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Board of trustees discuss the grim reality of CSU budget p. 2
Volume 53 Issue 63 • A financially Independent student newspaper
SPORTS Matadors try to bounce back at CSU Fullerton p. 7
Crashing and burning Another semester of unit caps leave students struggling to find classes Tanya Ramirez Ron Rokhy daily sundial Live news editor
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SUN students are now facing the consequences of last semester’s decision to restrict student registration and lower the amount of available seats in classes to avoid a $7 million penalty from the CSU. CSUN, which is only allowed to exceed full-time student enrollment by
3 percent, was operating at 6.3 percent over its capacity in the fall, said Vice Provost Cynthia Rawitch in an interview with the Sundial in November 2011. If the same capacity level had been maintained, the multimillion dollar penalty would have been incurred. The new regulations, which came into effeect last semester, only allow undergraduate students to take a maximum of 15 units, and graduating seniors 19.
See crash, page 2
Remembering Colye-Thompson Ashley Soley-Cerro news editor
C Courtesy of biology department
SUN biology professor Cathy Colye-Thompson died Tuesday morning after an emergency surgery Monday night to fix a tear in her stomach, according to her sister in an email sent to the biology department. She was 52. Randy Cohen, CSUN biology professor, emailed faculty Tuesday expressing the department’s sympathy
and appreciation for her work. “Cathy was a true CSUN Matador in every sense, having earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degree here,” Cohen said in the email. Colye-Thompson graduated CSUN with a dual degree in chemistry and biology in 1982 and continued to earn her master’s in biology at UCLA. She began teaching as a lecturer at CSUN in 1995 and worked in the research labs of professors Peter Bellinger, Joyce Maxwell and Steve Oppen-
heimer. Colye-Thompson and Oppenheimer did research together for decades, focusing on sea urchin cellular interaction and its embryo system, which has been designated as a National Institute of Health (NIH) model system because it’s a simple system that helps scientists understand humans’ more complicated system. Oppenheimer shared one of his fondest memories of Colye-Thompson. “One day long ago, I said to her,
wouldn’t it be great if we could micro dissect the sea urchin embryo?” Which is so small one could fit 10 embryo’s on the head of a pin. She responded, I could do that, and Oppenheimer said “I’ll be a monkeys uncle if you do it.” The next day there was a banana on Oppenheimer’s desk. “This is typical of Cathy, she is really a whiz at very difficult technical
See Thompson, page 2
2 News
Board of trustees plan for best, worst case scenario
January 25, 2012 • Daily Sundial • CSUN • city@sundial.csun.edu
crash
Continued from page 1 In an e-mail sent to faculty on Tuesday, Interim President of CSUN, Harry Hellenbrand, said the beginning of the term will be especially challenging for both faculty and staff as students will try to add classes that have reached their cap limit or have been closed. “I have absolutely no classes I need,” said Kyle Martinez, a sophomore majoring in public health education. “I’m even looking into community colleges because I have zero chances of adding anything.” Sophomore Glenn Probst, pre-CTVA major, said he’s been e-mailing teachers non-stop for add codes but hasn’t received any replies. “I ended up taking random history classes that don’t even count so I can keep my FAFSA [Free Application for Federal Student Aid],” Probst said. “But you got to keep hope alive.” Kathleen McWilliams, CTVA undergraduate staff advisor, said students come into her office with no idea as to what classes they need to graduate. McWilliams said her department is still admitting new students, which is causing more confusion. “Students are frustrated and it’s understandable,” McWilliams said. “But why don’t they voice their opinions and do something about it?” Some students, however, took matters into their own hands, by holding a meeting Tuesday to discuss an appropriate response to the campus’ new policies regarding enrollment and unit caps. “The message we want to send to him (Chancellor Reed) is the problem of the availability of classes, and to send a message to the governor and the legislature,” said Danny Santana-Hernandez, MEChA internal chair, who was present at the meeting. “The CSU system is underfunded.” Also troubling students is the add process involving permission numbers. Professors are limited to a number of students they can add and seniors predominantly have priority. Psychology professor Jonathon Schuldt said he is limited to a roster of 200 students and only has two spots available. He said he bases his add process on a first-come, first-serve basis. “I have about 15 students e-mailing me with their sob stories,” Schuldt said. “But I only add the first few that email me regardless of school standing.” Admissions and records has also noticed an influx of concerned students. “By lunchtime, it gets pretty hectic,” said Nicolas Alexander, supervisor of Admissions and Records. “We get a lot of questions about add codes and how things work, even though that’s not our department’s responsibility.” Additional reporting by Jessica Jewell
