May 10, 2010
Vol. 87 Issue 49
Baseball sweeps another series Titans sit in first place with a conference record of 15-3 SPORTS, Page 8
MONDAY
Multimedia
Get wet, down and dirty by watching the rugby club’s CSUF Mud Run, at: www.dailytitan.com/mudrun10 Learn more about Autism and how it feels to live with Autism from the recent “Autism, Inclusion and Evidence-Based Practice” conference, only at:
www.dailytitan.com/autismconference
The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton
A ‘special’ quarter-century Cal State Fullerton hosted the 25th Annual Kathleen E. Faley Special Games
New Childrens’ Center due in December
By Christa Connelly/Daily Titan Photo Editor Rabbits and birds that currently live in the Childrens’ Center will make the transition to the new location.
By Melissa Maldonado
Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
By Stephanie yu/For the Daily Titan Lili, a student at Philip J. Reilly Elementary, Special Education School, Mission Viejo, throws the ball in the hoop as Servite High School volunteers cheer her on.
By Brenna Phillips
Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
Thousands of community members rushed to Cal State Fullerton’s soccer fields on May 7 to commemorate the 25th annual Kathleen E. Faley Special Games. Over the years, The Special Games have evolved into one of the largest non-competitive events for disabled students, with more than 7,000 participants this year, made up of 2,500 special athletes, 3,500 high school volunteers and 1,000 school staff and community members. “It’s a very fun day and a chance for people to become much more aware of the folks in our society and community that have these kinds of special needs,” said Paul Miller, director of Disabled Stu-
dent Services at CSUF. The CSUF Special Games began as a class project by three public relations students in 1986 and has become the second-longest running event on campus. The first event included 60 special athletes and the CSUF football team as its original volunteers. It was later renamed for volunteer Kathleen E. Faley, a CSUF alumna and a sister of one of the three PR students, after she died in a car accident. “The Faley family has really adopted the Special Games as their family event,” said Miller, who has been involved since the event’s beginning. “They are a huge anchor for all the community volunteers that have become involved. It’s a way of keeping Kathleen’s memory alive.” The event also drew in members from the fire department, police department and military – who brought along their fire engines and police cars
for the children to roam around in – and featured live music, clowns, Tuffy the Titan and a barbeque lunch. “This is a great example of the campus and community partnerships that are important to CSUF,” Miller said. “We really value the opportunity to do this.” As the special athletes arrived on campus, they were greeted by cheers and were then paired with one or two high school students, who spent the day participating in sports ranging from track to basketball. “This is our first time here. I wanted my children to have outreach and to see that life throws you punches and you need to do the best that you can,” said Diana Brandt, an 8th grade teacher at St. Angelo’s Junior High. See GAMES, Page 2
Art raises trafficking awareness
The Childrens’ Center construction site is well underway, despite setbacks from the winter season’s rain. The $8 million project began in November of 2009 and is expected to be completed Dec. 13 of this year. Underground plumbing and electrical conduit has been installed and the concrete was poured April 16. In 1996, the student government ran a referendum and students voted to add an additional $10 to the semester fee to budget for a new center for the children. “Eight of that $10 went to the building fund,” said Betsy Gibbs, director of the Children’s Center. “However, as the fund grew, inflation took its toll, so even when the fund grew to $6 million, the cost of the building was outstripping it. We had to borrow the rest from ASI and we’ll have to repay them within the first years of operation. We did not do any external funding and we did not get any significant donations.” The Childrens’ Center, which has been assisting student parents since 1971, is currently in temporary buildings. See CENTER, Page 2
Vietnamese culture featured
By Allie Mosier & Brenna Phillips Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
Project P.A.T.H.E. hosted the “Look Beneath the Surface” benefit May 7 in the Titan Student Union to raise awareness about human trafficking. “Our main goal is to spread awareness about human trafficking, help out people who have been trafficked and find preventive mechanisms to solve the problem,” said Karina Gutierrez, president of Project People Against Trafficking and Human Exploitation The total profits of human trafficking are estimated to be at least $32 billion per year, and has surpassed drugs and weapons trafficking, according to the International Labor Organization. “It’s such a huge problem, and most individuals don’t realize that we still have slavery in our world,” Gutierrez said. “We actually have more slaves today than ever before in history.” The event included two speakers, food, live music and a silent auction featuring art from former Project P.A.T.H.E. members. The presentations were by Sandie Morgan, the founder of the OC Human Trafficking Task Force, and Jeffrey Kottler, professor of counseling at Cal State Fullerton. Each described their individual work with victims of sex trafficking. “I saw Dr. Kottler’s workshop at the Women Against Violence Conference and it was very powerful,” Gutierrez said. “I was able to see that the money
By Michael Arellano/Daily Titan Staff Writer Vietnamese students shared their culture as they strung out traditional melodies on their Dan Buas and Dan Nguyet. By brenna phillips/Daily Titan Staff Writer Project P.A.T.H.E. members donate their art for the benefit’s silent auction. The project aims to inform about the growth of human trafficking and its negative role as modern day slavery.
does go directly to the girls and that’s what pushed me into deciding that the proceeds will be going to him.” More than 80 percent of the proceeds from the benefit will be donated to Kottler’s Empower Nepali Girls Foundation, which aims to prevent sex trafficking by educating potential sex trafficking victims and keeping them in school through scholarships. Currently, 103 Nepali girls are being supported by Kottler’s foundation and are being provided with the means to improve their written literacy, computer literacy and prepare themselves for a university education. “So many girls are dependent on our ongoing support,” Kottler said. “We’re trying to change this culture to value girls. I want people to know that it’s easy to make a difference and start your own mission or movement to help people.” Kottler explained in his presentation that it only takes $100 to pay for a Nepali child’s education, which
is a key component to stop girls as young as 8 yeas old from being sold into slavery. All of the donations he receives are used to support the girls and Kottler encourages those who are skeptical about donating money to travel with him to Nepal. “The goal is that we’re trying to touch people’s hearts – not just touch the hearts of girls but that the girls will touch the hearts of volunteers,” Kottler said. “There’s nobody who goes to Nepal that returns the same person.” The foundation is recruiting volunteers to help support the current 103 girls and is hoping to add another 20 girls to the scholarship fund this year. For more information about volunteering visit www.empowernepaligirls.org “I feel empowered and I want to go with Dr. Kottler to Nepal now,” said Shelly Villalobos, a 22-yearold sociology major. “This event has really opened up my eyes.”
By Michael Arellano
Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
Lion dancers, Opera singers and martial art specialists were only a few of the acts that Cal State Fullerton’s Vietnamese Student Association recruited to bring in a massive crowd at the 22nd annual Vietnamese Culture night. “When I was elected, I had a vision,” said VSA President Vu Nguyen. “My vision was to bring together the club and community in order to tie everyone together.” Vu’s vision led to VSA’s decision to host the event at Westminster’s Rose Center Theater May 7 because of its proximity to the Vietnamese community in Orange County. The main purpose of the event was to show that CSUF students support the community and have an interest in creating relationships with its members, Vu said. CSUF has, by far, the largest Vietnamese student population in the United States, and its proximity to Little Saigon makes it an ideal university for this community, Vu said. See VIETNMESE, Page 2