TUESDAY, M ARCH 18, 2014
Volume 95, Issue 27
Dim lights; save energy
New fee allocation
CSUF periodically dims lights to assist utility providers SASHA BELANI Daily Titan
Last month, when lights across campus dimmed for a day, students and faculty were puzzled and some joked that the university had forgotten to pay its electricity bill. But Cal State Fullerton’s bills aren’t past due. Lights were dimmed because CSUF enrolls in the Demand Response program with utility provider Southern California Edison (SCE) and EnerNOC, which is part of the university’s efforts to become better energy consumers.
Last Wednesday, the Student Fee Advisory Committee (SFAC) approved the Student Success Initiative (SSI), which would add a $181 per semester student fee to be implemented in the fall. Before it is officially implemented, the fee must be approved by President Mildred García, then by California State University Chancellor Timothy P. White. As initially proposed earlier this semester, the fee would have cost students $240.50 per semester. After 12 general open forum sessions and numerous other meetings with student organizations as well as online feedback, student input encouraged the SFAC to pare down the spending goals, resulting in the current fee of $181 per semester. The fee will be phased in over the next three years, starting at about $60 per semester in fall 2014 and reaching its final cost of $181 per semester in fall 2016.
Demand Response Demand Response (DR) is a voluntary program that companies and organizations can opt into to reduce energy consumption during peak hours to decrease the possibility of overworking energy grids. High-energy use periods mostly occur during the summer, especially during the hours of 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., said Lisa Hannaman, a SCE representative. “The whole idea behind DR is that a portfolio approach is better– you can balance out any underperformers with overperformers in the region and net 100 percent performance,” said Robin Deliso, an EnerNOC representative. EnerNOC specializes in helping businesses and organizations to increase energy efficiency and productivity. CSUF has partnered with Southern California Edison to be a part of DR since 2009. Hannaman said CSUF’s partnership is part of a year-long program. This means the university may be called upon at any time of the year to reduce its energy usage by dimming hallway lighting or switching off any non-essential lighting. There are different programs offered by SCE. Some include penalties for going over the energy use limit while others have benefits such as lower energy costs. SCE monitors the energy grids for potential problems, such as a generation plant going off line or demand exceeding forecasts. Such events mean demand needs to be reduced, and one way to do this is to dim or turn off lights. SEE ELECTRICITY, 3
illustration by BRANDON HICKS & MIKE TRUJILLO / Daily Titan
From stitching seams to grading papers Martha Webber left the fashion industry to teach English at CSUF CHRISTINA NGUYEN Daily Titan
Martha Webber, an assistant professor of English, leaves the door to her fourth-floor office in University Hall, which is located next to the elevator, wide open. She does this as an invitation for people to stop by and say “hello,” whether or not they are already an acquaintance. This matches Webber’s attitude toward new opportunities: open to change. This outlook has enabled Webber, who started her career in the fashion industry, to shift from stitching seams to grading papers, and from making measurements to studying rhetoric. The Virginia native discovered she enjoyed sewing in her high school years when she would make her own “Frankenstein” creations from a simple piece of cloth. Her budding interest led her to sign up for a sewing class at a local occupational center. After Webber realized she had a knack for fashion, she studied at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and received her associate’s degree. However, Webber began to feel turned off by some aspects of the industry after she worked for a fashion company.
ELEONOR SEGURA / Daily Titan Martha Webber, an assistant professor of English at Cal State Fullerton, encourages her students to think outside the box.
Webber eventually found she was interested in what happened to her work after it left her hands. She asked questions concerning the bigger picture of the costing sheet, which details the price of services needed to produce a garment in addition to the length of time and worker skill needed to complete it. She was often met with indifference. “I wanted to ask what was happening to my
pattern after it left my hands, and that at least in the work experiences, I found that those were questions people didn’t have time for or even perceived as hostile to their business model,” Webber said. Webber was concerned with humane practices and how her designs were being manufactured and was put off by a general lack of responsiveness to her interest in how the fashion industry and companies worked.
INSIDE
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @DAILY_TITAN
“I think what I realized was that on the whole, if I wanted to make an impact or affect change in the labor practices of the fashion industry, that it would be an uphill battle and it would be a really long struggle,” she said. As a result, Webber found her interest in the position at her fashion job waning, and because a part of her refused to give up, was unsure of her next step. However, she did know
that she always found solace in reading novels. That passion, along with the support of family and friends, convinced her to go back to school. The biggest encouragement came from her grandmother, who reached out to her normally positive and determined granddaughter to give her an extra push to follow her heart. SEE FASHION, 6
TWEETING IT OUT Professors take to Twitter, encouraging new teaching methods and interactions
MAJOR SPOTLIGHT CSUF theatre and dance students reflect on their experiences performing on stage
NEWS 2
FEATURES 6 VISIT US AT: DAILYTITAN.COM