thompson Continued from page 1
projects,” he said. Oppenheim said Colye-Thompson was tremendously talented at working one on one with students and was instrumental in the careers of many students. “She was a great mentor for literally hundreds of students and an asset to her to her colleagues,” he said. Colye-Thompson was scheduled to teach B575 Biological Imaging and Lab this semester. The class will be canceled because she is the only CSUN faculty member qualified to teach the course. The class will most likely be reinstated for the Fall 2012 semester. Thursday, January 26
Potential $200 million cut looms if voters don’t approve November tax initiative
Andrew Lopez senior staff
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sparsely attended board of trustees meeting Tuesday in Long Beach addressed potential problems the CSU is facing with Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent budget proposal. The long-term funding plan for the CSU proposed by Brown would begin increasing general funds by 4 percent each year starting fiscal year 2013-2014, if his tax initiative passes in November. “Remember that the 4 percent is being multiplied against a general fund base that has essentially crashed from $3 billion (in state funding) down to ($)2 (billion),” said Robert Turnage, CSU assistant vice chancellor for budget. Under Brown’s plan, the first increase in CSU funding beginning 2013-2014 would total $88 million, then move up to $92 million in 20142015, slowly compounding each year. Still, the increase in funds would cover only some of the issues currently facing the CSU. “We have had several years of not being able to provide any general salary increases. The cost of a 3 percent increase for our employees is $85 million a year,” Turnage said. “That one element would use up all of an $88 million increment.” The committee on finance spent the bulk of their meeting time to discuss Brown’s recent budget proposal for fiscal year 2012-2013 that, in a best-case scenario, would not reduce the CSU’s budget any further. “The proposed budget fails to restore any of the $750 million that was cut out of our budget this year,” said Benjamin Quillian, executive vice chancellor. Brown’s proposed budget rests on the hopes that a measure raising taxes on high-income earners and increasing state sales tax will generate about $7 billion in revenue yearly. If Californians vote against the tax measure, another $200 million could be cut from the CSU, bringing a total
Tessie Navarro / Multimedia Editor
The board of trustees committee on finance discuss the various funding scenarios facing the CSU in light of Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent budget proposal, Tuesday.
loss of $950 million over the last two years. “If additional cuts are made, the consequences for the CSU will be grave,” Quillian said. “Access, affordability and quality could be threatened like never before.” CSU Chancellor Charles Reed said campus presidents would meet in February to begin building a model for the potential $200 million cut. “I want us to plan for the worst-case scenario going into (2012-2013),” Reed said. “The next time this board meets in March, we want to give you a feel for what that might look like on our campuses and in the Chancellor’s Office.” Contingency plans discussed by Reed included the possibility of employee layoffs and more tuition increases. Reed said he hoped the worstcase model would give options with how to deal with the possible reduction in state funding. “I think the more options you give us, the better,” Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “As a deliberative body, that’s all I look for is those trade-offs
as opposed to a limited choice.” Reed went on to say he’d been receiving calls from campus presidents saying they were operating at structural deficits, meaning they were using one-time money from reserves to cover campus costs. They are out there living off of hot air, so to speak, for next year,” Reed said. “I don’t know, frankly, where in the hell we’re going to go, but something is going to have to give.” Protesters and students were noticeably absent at the meeting after the Nov. 17 board meeting that ended in four arrests and a shattered glass front door. Police presence was heavy outside the Chancellor’s Office, including both California State University and Long Beach police. “I’m happy to say, hopefully, we will have a quiet finance committee meeting today,” said William Hauck, board member and chair for the committee on finance. “Lately, seemingly, that’s a rarity.”
