Vol. 90 Issue 49
December 1, 2011
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Occupiers evicted More than 200 protesters were arrested while 1,400 officers cleared the largest remaining Occupy camps WILLIAM CAMARGO Daily Titan
The Occupy LA encampment at City Hall Park was dismantled after the Los Angeles Police Department deployed more than 1,400 police officers in riot gear to clear the camp, resulting in the arrest of 292 individuals. Occupiers voiced their determination to support a movement that began in New York two months ago as they chanted, “You can’t arrest an idea.” They also shouted, “City Hall can’t fix the roads and shelter homeless, but damn can they close down a park!” Although curfew began at 10:30 p.m., LAPD in riot gear surrounded the park a couple minutes after midnight. LAPD officials attempted to limit press and media members at the site by enforcing a media pool, chosen only hours before the eviction, stating it was necessary in order to protect the media during the process. Occupiers and supporters claimed otherwise. The eviction came after a letter from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated the park was going to close Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. LAPD in riot gear was present after the scheduled eviction that resulted in a stand-down with the protesters. LUCIO VILLA / Daily Titan Police arrest a protester in front of City Hall around 1 a.m. Some protesters alleged that the officers used excessive force while arresting protesters and clearing the camp.
See LA EVICTION, page 2
Dorm signs MIA CLARK PAGADUAN
Plans for expansion are laid A new Master Plan that could be completed by 2025 would add new academic buildings, parking structures and CollegeTown
JESSICA ESCORSIA
Daily Titan
Daily Titan
Students who defaced Cal State Fullerton residence hall signs during the second week of the semester were sentenced to education sanctions, said Fred Lipscomb, director of Housing and Residence Life. The identities of the students were not released. The individual metallic letters on several signs that identified various residence hall buildings were damaged and defaced on separate evenings by several students who are currently living in the dorms. “They’ve gone through our judicial process and made their amends. They met with our complex coordinators and they issued them sanctions,” said Lipscomb. Lipscomb said the sanctions included doing administrative work in the housing office, grounds work and maintenance work around the CSUF housing community. “They were giving back to the community since they took away from the community,” Lipscomb said. “The sense was that they could learn something from giving back.” The metallic letters were attached to cement faces on ground fixtures that stood a little over three feet off the ground. According to several residents, the defacing of the metallic letters first occurred to one building sign and was then followed by defacing of the letters to the other building signs. To prevent further defacement of the signs, the housing administra-
CAMILLE TARAZON / Daily Titan The housing administration has removed all of the signs while it looks for a way to secure new ones. In the meantime, residents have created their own signs with chalk.
tion removed all remaining letters from undamaged signs until a plan could be devised to better secure the letters. No timetable was given as to when the signs would be repaired. “We’re trying to find a way to secure them so that they will not be taken again,” Lipscomb said. Rachel Dlab, 18, a health science major living in the residence halls, said the letters were not properly secured to the cement faces, which made them easily removable. “They didn’t even have to be unscrewed or anything. I heard from other people that they just popped right off very easily,” said Dlab. “I just remember waking up one morning and they were all gone.” Some students recounting the vandalism attribute it to prank
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wars being played by the students. “I heard they were just people playing drunken pranks and spelling different things on the signs,” said Leigh Chang, 18, an art major who also lives in the residence halls. A resident adviser who wished to remain anonymous said though the acts of vandalism were very serious, it didn’t ruin the community experience at CSUF. “It was unfortunate, but it didn’t at all dampen the mood of the residents living here,” said the resident adviser. “The precautions were taken to deal with the situation and we just moved on from that.” At the moment, some of the cement faces where the letters once stood have been decorated with the names of the buildings.
Despite the fight against increased tuition fees and students struggling to find ways to afford higher education every year, demand to attend Cal State Fullerton has stayed strong and consistent throughout the nation’s economic dip, said Kim Apel, manager of Physical and Capital Planning at CSUF. To address the demand and in order to continue growing, officials are working on receiving approval by the CSU Board of Trustees by creating a new Master Plan targeted for 2025. Right now, the plan includes nine new academic buildings, two new parking structures, new research lab facilities, additional student housing, faculty and staff housing, and a modern-day street car connecting students from the Fullerton Metrolink station to campus. The plan also includes CollegeTown, a student housing and retail community that will be located south of Nutwood Avenue if it is approved by the Fullerton City Council. Also, a newly designed quad with additional trees and increased open space will be added, an extension to the Titan Student Union and Student Recreation Center, is also being considered. CSUF will not expand its main campus after this plan is implemented, but if future expansion is needed, Bond and Apel believe a permanent Irvine Campus with the ability to grow will be necessary. The current CSUF Master Plan was approved in 2003, which increased enrollment from 20,000 to 25,000 Full-Time Equivalent Students (FTES). This had been the first time enrollment capacity had increased in over 40 years since the founding of the university. The 2003 Master Plan also added new buildings and facilities to the campus. Because enrollment demand continues to increase, a new Master Plan initiative is being proposed to allow enrollment growth to a maximum capacity of 35,000 FTES. In the next year, Apel along with Jay Bond, associate vice president/campus architect at CSUF, will work to
present the Master Plan and gain approval from the trustees before any changes to the campus are made, which are not expected to begin for another decade. “(The Master Plan) is not saying we expect to grow or (CSUF) needs to grow, it’s about entitlement to grow,” said Apel. Funding for the future design of CSUF will depend on the state’s ability to endorse funding, as well as tax payers’ money. “If the Board of Trustees approves higher enrollment capacity, if enrollment demand continues, and if the state is willing to fund public higher education, then Cal State Fullerton is entitled to receive money for new buildings,” Apel said. Bond said students should not be concerned about tuition increases because of the new Master Plan since that is a separate issue controlled by the state. The purpose of the Master Plan is to support the university’s growth. With more students, however, more parking space will be needed. If the 2025 Master Plan is approved, one new parking structure adjacent to the Eastside Parking Structure could potentially be constructed within the next five years. Parking structures are funded by user fees and Apel said because of this, fees would increase accordingly. That would be $80 more per semester per structure, Bond said. Bond said President Milton Gordon’s vision for the future of CSUF is to become the premiere public university of the nation. “My goal with our Master Plan and with all campus development is to contribute to that goal, making this campus the kind of place that attracts the best and brightest students, faculty and staff possible,” said Bond. Officials began steps toward the Master Plan in July and have already presented it to several groups, some of which include the Academic Senate, the ASI Board of Directors and the city of Fullerton. See PLAN, page 3