C A L I F O R N I A INDEX
C alendar & B riefs D e t o S ports
VOLUME 66, ISSUE 28
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F U L L E R T O N INSIDE
Reed Johnson’s new-found power is a big hit with the baseball team.
—see Sports pg. 8
T H U R S D AY
APRIL 9, 1998
Did the Titan kill the Fitness Center vote? n ANALYSIS: Proponents of the fitness center referendum
said the Daily Titan was biased in its coverage, which may have swayed student voters. By NATHAN ORME
Daily Titan Executive Editor When the fitness center proposal was shot down in a hideous ball of fire by student voters two weeks ago, Associated Students President Heith Rothman and Office of University Recreation Services director Erin Smith had plenty to say about the Daily Titan’s coverage of the issue.
Before ‘I love you,’ say ‘I do’
“Blatantly negative” was one comment. “The Daily Titan was totally committed to defeating this proposal,” Smith said as she waited for the final ballot count—2,122 no to 307 yes—on the fitness center which would have given her program a new home. Several days before the vote, a kinesiology instructor who favored the proposal, said she had stopped reading the
Titan because she was so sick of the negative coverage of the proposal. Did the Daily Titan’s coverage convince those 2,122 voters to defeat the proposal? During the month-and-a-half preceding the vote, hardly a day went by without some mention of the fitness center in the Titan, either in the form of an editorial or advertisement. Out of the 22 issues that came out before the vote, 13 contained at least one story or ad about the proposal. We have broken down the content relating to the proposal in those 13 issues and given our commentary as journalists so that you, the reader, can
decide for yourself. Each story is scored as giving positive (+), negative (-) or neutral (0) coverage of the referendum.
•February 10: “Fitness Center fee proposed” (by Nathan Orme) - Introduces the proposal; interviews with Rothman and Smith address the possible benefits of building the new complex. The story could be perceived as being positive toward the proposal because of the comments by proponents. (+) •February 18: “AS votes against trustees’ policy” (by Nathan Orme and Ste-
see ANALYSIS/
Masked warriors against meat
n MATRIMONY:
Middle Eastern students educated in the U.S. expect customs back home to prevail even after graduation. By Alex Alfredo Campus Correspondent ton University)
see MARRAIGE/
Positive Coverage 13 points Negative Coverage 17 points Neutral Coverage 17 points 0
1
By NICK BRENNAN Daily Titan Staff Writer
MATT LEWIS/Daily Titan
2
0
Proposition 227 threatens to end bilingual ed sition is voted in, the state will no longer require public schools to provide bilingual education.
Members of Justice Through Insurrection By Humans For Animal Defense (JIHAD) demonstrate in front of Carl’s Jr. Headquarters in Anaheim on Friday March 27. The group is demanding an apology for the company’s “Eat Meat” campaign, and says it will continue to protest until it receives one.
0
*Points were determined by the Daily Titan editorial board and include both graphic by Erick Wong stories and advertisements.
n EDUCATION: If the propo-
(Bos-
Adnen, a senior at Boston University, never mentions the women he’s dating in the letters he sends home to Pakistan. So far, none of his girlfriends have been Muslim, a religious difference he says his parents would never tolerate. With graduation just around the corner, the 22-year-old business major suspects his parents are eager for him to find a wife, or allow them to find one for him. Though Adnen says independence is the best thing about living in America, he’s bound by tradition and his Islamic faith. He’s far from being the only one. Many students from families who believe in arranged marriages will be assigned their spouses shortly after graduation. “Everyone thinks that love is a big thing you have to have beforehand; people can’t imagine attaining it after,” Adnen said. “I don’t think you’ll ever know ‘Yeah, I love this person.’You have to look for things that are more important. . .because if everything else matches, your way of thinking, your ideals, you’re going to get along and love will come.” Thoughts of relying on Mom and Dad to play matchmaker send shivers up the spines of many American students, but in most of the world, arranged marriages are the norm. One survey of urban professionals living in India indicated that 81 percent of their marriages were arranged. Of that group, 94 percent rated their unions “very successful.” More than half of the survey’s respondents said they wanted their families to choose their mates “because elders know best.” Another 20 percent said because they were guaranteed someone of similar social standing, and about 10 percent said
Daily Titan content on Fitness Center referendum*
