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M a r c h 19, 2002
Tax courses available at Irvine camnEDUCATION: CSUF satellite campus will provide classes to earn an MBS for the College of Business By Sabrina Sakaguchi
Daily Titan Staff Writer Earning a master’s degree in business recently got a little easier for south Orange County’s working executives, thanks to Cal State Fullerton’s Extended Education program. Located in one of the hubs of Orange County’s professional soci-
ety, the College of Business and Economics (CBE) now offers in Irvine courses for a master’s of science in taxation. Extending to Irvine was a matter of necessity, said accounting professor Tom Johnson. He said that 75 percent to 80 percent of Orange County’s accounting firms have offices located within five to eight miles of the Extended Education facility. “Orange County is a congested place,” Johnson said. “A number of potential students were discouraged to come to Fullerton and slog their way through traffic.” According to the Extended Education Web site, www.takethe lead.fullerton.edu, Irvine has around 2,000 firms with an estimated 35,000
employees. Faculty Coordinator and Accounting Professor Michael Moore said most of the students enrolled in the Irvine program are accountants or business professionals who want to improve their knowledge of taxation. He said, through the Irvine program, “they get a fairly broad knowledge in taxation.” Courses cover almost every area of taxation a business professional would need to know, focused mostly on tax planning and practice, he said. Unlike other educational programs, the taxation program gets a second spring break during the tax season. Currently, only one course
is being offered for the program. The 40 enrolled professionals are focused on helping their clients file tax returns before the April 15 deadline. “We geared the program for students,” Moore said. “There is a hiatus during March and most of April.” Moore said the field of taxation has gained a growing interest from the business professional field. He said professionals who work in taxation are not only interested in taxes, but like learning about American laws. There are an infinite amount of issues and problems that arise with taxation, but Moore said finding solutions to these problems is what taxation professionals enjoy doing.
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“They like the challenge of dealing with a lot of uncertainty,” he said. “They like to play games and find some answers to things that solve their clients’ problems.” Included in the courses offered and required for the taxation master’s are taxation of corporations, partnerships and state gifts. Students also learn about tax research, taxation planning and how U.S. taxation changes with international trade. The 10-course program in Irvine follows the same guidelines and requirement as its parent program at CSUF, Johnson said. In addition to south Orange County tax practitioners, many of the same full-time faculty will be teaching the primarily evening
courses at the Irvine location. “This is an effort to serve the professional accounting community,” Johnson said. The Irvine program is housed in the Irvine Spectrum along with a number of research, development and manufacturing companies. The facility’s Web site boasts of comfortable classrooms, a computer lab and an abundance of free parking. Other CSUF classes and certificate programs being offered at the Irvine location include: Survey of e-Business Practices, eMarketing Strategy & Techniques, e-Public Relations, e-Government, Marketing to the Hispanic Consumer, Java Programming, Web Page Development and Microsoft Access.
Dept. mourns CSUF alumnae nOBITUARY: Claire Ihara, wife of Asian American studies chair loses battle with advanced myeloma
Katie Cumper/Daily Titan
Sunday’s 2002 Kia Klassic tournament gave the home team a reason to cheer. Above, the Titan softball team celebrates after All-American junior Jenny Topping, second from left, smacked a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth against Texas, giving Fullerton the 2-0 victory. In the tournament, CSUF was a perfect 7-0, closing out their streak with the Texas takedown.