Student Recreation Center Grand Opening
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January 25, 2012 • Daily Sundial • CSUN
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Opinions
January 25, 2012
opinion@sundial.csun.edu
Syrians will solve Syria's problems What we do and why we do it Part three of a four-part series on the responsibilities of student press The reader’s voice is important to us at the Daily Sundial and we value your opinions about our content. The Letter to the Editor is a way for you to let us know how you feel about a story, photo or multimedia we publish, as well as address anything going on in the CSUN community.
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Katherine Jane O'Neill Honey Al-Sayed
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loodshed continues to rise in Syria since the 10-month uprising began last March. After a month of sending 165 monitors to Syria, the League of Arab States imposed more sanctions on 22 Syrian officials and eight entities that support the Assad regime and has demanded President Bashar Al Assad step down and peacefully transfer all power to a Syrian Vice President. Stripping the current President from all power does not resolve the Syrian conflict and will not place an end to the violence. The League of Arab States needs to make decisions based on what the monitors witnessed during their stay in Syria and acknowledge the progress the Syrian government has made since the entrance of the monitors. According to Human Rights Watch, the death toll since the crackdown has reached 5,000 because of the government “crackdown” on peaceful, unarmed citizens. They do not distinguish the armed groups from the civilians or from the military forces and do not keep violent opposition groups, gangs or terrorists accountable for the violence as well. Since the Arab League monitors entered Syria there has been a noticeable rise in bombs and terrorist acts in big industrial cities like Damascus and Aleppo. On Dec. 23 terrorists attacked the Syrian National Security in the capital, Damascus, using car bombs, leading to more than 40 deaths and 100 injuries. That attack was followed by two other bombings during the next two weeks, including an explosive which detonated on a military bus transferring forces to the center of the capital. The sanctions placed on Syria are also negatively impacting the people, not the government. The United Nations, European Union, and the League ignore this impact on the civilians. “It is only destroying us as people,” said Diana Daher, Medical student at the University of Aleppo. “We are not
even able to enjoy our private lives because everyone now lives in fear.” “Syria has always been known for its safety and peaceful lifestyle but now we don’t even want food, we just want to feel safe again knowing that we don’t have to wake up the next morning to hear about another bombing or another death.” What the League is doing to Syria is not for the best for the Syrian civilians. They need to sustain some kind of system before they think of removing the whole system. President Al Assad has been a foundation for a peaceful, secure and secular country, and once he is removed, the nation will crumble. Until the “revolution” began, Assad maintained high security in Syria, where women were safe to be out until late, foreigners felt safe regardless of any language barriers and where no terrorism threatened the country. For the past century, civilians have not been concerned about bombs exploding or shooting as a leading cause of death. Although the Assad regime has used military forces against protesters, this action was taken based upon the request of the majority of civilians. In the case of Syria, there are armed groups who take advantage of the political unrest and the gathering of protesters to create chaos. Civilians continued to call for the aid of the Syrian military to secure them after a month’s worth of violence since the uprising started. The Syrian Government aimed to ensure the security needs of the civilians and did not cater to outside demands from the west. Improvements in ending the violence have been made by Assad. According to the most recent report presented to the League by the monitors, the Syrian government released thousands of prisoners and pulled back the number of military forces and tanks from the streets since the league sent the observers to Syria. International intervention within the Middle East should be treated with sus-
picion. Because President Al Assad is the only Arab president who continues to support Iran, Palestine, and Hezbollah, it makes it obvious why many governments globally want to remove him from power. Qatar’s Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim al Thani, who coordinates the Syrian sanctions and is one of the main characters in the Syrian conflict said there needs to be, “a total revision of the mission.” Before he gets concerned with the Syrian people and their safety, it is not a bad idea for him to look over his neighboring country of Bahrain where security forces are killing protesters with the help Saudi Arabia's of army. In April the U.S. forced the Syrian government to remove its Emergency Law, which permits the government to make arrests without reasoning. Ironically, the U.S. government recently adopted the National Defense Authorization Act, which gives the president the power to hold U.S. citizens suspected of Terrorism in indefinite detention in the “land of the free.” According to President Obama in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, he said President Assad cannot continue for long under his rule as, “the forces of change cannot be reversed and human dignity cannot be denied.” However, President Obama supports Israel with “an iron clad commitment” although Israel kills Palestinians on a daily basis. The world needs to recognize that the “Arab Spring” has not been positive for the Middle East, and should not tamper with the politics of Syria. Although Tunisia celebrated its oneyear anniversary of overthrowing the regime, the country continues to deal with unrest and violence. Egypt and Libya are also further examples of unsuccessful revolutions, and their instability continues to cause daily deaths. Syria will end up in shambles if the world continues to mess around with its future.
