C A L I F O R N I A
S T A T E
U N I V E R S I T Y ,
The procession in East Los Angeles celebrated the Virgin of Guadalupe
INSIDE Perspectives: Habitat for Humanity 3 ncontinues to build homes for underprivileged families
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F U L L E R T O N
—see page 20
n sports: Men’s basketball get roped by the Cowboys, 78- 61
T u e s d ay
Vo l u m e 7 1 , I s s u e 5 1
D e c e m b e r 12, 2000
Tree lighting almost cannTRADITION: Christmas Tree Lane has been lighting its trees since 1920 By Michael Sandoval
Daily Titan Staff Writer
Michael sandoval/Daily Titan
Jan Jouinco attends the Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Saturday.
The Christmas Tree Lane Association, a non-profit organization, was able to extend the lighting of the trees one more year after almost being forced to end its 80-year tradition of Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena. Christmas Tree Lane is a regis-
tered 990th historical spot certified in California, spanning a 2 1/2 mile stretch of road, from Woodbury Avenue to Altadena Drive. Every Christmas residents decorate the trees on the sidewalk with lights for the children and families of the area. “I am glad that this occurs every year,” said Lucy Molina, a local resident of Altadena who helps at the public library off of Christmas Tree Lane. “It is a nice way to start the Christmas season and to bring our community together. There are not many events that do that.” This tradition started in 1920 when the street of Santa Rosa, which is Christmas
nADMINISTRATION: Investigations were launched after a student alleged questionable actions in the University Outreach program
By Jessica Peralta
Daily Titan News Editor
Titan
extras online n Check
out the Daily Titan online this year at http:// dailytitan.fullerton.edu. New features and sections will be available this year!
u p co m i n g n From all of us at the Daily Titan, have a joyous holiday season and take a welldeserved break.
meters next to every tree. When the meters were placed they were going to charge the non-profit organization with the electrical bill. The organization refused to have the meters placed because the meters would have destroyed some of the original trees from 1920. Edison said it started looking at safety violations in the wiring of the trees. In order to keep these trees lit they would have to re-wire and bring the electrical circuits up to code. The cost to bring this project up to Edison’s specifications would cost the non-profit organization in the millions
ALTADENA/14
Campus hiring practices
Holiday festival lights up Fullerton As part of the festive countdown to Christmas, the Fullerton Downtown Business Association hosted Winterfest on Saturday. The events took place from noon to 6 p.m., culminating with a tree-lighting ceremony presented by Mayor Richard Jones at 5:30 p.m. Earlier in the day, there was a Spark of Love Parade, a toy drive featuring 50 decorated police, marine and fire trucks, which children were allowed to climb. Twenty tons of snow was brought in for local children in play in and there were 40 craft and food booths set up. The Fullerton Fire Department handled the Santa Claus booth, offering free candy, balloons and Polaroid pictures with Santa. There was also a choir and five bands as well as a window decorating contest and community raffle, with 40 prizes awarded by downtown businesses. A clothing and accessories store — Roadkill — won first place for its creative window decorating. Store owner, Julie Rasmussen said, the window display includes layered cream-quilted velvet on the ground, ornaments, snow-like marshmallows hanging from the ceiling and a mannequin bust glued with a hundred gumdrops and marshmallows. She said it took one week to put up the decorations and that the decorations will remain up until Dec. 31. “They said the hanging marshmallows were really creative, but they said the entire display was whimsical and
Tree Lane, was originally slated as a driveway to the unbuilt mansion of Capt. John Woodbury. It became the property of Los Angeles County for residential use after Woodbury donated it. The residents of the neighborhood decided to light the trees on the road for Christmas. Since 1946, when Altadena seceded from the city of Pasadena, the power company at the time allowed for free power. This tradition faced a major obstacle this year when Southern California Edison demanded the placement of
By Samantha Gonzaga Daily Titan Staff Writer
Jeff Almquist/Special to the Titan
Downtown Fullerton hosts tree-lighting ceremony as part of Winterfest on Saturday.
