition 19 in 2010 would have legalized cannabis in the state. Schou said Proposition 19 was doomed by its own ambiguities and own inherent contradictions. “It was just a mess of a law,” he said. SEE DRUGS, 3
Service (1989). These films sparked his interest in animation. While taking general education classes at Cal State Long Beach, Unten thought about transferring to CSUF to pursue animation. His parents supported the decision, but were unsure about the job security as an art major. He lived in Torrance at the time and had to weigh the costs of transferring to a new school. “It was me that was saying,
‘This is what I want to do, but I can’t because its too big of a dream,’” Unten said. When Unten transferred to CSUF, he was met with other students who acquired the same passion for animation as he did. SEE ANIMATION, 6
JESSICA PINEDA / Daily Titan
Nick Schou, holding microphone, speaks with students about his new book and experiences investigating the medical marijuana trade.
DETOUR | COMICS
Festival celebrates all forms of literature The free three-day event presented screenwriters, authors and novelists CYNTHIA PLEITEZ For the Daily Titan
Comic book enthusiasts, writers, readers and film buffs gathered at the second annual Big Orange Book Festival (BOB) at Chapman University. The free three-day event, which drew in about 5,000 people, included several marquee presenters and panel discussions. The festival kicked off Friday with a screening of the book to film adaptation of The Princess Bride. Saturday’s all-day schedule was packed with poetry readings, California authors who write about their experiences in “the golden state,” paranormal writing and discussions on how to get published. But the highlight of the festival was a discussion led by Marvel Editor, Bill Rosemann, who was the final presentation of the night. Rosemann has worked with the industry’s leading creators and has edited and wrote titles starring Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Batman, and
the Avengers. Rosemann engaged the audience with his interpretation of the complex human problems and emotions each comic book character is faced with. “All good heroes and villains have a great origin story where something happens to them and changes them, where they have to make a decision of what to do with their life,” Rosemann said. He said anyone can relate to superheroes, despite their lack of immortality or powers. The fascination for fictional stories has grown. Rosemann said celebrities often visit the Marvel offices in New York and political figures, like President Barack Obama, find their sweet escape in comics as well. Rosemann’s impressive presentation was followed by a free screening of Marvel’s The Avengers (2012). Attendees were also welcome to meet and greet with established writers of various genres. Novelist Beverly Magid was one of the authors holding book signings at the event. She is the
author of Flying Out of Brooklyn, a novel about a woman’s experience in World War II-era Brooklyn, and Sown in Tears, a woman’s account during Russia’s horrific pogroms in 1905.
“People are more interested in what the young people are thinking today than they ever have been.” Beverly Magid Novelist
Magid, former publicist for Whoopi Goldberg, was the first person to interview John Lennon after he left The Beatles. “In terms of fiction writing
Students compete in long-distance swimming Economic warfare against Iran are not the answer DETOUR 6
The Foodie: Thai restaurant keeps Ethan’s tummy satisfied SPORTS 8
Volleyball to face tough weekend doubleheader FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @DAILY_TITAN
works from her third book, The Boss, told the audience that writing didn’t come naturally for her. When she was younger, she asked teachers, friends and anyone to provide her feedback so she could “become a better writer.” The BOB Festival also invited guests to download a free mobile app to view the schedule of the event’s presentation times and locations. The schedule for Sunday included a presentation by Kim Stanley Robinson, regarded as one of the most respected sciencefiction authors in the world, his Mars trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) was an international best-seller. Other highlights included a discussion entitled “Writing for and About TV.” The panel included David Iserson, who has written for New Girl and Saturday Night Live; Andrew Kaplan, author of bestselling book series Scorpion and Homeland; and John Vorhaus, the novelist behind The Texas Twist.
Police chase ends at Fullerton College
NEWS 2
OPINION 4
you have to have an idea, something that really grabs a hold of you, that you can wrap yourself around and not let go of and you have to not give up,” Magid said. With fiction, authors are limited to their own ideas. However, in non-fiction a writer can draw inspiration from anywhere, she said. “In journalism, then it’s really a matter of finding out what the newspaper is looking for,” Magrid said. “People are more interested in what the young people are thinking today than they ever have been. So, if you could bring a new perspective to either news or a lifestyle and offer the idea to them, that may get your foot in the door.” Getting a foot in the door is something all speakers at the BOB Festival touched on. The Golden State Poets panel featured live reading sessions from poets Victoria Chang, David Matlin and Jerome Rothenberg. They led a short question and answer opportunity after their readings. Victoria Chang, who read
SAMUEL MOUNTJOY A high-speed chase that led police through Los Angeles county ended in a Fullerton College parking lot Tuesday morning, according to the Orange County Register.
A Fullerton woman who had two children in her car failed to stop at a police perimeter set up around a suspicious package at a shopping center in San Pedro. Officers from multiple agencies chased the woman to Orange County on the 91 freeway, reaching speeds up to 115 mph. She exited the 57 freeway at Yorba Linda Boulevard and pulled into a Fullerton College parking lot at
10:08 a.m. Los Angeles Police Department arrested the woman on charges of felony evading and child endangerment. Her children were released to their grandparents. It is not clear if the woman is a student at the college but her car is registered to an address close to the college. She is not suspected to be connected to the suspicious item that prompted the perimeter, LAPD said. VISIT US AT: DAILYTITAN.COM