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STATE | Trustees vote
Board votes for tuition increase if Prop. 30 fails Trustees postpone vote to charge “super seniors” extra fee at meeting Wednesday DOMINIQUE ROCKER Daily Titan
In a two-day meeting Tuesday and Wednesday, the CSU Board of Trustees passed two parts of a resolution that is contingent on the outcome of Proposition 30, but postponed a third. The first would roll back the most recent 9-percent tuition hike should Proposition 30 pass in November. However, the second part would increase tuition by $150 per semester should Proposition 30 fail. This plan was discussed in great detail and approved by the Committee of Finance on Tuesday. The Board voted Wednesday to
pass the resolution with minimal discussion. The third resolution, which was postponed until the November meeting, deals with three specific fee increases, such as the “super senior fee” that would require students to pay an additional sum if they exceed 150 total units. A second fee under the third resolution would be for those who repeat a course. The Committee on Finance Agenda proposed a $100 fee per unit for those students who choose to retake a course. This fee, stated the agenda, “is intended to lead students to make careful decisions with regards to repeating a course.” Many of the board members discussed reasons that students would need to retake a course. Concern was expressed that many students retake a course they do not necessarily need in order to improve their
grade-point average. Not all members agreed, however. “Are we trying to change behavior, or increase revenue?” questioned board member Lupe Garcia. Acting Chancellor Charles Reed argued that his previous attempts to modify behavior have not been working and that this fee is necessary to try to garner success. Yet Garcia still expressed concerns over the need to charge students in order to change the behavior. An agreement was not met. The last fee under the third resolution is referred to as the “third-tier fee.” In addition to the split between students who take six units or less and those that take seven or more, this resolution would introduce a third fee for those students that take more than 17 units. SEE TRUSTEES, 3
WILLIAM CAMARGO / Daily Titan
CSU presidents attended the board meeting to hear the decisions that will impact their respective campuses when Proposition 30 is decided on in November.
CITY COUNCIL CLEARS KELLY THOMAS OF THEFT
SPORTS | Conference play
Volleyball starts Big West conference play Friday
The Titans welcome the No. 2 ranked Hawaii and Cal State Northridge JUSTIN ENRIQUEZ Daily Titan
PETER PHAM / Daily Titan
Police come clean
A bystander holds a portrait of Kelly Thomas at the Fullerton City Council meeting. Many were in attendance to hear the rulings.
Accusations of theft by Kelly Thomas have finally been put to rest. PETER PHAM Daily Titan
Tensions were high at the Fullerton City Hall Tuesday night as members of the community awaited the City Council meeting said to clear the name of Kelly Thomas, the Fullerton homeless man that was violently beaten and died as a result of an altercation with Fullerton police officers. The council chambers were divided as the community poured in. The left side of the room was filled with supporters of the Fullerton Police Department, sporting bright blue shirts with the words “We <3 Fullerton Police.” On the right side of the room sat Ron Thomas, father of Kelly Thomas, with family friends and others who wore white shirts that read “We <3 the People.” Thomas anticipated Fullerton Police clearing Kelly’s name of any wrongdoing.
“Fullerton police came out, through their spokesperson Sgt. Goodrich, and said that Kelly was breaking into cars,” said Thomas. “The officers broke bones during what they call an altercation with him, I call it a brutal beating (and) death.” The officers said that Kelly Thomas had stolen property on him in a stolen backpack, which Ron Thomas maintained was not true. Acting Police Chief of the Fullerton Police Department Dan Hughes stood in front of the council and spoke. “On the night of July 5, 2011, Kelly Thomas was in possession of a backpack,” said Hughes. “Inside that backpack was the passport, a computer tablet, mail addressed to an attorney and keys to a Lexus vehicle. None of these items belonged to Kelly Thomas.” It was later learned after the date of the incident, that the owner of the backpack
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inadvertently left his backpack in a public place and that the keys, the passport, and the computer tablet belonged to the owner of that backpack, he said. “There is no evidence of which the Fullerton Police Department is now aware that Kelly Thomas stole the backpack or it’s contents,” Hughes said. On July 5, 2011, the Fullerton Police Department received a report from a citizen who told Fullerton Police that she observed Kelly Thomas trying to break into vehicles, Hughes said. The call from the citizen was the only call the Fullerton Police received with the observation. “With the exception of this report, there is no evidence of which the Fullerton Police Department is now aware that Kelly Thomas actually tried to steal anything from any of the vehicles in the lot,” Hughes said. SEE CLEARED, 2
The Cal State Fullerton women’s volleyball team (6-7) looks to earn a great start in Big West Conference action as they take on conference foes Cal State Northridge and the University of Hawaii at home. This will begin 18 straight games against in-conference opponents until the end of the season. The Titans will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing 1-3 record in the Fullerton Classic tournament they hosted. The Titans played twice both days of the tournament, which was Friday and Saturday, Sept. 14 and 15. On Friday, the tournament started off on the right foot as the Titans opened with a sweep of Brown University 3-0 (30-28, 2515, 25-18). The Titans were led by senior middle-blocker Kayla Neto and junior right-side hitter Leah Best who tied for a match-high 12 blocks. Sophomore setter Julie Consani also had a match-high 37 assists in the game. It was their fourth sweep of the year. The momentum of this sweep
did not last through the tournament as they lost the following three games. Later on that evening, the Titans lost to the San Diego State Aztecs, 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-17, 25-15) for a split on the day. Junior outside hitter Bre Moreland had the strongest performance for the Titans with 16 kills. Senior defensive specialist Gabrielle Dewberry also contributed to the game with 18 digs. However, the Titans were unable to gain any offensive rhythm as they had a hitting percentage of .108. On Saturday, the second day of the classic started out with a highly competitive matchup between CSUF and the Santa Clara Broncos. The Broncos came from behind to take the final two sets and the match 3-2 (11-25, 25-22, 16-25, 25-23, 15-9). Neto racked up 14 kills, Moreland had 13, Consani dropped four service aces, and Dewberry totaled 30 digs but it wasn’t enough. Santa Clara performed with a .500 attacking percentage compared to .053 by the Titans that proved to be the difference in the final set of the match. SEE VOLLEYBALL, 8
LOCAL | Late night lights
Newer traffic lights malfunction at night Lights delay late-night commuters from 30 seconds to five minutes RAYMOND MENDOZA Daily Titan
Catching all the green lights on a daily commute is a rare occurrence, since Southern California usually has a healthy flow of bad traffic. However, motorists are noticing they get stuck at red lights for long periods in the evening even when streets are empty. Faulty traffic lights can mean the difference between waiting a normal and tolerable 30 seconds before getting green lights and being stuck
at red lights for minutes at a time. One such driver is 21-year-old communication disorders major, Danielle Hebrona. Hebron has had trouble with traffic lights in the Fullerton and Anaheim area. She has even said to have tried moving her car in order to trigger a green light by resetting her car position. “I’ve been sitting in light around (Fullerton), and sometimes they won’t turn (green),” said Hebron. “I’ve had to back up and try to set off the sensor. Sometimes that will work and sometimes that won’t... It usually happens late at night.” SEE LIGHTS, 2