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INSIDE Congress reaches compromise 3 nonNEWS: details of Bush’s education reform plan OPINION: New bankruptcy legislation 5 nleads to more credit card junk mail
George Horton’s Titans have reached the top in latest college baseball poll —see Sports page 9
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M a y 8, 2001
Struggle to free alleged police killer continues nACTIVISM: More than 20 years after Mumia Abu-Jamal was imprisoned many still believe he is innocent By Trinity Powells
Special to the Titan Sighs of disbelief and murmurs of disapproval surfaced as the events and people that determined Mumia AbuJamal’s fate flashed on a television. The crowd of about 60 students and activist gathered in the Ontiveros rooms of the Titan Student Union on Thursday for many reasons, but all came to learn more about the circumstances and impact of an international movement to free this political prisoner. Coordinated and sponsored by the Sociology Student Association and supported by activist groups like Refuse and Resist (R&R), the Orange County Green Party and M.E.Ch.A., the event was organized to educate students and get them involved in the effort to free Mumia. “Hopefully people will be more interested in getting involved in the movement,” said Monica Vera, event organizer and activist. Featured speakers were from the L.A. chapter of Refuse and Resist, a non-partisan national membership organization with a mission “to build a climate, culture and community of resistance to defeat the whole reactionary agenda.” Azi Zorhrabi, 18, a representative from R&R’s youth network knows personally the plight facing Abu-Jamal. Having a mother that is a political prisoner Zorhrabi thinks activism is not just personal for her. “I think it’s personal for every activist because they want a better future,” she said. The gathering of students and activist began with HBO’s one-hour docu-
mentary on Abu-Jamal’s case entitled “A Case for Reasonable Doubt” aired originally in 1996. Following the video, questions were fielded on current aspects of AbuJamal’s case and why certain actions, like the testimony of his brother, never happened. “A lot of people recognized that he didn’t get a fair trial,” said Gordon Johnson, secretary of the Green Party of Orange County. As a lasting thought for those in attendance, Scott Sink, 22, a student claiming no affiliation but self-described as a person in “solidarity with the movement,” read a letter from the Zapatista Army of National Liberation written to Abu-Jamal on his birthday in honor of his cause. Linking the relevance and proximity of the issues involved in Abu-Jamal’s case, two minutes of home-shot video were shown of a protest by anarchists in Long Beach last Tuesday where chaos erupted between police and participants and 100 demonstrators were arrested. Mumia Abu-Jamal, born Wesley Cook, was a radio journalist for WUHYFM in Philadelphia and known by many as “the voice of the voiceless.” As an active member in the Black Panther Party as Minister of Information, and a supporter of the MOVE organization, Abu-Jamal from the age of 15 has voiced his opinion enough to have over 800 pages of reports accumulated by the FBI on his activity. The events that ushered in two decades of political controversy occurred on Dec. 9, 1981 with a routine traffic stop. Abu-Jamal’s brother, William Cook, was pulled over at the corner of 13th and Locust streets in Philadelphia for driving the wrong way down a one-way street. Problems occurred when the traffic officer, Daniel Faulkner, and AbuJamal’s brother got into an argument
Mayra Beltran/Daily Titan
Ten-year-old Laurance Truong of Perry Elementary school slam dunks at the 16th annual Special Games held Friday.
CSUF hosts Special nEVENT: Volunteers and children benefit from the annual festival for the developmentally disabled
songs on a trailer-mounted stage, and enormous big-top tents sheltering the crowd from the heat of the afternoon sun. In many ways, the 16th annual CSUF-Kathleen E. Faley Memorial Special Games was like a carnival. For the 2,200 developmentally disabled and special-needs students who came for the sports, food, ribbons and other festivities, Friday was a day of pure fun, designed just for them. However, for the 2,200 volunteers who spent the day at their sides, the games were about much more.
By Alex Douvas
Daily Titan Staff Writer At first sight, it looked like a giant carnival. Throngs of people bustling about the Cal State Fullerton soccer field, a live band churning out crowd-friendly rock
“This whole event is simply for and about the kids,” said Wylie Aitken, CSUF Special Games chairman. “But what they get from today doesn’t even compare to what we get from them.” What the special athletes got was an opportunity to compete in ten events set up over a large expanse of CSUF’s athletic fields. The football kick, 50-yard dash, football throw, Tee ball swing, long jump, softball throw, soccer kick, obstacle course and basketball toss all gave the athletes a chance to shoot hoops like Kobe, hit like McGuire and sprint like Flo-Jo.
The event wasn’t all about sports, though. A giant elephant for the students to bounce on was one of the more popular ways to spend the day. A special D.A.R.E. unit from the Fullerton Police Department and a fire truck from the Fullerton Fire Department were also hits with the students. According to Jim Faley, a CSUF Special Games board member, one of the things that makes the event different from other Special Games events around the country is the pairing of each special athlete with
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Campus expansion in the works nPLANNING: Three separate blueprints were presented Friday to solve the campus’ growing population issues By Kelly Mead
Daily Titan Staff Writer
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Richard Thompson, a representative from AC Martin Partners, discusses expansion.
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Last week Cal State Fullerton hosted open meetings to discuss development plans for the campus. The series of discussions will continue until Friday, May 11. The meetings give students and faculty a chance to voice their opinions about three hypothetical blueprints for university expansion. During the event the plans were
explained to the attendees through a twohour PowerPoint presentation and open discussion. “We want to hear what people have a positive reaction to and what people have a negative reaction to,” said Jay Bond, the associate vice president for Facilities Management. One controversial alternative outlined expanding campus housing into the arboretum. “There’s a series of trade-offs the university is in the process of making right now,” said Richard Thompson, a representative from AC Martin Partners. AC Martin Partners is the master plan consultant for the CSUF expansion plans. Although many believe the unused land in the arboretum should be saved for further development, Thompson pointed out that it may cost the university a significant amount
of money to preserve it. Each new parking structure will cost the university $20 million. One of the plans excludes using the arboretum out of the assumption that CSUF will be able to buy land south of Nutwood Avenue. Of the two plans that make use of CSUF’s existing land, the one that excludes the arboretum will require two additional parking structures. Thus an extra $40 million. However, Thompson assured the audience that the arboretum would probably not be used. CSUF designed the three plans by comparing the campus to other like campuses, such as San Francisco State University and Cal State Sacramento. They got additional information from discussing the issue with students and faculty.
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Groups advocate animal rights nSOCIETY: Activists work with club members on campus to raise awareness on forms of abuse By Taylor Goldman
Daily Titan Staff Writer On average, a million animals are eaten each hour in America. Despite the fact that people care about animals and don’t want to cause them harm, 98 percent of animal abuse is caused by factory farming, said Veda Stram, an animal activist from
Orange County People for Animals (OCPA). Stram was one of two guest speakers at Roots and Shoots’ “Animals in the Spotlight,” an event put together by the new club on campus to promote animal awareness. Stram, an animal activist for the past 13 years, said that three or four times a week she discovers a new form of animal cruelty worse than previous forms of abuse. She specified that the evening was intended to be uplifting, but that she was available with more specifics after her presentation. One of the OCPA’s guiding principles is that every being has the right to live free from exploitation.
