Monday September 10, 2018
The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton
Obama rallies Democrats in OC
Volume 104 Issue 3
Dan Black Hall evacuated
Authorities were dispatched after student reported a chemical smell. BRIGGETTA PIERROT Editor-in-Chief CAITLIN BARTUSICK Managing Editor
CAITLIN BARTUSICK / DAILY TITAN
(Left to right) T.J Cox, Gil Cisneros, Barack Obama, Katie Porter and Harley Rouda at Anaheim Convention Center.
Former President Barack shows support of congressional candidates. CAITLIN BARTUSICK Managing Editor
Former President Barack Obama spoke at a rally Saturday in the Anaheim Convention Center to voice support for seven Democratic congressional candidates running for office in Orange County districts for the upcoming November elections. “If we don’t step up, things can get worse,” Obama said to an invitation-only crowd of 900 Democratic activists. “In two months, we have the chance to restore some sanity to our politics. We have the chance to flip the House of
Representatives and make sure there are real checks and balances in Washington.” The speech came one day after Obama made critical remarks at the University of Illinois about President Donald Trump and other Republican members of Congress for the first time since leaving office. In his Friday speech, Obama called Trump a “symptom, not the cause” of a widening divide among Americans. No mention of Trump was made at the Anaheim rally. In Orange County, a traditionally GOPheld district, Democrats are gearing up in their efforts to help flip at least 24 of the 435-seat House of Representatives. Battleground races will be held in the 39th, 45th, 48th and 49th districts where Democratic candidates are now attempting to win over Republican-held districts that were won by Democratic presidential
nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Orange County Republicans make up 36 percent of registered voters while Democrats follow closely behind at 34 percent, according to the county’s Registrar of Voters database. Those who label themselves with no party preference constitute 26 percent of registered voters. In the 39th District, Gil Cisneros (D-Fullerton) and Young Kim (R-Fullerton) will be competing to fill Ed Royce’s (R-Fullerton) seat, who announced in January that he will not be running again for re-election.
SEE ELECTIONS
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A 24-year-old male student at Cal State Fullerton was sent to St. Jude Medical Center for evaluation Saturday after notifying University Police at around 1 p.m. about a chemical smell released from an experiment he had been working on in the Dan Black Hall building. The student was immediately released with no reported injuries, said University Police Capt. Scot Willey. First responders helped evacuate about 50 people from the building, including students, faculty and staff. Two of the professors who evacuated said they saw flashing lights, but heard no alarms. A work order was sent to Facilities Operation to look into possible issues concerning the alarm system. “We were in the building for several minutes after the fire alarm went off because we thought they might just be testing the lights. There was no alarm sound, there was just the light,” said Danielle Zacherl, a biology professor, who said she and her students evacuated around 1:20 p.m. “Typically you would hear a sound with the fire alarm.” The alarms on campus are all handled by an outside company called Simplex, Willey said. The company tests all campus alarm systems once or twice a year and the alarms are managed by Facilities Operations. “I was in there since 10:30 a.m. and I’d been working on my talk in my office,” said Zhuangjie Li, a chemistry professor in the building. SEE HAZARD
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UPD Sgt. Convocation promotes CSUF pride pleads guilty Thomas Higgs, a former officer, admitted to driving under the influence on campus grounds. DIANE ORTIZ & HOSAM ELATTAR News Editors
A former University Police sergeant pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts: driving under the influence of alcohol and having a blood alcohol content of 0.09 percent, which is 0.01 percent over the legal limit. Thomas Henry Higgs, 59, originally faced the maximum sentence of six months in county jail. However, he was officially sentenced with three years of informal probation and a three-month alcohol program after pleading guilty on Aug. 28. At approximately 8 p.m. on May 7, Higgs showed signs of intoxication during a Cal State Fullerton University Police briefing, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s press release. After the briefing, officers on shift notified their command staff that Higgs showed signs of intoxication. University Police Capt. Scot Willey was one of the three captains brought in to investigate the matter, along with Chief Raymund Aguirre. Higgs was on patrol in a police car when he was called to meet the command staff. The officers “noticed possible alcohol on his breath” and proceeded to take his car and get him back to the station. Higgs went through a series of field sobriety tests, Willey said. He was arrested and released that night, immediately being placed on administrative leave. The following day, Higgs retired. His arrest was not confirmed to be the reason, but Willey said Higgs was close to retirement before the incident had occurred. Willey described finding his fellow officer under these conditions as heartbreaking, but said the officers proceeded as they would with all other DUI cases. SEE DUI
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JOSHUA ARIEF HALIM / DAILY TITAN
This year’s convocation aimed to focus on welcoming students. In the past, the event was more faculty and staff-oriented.
President Virjee welcomes new students, staff and faculty at annual convocation. BROOK FARIEN Staff Writer
President Framroze Virjee’s surprise rap video featuring Mihalyo College graduate, Rachel Herzog, received a standing ovation at the annual convocation. “First of all, I know how to make a fool of myself and second, I just demonstrated
to the entire campus that I can rap,” Virjee said. The 2018 University Convocation was held Thursday Sept. 6 in the Titan Gym to welcome new students, staff, and faculty motivating them for the new year, according to the Cal State Fullerton website. “When grads leave us, we fill arenas, number one in graduating women and Latinas,” Virjee rapped. He later tweeted the video to actor Ken Jeong who tweeted back saying, “I loved your video, sir. Dope mic skills.” Virjee went on to say students should
embrace each individual school experience. He challenged students to want more every day and to aspire to inspire, repeating “Titans reach higher” throughout his speech. “The whole point is be present, be active and above all else, be Titans,” Virjee said. Josh Borjas, Associated Students’ president, told his own story as a first-generation student and his struggle to embrace his role as a Titan. SEE TITANS
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