INSIDE: DETOUR Red carpet fashion breakdown, page 6
SPORTS:
Titan ice hockey to face USC in third match of season, page 8
FEATURES:
Controversial literature barred from libraries are honored, page 3
OPINION:
U.S. considers subsidizing newspapers, page 4 Thursday September 24, 2009
Since 1960 Volume 85, Issue 12
The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton
The day higher education died By Patrick Cowles
Daily Titan Asst. News Editor news@dailytitan.com
Photos By Shruti Patel/Daily Titan Photo Editor Above: BagpiperTucker Fleming led the procession of pallbearers and casket from the hearse to the funeral service on Sept. 23 outside of the CSU Chambers. Top Right: After about 200 students and faculty dropped their flowers and “hopes and dreams” inside the casket, they stood behind the casket to commemorate a day that will forever be in their memories. Right: Crowds of students and faculty members stood in union as they listened to fellow comrades speaking their minds on how the CSU has died with their broken dreams and hopes of the future. Below: Mourners display their grief over the loss of higher education.
Fog descended upon Downtown Long Beach the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 23. Under the same skies, faculty and students of the Cal State University system laid to rest their hopes and dreams for higher education in California. In a mock funeral for California’s master plan for higher education, Cal State Long Beach faculty and students organized an event to protest the CSU Board of Trustees and state legislators’ poor administrative and legislative leadership which has led to class cancellations, fee increases and furlough days, as stated in faculty and student speeches. “We are witnessing the systematic dismantling of California’s master plan for higher education,” said Teri Yamada, president of the Long Beach chapter of the California Faculty Association and professor of Asian and Asian American studies at CSULB. Around 11 a.m., a hearse carrying a coffin filled with a mannequin dressed in a graduation gown arrived at the CSU chancellor’s office. It proceeded directly to the funeral grounds at the outside lobby of the office building, which had 50 posts
Visit DailyTitan.com/mockfuneralcsu for more
Featured on the Daily Titan Web site alongside this story is video from the event. Log on to watch footage of the protesters arriving in the hearse, carrying the casket representing ‘California’s Master Plan for Higher Education’, and blocking the doors to the CSU Chancellors office in Long Beach. Over 200 protesters turned up at the event carrying placards and banners mourning the ‘death’ of the CSU’s plan for higher education.
representing a thousand students who were denied admission to a CSU this academic year. With four pallbearers carrying the casket, a cavalcade of black-clad students and faculty formed a procession toward the chancellor’s office. Bagpiper Tucker Fleming led the “mourners” with the sounds of “Amazing Grace.” The students and faculty treated the mock funeral as a protest against what they felt were wrongs perpetuated by CSU leadership toward the universities. Fleming treated the event as any other funeral. “This is definitely unique,” said Fleming. ”But I hope to bring about a real funeral experience.” After the pallbearers laid the ‘California Master Plan’ to rest, Yamada introduced the speakers, which included President of the California Faculty Association Lillian Taiz, Chico State senior Jamela Pugh, CSU Employees Union President Patrick Gantt, CSULB student Jaqueleen Larson, professor of Music and Digital Media Arts at CSU Dominquez Hills David Bradfield, and spokesperson for the California Nurses Association Gianne McKillan. See FUNERAL, Page 2
DT SHORTHAND Visually impaired artistically inclined Techno or Piano For those of you not attending the 15th Annual Nocturnal Festival in San Bernadino on Saturday, Sept. 26, there is another option you could explore right here at Cal State Fullerton. Eric Le Van, a Los Angeles born pianist, will be playing at 8 p.m. at the Meng Concert Hall. Buy tickets online at http://www.fullerton.edu/arts/events for $20 or $15 if you qualify for the Titan Discount.
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WWII internees honored with degrees Japanese Americans who attended Cal State University and were held in internment camps during World War II were granted honorary degrees on Wednesday. The CSU Board of Trustees voted unanimously. “Hundreds of students were removed from colleges and universities, forced to delay or abandon their dreams based solely on their ancestry,” CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed said. “The internment of Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants during World War II represents the worst of a nation driven by fear and prejudice. By issuing honorary degrees, we hope to achieve a small right in the face of such grave wrongs,” Reed said.
By Shruti Patel/Daily Titan Photo Editor Anne Sanregret, a former marketing teacher at Cal State Fullerton, admires the art on exhibit at the Southern California Eye Care Center on Tuesday.
By Jamie Iglesias
Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
The Eye Care Center (ECC) at the Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO) held its fifth annual Shared Visions International Art Exhibit on Tuesday featuring 90 pieces created by blind and legally blind artists. “Our goal is to feature the art-
ist and show people the amazing talent they have and to show those with visual impairment are not limited just by their vision. In fact, some artists actually created their work after they lost their vision,” said Rebecca Kammer, associate professor and chief of the Low Vision Rehabilitation Department at the SCCO. “For a lot of the artists, this is their first time having their art exhibited. They are super pumped about hav-
ing their art displayed and educating people about their vision loss and how they were able to create it with that vision loss. I love to hear the buzz out here during the reception night and to hear the stories and hear them talk about their work,” Kammer said. Kammer got the idea from a patient of hers, Kurt Weston. “He asked about the blank walls and suggested the idea of having an art exhibit,” Kammer said. “After brainstorming for half an hour, he convinced me to get this done.” In order to be one of the artists, “They have to be at a minimum of 2200 central vision loss, which means they cannot see the big “E” on the eye chart with corrected vision (glasses),” said Arlene Kaye, director of marketing and curator for the exhibit. Other conditions that these artists have is tunnel vision or reduced visual field, which means a visual field that is 20 degrees less than the normal visual field status, Kammer said. The artwork was displayed along hallways where guests could roam and observe the variety of work. Along with each piece, there was a brief description of each artist and his or her condition. There were paintings, sculptures, photographs, sketches, and mosaics. Deni Sisoev joined her mother to see her uncle, Michael Tickenoff’s, artwork and was impressed. “I think that when you are weak in some areas
you are stronger in others, so being blind allowed him to develop more in art,” Sisoev said. “A lot of people have a knack for it, and they go for it. It’s incredible that these are blind artists. It’s unbelievable, “Sisoev said. Tickenoff has optic nerve damage, which limits his peripheral vision. Nina Goudy, Tickenoff’s sister, said, “He has been an adventurer all of his life. He’s just an artist all the way around. He never gives up. He is hoping that there might be stem cell research that might return his eyesight.” “What makes his art different is that it seems like he has a photographic memory, and he has stored all of that stuff in his brain all of these years. It’s all of his experiences. It’s hard for us to understand,” Goudy said. Juny Wendel has central vision loss and recently lost some of her vision. She describes her art as eclectic or whimsical: “I use more media. I throw in a lot of different things, and I think that is what makes my art different,” Wendel said. She used eye shadow to add color to one of her butterfly pieces. The exhibit will run from Sept. 22 until mid-August 2010. For additional information, contact Arlene Kaye at (714) 992-7865.