“I’m here to thank you for anything you do to help animals,” Stram told the audience. Preceding Stram was Mike Winikoff, the director of programs from Ark Trust, who spoke about his organization’s Genesis Awards. These awards are presented to media groups that promote animal protection. Cristy Watkins, the president of Roots and Shoots, said that a commercial Winikoff showed for a Land Rover stood out in her mind. In the commercial, a husband and wife encounter a dog sitting in the middle of the road on a dark and stormy night.
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Lorraine Dominguez/Daily Titan
Roots and Shoots works to bring awareness to animal cruelty.
2 Tuesday, May 8 , 2001
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A guide to what’s happening
BRIEFS Last concert of the season closes with songs Cal State Fullerton’s Department of Music will end the semester with a final concert. CSUF’s Jazz Singers will be performing tomorrow May 9 at the Little Theatre. Directing the show is Cindy Bourquin, who will be joined by Gerald White at the piano, Nick Schaadt with the bass and Aaron Axtell at the drums. CSUF’s vocal group has been presenting concerts on campus throughout the year. Some of the soloists featured in the concert are Dzidzofe Afouglan, Justin Bladridge, Brian Bauer, Noelle Forestal, Amanda Hoyny, Jon-Enee Merriex, La Vista Silva and Josh Stanfield. The program includes such pieces as “Basically Blues,” “Estate” and “I’ll Be Seeing You.” Tickets are still on sale, with advance prices at $8. Titan Discount will be at the rate of $5. At the door, tickets will cost $8. These tickets can be bought at the CSUF’s Performing Arts Center box office at (714) 2783371. The Little Theatre is located on campus.
AP correspondent to be honored by Communications Department Associated Press correspondent Linda Deutsch will be honored with the “Distinguished Communicator of the Year” award by Cal State Fullerton’s Communications Department. It will be given out on the banquet scheduled this Friday May 11 at the Embassy Suites in the city of Brea. Deutsch’s career has included coverage of court trials, from the
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arrest of Charles Mansion to O.J. Simpson’s trial. She also covered Robert Kennedy’s assassination and the Rodney King beating. Also being honored are two CSUF alumni, New York Times reporter Walt Barringer and Nick Chilton, an advertising executive. Tickets are still being sold for the banquet, and can be bought by calling (714) 278-3517.
Students can win cash prizes for video contest The Christophers, a nonprofit organization that aims to raise the standards of public life, is announcing their 13th Annual Video Contest for College Students. Cash prizes to be won are as high as $3,000. The winners will get the opportunity to get their video featured on television on the show “Christopher Closeup.” Students interested in entering must provide their interpretation for the theme “One Person Can Make a Difference.” A variety of styles and genres, from documentary, to comedy, to news format. Entries can be made using film or video, but will only be submitted on standard, full sized VHS tape only. It must not exceed five minutes in length. The contest is open to all college students, both undergraduates and graduate levels. They can enter more than once also, but an official entry form must accompany each video. Deadline for entries is set for June 15. Entry forms can be obtained by writing to: College Video Contest, The Christophers, 12 East 48th St. New York, NY 10017; or by calling (212) 7594050. Visit www.christophers. org/contests.html for more information.
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The Daily Titan is a student publication, printed every Tuesday through Friday. The Daily Titan operates independently of Associated Students, College of Communications, CSUF administration and the CSU system. The Daily Titan and its predecessor, the Titan Times, have functioned as a public forum since inception. Unless implied by the advertising party or otherwise stated, advertising in the Daily Titan is inserted by commercial activities or ventures identified in the advertisements themselves and not by the university. Such printing is not to be construed as written or implied sponsorship, endorsement or investigation of such commercial enterprises. The mail subscription price is $45 per semester, $65 per year, payable to the Daily Titan, College Park 670, CSUF, Fullerton, CA 92834. Copyright ©2001 Daily Titan
CALENDAR O F EVENTS OF EVENTS Campus
Gymnasium at 5:30 p.m.
Over-The-Line Tourney rosters are due today by 2 p.m. in P.E. Room 121. For more information call (714) 278-3978.
TSU Games and Recreation will hold a bowlers Tournament on Thursday May 10 in the TSU Underground at 3 p.m.
An outdoor concert will be held in the Becker Amphitheater at noon.
A Computer Basics Workshop is scheduled for Saturday, May 12 in the TSU Mainframe Lounge at 2 p.m.
A TSU Food Committee Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 9 in the TSU Legislative Chambers at 2:30 p.m. Bring your suggestions about food operations on campus. A.S. Rec Sports will hold a 4-on-4 Volleyball Tournament on Wednesday, May 9 in the Titan
TSU All-Night-Study begins on Monday, May 14 until the 26. The TSU will be open 24 hours a day.
Community The Department of Theatre and Dance presents “24 Hours” on May 11 through 20 in Recital
Hall. This moving musical will take you on a journey of life and love. Italian-born artist-in-resident Franco Angeloni will exhibit work “that invades fields other than those normally connected with visual arts,” through June 30 at Grand Central Art Gallery in Santa Ana. For more information call (714) 567-7233. The Learning Light Foundation presents Ye Old Camelot Psychic Fair on Saturday May, 12 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1212 East Lincoln Ave in Anaheim. For more information call (714) 533-2311. The Young Musicians
Foundation’s Debut Orchestra presents its 46th Annual Final Debut Concert on Saturday, May 12 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles at 7 p.m. The Garden Grove Strawberry Festival 2001 will hold auditions for its annual talent show on Saturday, May 19 at 9 a.m. in The Strawberry Festival Amphitheater (12852 Main Street) in Garden Grove. For more information call (714) 638-7950. The Fullerton College Music Department presents “Finale” in concert on May 18 in the Campus Theatre (321 E. Chapman Avenue) at 8 p.m. For more information call (714) 992-
CALENDAR O F EVENTS COP BLOTTER Monday, April 30 At 10:27 a.m. habitual parking offender was reported. The car was a black Honda. A male subject was detained at the bookstore for stealing a Sharpie marker at 10:43p.m. The subject had a bag of marijuana in his backpack.
Tuesday, May 1 A political science teacher reported at 11:01 a.m. that he had received several threatening phone calls from a student who was in one of his courses in the spring of 2000. The student was upset that he received a D in the course and it would mess up his plans for his master’s degree. He told the professor that he would
make his life miserable just like the professor made his life miserable. At 12:24 p.m. an injury traffic accident on Gym Drive was reported. The victim was transported to the Health Center. Medical aid was requested in the Physical Education Building at the basketball courts at 7:04 p.m. The victim had a possible dislocated shoulder and refused treatment. A trainer arrived on the scene before the police and bandaged the hurt shoulder. A female off campus reported at 10:22 p.m. that her current boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend was threatening her.
Friday, May 4 At 11:19 a.m. a female came into Public Safety to give them a copy of a restraining order. She talked to an officer about getting the order served to the other party. A female reported that she thought her purse was stolen out of her backpack on the third floor of the Library North at 3:42 p.m. She had left her things unattended. The victim was going home to make sure that her purse was stolen and was going to advise police. At 9:14 p.m. petty theft from the Physical Education Building was reported.
Saturday, May 5 A white Dodge was stopped
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at 1:05 a.m. driving southbound on State College Boulevard. At 9:37 a.m. a yellow Pontiac was stopped. The driver was arrested for a warrant from an outside agency. Fullerton Tow was called. A black Blazer was stopped at 3:41 p.m. and a subject was later taken to Orange County Jail for possession of burglary tools.