5. Letters may be edited. They become the property of the Daily Sundial and may be republished in any format. We do not publish any and all letters, only those that are of good quality and offer constructive and respectful feedback.
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January 25, 2012 • Daily Sundial • CSUN
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6 News January 25, 2012 • Daily Sundial • CSUN • city@sundial.csun.edu
S.P.A.C.E. reorganized
Shut out of classes?
A.S. encourage student participation in event planning
Worried you won’t be able to get units needed to graduate or transfer? Need to earn credits before this academic year ends? Get the classes you need at UCLA Extension! Our Spring Quarter runs Mar 28 – Jun 23.
Jessica Jewell / Daily Sundial
A.S. senate vote in new members during the first meeting of the semester on Tuesday.
Jessica Jewell Daily Sundial
UCLA Extension’s degree-credit courses:
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resident of Associated Students, Amanda Flavin, presented Student Production and Campus Entertainment’s objectives and organizational structure Tuesday. Flavin said the goal of S.P.A.C.E. is to produce six to seven events a year. The president said that she’d rather provide “better-quality events held less often.” The president urged a shift from faculty and staff advising
the planning of events to a more student-run structure. S.P.A.C.E. is looking to engage students, and its aim is to create student-run and produced events, Flavin said. She hopes students will be able to participate in the selection of artists and have a voice in what events are thrown for the campus. Flavin stressed fiscal efficiency and said the executive director for S.P.A.C.E. will now work with the assistant director of finance to draft budgets and submit reports for all event finances. The goal is to “make use of
financial resources to maximize utilities,” Flavin said. An A.S. faculty advisor suggested the use of students enrolled in relevant classes, like marketing or political science, to assist in contributing to S.P.A.C.E. efforts and programs. He said that class interface with campus organizations has garnered success in the past. Some proposed events mentioned were "Big Show," a spring music festival, tailgating and Earth Day. Further discussion on S.P.A.C.E. plans is scheduled for upcoming A.S. meetings.
FOR RELEASE JANUARY 25, 2012
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
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January 25, 2012
Sports
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men's Volleyball
Next challenge: No. 3 UCLA Matadors travel to Westwood to take on mighty Bruins, look to start winning streak Jonathan Andrade Anthony Carpio Daily Sundial sports Editor
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oming off a down-to-thewire victory, CSUN is looking to get on a winning streak at UCLA tonight at the John Wooden Center. The Matadors (2-4, 1-2 MPSF) pulled off a thrilling five-set win in their last game against the then No. 8-ranked Long Beach State 49ers Friday night in the Matadome. After exchanging victories in the first two sets with the 49ers, CSUN dropped the third and put itself in a 2-1 hole. The Matadors attack managed to finish with solid play in the fourth and fifth sets to steal the come-from-behind victory and claim their first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation win of the season. With the new-look Matadors still buzzing over the win, CSUN will look to bring some of that momentum to its matchup with the No. 3 Bruins (7-1, 2-0 MPSF) in hopes of handing UCLA their first conference loss of the year. The Bruins’ lone loss this season came at the hands of their MPSF foes, UC Irvine, earlier this month. “UCLA is a great serving team,” Campbell said. “Ultimately we have to serve a pass well to compete with any team at a high level. We know that they’re going to be a good team. We just have to
serve and pass. We know they’ve got some big middles and we’ve got to slow those guys down and hopefully we’ll do that with our serving.” This is the second meeting between the CSUN and the Bruins this season, but outside hitter Matt Stork does not see the need to turn this into a revenge match. “I’m not a guy big on revenge, but we just need to come out steady and we’ll be fine,” he said. For the Matadors be successful they will surely look to opposite Julius Hoefer to keep them in the game. The freshman tallied 21 kills in their victory Friday night against LBSU as well as hitting .286 on 42 swings. So far this season, Hoefer leads the Matadors with 79 kills on 178 attacks for a .219 hitting percentage. Although Hoefer is only a freshman he has proven to be one of the leaders of this young CSUN squad leading the team in points with 97. The next highest point-scorer for CSUN is Stork. The 6-foot-5 senior has also had a stellar year with 62 points of his own. Stork has earned 55 kills in 156 swings this season, but will surely be looking to make his final season of eligibility count. “We need to make sure that our passing doesn’t break down,” Stork said. “Besides that, everything is pretty good.” Both Hoefer and Stork’s play on the net will be key during Wednes-
Michael Cheng / Daily Sundial
The Matadors, who beat Long Beach State Friday, face No. 3 UCLA tonight at the John Wooden Center.
