May 12, 2010
Vol. 87 Issue 51
Review: Iron Man 2
Marvel franchise strikes box office gold with action-packed comic book sequel DETOUR, Page 7
WEDNESDAY
Breaking the News:
Students continue to suffer the effects of budget cuts with increased tuition OPINION, Page 8
Multimedia
Man on the street: Find out how other students feel about the repeat course fee at: www.dailytitan.com/repeatfee
The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton
Unlikely indie actor plays Marvel villain
Hispanic graduate rates rise Cal State Fullerton named no. 1 in the state and 5th in the nation for Hispanic graduates by The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine
Black (3.48%) 3%
American Indian Alaska Native 25 > 1%
White (31.66%) 30.89%
Two or more races Non-Hispanic 1.41%
Non-Resident Alien (4.44%) 4.62%
Asian/Pacific Islander (21.73%) 21.02%
Unknown 665 10% Black 195 3%
Asian/Pacific Islander 1,444 22% Hispanic 1,634 Non-Resident 25% Alien 276 4%
Ethnic Distribution of 2008-09
Fall 2009 Ethnic Distribution
Bachelorʼs Degree Recipients (6,580 degress)
* (First day of classes 8/24/2009)
Graphic by Bianca de la rosa /Daily Titan Design Editor
Hispanic (28.13%) 30.59%
American Indian Alaska Native (0.54%) 0.41%
White 2,341 36%
* Beginning in fall 2009 applicants were able to identify themselves as multi-racial. 106 of the 503 students claiming two or more races reported Black plus another race (0.3 percent of the University total.) photo Courtesy David Shakbone Actor Sam Rockwell attends the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival in Manhattan, N.Y.
By Brittny Ulate
Daily Titan Detour Editor detour@dailytitan.com
Veteran actor Sam Rockwell, whose early film credits include a role in The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as the head thug, to more mature films including Choke and Frost/Nixon in 2008, took time from promoting his latest role in the blockbuster hit Iron Man 2 as Tony Stark/Iron Man’s nemesis Justin Hammer, to take part in a conference call with college journalists and answer some of their questions. Rockwell, who has flown under the Hollywood radar, provides an insightful look into the production of Iron Man 2 and teases as to what might be coming up in theaters over the next few months. Is it freeing for you, as an actor, to get to create your own version of the character because he’s so different in the comics? He’s a lot older and he’s British. Yes. Yes, it was – I mean, it was very – I mean, you know, Favreau really let me kind of just be myself and do my thing, you know. We were never going to try to do the ascot British accent thing. See IRON, Page 5
New fees for repeat classes By Brian Zbysenski and Brenna Phillips Daily Titan Staff Writers news@dailytitan.com
Starting in the fall 2010 semester, students who retake Cal State Fullerton courses a third time or more will be charged a new fee. In an e-mail in late April from the Admissions and Records Service Center, students who have to repeat a course three consecutive times will be assessed a $250 charge per unit in addition to the normal tuition fees. “It was federal stimulus money that was used to allow us to offer additional courses in the spring to make it possible for more students to get the classes that they needed,” said Paula Selleck, senior communications officer of public affairs. “Part of the budget reductions meant that we had to reduce the number of courses offered. This looks like one more way to try and make it possible for students who need the courses to get them.” In the 2009 Fall semester, there were 897 seats occupied by students who were taking the classes for the third time or more, Selleck said. Most of the classes were math related. “Students pay less than one-third of the full cost of their education and tax payers and donors pay the rest,” Selleck said. “The question is, at what point should the state be paying for students who repeat courses?” In addition to making more courses available to students, this new fee may encourage students to work harder in passing their courses. See FEES, Page 2
By Victoria Graciano
Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
Cal State Fullerton was honored by The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine for awarding the highest number of degrees to Hispanic students out of any university in California. CSUF was first in the state and fifth in the nation, moving up from last year’s second and sixth place rankings. CSUF has finished either first or second in the state since 2005. The 2009 rankings were published in the magazine’s “Top 100 Colleges for Hispanics,” containing data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. “This is great recognition, but we have more work ahead of us,” said Elizabeth Suarez, the Chicana and Chicano Resource Center Coordinator. Suarez, who expects the number of awarded degrees to keep growing, strongly believes that a change must be made. While growing up, Suarez was told she was, “the exception.” Now that she is a coordinator for Chi-
