C A L I F O R N I A INDEX
S T A T E
C alendar & B riefs P olice B lotter P erspectives S ports
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VOLUME 66, ISSUE 3
Titan The WEDNESDAY of classes. “This arrangement was made with the faculty to have control of who adds the class,” said Blackburn, “this way the teacher has personal control of who gets let into the class.” With the 6 p.m. deadline rapidly approaching and the line growing, Blackburn wondered why students had not come in sooner. “It’s like a concert if you get your tickets in advance you’ll get better seats with the least trouble or wait to the last minute and have to pay outrageous prices to a scalper.”
Daily
U N I V E R S I T Y ,
F U L L E R T O N INSIDE
BASKETBALL: Injuries pile up for Titans as they prepare for the Big West leading UC Santa Barbara See Sports, page 5
FEB. 18, 1998
• PROCRASTINATORS: The
Students hurry up and wait to change schedules from Admissions and Records leaving many students asking why. “The line is four times as long as the longest I’ve ever seen,” said Eric Saur, a business major. Students were upset because the line for Admissions and Records seemingly stood at a stand still. Several students blamed the wait on the inability to use Titan Phone Registration for adds or drops. James Blackburn, Director of Student Admissions, said there is a good reason for requring an instructor’s signature after the second week Whether for laziness or lack of time, many students said they had to miss class or work. One student said she was fortunate to have a flexible work schedule. “I waited in line an hour and 10 minutes,” said Melissa Covarrubias, who was more than half an hour late for work, “but my work’s very flexible. I knew it had to get done,” she said. Graduating seniors like Stephanie Fleming were at the mercy of the line. “I had to add an independent study class,” Fleming said, “I didn’t have a choice on whether or not to wait in line for an hour I had to do what had to be done.” Blackburn said Admissions and Records were trying to find a solution to the problem such as collecting the students green slips at the end and processing them later. At around 5:30 p.m., Blackburn and the Admissions and Records office came up with a better plan utilizing the campus police. “We’re going to try to get everyone in by 6 p.m.,” said Blackburn, “the rest of the students will get a coupon-like thing to make it possible to do business at a later date.”
photos by Nathan Orme
final minutes to add and drop classes brings a flood of students to the Registration offfice. By DEBBIE REGIUS Daily Titan Staff Writer
Tuesday’s line for adds and drops was not for the weak or faint of heart. Tuesday was the last day to add or drop classes and the mass of bodies swelled back to McCarthy Hall
This Blackburn said would help students without getting a “W” on their transcripts or receiving a late fee. One bright spot was the lack of rain. Emily Sorenson, a dance major who was adding a class for a “lazy” friend. “I wouldn’t have waited in the rain,” Sorenson said. “All my stuff was in my car and I didn’t have a jacket.”
• EMPLOYMENT: Work-
New program to aid disabled students AS votes against abled employees, Mohr said. Jane Sawyer, the program’s coordinator, said an employers’ ignorance of the disabled, lack of knowledge about them and lack of interaction with them has contributed to these negative stereotypes and attitudes. Brian L. Margolis, a senior counselor at the Department of Rehabilitation, said 70 percent of disabled people were either unemployed or under-employed. The counselor defined the underemployed as those having the potential to do more skilled work if they had the opportunity and training. Mohr said employers often assume disabled people lack the capabilities needed for work. “When disabled people apply for jobs, an employer wonders how they are going to get to the job, how they are going to function on the job and whether or not they are going to disrupt the workplace. “An employer may think the disabled need too much extra help or ask himself, ‘If I need to buy expensive equipment, is hiring a disabled person going to be worth it?’” Workability IV specializes in one-to-one counseling with disabled students to help them achieve their career goals. Any CSUF student qualified for the services of the Department of Rehabilitation is eligible to participate in the program. “Disabled students can get lost in the numbers,” Mohr said. The Career Development Center, which is geared toward helping nondisabled students, catered to disabled students through this program. “A blind student can’t come into the Career Resource Center and see the job listings in the binders and on the computers. But I can meet with him, read him the job listings and help him fill out applications, “ Mohr said. Mohr, who acts as the mediator between disabled students and their potential employers, has contacted employers in many different fields and encouraged them to have an open mind when looking upon hiring disabled students. Sawyer, who wrote the proposal to start the program, modeled it after similar ones at Cal State Long Beach, San Diego State University and Santa Ana College. The Department of Rehabilitation sponsored the program, which began on Sept. 1, 1997, and funded it with federal money. When Sawyer met with members of the Employers Managers Association, she presented her clients to them. She also role-played with her clients, gave them tips on how to behave on job interviews, reviewed their resumes and offered them constructive criticism on how they should job hunt. She plans to start a job club as part of the program.
