Vol. 90 Issue 19
October 4, 2011
Cyber bullies use social networking sites to prey on their victims
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Sewer and road improvements begin Construction projects by the cities of Fullerton and Brea may restrict traffic SEAN VIELE Daily Titan
Two different city construction projects will begin this month in and around the city of Fullerton. On Commonwealth Avenue a sewer improvement project will commence in early October, and on State College Boulevard a road rehabilitation project was started last week. According to a press release, the sewer improvement project is much needed and will stretch on Commonwealth Avenue between Highland Avenue and Richman Avenue in Fullerton. Fullerton Senior Civil Engineer Ron Bowers said the project, which includes the installation of a new 15-inch sewer main, should take an estimated 40 days to complete. The project is part of an effort to improve the city’s infrastructure. “Upgraded infrastructure is a continuing thing,” said Bowers. “We spend about $4 million a year upgrading sewer facilities.” Work on the project will be done Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and crews will work from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at intersections, according to a press release. All businesses within the project area will remain open throughout the duration of the project, as well as Commonwealth Avenue itself. Bowers said traffic will likely be reduced to one lane in the project area. Detour routes will be clearly marked, according to the press release. Josh Kovalscik, 31, has been a resident in Fullerton for five years. He lives off of State College Boulevard across the street from Cal State Fullerton. Kovalscik said he is aware of the sewer improvement project and his proximity to the State College rehabilitation project will affect his commute. “In a way it’s an inconvenience, but it’s
CSUF professor believes fossil fuels and natural gas are more efficient ways to get energy BROOKE McCALL Daily Titan
WILLIAM CAMARGO / Daily Titan The sewer project in Fullerton is between Highland and Richman Avenues on Commonwealth Avenue and the road rehabilitation project in Brea will be between Lark Ellen Drive and Elm Street. The projects may cause traffic lane reductions and delays.
also good to see them improving the city as well,” said Kovalscik. On State College Boulevard, a reconstruction project is underway just north of CSUF between Lark Ellen Drive, near the Fullerton-Brea border, and north of Birch Street in Brea. The major road reconstruction project is sponsored by the city of Brea and the majority of the work will take place in Brea,
Bowers said. “There’s just a small segment (of construction) in the city of Fullerton,” he said. The construction in and around CSUF will take place between Lark Ellen Drive and Elm Street in Brea, about one mile north of the campus. “The project boundary starts at Birch Street at the north end of (the Brea Mall),” said Charlie View, public works director for
the city of Brea. View said the construction is scheduled through October and will be finished in early November. The project involves a complete rehabilitation of State College Boulevard. The old asphalt will be torn out and replaced with new asphalt, View said. Motorists can expect traffic lane reductions and delays, according to a press release.
CSUF grad rates lower than some CANDACE RIVERA Daily Titan
Only 52 percent of students at Cal State Fullerton received their degree within six years, according to 2009-10 statistics from the U.S. Department of Education. There is not just one answer as to why the CSUF graduation percentage is that low, said Ed Sullivan, CSUF’s assistant vice president of Institutional Research and Analytical Studies. A multitude of factors influence it. Each student has different experi-
Fullerton goes Idol BROOKE McCALL Daily Titan
Singing seductive lyrics while attempting to captivate judges and attendees alike, singers at “Fullerton Sings,” an American Idol-style competition, did not hold back on the risque lyrics. Wearing a blue, collared shirt with a gray vest, first-place winner Matthew Ballestero’s racy song resonated throughout the Muckenthaler Center Thursday during the event’s final round. “Claire, I need you around me; that’s why I broke in your place, that’s why you came home and found me with your panties pressed to my face. If it’s a crime to follow a girl all the way home and memorize her address, then I guess I am guilty of loving you to excess,” was heard echoing in the 46-year-old building. See IDOL, page 6
Green energy costs too much
ences with education and is a part of the graduation cohort, said Sullivan. He believes university involvement is important to belonging and feeling a part of the college. “If you’re in a place where you are growing, you will probably stay. But if you’re not, you are most likely to walk away, just like anything else in life,” said Sullivan. “Did you make friends? Did you find a place that fits who you are?” Having an idea of a major or declaring a major before attending university will help students’ path to graduating,
Sullivan said. The university can help by getting students involved in activities and faculty-student research projects. Ryan McGeown, 19, an undeclared student, is finding it difficult to choose a major that fits him. “It’s kind of hard to pick what you like that will be profitable in the future,” said McGeown. He states lack of motivation can play a part in the graduation percentage rates. He believes he will take more than five years to complete his degree. The federal government only tracks
