THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014
Volume 95, Issue 6
Cooper Center to honor Darwin 205th birthday commemoration to celebrate naturalist ASHLEN DOMINGUEZ Daily Titan
On Monday, the Cooper Center will host a celebration at Cal State Fullerton honoring the 205th birthday of naturalist and geologist Charles Darwin, known for his groundbreaking work on evolutionary theory. Faculty and students are invited to join in and celebrate the scientist’s birthday and all he has contributed to modern-day science and biology. This event is also open to the general public. Doors will be open from 3 to 5 p.m. and the event will be held Saturday in the Portola Pavilion in the Titan Student Union. Event officials are expecting as many as 200 guests, including Cal State Fullerton students involved in anthropology, geology and biology programs on campus. There will be three short presentations, a discussion period, a Darwin design contest and birthday cake for all attendees. Jere Lipps, Ph.D., director of the Cooper Center, will present “Darwin Voyaging ‘Round the World on the Beagle,” which will give attendees an insight on the famous voyage where Darwin learned most of what he knew. Following Lipps, James R. Hofmann, chair and professor of liberal studies at CSUF will present “Darwin and Evolutionary Thought.” Marianne Waters, a professor of anthropology at El Camino College, will present “Darwin and the Human Condition.” “Darwin had a lot to say about people,” Lipps said. The Cooper Center will also be judging a Darwin-themed design, applicants are encouraged to submit their best Darwin-inspired art. The deadline for submissions is Saturday and they are hoping to have the winners chosen in time for the event so that they can be honored during the celebration. Some of the designs may be used in the future for things like presentations, T-shirts, posters, galleries or even on their official website, Lipps said. Winners and their chosen guests will receive a private tour of the Cooper Center for Archeology and Paleontology Curation, which is otherwise closed to the public. SEE DARWIN, 3
As currently proposed, the Student Success Initiative would allocate funds as follows, per semester:
Student opinions divided on Student Success Initiative fee SAMUEL MOUNTJOY & MATTHEW MEDINA Daily Titan
This week, the university has begun collecting student feedback on the proposed Student Success Initiative through open forums to be held at both campuses. The initial proposal for the Student Success Initiative would require Cal State Fullerton students to pay an additional $240.50 per semester, a charge that would be phased in over three years. The additional revenue would be used to improve the campus’ student spaces, advising and athletics facilities. Student input will help determine if the spending plan should be retooled. The university has communicated the forums through email notifications, CSUF news posts and on a recently launched website at Success. Fullerton.edu. Some students have expressed concern that their money would be put to better use funding their personal educational experience, as opposed to being used to make up for a lack of funding by the state. Max Chen, a human communications major, said if he were to attend an open forum, he would say fees should not be increased. “What would I do with this money? I would buy books,” Chen said. “Books are obviously pretty expensive and some of my
BRANDON HICKS & MIKE TRUJILLO / Daily Titan
classes require buying extra materials.” “Students are already struggling in school. A lot of them are in debt. We don’t need to have more pressure on students,” he said. Some groups on campus are against charging students more for any reason. Members of the CSUF branch of Students for Quality Education (SQE) have been vocal in their opposition to the new fee, asking the ASI Board of Directors to take a pledge against it as the board met Tuesday. They also plan to stage a letter-writing campaign to Gov. Jerry Brown on
campus next week. Carie Rael, a 26-yearold history graduate student, has been involved with SQE on campus since 2011. She said the organization is opposed to student fee increases, and CSUF should look to California State University Chancellor Timothy White and state government for additional funding. “This is a public university, so you need to be looking at public means, not the private pockets of students in order to make up this pay gap,” Rael said. “And if they’re not lobbying hard enough, then they’re not doing their job.” Rael said students are not getting enough time
to attend open forums and share their input, especially on a commuter campus. Renae Bredin, Ph.D., an associate professor of women and gender studies, also said she disagrees with the fee. She said she feels the university should not be looking to students to fund the university. “I think it’s really a matter of priorities,” Bredin said. “Priorities, not just in CSUF but in other places, have shifted in such a way that disadvantages the educational enterprise for students and advantages the administrative and commercial side of higher education.” She said she disagrees
with the specifics of the initial proposal for usage of the revenue from the fee, such as spending on athletics and the Wi-Fi network. “All of these things should be being paid for out of the general annual budget for CSUF, and not rolled into some special fee that is actually just an increase in tuition,” Bredin said. Jeffrey Cook, CSUF’s chief communications officer, said the Student Success Initiative is one of a variety of moves the university is taking to increase funding. SEE FEE, 3
Student shares the journey of commuting to school For years, the senior rode a train and bus to campus from LA ELIZABETH MUÑOZ Daily Titan
Stepping onto a huge campus seemed like entering a foreign country to me three years ago. Cal State Fullerton was a place where I didn’t know anybody. I had no place of my own. I wandered around campus aimlessly, encompassed by people who seemed to have a sense of direction. I must have seemed like a tourist from the
MARIAH CARRILLO / Daily Titan Cal State Fullerton senior, Elizabeth Muñoz, 22, has finally obtained a license and car to drive the 30 miles from her home.
confused look on my face. I occasionally looked down at my incomprehensible campus map.
I was a freshman and a commuter student. I didn’t live the typical college experience because I
made the decision to live at home, 30 miles away in Los Angeles. I told myself living at home would be more convenient. However, it was a mask I put on. I was afraid of the unknown and being alone in a strange place. I commuted by train from Los Angeles to Fullerton since I did not have a car. Although CSUF is considered a commuter school, most freshmen who live on or off campus get involved by joining a club or making new friends. But I felt like an outsider. I saw other students, but my timid nature kept my lips shut and I continued
in solitude. For a year, I commuted to school by train and bus. I spent the half-hour train ride with my head in books or with my face pressed against the glass window, drool dripping down my chin as I slept. At times, I woke in panic; fearful that I missed my stop. My almost daily commute became second nature. I would step off the train in downtown Fullerton and wait for the bus. It wasn’t long before my routine of taking two buses, the train and walking was embedded in my brain. SEE COMMUTING, 6
INSIDE DRIVING TO CSUF Commuters describe the cars they drive to get to and from Cal State Fullerton FEATURES 5 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @DAILY_TITAN
BASEBALL BEGINS No. 4 Titans hope to make a return to the College World Series for their fifth title SPORTS 8 VISIT US AT: DAILYTITAN.COM