Vol. 90 Issue 30
October 24, 2011
Seal Beach tragedy update
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See the aftermath of the Salon Meritage shooting in Seal Beach and the massacre’s effects on the lives of the community.
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Students voice concerns Transparency and representation were the main complaints JONATHAN WINSLOW Daily Titan
Students crowded the first and only open meeting of the Advisory Committee to the Trustees Committee for the Selection of the President in the Titan Student Union Friday to voice their dissatisfaction with the lack of student involvement in the CSU presidential selection process. This first meeting is the only one that will be held publicly due to a confidentiality policy, said the committee. At the start of the meeting, the committee outlined what each member is looking for in a candidate to replace Cal State Fullerton President Milton Gordon, who recently announced he will be retiring. A good candidate would be “someone who will support students and faculty in their search for truth,” said Diana Guerin, professor of child and adolescent studies, and one of many committee members to voice their thoughts on the search. The committee then opened the floor to the students and faculty who filled the pavilion. A number of students expressed grievances they had with the presidential selection process. Of all the comments the committee received, the two that continued to be echoed by CSUF students were concerns regarding the transparency
He was one of four Occupy OC protesters arrested Saturday CAMYRON LEE Daily Titan
WILLIAM CAMARGO / Daily Titan Chancellor Charles B. Reed, center, maintained that the selection process must be confidential in order to protect candidates’ careers. Many students feel as though the process should be more open.
of the process and student representation on the committee. There are 10 members on the committee, including one student representative: Eric Niu, president of As-
sociated Students Inc. “We want a president that is willing to listen to students’ voices,” said Niu. The ASI Board of Directors unanimously passed a resolution Oct. 4 re-
questing more student representation on the Advisory Committee to the Trustees Committee for the Selection of the President at one of their weekly Tuesday meetings. More than 1,000
students signed the resolution in support of it. See MEETING, page 3
Tough soccer loss seven minutes into the match. Positioned on the left side of the box, the ball found its way to Farran who made a magical shot. Her shot crawled in on goal and dribbled off the left post and over the line to the shock of everyone in Titan Stadium. The Matadors’ Melissa CLARK PAGADUAN Fernandez and Brielle Slepicoff assisted on the Daily Titan goal. That would be the only goal in the game. It was a night of frustration for the Cal The Matadors’ stingy State Fullerton women’s and physical defense limsoccer team as the Cal State ited the Titans’ offense to Northridge Matadors deIt’s another tough a few opportunities. The feated the Titans 1-0 in a loss. We didn’t finish Titans’ best opportunity crucial conference game at came with 31 minutes to Titan Stadium. The loss opportunites. We weren’t in the second half dropped the Titans’ overall strong enough. They were a play when redshirt sophomore record to 7-8-2 and 1-4-0 very physical team... Kishi Smith, who found in conference play. herself free on the left side, Coming off a victory had her shot pushed away against Bakersfield, the Caitlin Mellano and corralled by Matador Titans were looking to Senior Captain junior goalkeeper Cynthia improve their position in Jacobo, who jumped for the Big West Conference standings, but the surging Matadors proved to the fingertip save. Senior captain Caitlin Mellano felt the Tibe a foil in their plans. The loss severely hurts the Titans’ chances of making it into the Big tans executed their game plan but just couldn’t finish. West Conference tournament. The heartbreak began early for the Titans as the Matadors’ leading scorer, Heidi Farran, See WO. SOCCER, page 6 scored her seventh goal of the season just over
Women’s soccer loses to CSUN, needs to play catchup in Big West conference
CAMILLE TARAZON / Daily Titan Senior midfielder Caitlin Mellano plays the ball during the game Thursday against Cal State Northridge. The Titans fell to the Matadors 1-0 in a loss which drops the Titans to 1-4 in the Big West.