Sunday, May 6 At noon a green Toyota was stopped at Troy High School. A hit-and-run accident of a parked gold Lincoln Continental in Lot E was reported at 2:37 p.m.
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The husband halts and goes into the rain to offer the dog the shelter of his car. “If you do one thing — it’s something,” Watkins recalled the commercial stating of the couple’s selfless act. Winikoff showed eight award winning clips to the crowd of 28, including one from the movie Chicken Run and an excerpt from Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher in which Maher blasts the Make A Wish Foundation for granting a child’s final wish of going hunting. Ark Trust’s Web site also lists the top 10 victories that were made for animals in the year 2000. Mitsubishi was awarded one of these positions because it chose not to build a salt factory on San Ignacio Lagoon, one of the last undisturbed breeding grounds for Pacific Gray whales. McDonald’s was also acknowledged because the company agreed to stop purchasing chickens and eggs from suppliers who de-beak chickens, give hens less than 72 square inches of space in which to live, or practice starving
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The plans are being drawn to accommodate the growing number of students expected to enroll at CSUF within the next decade. Currently the university is expecting 4 percent growth every year. Right now the university holds 20,000 full time equivalent students. If projections are correct, there will be about 28,000 full time equivalent students in the year 2010.
Tuesday, May 8, 2001 animals to increase egg production. Watkins introduced the two speakers in the Titan Theater at six in the evening. Her club also provided tables laden with information packets promoting animal and environmental awareness. Of the 60 packets they arranged, only 15 remained at the end of the evening, Watkins said enthusiastically. The new club, one of a branch of 1,000 similar clubs found throughout 50 different countries, just recently met with the founder of Roots and Shoots, Jane Goodall. Goodall inspired the club members during their hour-long meeting, telling them that any little thing they do to help the planet makes a difference. Watkins said that Goodall told all of them that they did not have to strive to attain perfection in order to fix the world. Proving her point, Goodall cited one Roots and Shoots organization that was founded from a prison. Following Goodall’s suggestions, Roots and Shoots put on one of its first events to help the environment.
The school is considering El Toro as a possible satellite campus, much like Mission Viejo, to ease some of the load. Another option is to have the campus take on a year-round schedule and to distribute current classes at a wider range of times. “I think anyone who says, ‘lets just change the schedule’ is naive,” said Patricia Bril at last Friday’s meeting. Bril is the associate university librarian for the CSUF library. While beginning planning for these
ABU-JAMAL n from page 1 that escalated to a brawl where Faulkner allegedly beat Cook with a metal flashlight. Sitting across the street in his cab Abu-Jamal intervened in an attempt to help his brother, leading to a jumble of events that has left many questions. Some witnesses of the conflict say that Abu-Jamal ran toward Officer Faulkner and shot him in the back at close range. Others say they saw another shooter run from the scene. None agree. The end result was the death of Officer Faulkner and a critically wounded Abu-Jamal. Other elements further complicate the confusion. Reports of the caliber of bullet that killed Faulkner and that of Abu-Jamal’s gun remain inconsistent. Two months after the shooting, police claim that Abu-Jamal confessed to the shooting of Faulkner when hospitalized, though Abu-Jamal denies any such confession. Witnesses’ stories have changed repeatedly and the judge who convicted Abu-Jamal, Judge Albert Sabo, is a member of the Fraternal Order of Police, an organization lobbying for justice in the death of Officer Faulkner. options, CSUF also began holding idea meetings last semester to outline scenarios for expansion. The final plans will be submitted some time next year. Some expansion has already begun. Extensions to the Health Center and Performing Arts Center are already underway and new housing buildings are in construction. Although the three plans are very different, some common threads run throughout them. The university will be making room
Mayra Beltran/Daily Titan
A protester sounds off against the imprisonment of Mumia Abu-Jamal at a rally in San Francisco. Though the events and people involved in the case are muddled, those in attendance at the event had come to conclusions on their own. Zohrabi believes that above all, Mumia received no justice. “No matter what, whether he is inno-
cent or not, 29 constitutional laws were broken,” she said. Joe Barrett, 19, a photojournalism major in response to accusations against Abu-Jamal said, “Basically all it is — is hearsay.” Barrett said he attended the event
just to find out more about Mumia after hearing about him from a band called “15” and doing research on his own. “I’m hoping to find out the truth,” he said. “Just looking for all the information I can.”
to allow for an additional minimum of 2,800 students to live directly on campus. “In terms of a competitive edge, housing is important to parents,” said Susan Painter, a consultant representing AP Martin Partners, noting that parents want to be sure their children make an easy transition to college. All three plans also made room for an events center that hosts a minimum of 7,500 guests, a child-care facility for student parents and a minimum of three parking structures.
As for the look of the university, no more buildings over four stories high will be added. “Everyone has come back down from that notion in the 60’s that high rises are a good alternative for education,” Thompson said. The new buildings will be designed lower to the ground than many of the existing ones so that students can move in and out of classes more effectively. Even though three detailed plans have been drawn, none of the options are set in stone.
“We’re not pretending that any one of those is a solution to all the problems,” Bond said. The university hopes to take the best ideas from all three scenarios and integrate them into a single superior blueprint. Suggestions are still being considered at the meetings. “We’ll probably be taking them up until we submit [the final plans] to the board,” Thompson said. Additional meetings will be held this Thursday in the Library and Friday in the Titan Student Union.