canos and Chicanas at CSUF, she explained that the goal is to change the mindset of people who believe that Hispanics are the exception and to replace it with, “being the rule” that all succeed. “We need to do a better job of attracting more Hispanics to the schools,” Suarez said. CSUF reported that Hispanics consist of 29 percent of the overall population of 32,611 students. This statistic should be higher, said Suarez, considering CSUF’s location in Southern California, which is considered a predominantly Hispanic community. While going to school, Suarez said her mother was always very encouraging and was a great role model. She laughs when she remembers that her mother always knew where she was, “I am going to the library,” Suarez would tell her mother. Suarez grew up in a home where school came first and encourages all parents to be role models. For CSUF student Imelda Zapata, a Chicano studies major, growing up was a bit more challenging. “My family is not familiar in how the college education system works,” Zapata said. Zapata grew up in Venice Beach, where she says
there were very few Chicanos. “My elementary music teacher was my mentor growing up, and I still keep in touch with him,” Zapata said. She is the oldest of five siblings and is proud to be a role model for her younger brothers and sisters. “They’ll see through me,” she said. Zapata is proud to announce that she will revive the Chicano/Chicana Student Studies Association club, (Chochassa). She, along with other Chicano studies majors, will reinstate the Chochassa club to give others the opportunity to meet people and be influenced by accomplished members. “I took advantage of financial aid,” Zapata said in regards to how she managed to pay for school. Zapata is a senior and will be graduating next spring, and is the first to graduate in her family and believes she is setting the standard, at least in her home, that if she succeeds they can all succeed. CSUF Vice President of Academic Affairs Ephraim Smith anticipates the percentage of graduating Hispanics to go up with every up coming semester. “I think this spring we can expect that percentage to rise,” Smith said.
Chancellor Reed keeps quiet on Palin contract By gina Baxter
Daily Titan Staff Writer
and donald C. stefanovich
Daily Titan News Editor news@dailytitan.com
The controversy surrounding Sarah Palin’s speech at Cal State Stanislaus has erupted into a full-blown political scandal spurring Attorney General Jerry Brown to launch a formal investigation and a lawsuit to be filed in Superior Court by Californians Aware, a watchdog group targeting government transparency. The latest wave of allegations comes surrounding emails released by Cal State Stanislaus revealing that its Chancellor Charles Reed ordered the secrecy of Palin’s speaking contract, including the fee she is receiving, to supposedly avoid media scrutiny. “We have seen many questionable activities in the
California State University, especially involving the foundations and other auxiliaries,” said California Faculty Association President Lillian Taiz in a statement Tuesday. “But even we are stunned to learn that CSU Chancellor Charles Reed himself made the decision to cover up the amount of the speaker fee being paid to Sarah Palin by the CSU Stanislaus Foundation. The chancellor’s intimate involvement in avoiding public information requests made under state law because of his fear of negative publicity is a shocking demonstration of poor judgment and questionable leadership.” Last month, San Francisco Sen. Leland Yee requested information regarding Palin’s speaking fee for the university, only to be denied by university officials, who stated that the Washington Speakers Bureau, the private foundation who had contracted Palin for the appearance was
photo Courtesy MCT Sarah Palin gives her gobernatorial resignation speech during a ceremony at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Sunday, July 26, 2009.
not required by the California Public Records Act to divulge the information. Furthermore, University officials claimed that the documents Sen. Yee requested did not exist. In the newly released e-mails between Chancellor Reed and Bernie Swain, chairman of the Washington Speakers Bureau, Swain ad-
vises Reed not release the figures as they will “Only serve as the financial headline for a new round of stories rather than the intended purpose of clearing the air and making the stories go away.” In his response to Swain and other CSU officials, Reed concurred. “More and more evidence is demonstrating a clear
violation of the public records act by CSU officials, and now there is proof that Chancellor Reed was complicit in it,” said Yee in a statement Tuesday. “Chancellor Reed and President Shirvani were more concerned with covering up an embarrassing story than complying with state law.” See PALIN, Page 4