Skulls, flowers, food: Dia de Los Muertos DANIELLE EVANS Daily Titan
Boldly colored flowers in bright reds and deep blues are scattered everywhere. Images of skulls and skeletons along with candles decorate the elaborate altars in homes and communities. People with faces painted white wearing wreaths of flowers dance to upbeat music as ethnic food is being served; people look happy and celebrate, but are solemn at the same time. This is the annual Mexican celebration, Dia de Los Muertos, held every Nov. 1 and 2 in connection with the Catholic holiday, “All Saints Day.” “Day of the Dead is a mixture of both indigenous Mexican tradition in looking at death as a part of life, and the blending of European Catholicism,” said Professor Alexandro José Gradilla, chair of the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department. Not to be mistaken as the “Mexican
CSUF student arrested in protest
Halloween,” this Mexican national holiday is a day of remembrance of lost loved ones and focuses on family and friends gathering to pray for those who have died. Scholars trace the origins of this modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years to an Aztec festival dedicated to a goddess called “Mictecacihuatl.” Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars, or sacred spaces, in homes and communities which can be filled with pictures of the loved one who has passed, mementos, flowers, candles and offerings of traditional foods, along with foods and beverages the deceased may have liked. Traditions include visiting graves while offering sugar skulls and marigolds. The sugar skulls, made with the names of the deceased person on the forehead, are eaten by a relative or friend. “I think it’s amazing to see how
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much love and time is put into building an altar for a loved one that has passed,” said Andrea Rubio, 22, a child and adolescent studies major. “I have witnessed the actual Dia de Los Muertos day on Nov. 2; it’s so much fun to see people go to the graves of the loved ones and have lunch with that person that passed. It definitely is not a day full of sorrow, it’s a day to celebrate the life that was lived by the individual.” People don wooden skull masks, called “Calacas,” which symbolize death and rebirth. The skulls are used to honor the dead whom Aztecs and other Meso-American civilizations believe come back to visit during the ritual. “It is a celebration of honoring those who have passed, rather than being full of sorrow. (It’s about) honoring your legacy,” said Patricia Perez, professor of Chicana and Chicano studies at Cal State Fullerton. Perez, who says she usually cel-
ebrates the holiday, dedicated her last altar to the women who died due to femicide on the Mexican border. “Some (altars) can get very elaborate; it is a place to honor,” Perez said. According to Gradilla, what is interesting about the Day of the Dead is how long it has persisted. Indigenous groups in Mexico and Central America, as well as Mexican-Americans in the United States, have been celebrating this traditional holiday for 500 years, and the event has made an even stronger comeback in the last 20 years. Many American communities with Mexican residents celebrate Day of the Dead in similar fashions to those celebrations held in Mexico. CSUF is holding its own Day of the Dead celebration Nov. 9 at 11:00 a.m. in the Humanities Quad, hosted by the Chicana and Chicano Studies Alliance. Students can contribute to and view their altar, enjoy vendors and food trucks, face painting, storytelling, loteria playing and more.
Four “Occupy OC” protesters were arrested Saturday night by Santa Ana police for a violation of a municipal code that prohibits “camping” on city property. Of the four arrested, one was Cal State Fullerton student Sam Aresheh, a public relations major. According to Aresheh, a few of the protesters began pitching tents around 9:30 p.m. when they realized sleeping bags were not going to be enough for shelter. By the time the third tent went up, police gave the warning to take them down. All but four protesters disregarded the warning. As a result, Aresheh, Anthony Velloza, Timothy Craven and Shay Palmer were arrested and taken to Santa Ana jail. Seventeen protesters moved to the steps of the jailhouse to support their fellow occupiers until their release. According to Aresheh, while detained they were repeatedly asked by officers from the Santa Ana Police Department why their resolve was so strong. “We explained the demands of Occupy Wall Street very thoroughly to them, none of us regret what we did, and we all feel like we definitely accomplished something,” said Aresheh, who is also one of the organizers of Occupy OC. Standing in Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, a group of about 60 people representing the “Occupy OC” movement, gathered in the Civic Center plaza in downtown Santa Ana this weekend. “We are trying to create awareness and have a peaceful assembly. We’re not from the left, we’re not from the right, we’re from the bottom and we’re coming to the top with a message, we need equality and fair taxes,” said Alicia Rojas, a local Santa Ana artist who took part in the Occupy OC protest. Inspired by the widespread impact the New York movement has had, the Occupy Orange County movement in Santa Ana also planned for a long-term occupation of the space around the Civic Center at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building. See OCCUPY, page 2
Classes evacuate for the ShakeOut
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At 10:20 a.m. Thursday morning, students were told to drop, cover and hold. This may have only been a drill, but the Great ShakeOut at Cal State Fullerton was made to prepare students for the next big earthquake.
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