ability IV is designed to help disabled students enter the workplace. Daily Titan Staff Writers
Trustees’ policy
By Laurie Schultz & Mitch Greenwood A Cal State Fullerton graduate has been helping those who were among what he referred to as the largest group of unemployed people in the United States. Through Workability IV, a new program on campus, Ed Mohr, 40, has helped to increase the employment rate of disabled students. Mohr is the employment facilitator for Workability IV. Mohr said, “Disabled students are faced with many more challenges in gaining employment than nondisabled students.” This is often because employers have negative stereotypes and attitudes toward prospective dis-
• POLITICS: AS denounces
CSU policy which sends student fees to financial aid programs. By NATHAN ORME & STEPHEN B. RUBIN Daily Titan Editors
Singing from her soul — Melina Gerges was born to sing opera and has spent her life perfecting her gift of song. — By JOAN HANSEN Daily Titan Staff Writer It’s funny how some people just know. They know they were born to act on Broadway, surf the Northshore, or perform at the Metropolitan Opera-House in New York. California State Fullerton senior, Melina Gerges, 23, is one of those people. In her tender years she stepped up on a stage platform, raised her chin to the audience and sounds of a nightingale flowed from her lungs, imprinting her future with ancient lyrics and melodies and arias. She was only 5-years-old. Shortly thereafter she embarked on a journey of study, dating back to the Renaissance, that incorporates singing, instrumental music, storytelling and poetry. The 17th century founders called it the “complete work of art.”–The opera. “I knew then, I was born to sing,” said Gerges. At 11, the petite brunette was handed a tape recording of the Italian tenor, Pavarotti, singing “Caro mio ben,” by her sixth grade choir teacher. “She said, ‘Here, memorized this,’” Gerges said. Still unable to read sheet music, Gerges memorized it by ear and won first place in a solo competition in her home town of San Antonio, Texas. One of the youngest phenom (spell) to win. “There is a reason I was given this gift,” said Gerges, “My voice is an outpouring of my soul, it is a part of my person.” The depth of her beliefs erupts in candor and emotion. “The hard thing about my chosen life’s path is that I can’t disconnect my voice from me,” said Gerges, “I can’t say I’ve got a bad instrument and change it.” Everyday Gerges is one step closer to her life’s dream thanks to the support and encouragement of CSUF professors and many family and friends who believe she will attain her dream of singing professionally. Last summer, Gerges trained in Graz,
see SINGER/ 2
JOAN HANSEN/Daily Titan
Melina Gerges studied opera this past year in Austria. Copyright ©1998, Daily Titan
Associated Students stood up the Cal State University Board of Trustees Tuesday when the Board of Directors voted unanimously to pass a resolution denouncing the trustees’ policy requiring one-third of campus-based student fees to go to fund campus financial aid programs. The resolution made the Cal State Fullerton AS the first CSU student government to formally oppose the policy. The policy has not been an issue at CSUF until this semester, with Rothman trying to pass a fee increase referendum for the construction of a new recreation and fitness complex. Rothman said that $100 per student is needed to build the complex, but because of the policy the fee needs to be $150, the extra $50 going toward financial aid. Executive Order 661, implemented in August 1996, addressed the entire issue of student fees. The provision, which the AS Board opposes, stated that as of the effective date, one-third of all new student fees will go toward increasing the budgets of local financial aid grants, work study, waiver programs and other local aid programs. “That’s ridiculous,” AS President Heith Rothman said of the need to charge students $150 instead of $100 for the complex. Rothman came out against the policy at a January Board of Trustees meeting. In his statement, Rothman emphasized that he was not coming out in opposition to financial aid, but that he felt that making students pay into financial assistance for other students was unfair. Brad Wells, executive assistant to the senior vice chancellor of the CSU, said the policy had endorsement from both the statewide Academic Senate and the California
State Student Association. Michael Felix, director of the Statewide Affairs committee, is scheduled to travel to Humboldt State later this week to try to convince members of the CSSA to come out against the policy. Felix talked about his wariness in appearing to come out against money for financial aid since he has friends who receive the money. But he rationalized that it didn’t make much sense to have one-third of fees for a new building to go to financially needy students.
“What student doesn’t consider themselves financially needy?” —Heith Rothman, AS President
“Why raise the fee higher if its not going to go to this building?” he said. Besides hurting Rothman’s chances of getting the fitness center referendum passed, he also said that the policy gives no clear definition of the financial aid programs that are to benefit from the policy nor does it clearly define who qualifies for assistance from the program. “What student doesn’t consider themselves financially needy?” Rothman said. AS presidents from San Jose State and Humboldt State have also voiced opposition to the policy, according to Rothman, though they could not be reached for comment. If such opposition exists, CSUF would be the first campus to voice official opposition, according to Wells.