Vouchers absent from Bush’s education reform nLEGISLATION: Republicans and Democrats compromise on the allocation of school funds By Charles Ornstein
Knight-Ridder Newspapers WASHINGTON — In a candid chat with Catholic leaders early in his term, President Bush predicted trouble winning congressional approval for private-school tuition vouchers to benefit children in failing schools. His prediction is coming true — vouchers are nowhere to be found in sweeping education reform bills moving their way through the Senate and House. But with bipartisan deals nearly complete, most of the other changes the president sought appear close to becoming reality. “We’re going to get a bill which is very, very close to what the president wants,” said White House senior education adviser Sandy Kress, a former president of the Dallas school board. Despite that, Bush is taking heat from conservatives for giving up on
vouchers too soon. Education experts say the bills should pass easily and quickly. The president’s proposals are part of legislation that would reauthorize federal spending for elementary and secondary education programs, which total $18.4 billion this year. About half of that money goes toward Title I, which benefits schools serving poor and disadvantaged students. The full Senate will continue debating the legislation this week. The House Education and the Workforce Committee will also finish revising its version. “The momentum is there,” said John F. Jennings, director of the Center on Education Policy in Washington. “It’s just a matter of mopping up the details.” According to negotiators, both bills would: Require states to annually test all students in reading and math from the third through the eighth grades. Require states and schools to release report cards about student performance, including breakdowns on ethnic and racial groups. Consolidate some education programs administered by the federal government, which would give states and school districts more flexibility in how they use federal dollars. The consolidated programs include
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bilingual and immigrant education, teacher training and technology. Create a pilot program in which some states and school districts would be given new latitude to spend federal education money as long as they show continued improvement in student test scores. Both sides gave some ground to reach a compromise. Republicans sacrificed vouchers and agreed to maintain some limits on how states can spend federal funds. Democrats left without money for class-size reduction and school modernization. Lawmakers in both parties said they would try to restore what was compromised on the House and Senate floor. “I think it represents a real compromise,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. After weeks of demanding huge increases in education spending, Democrats allowed the Senate bill to reach the floor as they continued negotiating with the White House. Both sides expect to reach a deal that would increase spending by at least $4 billion in 2002. Instead of receiving private school vouchers, students in persistently failing schools would be able to use federal funds for private after-school
tutoring or transportation to another public school in their district, but not for private schools. That compromise doesn’t go far enough, some conservatives say. “At the end of the day, I’m disappointed by the degree to which the president’s excellent proposals have been attenuated and diluted by the Congress,” said Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Foundation in Washington. “Is it still worth enacting compared to current law? Sure. But how much will it change things? A whole lot less than it should.” Recent test scores demonstrate the need for radical reform, said Krista Kafer, an education analyst with the Heritage Foundation. The average reading scores for fourth graders remained flat on the 2000 National Assessment of Educational Progress, considered the benchmark of measuring student achievement, but the gap between the best and worst students continued to grow. “The status quo isn’t sufficient,” Kafer said. “I realize that this is a political reality, but it saddens me to see how much politics have overshadowed policy,” she said. Kress, the president’s education
adviser, said the critics’ assessments were flawed. “This bill is a huge victory,” he said. “Folks who are a bit embalmed in the past seem to be unable to see it, much less celebrate it.” Politicians and analysts say it would have been impossible to pass a bill containing private school vouchers. Teacher unions and other education groups have stood steadfastly against vouchers, arguing that they would weaken public schools by draining funding. Bipartisanship means a willingness to accept less than anybody wanted, said Sen. Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark., a leading voucher supporter. “It is certainly worthy of a conservative’s support,” he said. It’s hard to know exactly what Bush wanted. Days after taking office, he released a 28-page blueprint entitled “No Child Left Behind.” But he left it to Congress to put his ideas into specific language. “It’s harder to flesh out your ideas than it is to state them broadly,” said Jennings, a former Democratic staff member on the House education committee.
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6 Tuesday, May 8, 2001
news
Four slain at Kent Governor signs higher education State rememBy Jaime DeLage
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
A funding dispute over the annual memorial may have encouraged more to participate By Katie Byard
Knight-Ridder Newspapers What some view as an attempt to quell the May 4, 1970, commemoration at Kent State University this year may have actually worked in reverse. Some of the 300 to 400 people at Friday’s event said a funding dispute over the commemoration helped motivate them to show up. They wanted to lend support to the annual remembrance of the 1970 shootings pivotal in the antiVietnam War movement. The sunshine probably didn’t hurt either, some said. “I don’t think I would have come if they weren’t trying to forget about it,” said Don Barone, 41, of Salem. Barone, who works at the General Motors factory in Lordstown, took his kids out of school and brought them to Kent Friday so they could learn about the events of that fateful day 31 years ago. Four students — Sandra Scheuer, Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller and William Schroeder — were killed and nine wounded when Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire during a protest of the Vietnam War. “It seems like this campus wants to quiet it and forget about it,” Barone said, as he walked somberly around the KSU Prentice/Taylor Hall parking lot where the students fell. “If you forget, you’re doomed to repeat it.” Barone was referring to a dispute over funding for this year’s commemoration. In April, a student allocations committee initially declined to give student activity fees to the May 4 Task Force for this year’s event. The task force organizes the commemorations. It was the first time in some 20 years that the task force had been denied student activity fees. Some of those on the allocations committee questioned whether stu-
dent fees should go toward remembering an event that happened so long ago. After the task force appealed, the allocations committee softened its position and said it would grant $2,500 to the task force. That was much less than the amount requested. The task force rejected the lower amount, calling the gesture “hollow.” The crowd was typical for what task force members call an “off year.” An “off year” is a non-milestone year — one that doesn’t end in a zero or a five. Last year’s 30th commemoration — with speeches by well-known activists — drew several thousand to the KSU Commons, near the Prentice/ Taylor Hall parking lot. Because of the funding dispute, this year’s event featured speakers who did not charge a fee to appear. The student group that denied the task force funding had complained that the commemoration often includes speeches by activists who do not spend much time talking about the 1970 tragedy. Interestingly, this year’s speakers included Tom Grace, one of the nine students wounded in 1970. Grace, a social worker in Buffalo, N.Y., told those gathered on the Commons’ grassy hill Friday that the funding dispute “brought renewed national focus to the bloody infamy of this campus.” He said the controversy brought “fresh attention to the murderous deeds of the Ohio National Guard.” Grace noted that an editorial last month in the KSU student newspaper said that some of the speakers at past commemorations were political and divisive. But the politics shouldn’t be left out of discussions of May 4, Grace said. People need to remember the collision of beliefs on that day, Grace said. “The struggle of 1970 is one of the best weapons we have to resist warfare and everyday injustice,” he said.
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Gov. John Hoeven came to Grand Forks Wednesday to sign what some call the most significant higher education bill in more than 60 years. Hoeven, in UND’s Memorial Union, signed a bill that changes the way North Dakota universities and colleges do business, by giving them control over their own tuition revenues and other locally generated funds. Hoeven called it a liberating move that would allow schools to act more entrepreneurial, developing programs that would attract new students and generate more tuition dollars. “The changes in spending flexibility position the universities to better serve the citizens of North Dakota,” Hoeven said. “Ultimately, we have a more responsive and accountable university system that
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a volunteer “buddy” to be at their side throughout the day to offer help and encouragement. “There are over 2,000 volunteers here today,” Faley said. His late sister Kathleen was one of the first volunteers when the games began as a CSUF school project in 1986. “Most of our volunteer base comes from local high schools and churches — and they are the reason this event is able to happen each year.” Trevor Peterson, one of dozens of missionaries at the event from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, said that the event is a great way for the disabled students to interact with new people, and vice versa. “All of the elders here today have met a lot of new people, and we’ve been able to share in this experience with these kids,” Peterson said. “It is pretty incredible.” A lot of the volunteers are apprehensive when they are first paired with a special athlete at the beginning of the day, Faley said. “20 minutes later, they open up and are totally energized by the kids and their attitudes. I’ve seen big high school football players who didn’t look excited to be here at first, but when they see
can leverage world-class education, research and innovative programs to meet market needs and help drive economic growth.” Hoeven credited North Dakota lawmakers and members of the Roundtable on Higher Education, a group of 61 private, public and campus leaders that developed the legislation between the 1999 and 2001 sessions. Hoeven said colleges and universities are eager for the change. He said Valley City State University has wanted to start a Web site design course and has plenty of students ready to enroll. Under the old system, the university could start the program, but it would have to raid other course budgets to get the money. And then it wouldn’t benefit from recruiting the new students until lawmakers appropriated more money in the next legislative session.
