INSIDE: Detour
Exclusive interview with Thrice, page 9
SPORTS: Women’s soccer versus Mexico, page 14 FEATURES: New Rocky Horror cast “Time Warps” through OC, page 5
Monday August, 31, 2009
Since 1960 Volume 85, Issue 2
The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton
Student questions Financial Aid office When asked about the students who have turned in all their forms on time and still have not received their financial aid, Jessica Schutte, Director of Financial Aid said, “They are more the exception than the rule ... but it is possible. I don’t want you to get the wrong impression; we’re human, we are dealing with a list of 18,000 students on aid. We are processing and processing and processing.” (An excerpt from ‘Financial aid head responds to student concerns’. Read the full story at DailyTitan.com)
Daily Titan’s new digs Dailytitan.com is running on new legs this semester. CoPress.org now hosts Dailytitan.com, which offers WordPress, an open-source content management system. This new software has given webmaster Chris Ullyott greater control over RSS feed services and third party integration to sites such as Facebook and Twitter. For example, visitors now have a “Stay-Connected” widget bar providing links to news feeds, podcasts and a subscription service to receive Daily Titan stories in their inbox. Under the previous host, College Publisher, the content management system did not offer the capabilities of open-source software. This restricted the site visually and technically. With WordPress, Ullyott was able to fundamentally adapt the software to fit the site design. Since the new site launched on Aug. 10, the bounce rate has dropped by 30 percent. Bounce rate is a web traffic analysis technique that calculates how many visitors “bounce” to another site shortly after arriving. With a more user-friendly system and greater linkage, visitors are sticking around longer and finding what they need.
CSUF rises in national ranking Cal State Fullerton rose from tenth to eighth in U.S. News & World Report’s annual “Top Public Schools: Masters Universities” in the west. Cal Poly Pomona and Sonoma State University were also ranked number 8. Public institutions that offer undergraduate, master’s degrees and few doctorates are placed in this category in the 2010 “America’s Best Colleges” edition. “We’re very proud of the fact that Cal State Fullerton ranks consistently in the top 10. This underscores our efforts to provide quality education,” said Dorota Huizinga, Associate Vice President of Graduate Programs and Research. (For the full story, go to DailyTitan.com)
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Dominguez Hills loses student voice Cal State Dominguez Hills is now the only public university in California without a student paper By Patrick Cowles
Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
In late July, the administration of Cal State Dominguez Hills decided to stop funding the student newspaper due to budget cuts, leaving the campus as the only public university without a student-run newspaper. The Department of Communications hopes the paper will be on hiatus only this year and return next fall, but budget proposals for funding the paper are still preliminary, said Ed Whetmore, Department of Communications Chair at CSUDH. CSUDH’s “Bulletin” had been without financial support from the university for two years. For the previous two school years the Bulletin had been funded by the Office of the President, along with help from Associated Students. Prior to this arrangement, the class received funding from the College of Arts and Humanities, said Whetmore. Although CSUDH has been quiet about the recent cancellation and hasn’t offered a public announcement as of yet, the Department of Communications expressed sadness over the loss of their paper. “I can’t tell you how many success stories we’ve had with this paper,” said Cathy Risling, adviser to the Bulletin. “Hopefully it’ll be back.” Risling also said the department had planned on adding a journalism focus to the curriculum soon, given the success writers attained through the Bulletin. Prior to the recent cancellation of
the Bulletin, the class worked as an elective to cover certain upper division writing classes for their communications majors, said Jim Sudalnik, professor of communications. Since CSUDH does not have a journalism focus, the class was not required for any student. Yet with an average of 10 to 20 students per semester enrolled, students will miss out on an opportunity to gain tangible work experience before entering their profession if they intend to become journalists, explained Risling. Journalism major Rafael Guerrero, 24, said getting a job within journalism would have been a lot harder without the Bulletin.” At CSUDH, Guerrero did a lot more news, which expanded his range of experience. Prior to transferring to CSUDH, Guerrero attended Cerritos College, where he only covered sports. Guerrero also had more room to write at CSUDH. At Cerritos, he would write one story an issue, but at CSUDH, he wrote two per issue. During his two semesters writing for the Bulletin, he accumulated between 20 and 30 clips. With these clips and advice from Lori Bashedo – who worked with “The Bulletin,” and currently works with the Orange County Register – Guerrero applied for an internship with the Register. He will begin covering high school football for them Sept. 4. Guerrero also expressed sadness over the cancellation of “The Bulletin.” He, however, remained sure that it would return. “It is indicative of the professional industry,” he said. “The Bulletin” was printed bimonthly on Wednesdays and totaled 16 issues per academic year. Although Dominguez Hills has been
Redefining the Line: Now Open
Cal State Fullerton’s Main Art Gallery has begun hosting a new art exhibit, “Redefining the Line Art Nouveau & the Female Figure,” which will run from Aug. 29-Oct. 2. This exhibit features graphic designs, illustrations and installation works in a successful merge of fine and commercial art. The exhibit boasts the best merge of traditional and digital media making it a widely acceptable and appreciated art form. (For the full story, see page 4)
See NEWSPAPER, Page 2
CSUF community reels from fee increases and pay cuts As CSU cuts the budget in response to the $564 million shortfall, students and faculty struggle in the wake of furlough days and class cancellations By Nicole Park
Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
The state budget crisis is just beginning to show its effects as the semester gets underway. These changes are not only financial and attitudinal among students, they are also taking their toll on the resources that students once had access to, which are now unavailable in an effort to trim the fat off of what is considered excess spend-
ing in the Cal State University’s budget. “The furlough days are affecting the quality of our education. We’re paying close to double the fees for having less than half the classes offered that were here previous semesters, classes some of us need to graduate,” psychology major and senior Antonio Ybanez,
23, said. Dr. Janet Eyring, chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, said that as a result of the budget deficiency, the program was forced to cut or rearrange many classes, and class-size was also raised by three students. “We have let go of 50 percent of our part-time faculty. We have lost 50 percent of our operating and equipment budget, and most of the faculty and staff are facing a 10 percent cut in salary.” Despite the loss of professors and classes offered, Dr. Eyring commended the teaching staff for its selflessness. “Even though students have
fewer choices, they would have had even fewer choices if faculty and staff had not agreed to go on furlough to buffer even worse budget cuts to classes and faculty covering them.” Budget cuts can be seen in other departments, like Communications, where just last semester students within the department could print using free supplies in the basement computer labs. This semester the TitanCard payment system has been installed. “I was really surprised when College Park began charging communications’ students for printing out documents. It has already made my academic life more in-
convenient and even more expensive, if that was ever possible,” public relations major Audrey Huynh, 23, said of the newly implemented fee. While some benefits of being a Titan may seem as if they’re disappearing with the funding, there are still some key features to campus life that continue to ensure students’ happy stay. Associated Students, Inc. Vice President Joseph Lopez explained that ASI is an auxiliary to the campus, which means that it generates its own funds, separate from the state. Because ASI is continuing See IMPACT, Page 2
STUDENT RESOURCES
‘Super seniors’ forced from nest
Cal State Fullerton offers a large variety of student resources designed to make your college experience run as smoothly as possible:
Those who have met the requirements for a degree may be asked to graduate
Student Information and Referral Center (UH 178) Clearly discernible by the large question mark on the door, the Student Information and Referral Center is in the business of answering questions, however inane they may be. “If you have a question and you don’t know where to start, come start with us because we’re pretty knowledgeable about the campus,” Serena Cline, senior coordinator for New Student programs said. The center is a veritable directory, she added. In addition, it is also home to New Student Programs, which hosts orientations and offers campus tours Monday through Friday. Study Abroad Office (UH 244) Host to students and scholars from around the world, the study abroad office not only caters to international students but also to many of CSUF’s own. The office is designed to help with every aspect of the study abroad process from raising funds to choosing a program. They offer a large number of workshops pertaining to every step in the study abroad process. “With so many study abroad options out there, this experience is definitely worth doing,” said Kathryn Morrissey, Study Abroad program assistant. There are several thousand study abroad programs in the world, one for everyone, added Morrissey. Veteran Student Services (LH 116) At a little older than a year, Veteran Student Services is a resource initiated and run by an Iraq war Continued on page 2
By Greg Lehman & Katelin Paiz Daily Titan Staff Writers news@dailytitan.com
In the face of California’s financial crisis, Cal State Fullerton is taking steps to graduate those who are often called “super seniors” or “educational loiterers” in an effort to make space for incoming students. In July of this year, the California State University Board of Trustees passed a new policy to ensure that individuals who have met the criteria for their majors graduate. The new policy states that the president from each CSU campus may prevent a student who has already met their major’s requirements from taking more classes. The president may require these “super seniors” to meet with an adviser who can assist them in the graduation process. Super seniors are undergraduate students who continue to accumu-
late units past 120 and have met lifetime hobby,” he said. the requirements for graduation, a Trotter also made it clear that memorandum from CSU Chancel- most students who have an excess lor Charles B. Reed, stated. of units need not worry about being Due to budget constraints, the forced out of school. The incidents CSU will lower its number of stu- that require university action are dent spaces from about 440,000 studied on a case-by-case basis and to 400,000, effectively making the are generally of a more extreme naspaces that “super seniors” take up, ture. an asset that the CSU can’t afford to The number of “super seniors” is in lose, Ed Trotter, the hundreds, Acting Associate estimated TrotVice President of ter. In a camUndergraduate pus of around Programs, said. 37,000 stu“We’re under dents, however, unprecedented a few hundred fiscal challenges,” is a very small said Trotter. “It percentage, he could really get added. – Ed Trotter, ugly if we don’t Some stuAssociate Vice President dents like Jake keep a cap on it of Undergraduate Programs in the fall.” Walton, a Trotter argues sophmore genthat for every eral engineerunit these “super seniors” take, other ing major, opposed the new regulastudents are denied a spot. “Some tion. “I don’t think they should be of these students think we’ve turned limited if they are paying for their on them, but we’ve provided them an education, just not necessarily a See Super Seniors, Page 2
“
Some of these students think we’ve turned on them, but we’ve provided them an education, just not necessarily a lifetime hobby.
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DTSHORTHAND