W EDNESDAY, M ARCH 19, 2014
Volume 95, Issue 28
Raising interest in science, math 11th annual NSMICC symposium will showcase research DENA HAMEDANI Daily Titan
MARIAH CARRILLO / Daily Titan Ingrid Garner, 21, a senior theatre arts major, is transforming her grandmother’s non-fiction book about surviving Nazi Germany as a young American girl into a one-hour monoplay, which she will be taking to theater festivals overseas.
Memoir given new life
Student brings grandmother’s inspiring story to the stage SONAM MIRPURI Daily Titan
Cal State Fullerton student Ingrid Garner is preparing to take her grandmother’s struggle to the stage in a captivating show about an American girl and her family’s determination to survive in Nazi Germany during World War II. Garner, 21, a theatre arts major, is adapting her grandmother Eleanor Ramrath Garner’s book, into a one-woman play. Written as a memoir in a non-fiction book, Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany, is about Eleanor’s life as an American girl surviving in Hitler’s regime. The adaptation, which is still in the writing process, is being drafted almost exclusively by Garner. Not only is she writing the play,
but she is also acting each role. At 9 years old, Eleanor and her family moved from the United States to Germany during the Great Depression. She hoped for an Allied victory, yet for years was forced to survive under the Allied bombs shattering her neighborhood. Her family dealt with separations, starvation, the fierce battle for Berlin and the terrors of Soviet occupancy, according to the inside panel of the book jacket. Producing a monodrama, can be difficult, but Garner said she is looking forward to portraying her grandmother. She has the unique challenge of playing her father, mother, brother and various other people her grandmother interacted with. SEE ADAPTATION, 5
Courtesy of Peachtree Publishers Eleanor Ramrath Garner authored Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany, which is being adapted into a play.
With the campus buzzing in anticipation for scientist Bill Nye’s appearance on campus Thursday, the Natural Science and Mathematics Interclub Council (NSMICC) hopes to take advantage of the excitement with two days of science and research presentations. The NSM-ICC will present its 11th annual Science and Mathematics Symposium, to be held Wednesday and Thursday in the Titan Student Union. Students and professors will present their research, encouraging all attendees to rethink math and science. Each year, the symposium provides students who have received funding to present their research to the CSUF community. Students attending conferences receive funding through NSM-ICC by a majority vote. NSM-ICC also extends an invitation to organizations of other disciplines outside of science and mathematics departments to partake in the research opportunity. The theme, “Explorations in Citizen Science,” is meant to help generate interest among students and faculty members from all disciplines at CSUF; not only math and science majors. Shawn Robison, a senior geology major and director of administration for NSM-ICC, emphasized the importance of cross discipline for this year’s Symposium theme. “(Citizen science) is science for the general public,” Robison said. “Which is why it’s such a good theme for cross discipline this year. Someone over in communications can come and maybe not be so lost.” For Bobby Wright, a
SYMPOSIUM • Theme: “Explorations in Citizen Science” • 16 student oral presentations, 37 student research poster presentations • 5 faculty lectures • Keynote by Bill Nye “The Science Guy” • Subjects include: - Mathematics - Biology - Chemistry - Psychology - Physics • Events start at noon Wednesday and Thursday in TSU physics major and chair of NSM-ICC, seeing the symposium come to life is sure to feel like a huge accomplishment. He has been heavily involved with fundraising, collaboration and logistics leading up to the event. In addition to all the pre-show festivities, Wright will also be hosting the events. “I will be the emcee for the student and faculty research,” Wright said. “I eagerly look forward to introducing speakers and being a part of something bigger than I am.” Sally Padayao, a biochemistry major and chemistry and biochemistry club member, has also been a big part of the logistics committee for NSM-ICC. Like many other CSUF students, Padayao is most excited about having Bill Nye give his keynote live on campus. SEE SYMPOSIUM, 2
Children’s author inspired by social issues Writer explores civil rights struggles, migrants’ hardships NICOLE WEAVER Daily Titan
If Dr. Seuss, who was known for making political statements in his work, was still writing books today, he would probably address issues of social justice. Luckily, there is a new name emerging from the world of children’s books who is incorporating issues such as immigration, desegregation and equality into his stories. Duncan Tonatiuh, an award-winning author and illustrator, spoke Tuesday afternoon in the Pollak Library about his work in writing children’s books,
ELEONOR SEGURA / Daily Titan Separate is Never Equal, the latest book from Duncan Tonatiuh, is a retelling of the legal fight to end segregation in California public schools in the mid-1940s.
and the success he has had with the stories he chooses to tell. Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote is one of Tonatiuh’s books that deals with many
of the tragic issues facing migrants. The story follows a cartoon rabbit named Pancho, who illegally comes to the United States from Mexico.
Pancho is searching for his father, who left to find work in the “great carrot and lettuce fields” but never returned. Along the way, Pancho
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meets a coyote, which has a double meaning because “coyote” is slang for smugglers who sneak people across the border for money. The two ride a train, cross a river, pay off threatening snakes with tortillas to crawl through a tunnel and then cross the desert to a tiny hut. “It also talks about the dangerous journey that migrants go through to reach the United States and the separation that exists between families,” Tonatiuh said. Tonatiuh, a dual citizen of the United States and Mexico, did not write the story from his personal experiences. However, the story is relevant to the struggles of many migrants Tonatiuh knew in Mexico and also those he met while living in the United States.
The story, Tonatiuh said, is a tribute to all the Central American people from Guatemala and Honduras, who travel across Mexico for thousands of miles to reach the border. As they do so, they sometimes resort to dangerous solutions, such as traveling on top of trains. Tonatiuh also includes metaphors for dehydration, vigilante groups and organized crime, which are all issues immigrant workers face as they attempt to travel through the deserts. An estimated 500 migrants who die every year are identified by family members, but that number could be a lot higher if it included all those who died without being claimed. SEE AUTHOR, 3
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