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showed support and was very involved in the [Asian-American studies] program, even though she didn’t have to,” Fujita Rony said. J. Michael Russell, chair of the department of philosophy, described Ihara as an articulate woman who had a real interest in people. He got to know her through Craig Ihara, who is also a professor in philosophy. By Afni Adnan “The most common feature is visual Daily Titan Staff Writer — the curiosity and sparkle in the way she would make eye contact,” Russell Claire Ihara, a Cal State Fullerton said. “She would look at you in a way graduate and wife of Craig Ihara, chair that would make you feel she was really of the Asian-American studies program, interested and really liked you.” passed away on Feb. 25 from plasma cell Friends remembered Ihara as a gentle leukemia, an advanced form of multiple soul who conducted herself with grace. myeloma. “I do not recall her ever raising her Not one to surrender to self-pity, she voice or expressing herself with any boldly fought the illness harshness,” Russell said. for more than a year but “No doubt she did so, continued to help others. but that is not part of my She was 56. image of her.” Ihara was born in She married Craig in Chicago on Sept. 25, 1968 and the couple spent 1945, not long after her their first year of marriage family left an internment in Hong Kong. They camp in Colorado. relocated to Los Angeles Ihara’s parents, Misao and spent four years there and Isao Harada, moved before settling in Yorba back to California to farm Linda in 1973. when she was an infant. The Iharas were a wellShe attended San Jose traveled couple, having Ihara City College and San Jose visited and lived in Asia State University, where she and Europe, as well as other majored in art. She earned her bachelor’s parts of the U.S. degree in photojournalism at CSUF in Over the years, Ihara worked as a 1974. bookkeeper, a photo lab technician, a Friends described her as quiet and video store manager and even managed reserved, but comfortable to be around. and owned an apartment complex. But “She had a great sense of humor,” said more than anything, she was a caring and Thomas Fujita Rony, a professor in the supportive wife. Asian-American studies program. Ihara’s memorial service was at the He also said that she made him feel Orange County Buddhist Church in welcomed to the relatively new program, Anaheim last Friday. In lieu of flowwhich was established about six years ers, donations can be made to the ago. The Iharas also helped establish an Ihara endowment through the CSUF endowment fund for the Asian-American University Advancement. and philosophy study programs. She is survived by her husband, Craig, “She wasn’t an academic, but she and her brother, Chris Harada.
Students take on beach cleannENVIRONMENT: As part of a project, 45 people gathered in Long Beach for two hours to pick up trash By Laila Derakhshanian Daily Titan Staff Writer
Tubes of chapstick, bottles of plastic and glass and various articles of clothing were some items people gathered as they cleaned up Alamitos Beach, Saturday. As part of “Project Earth,” monthly volunteer services coordinated by students, to help clean up the environment, 45 people gathered for the beach cleanup at the shoreline and ocean in Long Beach. During the two hours of cleanup, 52
bags of trash were collected. Other pieces picked up were markers, cotton swabs and cigarette butts. “I found cups, knives, spoons and Gatorade bottles,” said Melinda Brown assistant director of Residents Life for Shenan Doah University. “Enough stuff for a picnic.” Individuals from all over the nation, including some that had never seen the ocean, came together to help. “It’s my first time in California,” said Scott Nelson, a graduate student at Central Missouri State University. “I’m just trying my best wherever I go.” Before everyone started collecting trash, Mike Murphy a speaker for the Surfrider Foundation, briefed volunteers about the destruction of beaches. “The behavior that we engage inland has a profound effect on our beaches,” Murphy said. “We are protectors of the coast.” Murphy said cigarette butts have
become a major issue because marine animals mistake the butts as food and often feed the butts to their offspring blocking their digestive track, making them ill or even starve to death. “It’s just another reason to not smoke,” said volunteer Mike Espinoza. Sabrina Sanders, coordinator for Volunteer Services, and Victor Lopez, program director for Project Earth, helped organize the event. Sanders said that a group usually picks up trash from Huntington Beach. They provided bags, rubber gloves and refreshments for the volunteers as well as motivation to all that attended. “This is a significant environmental cleaning,” Sanders said. “We picked up a lot of glass. We have to keep our environment clean and make sure that it stays clean.” Toward the end of the event, volunteers gathered around the CSUF table and discussed their experience and what
http://dailytitan.fullerton.edu next beach cleanup will be on Earth Day, April 20, at Huntington Beach.
they found. “There’s stuff out here that you don’t think about,” said junior Christy Stewart. “A bird was debating whether or not to eat a piece of rope. It’s a scary thought.” Despite the wind, it seemed that the layers of trash hidden in the sand never ceased to appear. Most said they were surprised at what they found or didn’t find. “I thought I’d find more people helping out here,” said Jensen Omana, a nursing student at Cypress College. “These beaches should be cleaned up more. In less than two hours I found beer bottles, zig-zags (tobacco rolling papers) and a syringe.” The majority reflected that they felt that they had made a difference. “This has created a more conscious awareness for these people,” Sanders said. “Hopefully it will change lifestyles.” The Volunteer and Service Centers
Laila derakhshanian/Daily Titan
A woman cleans up trash at Alamitos Beach on Saturday.