When the new system takes effect, the university will be able to start the course and immediately offset its costs with new tuition revenue. “We’ve asked (universities) to be entrepreneurial for years now, but we’ve never really given them the tools to do that,” Hoeven said. Larry Isaak, chancellor of the North Dakota University System, said this year’s legislation is a landmark. “I believe this is the most significant piece of higher ed legislation since 1938,” Isaak said. That’s the year the Legislature created the North Dakota University System. The 2001 session produced several other important higher education initiatives: The state’s investment in the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research was doubled from $2 million to $4 million, to help the state get more federal
what the kids overcome, it really helps to minimize their obstacles too.” For Eddie Martinez, whose freshman football team at Fullerton Union High School volunteered for the event, the day gave the team a new perspective on their obstacles. “It felt good to be here and to help,” Martinez said. “It’s something we don’t do enough of. To see the kids have fun despite what they’re dealing with, you re-focus on what’s really important.” Ryan McElroy, a senior at Esperanza High School, shared the kids’ perspective on the event. “Our Peer Assistance Leadership class tutors them once a week, and for the last couple weeks, all they’ve been talking about is this,” McElroy said. “Last week, all they kept saying was ‘we get to see you on Friday!’ They look forward to it more than most of the volunteers realize.” McElroy said that although many of the high school students receive much-needed community service hours from the event, the consensus among student volunteers he’s talked to is that they would spend the day at the event even if there were no points toward graduation to be earned. “These kids are our buds,” McElroy said. “We’d do it just to see the smile on their faces.”
Developmentally disabled children participate in Special Games.
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research funds. A scholarship program was created to encourage students to pursue technology-related degrees. The program provides up to $5,000 in student loan repayment. Legislators approved Hoeven’s proposal to offer $3,000 in student loan forgiveness for faculty members who are obtaining doctoral degrees. The Legislature increased funding by $7.5 million to begin implementation of a software package to help streamline the university system’s student records and help campuses compete nationally for students seeking online education. “The flexibility in spending and new investments in our university system promotes the development of quality programs like the John D. Odegard Aerospace Center,” Hoeven said.
michael Del Muro/Daily Titan
news
Tuesday, May 8, 2001
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Cops use raids to end dogBy Hugh McDiarmid Jr. Knight-Ridder Tribune
Courtesy of Tribune Media Services
Police are hoping to end cruelty to animals by raids and arrests for people involved in dog fighting in the Detroit area.
With blood gushing from a gaping leg wound, Bud Light gives up. The pit bull terrier rolls onto his back while his foe, Shorty, sinks his teeth into a leg, then an ear, then Bud Light’s snout, shaking hard with each new attack. Blood sprays the walls of a dingy basement lined with spectators who are shouting, laughing and laying $500 side bets as to whether Bud Light will regain his feet before his handler stops the fight. The scene was captured on a home video seized during a raid on a Dearborn, Mich., house in 1999. But authorities say dog fighting still is a problem in metro Detroit. Police say they believe two Pontiac men, scheduled for court hearings Thursday, have been raising dogs to fight, and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department recently expanded a task force to focus on dog fighting. These moves have buoyed the spirits of animal cruelty investigators who say the fighting has long been part of a clandestine fraternity of high-stakes breeders and trainers in metro Detroit. Their fights draw betting purses of more than $30,000. Dogs are routinely maimed because owners are loathe to stop a bout with so much money riding on the outcome. “It’s a prizefight, just like it is
in Las Vegas,” William Randle Jr. of Taylor, a convicted dogfighter, says in a taped interview for the Michigan Humane Society in 1999. That interview opened a window into the shadowy underground culture where a top-fighting dog is a badge of machismo, a status symbol like a luxury car or big house. “It’s about having the best. You got a dog; you got people calling you. After you got your soupedup car, you got your motorcycle bought, what else is there? You buy a bulldog,” says Randle, who is jailed in Wayne County awaiting sentencing on a dogfighting conviction in Taylor earlier this year. Randle’s attorney, Josh Gordon, did not return calls seeking an interview with Randle. In unrelated Pontiac cases, Julius Standifer, and Jeffery Ford, both 31, are accused of being part of the culture. They will appear Thursday for preliminary examinations in 50th District Court on two felony counts each of keeping fighting animals and animal-fighting equipment. Each charge is punishable by up to 4 years in prison and a $50,000 fine upon conviction. Both have pleaded not guilty. Police confiscated 43 pit bulls from their homes last month, including 13 puppies. A judge will determine if all the dogs will be euthanized because of their aggressive tendencies. Search warrant records about Ford’s residence show police seized
SAT study says exam is good indicaBy V. Dion Haynes Chicago Tribune
Attempting to contradict growing criticism of the SAT, a new study financed by the company that administers the nation’s most widely used college admissions test says the exam is valid in predicting college success. Commissioned by the College Board, the study indicates that the SAT is a reliable predictor of not only first-year grades, the period for which school admissions officials had traditionally used the test, but also later student performance. Students who score high on the exam are more likely to earn high grades and to graduate, researchers say. The University of Minnesota study comes when the SAT is under intense scrutiny, with some charging that the exam is biased against blacks, Hispanics and low-income students, and others criticizing it for measuring aptitude instead of achievement. More than 380 schools, including Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, Wayne State University in Detroit and Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago have
either dropped the SAT or made it optional in favor of more essays and interviews. In February, University of California President Richard Atkinson called on the faculty to study whether the university system should drop the aptitude portion of the SAT. Atkinson recently asked College Board officials to devise a new admissions test that would better assess what applicants have learned in high school. The new University of Minnesota study concludes that the SAT is the third-best measure for predicting college success, behind grades and class rank. While it culls more than 1,500 previous research reports on students who took the SAT from 1940 to 1999, the study does not compare the SAT to alternative admissions criteria, such as essays, interviews, recommendations, portfolios and other exams. Researchers said they plan to make the comparisons in another study. “The question is not whether the SAT can predict college success, but whether it is the best predictor,” said Michael W. Kirst, a professor of edu-
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cation at Stanford University and an expert on standardized testing. But Within the last 25 years, the SAT has been criticized for allegedly favoring white upper-income students whose parents can afford preparation courses costing up to $900. Some college admissions officials and secondary educators have joined the chorus, saying the SAT assesses students on irrelevant skills such as verbal analogies (for example, fish is to water what bird is to air) that are not taught in schools. The University of California’s exploration of dropping the SAT has prompted a new debate among colleges and universities about alternatives to the aptitude test. Some are looking to put more emphasis on state standardized tests, which are designed to assess what students are taught in school. Public schools across the nation have been aligning their curricula with state universities in an attempt to help students make a seamless transition from high school to college. Nathan Kuncel, a University of Minnesota psychology research fellow who helped conduct the SAT
study, said the admissions test is important in light of grade inflation, widely varying curricula at high schools across the nation and the unreliability of such alternative measures as essays, which can be written by someone other than the applicant. “If you start dumping the SAT and start relying heavily on something else, that will change how people behave,” Kuncel said. “Rather than paying for standardized test coaching, people will start paying for interview coaching.” National Urban League President Hugh Price wants a balance struck in SAT use. Last month, the organization released a survey of 200 top executives at Fortune 500 companies indicating that corporate America places little value on high SAT scores. Only 4 percent of the executives cited SATs as crucial to long-term success. About 88 percent said character, leadership and communication skills were better predictors of business success. “We’re not calling for a cessation of the SAT, just a diminished reliance on it,” Price said.