A student’s two-year effort to raise questions regarding hiring practices at Cal State Fullerton’s University Outreach program have been dismissed by the Governor’s office, the Chancellor’s office and the university. But Sammy Rodriguez, a graduate student, continues to press on. “I suspect that there is a cover up,” said Sammy Rodriguez, a student employee who called attention to what he saw as a pattern of discrimination in the University Outreach department. Vice President of Student Affairs Robert Palmer headed the investigations to seek out the validity of claims ranging from racial discrimination, nepotism, to intimidation in administration offices, and found that no federal or state laws were breached. “The charges that were brought were not substantiated at all,” he said. “We have thoroughly investigated through all means, through our offices and that of Human Resources.” Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante said in a letter to Rodriguez that the CSUF administration appears “to have conducted a thorough and exhaustive investigation, in accordance with prescribed anti-discrimination policies. The conclusion that there was no unlawful discrimination seems reasonable based on the facts presented.” Those who made the charges, however, doubt the thoroughness of the university’s investigation.
“There is a culture of exclusion for Asians, Latinos and women,” Rodriguez said. According to CSUF employment records for 1998-1999, Hispanics comprise 18 percent of management and staff and 4 percent in the executive and administration management; in the service maintenance department, the number jumps up to 52 percent. Asian percentages do not exceed the 13 percent mark as faculty members, 9 percent in clerical positions, and four percent in executive management. American Indians maintain one percent in the manager and staff totals. Stewart Kimura, a former employee at CSUF’s University Outreach program, agreed: “We [Asians] have been minimally represented in departments.” Kimura attributed the difficulties in advancement to staying on a superior’s good side. “It was common knowledge that in order to advance, you had to play the game,” he continued. “You have to stay in good favor with someone in a higher position. Fall out of favor, and it’s harder to advance.” Palmer contended that no such barriers exist in advancement processes. Investigations conducted by Assistant Vice Presidents of Student Affairs Kandy Mink and Silas Abrego showed that the allegations were not substantiated. “I take these allegations very seriously,” said Palmer. “When an issue as important as this is brought up, we look into it very deeply.” The Committee For Accountable Management formed by Rodriguez, some students and community members not too long after Rodriguez filed several complaints against the director of the department he was employed in as a student assistant. “Our committee wants to make sure that laws are obeyed,” said Rodriguez. “That, in the future, administrations comply with laws that doesn’t allow the circumstances like this to continue. We want individuals to be
DISCRIMINATION/19
Student strives despite disability nPROFILE: Psychology major, John Woodman, is a motivational speaker as well as a teacher By Lisa Sleigh
Special to the Titan John Woodman, a six-foot tall football player-sized man, was out on a walk with his dog. Suddenly, five men with sticks attacked him, hitting Woodman and his dog. Unable to defend himself, Woodman and his dog moved into the street to draw attention to the crime. The men continued, repeatedly hitting the pair, until a stranger came to help. The stranger, a wheel chairbound man, began to loudly blow a whistle, getting attention to stop
the crime. John Woodman, or “Woody” as many call him, a Cal State Fullerton student, wasn’t always an easy target for such thugs, but the 58- yearold’s blindness changed all that years before the attack. Woodman has withstood difficult encounters and has undergone challenges, but has grown confident over the years from knowing others in similar situations. The attack Woodman experienced left him with a concussion and broken wrist. His seeing eye dog suffered a broken paw and a crushed leg. This attack hasn’t been Woodman’s only hurtful experience; other attacks took on different forms. “Once I was asked in Dallas, Texas by a woman, ‘what did you do young man?’” Woodman said, recalling the uncomfortable situation. Confused, he started thinking
about something he many have done a few moments ago. “What do you mean?” Woodman asked her. The woman replied with, “God punished you and made you blind.” Along with that incident Woodman has had a number of where people tried to avoid him. “I’ve had people run away from me,” Woodman recalled. “Once I was in a donut shop, I heard a father say “Na, na, na, David, get over here, you’ll go blind.” To become more independent, Woodman often practiced walking alone. He would go to a cross walk, listen for traffic to stop, then cross. “I was practicing, then a man grabbed me by the arm and lead me into the street,” Woodman said. Hearing all kinds of screeching and horns, he realized that the light was red and he shouldn’t have crossed. Clearly upset, Woodman asked,
http://dailytitan.fullerton.edu
Raul Mora/Daily Titan
John “Woody” Woodman works in his garage wood shop. “What are you doing? Are you trying to get me killed?” Woodman has been coping with blindness since 1977, when in a matter of 30seconds, he lost sight in his left eye.
After consulting with a specialist, he was told that what had happened to his left was a fluke and not to be concerned about the right eye. The doctors were wrong;
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