When he was 18 years old Jesus Millan immigrated to America, but did not speak English. By attending adult education classes in English, watching television and listening to the radio constantly, he was able to learn the language. Millan also wrote down everything he saw, like billboards and signs, and then asked others what they said or meant. Within six months he was able to start communicating. After a year he could read English well. But it was easier since he already knew what a verb or subject were and understood grammar, Millan said. However, for the 420,000 students enrolled in bilingual classes, it is not that easy. It may even get worse if Proposition 227 passes on June 2. If the proposition is voted in, the state will no longer require that schools provide bilingual education. Students will only have one year of instruction in their native tongue. After that, they will be thrown into a class where only English is spoken. Currently the state requires core classes, such as math and history, be taught in native languages for students who are not proficient in English so they do not fall behind. At the same time the students attend classes to help them master English. The goal of the program is to have the bilingual students in English-only classes in three to five years, Millan said. Proposition 227 was written by Ron Unz and Gloria Matta Tuchman. Unz is a business man from the Silicon Valley and does not have a background in education, according to a March 10 article
in the New York TImes. Proponents of 227, also known as the Unz Initiative, say this system is a failure and students are taking longer than five years to get into the English-only classes. Some students are even graduating without really mastering English. “Children are not passing the English proficiency test,” Matta Tuchman said. “The program delays the learning of English.” According to Matta Tuchman, who teaches at Taft Elementary School in Santa Ana, most students are testing below the 50 percent level in English. It is a parental choice and empowerment issue, Matta Tuchman said. This is about what parents want to see for their children’s education. What parents want to see for their children is not occurring, she said. “English is what you need to stay in school and get a job,” she said. “Without English it is very difficult to succeed.” Armando Vasquez-Ramos, director of the Educational Talent Search Program at Cal State Fullerton, disagrees with Matta Tuchman. He sees bilingual education as a success. “The program addresses a critical basic skill to all kids to compete in the 21st century,” Vasquez-Ramos said. “Possessing a second language is no different than ‘the three Rs’ and computer skills.” Vasquez-Ramos attributes the necessity of knowing another language to what employer‑demands and to a demographic change California will face in the next 10 to 15 years when, according to estimates, the majority of the population will be Spanish-speaking. Millan, an academic counselor at CSUF, agreed that knowing a second language will be a necessity for those who wish to go into business in a global economy . Vasquez-Ramos is so adamant about making sure this proposition does not pass that he has taken leave of teaching
see PROP 227/
Digital Technology caught on TV/Film n IMPROVEMENTS: New
computers and editor programs enable students to alter footage in half the amount of time while retaining CD quality sound. By STEPHANIE GUERRA Daily Titan Staff Writer
MATT LEWIS/Daily Titan
Will Ruvalcaba operates some of the Communications department's older video equipment.
Television and film students are still using the old, dingy analog editing machines with their clumsy knobs and odd levers, but the sleek clean lines of the new bright white digital editing computers may be more tempting and fun for them to use.
The television and film department jumped on the digital bandwagon this past March, installing $96,000 worth of six editing computers and video cameras. Students can now film footage this semester on new sleek, compact minidisks instead of the old chunky video cassette recorder, or VCR tapes. Digital footage can be easily arranged without a loss of resolution. A common comparison is that of listening to the crystal clear sounds of a compact disc and wincing through the crackles and hums of an old vinyl record. The Random Access Non-Linear Systems consists of the Adobe Premiere
Copyright ©1998, Daily Titan
program on Power Macintosh G3 computers where footage can be instantly and easily manipulated on large 19-inch monitors by the dragging and clicking of a mouse. Rewind and fast forward buttons may be a thing of the past. The old, analog editing machines resemble the household VCRs, said Karol Kleinberg, a TV/Film grad student. Each time footage is edited and transferred from tape to tape, the quality decreases, giving it a choppy blurry look. “The major difference now is time,” said Tim Neely, TV/Film major, about the efficiency of the new equipment. A 16 hour production can now be edited in
about two hours. Last semester, students were limited to analog special effects, like fade to black. Special effects could not be edited into the footage, but had to be recorded into the footage. Neely is excited about the special effects that can appear at the click of a mouse. “I can colorize this footage, reverse a zoom, or colorize this umbrella only. . .” he said while pointing at a Public Service Announcement on child abuse that he is working on. Digitizing footage gives almost unlimited artistic freedom to film editors. “There is still a place for analog editing and it’s valuable to know how to
see EQUIPMENT/