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steroids, penicillin, suspected training devices, videotapes and written records. Both homes had treadmills with homemade plywood sides — typical devices for training fighting dogs, investigators say. The Pontiac arrests are the first since the early 1980s, says Police Sgt. Terry Healy. “We thought it didn’t exist anymore,” he says. Not true, say animal cruelty workers, who say they’ve been after the city for years to do something about dogfighting. Most police have made dogfighting a low priority measured against crimes with human victims, says Marie Skladd, president of the Animal Care Network. The organization works to educate dog owners in Pontiac and Inkster. But Pontiac — armed with a recent city ordinance banning new ownership of pit bulls — is taking an aggressive new posture toward the problem. Skladd says her group has identified 65 homes in the city where they suspect fighting dogs are being trained. Wayne County investigators also are turning up the heat as they enter the second year of an investigation with the Humane Society. Sheriff Robert Ficano said Monday that Wayne County officers began surveillance on multiple dogfighting operations about four months ago and hope to bust the rings later this year.
It’s difficult to estimate the scope of the problem because of the secrecy that permeates the culture, police say. Notice of fights often is released hours before an event, and spread only by word of mouth. Kevin Jones, a cruelty investigator with the Humane Society, says the network is so tight that fighters in the same city often know where he’s going before he gets there. “When I leave one house and go to the next, they already know I’m coming,” Jones says. Training usually takes place behind tall privacy fences where dogs are injected with steroids and conditioned by dragging weights, hanging by their teeth from suspended cowhides and playing variations of tug-of-war. Owners of champion fighting dogs command top dollar — charging thousands to let another fighter breed with his animal, according to Internet sites devoted to the activity. Dogs that don’t fight well or get old end up being killed or dropped at a shelter, where they’re euthanized. But Randle, in his interview with the Humane Society, says serious dogfighters are sportsmen given a bad name by amateurs who don’t stop fights when a dog is seriously injured. Fighters “love their dogs,” he says. “Their dogs sleep in their bed, eat steak, drink beer. You will probably get away messing with my girl
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Tuesday, MAy 8, 2001
Creditors go the mile to get us By Terry Jolliffe Along with my regular credit card companies wanting to up my limit, I’ve also received a curiously high number of new credit card
offers. Call me a cynic but could it have anything to do with the new legislation passed by the U.S. Senate to make it tougher for customers to declare bankruptcy—legislation strongly backed with lobbying by many of the credit card companies themselves? I’ve never asked for credit line increases on any of my credit cards, but the flowery wording like, valued customer and wise consumer—even though I know it’s a form
letter—is somehow flattering just the same. And as an otherwise intelligent adult, that scares me. Dead people, elderly people in rest homes, young children—even pets. We’ve all heard the stories about them receiving credit cards in the mail. The new legislation is supposed to curb the number of bankruptcies filed by those who simply file to avoid paying their debts, i.e., irresponsible consumers who can’t or won’t live within their means. I for one am tired of being one of the responsible cardholders that shoulder that bad debt because those costs are ultimately passed on. The good thing about the new legislation is that it will at least require cardholders to enroll in debt counseling before filing for bankruptcy and in many cases, force them into repayment rather
than allowing them to ditch their mounds of debt altogether. But maybe we consumers might ask ourselves this — are the tactics being used by lenders to entice American spenders fair? Those who can least afford it find the temptation of charging all too easy, particularly when the minimum monthly payment sounds so affordable. The credit card companies know that we are hooked on debt, love credit, and they will do just about anything to get us in their fold. For example, last year 1.2 million people filed for bankruptcy. That’s more than quadruple the number who filed in the 1980s— around the time bankruptcy laws were liberalized. Now, the lenders are about to have a law that assures they will receive their money even if it means catching people on the other
Daily Titan
end, whether they’ve fallen on hard times or not. And will that deter those companies from bombarding us with new solicitations for credit cards? That extraordinarily low interest rate promised once we transfer all of our balances from other cards over to the new low interest card? It’s time for everyone to begin reading the small print. Those low interest rates are for a very short time. Meanwhile, a shredder is an inexpensive way to dispose of the constant non-subscribed pre-approved credit card offers we receive, lessening the chance of them falling into the wrong hands. — Jolliffe is a Daily Titan Staff Writer and any response to this article can be sent via e-mail to dailytitan@yahoo.com
http://dailytitan.fullerton. Editorials are the opinion of the editorial board, comprised of the Executive Editor, News Editors and section editors. Columns are the personal opinion of the writer. They do not reflect those of the university, the faculty or the student body. Letters to the Editor should be brief and are subject to editing. They must include your full name, year, major and telephone number. They can be mailed to The Daily Titan, College Park 670, CSUF, Fullerton, CA 92834, e-mailed to dailytitan@ yahoo.com or faxed to (714) 278-4473.
Campus Voices n
Seeking substance before criticizing
I would like the opportunity to respond to the “Greek Week Hoopla” letter run in the April 27 issue. First of all, to judge an entire group of people based on one event is not only ignorant, but sophomoric as well. Secondly, Rickel said that we remind him of everything that was “loathsome” about high school. Not everyone found cheering and having fun “loathsome”. I am sorry that he did. In regards to the “fist fight” that he refers to, there were no punches thrown. My question is will you condemn the soccer team for getting into a fight during a game, or maybe the baseball teams for getting into a fight? The fact is that during extreme athletic competition, emotions run high, and sometimes, these emotions reach a peak, and people get into shoving matches. In no way can you judge a group of people by the reactions of a select few in a high-emotional situation?