day’s matchup against UCLA and will also play a huge factor throughout the rest of the year. UCLA leads the overall series against CSUN 56-12 and in order for the Matadors to avoid the Bruins extending that lead, they’ll have to try and slow the attack game of UCLA. “We’ve got to make sure that we get some blocks and make sure
we kill,” Stork said. UCLA comes into the match with four players having at least 68 kills this season with redshirt senior Weston Dunlap leading the charge. The 6-foot-8 quicker hitter leads all Bruins with 78 kills on 123 swings, good enough for a .553 hitting percentage. The troubles don’t stop there for the Matador defense as fel-
low UCLA quick hitter Thomas Amberg and senior outside hitter Jeremy Casebeer both have over 70 kills apiece. CSUN middle blockers Greg Faulkner and Drew Staker might have their work cut out for them but if the Matadors can play like they did against Long Beach, they'll have a chance to get their second win in a row.
women's basketball
CSUN takes show on the road to Fullerton Anthony Carpio Sports editor
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Andres Aguila / Senior Photographer
Freshman guard Ashlee Guay, middle, is six steals away from breaking a CSUN record.
inding itself tied for first in the Big West Conference, CSUN (10-9, 5-2 Big West) looks to bounce back from its double-overtime loss as it faces Cal State Fullerton (8-10, 1-5) tonight at Titan Gym. This season’s current success has a lot to do with the combination of senior center Jasmine Erving and her leadership abilities and the energy and youth of freshman guard Ashlee Guay. “(Guay’s) a worker,” CSUN head coach Jason Flowers said after the team’s win against Cal Poly. “As much as (Erving) is important as a senior leader, (Guay’s) energy, effort and presence out on the floor is huge for this team. She’s a tough kid. She’s done everything we’ve asked of her and more.” Guay averages 9.7 points per game, but what is impressive is her defensive statistics. She currently has 67 steals which leads the team and the Big West.
She also is ranked eighth in the nation in steals. Averaging 3.5 steals per game, Guay is six steals away from breaking the CSUN women’s record of 72, held by Tina Greer since the 1998-99 season. “It’s surprising. I didn’t know I was going to be where I’m at right now,” Guay said. “It’s a pretty good feeling to know that I’m capable of doing that and it’s just exciting that I can contribute to the team in that way.” She isn’t the only player that is about to break a CSUN record. Erving, who has 31 blocks this season and 134 in her career, is just three blocks away from becoming the alltime block leader. It has been a turnaround season for the Matadors so far. After ending the 2010-11 season with a record of 4-26, Flowers has seen his squad change before his eyes. CSUN’s first win last year came 13 games into the season during its first Big West game, against Pacific. Fast-forward to this season, the Matadors got
their fourth win by their sixth game. “The returning players came back with a better understanding of what needs to be done,” Flowers said. “The newcomers came in and got to work right from the beginning, and I just think that, all-around, our players are better prepared for what it takes to be successful at this level.” All seven Big West games for the Matadors have come down to the wire, with no game being decided by more than eight points. But Flowers realizes that it is only the beginning of the Big West season. Cal State Fullerton is the next stop for CSUN as it continues to aim for a spot in the Big West Tournament. “Coming into the conference, I thought that it would be a lot of teams knocking off other teams. I thought it would be unpredictable,” Flowers said. “We still have a ways to go. This deal is far from being over for any stretch of the imagination for anybody in this conference.”
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January 25, 2012 • Daily Sundial • CSUN