full-time students. However, onequarter of students are full time and live on campus. Sixty percent of students are part time and have an even lesser chance of graduating, according to an article in the OC Register, and 75 percent of students have work, family and school, in addition to having to commute to class. “The commuter aspect makes it a little more challenging for students to make a social connection that would be found at a more residential university,” Sullivan said. “The new dorms and residential experiences that are
now occurring will provide even more opportunities for our students to become socially connected. Academic and social connectedness play a part in the process that helps students persist to graduation.” According to CSUF’s Institutional Research and Analytical Studies website, for fall 2006 entering freshmen, only 13.4 percent graduated in the year 2010, with a 30 percent decline in enrollment. See GRAD, page 2
Titan Shops branches off campus JESSICA ESCORSIA Daily Titan
A five-minute ride north on the 57 Freeway from Cal State Fullerton will lead you to the Brea Mall, the new home of The Trunk, a 2,000-square-foot branch of CSUF’s Titan Shops. The extension of the student bookstore hopes to market the Fullerton brand and cater to the alumni community. Peter Poon, associate director of The Trunk, said 1,000 shirts were ordered for the grand opening this past Saturday in part of a one-day promotion that offered CSUF T-shirts for $1. Poon said the shirts sold out within four hours of the store opening. “We realized there’s a huge alumni community outside of the university. The alumni association came back and said that almost 100,000 alumni live within a 20mile radius of the university,” said Poon. Chuck Kissel, store director of Titan Shops, was in attendance
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Saturday and was pleased with the opening. “The opening on Saturday was well received by customers. It definitely seemed like The Trunk was the busiest store that morning,” said Kissel. The Trunk, which is located on the second floor across from the food court, carries a larger selection of sizes and caters to more consumers, offering baby clothes, more polo shirts and extended sizes for women. “We just want more and more people to wear the Fullerton brand to bring more notoriety to the university,” Poon said. Nelly Jalilvand, an English major at CSUF, has been working at the store for the past week. Although she thinks the response has been positive since the store’s opening, Jalilvand feels many people may still not be aware of The Trunk. With more advertising over the next few weeks, she feels as though more students, especially alumni, will be aware of how convenient this new store is. See TRUNK, page 3
Robert J. Michaels, Cal State Fullerton professor of economics, was appointed to testify at the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources Sept. 22. In addition to being a professor at CSUF, Michaels is an independent consultant, senior fellow at the Institute for Energy and Research and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. He has worked in Texas, Washington, Oregon, Mississippi, Vermont and California for various companies in the energy and power field, including environmental organizations, producers of power, utility companies and large power/ gas users. Michaels has testified before the House of Representatives four times. With more than 20 years of research experience on regulation and the emergence of markets in the electricity and gas industries, Michaels shares his thoughts on energy and power.
Q: What was the main idea of your testimony? A: The actual occasion for it was that it wants to deauthorize the … $3.5 billion of bonding authority from a federal agency. My testimony is about, first off, what renewable energies actual are, what they do, why they are unnecessarily costly. Then from there we go on to the second topic, on the sizes of subsidy that are (received) by the different sources of power. Then we have the question, ‘Well, do they give green jobs, and the green jobs are complete scam?’ They are responsible for negligible amounts of employment. Most of it’s in construction, it’s short-lived jobs. In other words, there aren’t people around who operate the plants. There are very few people who do that. Renewable jobs are a complete bust in every way. Q: What did you do while you were testifying for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee? A: I have a long history of working in these areas … I work in a variety of areas involving (power and energy). Above and beyond what I teach and do research, I also work as a consultant for people who are tied up in regulatory processes, other dockets that have renewable energy, that are about renewable power. Most precisely, renewable power, it’s a code word for wind now. That’s the only kind of renewable power that is making any headway at all. It lives on subsidies that I don’t think are justifiable. Q: Do you see any progress coming in response to your testimony? A: I think there should be a drastic reduction in subsidy, any tax breaks for producers of renewable energy–to the extent that it gets noticed.
JESSICA ESCORSIA / Daily Titan The branch of the Titan Shops is across from the food court on the second floor of the Brea Mall.
See TESTIFY, page 3