Rickel also referred to Bacchanalia-like parties that go on over the weekends. He said that we have more immorality going on in these parties than in strip clubs. The fact that this young man does not realize is that any college party has the same activities going on. It’s not just us, and by writing this, in no way do I condone some the activities that go on, but bacchanalian-like behavior is not limited to fraternity parties. It is at most college parties. In regards to the university sponsoring us. The Greek system raised in excess of $5,000 for Camp Titan. Which means we gave countless numbers of underprivileged kids a chance to go to camp this summer. Before judging a group of people, you might want to take the time to find out the facts behind what you’re criticizing. — Quincy Sims
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It’s all Greek to him
‑Forget for a second that I supposedly “buy my friends.” With 83,000 initiates in my Fraternity alone, I think it was a pretty good deal. For those of you who care about numbers, at $250 a semester it works out to less then one penny per friend, or 280 friends for every dollar I spend. I think I made a wise investment. The campus community tends to focus on the negatives of Greek Life, the fights, the drinking, and the general mayhem. I would like to move the focus to the positives, and there are many. Greek Week 2001 raised over $10,000 for our schools official philanthropy, Camp Titan; I dare any other group on campus to do better. After all, that is what we are here for is it not; that along with, “competition,” “insane bouts of childish behavior,” and of course those “bacchanalia-like parties on the weekend,” right? It has been said that “Forty-one per-
cent of CSUF students don’t drink,” that leaves 59percent that do. The Greek community makes up just 2 percent of this campus. Even if every Greek drinks, which is an outrageous exaggeration, that would still leave 57 percent of the campus drinking. Now who are the alcoholics? At least we do our drinking in the safety of our fraternity houses, and not somewhere that we have to drive home from. Throughout history Greeks have made a difference in American Society. All but three U.S Presidents born since 1825 have been fraternity men. One hundred of the 158 cabinet members since 1900 have been fraternity men. Forty of the 47 Supreme Court Justices since 1910 have been fraternity men. Seventysix percent of the current U.S senators are fraternity men. Seventy-one percent of those listed in the Who’s Who in America are fraternity men. Approximately 80
percent of the top executives in the Fortune 500 are fraternity men. Fraternity men make up only 2 percent of the student population. For such a small group of people, we accomplish so many things Most people think that all we are good for is eating, drinking, and partying. Over the course of a year fraternities and sororities complete over 200 million hours of service and raise millions of dollars for various charitable causes. There are some organizations that would not survive without donations from Greek lettered groups. I ask you to do the following, do not condemn what you do not understand, do not judge from one experience, and ask yourself; what have you given to society lately? ‑‑ — Adam Rogers
Tuesday, May 8, 2001
Titans corral Mustangs in sweep nBASEBALL: CSUF firms up its Big West lead to two games with weekend sweep at Cal Poly By Damian Calhoun
Daily Titan Asst. Sports Editor The Cal Poly Mustangs had high hopes before the start of their weekend series with the Cal State Fullerton Titans. After the weekend, those hopes are no longer alive. CSUF (38-11, 11-1) stuck to the same format that it has used all season, pitching and quality hitting, to lead the Titans to the three-game sweep and extending their winning streak to ten games. “It was a great weekend,” Titan Head Coach George Horton said. “In all areas of the game, it was great.” With the sweep the Titans also increased their Big West Conference lead to two games over UC Santa Barbara heading into next weekend’s battle for first place. The key to this weekend, however, for the Titans was early offense. In the series opener, the Titans staked starter Jon Smith to 4-1 lead and went on to defeat the Mustangs 7-3. The tone was set on the second pitch of the game. Senior second baseman David Bacani hit Brian Haskell’s second pitch of the game over the fence for his fourth home run of the season. Smith (9-1) pitched seven and 2/3 innings and gave up eight hits and gave up three runs. Chad Cordero pitched the final inning and 1/3 for his 10th save. In the second game of the series, CSUF made Darric Merrell’s job a lot easier. Keeping with the theme of early offense, the Titans scored one run in the first inning and three in fifth and six in the sixth inning. With the 10-1 lead, Merrell showed why he was invited to tryout for the 2001 USA Baseball National Team. Merrell (6-2) went eight innings and scattered seven hits and struck out nine as the Titans won 13-1.
CSUF slugged out 18 hits, with junior left fielder Robert Guzman leading the hitting parade with a perfect 3-for-3 night. The Titans had seven players record multi-hit games. In the series finale, the Titans turned the ball over to Kirk Saarloos and again the senior right-hander did not disappoint. The Titans started out of the gates as fast as 100-yard sprinter. CSUF led 7-0 after the first three innings. In the first, junior catcher Brett Kay slammed a three-run home run. In the second, Guzman’s two-run double upped the lead and consecutive RBI-hits by Matt Belfanti and Shawn Norris, gave Saarloos the lead. Saarloos (12-2) lasted six and 1/3 and was replaced by Cordero who pitched the final two and 2/3 innings for his 11th save of the season. Cal Poly (28-20, 6-6) made the game interesting with three runs in the sixth, but junior shortstop Mike Rouse refuted the Mustangs’ comeback with a three-run home run in the top of the ninth to push the lead to 10-3. Aside from the win, Saarloos and Cordero also etched their names in the record books. Saarloos’ win was his 30th of his four-year Titan career, which places him sixth on the all-time list. Saarloos is the first Titan since James Popoff (1989-92) to reach 30 victories). His start was the 122nd appearance of his career, breaking the old mark of 121 set by Long Beach State’s Gabe Gonzalez (1992-95). For Cordero, his 11th save tied the previous mark of most saves by a freshman, set by Fresno State University pitcher and major leaguer Bobby Jones. For the second consecutive game, the Titans had seven players with multiple hits. Rouse and Kay each had two hits and three RBI in the win. “Jumping out to the quick leads, simplified the games for us. It was a weekend of timely and productive hitting,” Horton said. “It allowed our pitching to do the job that it has done all season-long.”
By Damian Calhoun
Daily Titan Asst. Sports Editor
david Rivera/Daily Titan
Junior Chris Stringfellow and the Titans now have to look over their shoulders at the rest of the nation in this week’s Collegiate Baseball poll.
By Caesar Contreras
Daily Titan Copy Editor
david Rivera/Daily Titan
Reclaiming the conference crown gave the Titans reason to celebrate.
Entering this past weekend’s series with Utah State, the Cal State Fullerton softball team had a rather simple task with a rather big award. All they needed was one win over the Aggies and they would win a second consecutive Big West championship and gain an automatic berth into the NCAA Playoffs. The Titans got three wins and another Big West championship to boot. Showing strengths that have been evident throughout the team’s 46-12 record, CSUF used strong pitching, hitting and another killer performance from sophomore catcher Jenny Topping as they powered over the Aggies (11-39) on their way to the weekend sweep at the Titan Softball Complex. On Saturday, CSUF wasted no time in assuring themselves another Big West crown as they took the first game over Utah State by a 2-0 score. Topping provided the only run support Titan right-hander Gina Oaks needed as she blasted a
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America’s favorite fightBy Melanie Bysouth Frustrated with the return of New York Yankee Chuck Knoblauch to the Minneapolis Metrodome, fans pelted the former Minnesota Twin with hot dogs, quarters and plastic beer bottles. The game was delayed for 12 minutes and the tirade almost cost the Twins their 4-2 victory over the Yankees. The behavior of the fans may be immature but it is certainly not surprising. Baseball is a sport with a rich and diverse history. Many of baseball’s most memorable moments are displays of great human strength and triumph yet recently, childish players have begun to write a new chapter in baseball’s history book. Somewhere between Stolen Bases and Total Home Runs, you will soon find “Historic Temper Tantrums.” How can you fault the fans when they are only following the lead of the players? It was only last season that former Dodgers pitcher, Carlos Perez, attacked the water coolers after walking the loaded bases in the fourth inning of a home game. It is difficult to determine which is more disturbing, the fact that Perez destroyed the coolers as he hit them 13 times with a baseball bat or the fact that after the attack he said, “I grabbed a bat and hit a cooler. I felt better and I slept good.” Hopefully baseball fans with insomnia are not getting any ideas. For an even more interesting approach to anger management one must only remember Roberto Alomar. The Cleveland Indians second baseman was upset over an umpire’s strike call and displayed his disagree-
After weeks of climbing the ladder up the national rankings, the Cal State Fullerton Titans have finally reached the top. In this week’s Collegiate Baseball poll, th e Titans jumped from third to the top spot, off of a three-game sweep against Cal Poly and two midweek victories. This is first time since May 9, 1999, that the Titans have been ranked No. 1 in any either of the three college baseball polls. The Titans continue to move in the other polls as well. In Baseball America, the Titans jumped up four spots from 6th to 2nd and in USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll, CSUF rose from 7th to 4th. CSUF is 38-11 overall and 11-1 in the Big West Conference and in the midst of a 10 game-winning streak. In their last 25 games, the Titans have won 24 games to open up a two game lead in the conference. Leading the way for the Titans has been a pitching staff that has a staff earned run average of 3.17. The weekend starting rotation of Jon Smith, Darric Merrell and Kirk Saarloos has a combined record of 27-5. Each starter has an earned run average under 3.00: Merrell (1.85), Saarloos (1.87) and Smith (2.89). Out of the bullpen, freshman close Chad Cordero has chipped in. Cordero leads the team with a 1.76 ERA and has 11 saves. Offensively, CSUF has its team-batting average up to .316 and boasts seven players hitting over .330, led by junior shortstop Mike Rouse’s .389. Since March 9, a span of 33 games, the Titans are 30-3, included in that stretch is a season-long 14 game-winning streak. “No one has played better than we have for the last 33 games,” Titan Head Coach George Horton said. “We’re honored to No. 1. But what’s important is to be No. 1 in the final poll.” In the preseason poll, the Titans opened the season ranked 12th. The week of March 5 found the Titans sitting at .500 at 8-8. The following week of March 12, CSUF returned to poll ranked 28th and eight weeks later, coach Horton and his Titans sit atop of the polls. “This is a reward for the stretch that our guys have put together,” Horton added.
CSUF possesses Big West again nSOFTBALL: CSUF closes regular season in style and now awaits NCAA regionals
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CSUF finds view is nice from top of Collegiate
ment by spitting into the umpire’s face and accusing him of being bitter over his child’s recent death, resulting from a brain disease. The fans, the media and the league may have been bothered by the outburst but Alomar returned to the playoffs with barely a slap on the wrist. And now we are supposed to be shocked by the behavior of the Twins’ fans? Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura sent a letter of apology to Yankees owner George Stienbrenner apologizing for the fans’ behavior. “I’m all for letting off steam at sporting events, but in this case a few fans went too far,” he said. Aggressive behavior is consistently witnessed within the NFL and the NHL and no one seems to complain. Yet when such behavior is presented on the baseball field, suddenly everyone has something to say. This may be unfair, but what baseball players do not seem to realize is that it is not so much the behavior, but how it is displayed. Fights within the content of a hockey game blend seamlessly among the body checks and the high-sticking. Yet baseball players display their aggression in such a different way. As the batter charges the mound ready to pounce on the pitcher, the dugouts and bullpens are suddenly emptied as both teams rush to the brawl. When one fights, they all fight. And when left to release the tension on their own, they spit and they destroy innocent water coolers and they wonder why the fans act like infants. Offering an explanation for his tantrum, and a message you must be sure to tell your children, Perez presents these final words of wisdom. “If you’re going to hit something, grab a bat.” At least for Knoblauch, hot dogs don’t bruise.
two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning off Xochitl Ramirez (4-9) for a 2-0 lead. The home run was Topping’s 14th of the season. Oaks was dominant on the mound as she allowed only one hit in going the distance for the 16th time this season. She had nine strikeouts in the game and walked only one batter as she improved to 19-6. The nine strikeout performance was the third straight time the sophomore as managed the feat as she did the same in two wins over Cal State Northridge the week before. Oaks also had two hits in the game as did junior Monica Lucatero. In game two, the Aggies were victims to another masterful pitching performance, this time from junior Christy Robitaille. Robitaille allowed only four hits as she improved to 9-1 and notched her 14th career shutout of her career. Lisa Spencer took the loss to fall to 6-12 as she allowed five runs on nine CSUF hits and three walks. This time the big blow was Amanda Hockett’s fifth home run of the season in the second inning. Oaks scored on the homer as CSUF took an early 2-0 lead, the Titans got another run in the third inning on a fielder’s choice and a Lucatero tworun single with the bases loaded completed the scoring.
Not having to worry about a needed win going into Sunday’s regular season finale, the Titans closed out the Aggies 3-0 on Senior’s Day. Topping led the way as she went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a walk. Five other CSUF players got hits on the day including seniors Rachel Olvera and Brenda Iglesias. Iglesias had an RBI single in the fourth inning. Sophomore Jodie Cox held the Aggie bats at a distance throughout the game as she went the distance for the 18th time this season and earned her 11th shutout on the year. The left-hander (18-5) allowed only three hits and had three strikeouts, she even added an RBI single to aid her performance. Kristin Hommel took the loss to fall to a lowly 1-18. The senior struggled throughout as she threw three wild pitches on the day and was called for an illegal pitch. She finished by giving up three earned runs, five hits, one strikeout and walked seven. While the Aggies 2001 season finished at CSUF, the Titans now await “Selection Sunday” on May 13. Due to their record and No. 9 national ranking, the Titans do have a good chance of hosting a NCAA Regional. But they will have to wait until
Titans set two field records
By Raul Ascencio
Daily Titan Sports Editor Anteater officials grew weary Sunday at the Steve Scott Invitational as they unraveled their measuring tape’s contents by the yard-full to tally up the flight of Fullerton’s premiere leapers. The Titan jumpers, under the fused tugtalage of veteran Coach Ron Kamaka and Olympic medal-welding Coach Mike Powell, stomped down footprints in the UC Irvine pit that rendered four top-three finishes, including two first place finishes. “With the conference championships a week and a half away, I simply wanted the jumpers to use the meet to prep and prime their technical skills,” said Head Coach John Elders. “But, [the jumpers], with the direction of coaches Kamaka and Powell, performed with the same intensity they would’ve at a scoring meet and produced excellent results.” Among those refusing coach Elders’ request to refine technique, was “Jumpin” Joe Thomas, who leapt to the front of the field motivated only by the gold-scripted blue ribbon. The sophomore held true to his moniker and sunk his spikes in at
the 50-foot, 8-inch mark. Thomas’ jump earned him first place overall, along with the admiration of his head coach. “Joe had a huge jump,” Elders said. “This is his personal best in the event and I’m pleased to see that he’s peaking at the right time.” Another Titan finding solace and success in the sandpit was junior long-jumper Brandon Campbell. Campbell soared to a 24-foot, 4.5-inch bound, as he out-leapt the competition by nearly a foot. After attaining first-place accolades in the long jump, Campbell turned his attention to the high jump event, where he grasped a sterling second with a 6-foot, 8.75-inch jump. “Brandon has performed double duties for us all season and like the [jumpers], did not let up even though the meet was non-scoring,” Elders said. Also pitching in with a topthree jumping performance was female triple-jumper Ana Doty. Doty’s jump fell short of her record-shattering vault at the Cal/Nevada Championships, but still proved worthy of third place overall. Her heels touched down at a formidable 38 feet, 10.25 inches. Fellow Titan junior Daniel
kira horvath /Daily Titan
Dan Churchill sets new school record in the pole vault. Churchill also locked down a top spot through the air. But Churchill’s hover was only made possible with the aid of a pole, in the men’s pole vault. Churchill soared 16 feet, 4.75 inches, a mark that obliterated a 3-year-old school record and earned him the gold in the process. “His performance was an enormous breakthrough for him,” Elders said. Rounding out the Titans’ top-three placings was javelinthrower Ryan Gill, who efficiently tossed the spear 199 feet
and two inches, as he earned a lightly-contested first place finish. Senior Amber Reardon, was not presented with a colored pendant like fellow thrower Gill, but nonetheless posted notable numbers and hurled the hammer a school record-breaking 154 feet and 1 inch. “Our participants in the field events, whether in the rink with Ana or getting over the bar like David and Brandon had an extraordinary day,” Elders said. “We need to carry this momentum into the Big West