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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, F u l l e r t o n
Tu e s d a y, S e p t e m b e r 7 , 2 0 0 4
Daily Titan
Students discover campus involvement Discoverfest entertains crowds, draws interests to on-campus clubs By LINDA HO Daily Titan Staff
The sound of music and the scent of free candy attracted curious Cal State Fullerton students to the Quad on Sept. 1 and 2. From as early as 9 a.m., the colorful banners decorating an array of booths, which made up this fallʼs Discoverfest, caught studentsʼ eyes. A large number of the clubs and organizations available on campus were represented at the two-day event, and offered students reasons why they shouldnʼt rush out of the parking lot after their last class. “Get involved” was the prominent message of the event according to the T-shirts worn by the staff members of the assistant deans for Student Affairs. Various departments on campus participated in the event, including Financial Aid, Academic Advisement, Parking and Transportation, Disabled Student Services and the Pollak Library, to name a few. The College of Humanities and Social Sciences educated students
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about different majors offered while representatives from the U.S. Air Force informed students about the benefits of joining the service. “The bulk of people in our program are recruited through events like this at CSUF and at other schools,” said Austin Coccia, a cadet of the Air Force ROTC and senior linguistics major. Kevin Kowalski, a senior art major and president of the Ceramics Club, said Discoverfest allowed his club to represent the art department and expose the campus to the medium of ceramics. Brian Jones, a sophomore and secretary of the Ceramics Club, said he wanted students to know that they too could have fun “playing with mud.” Jones, who decided to make use of the three hours of Discoverfest, even demonstrated his skill, molding the reddish-brown clay with his bare hands. A large number of religious groups were present and offered their faith and friendship to students who were looking for some spiritual companionship. Souled Out, a ministry organization based on college campuses, used this opportunity to bring its DISCOVER 3
Gov. considers bill to alleviate studentsʼ book-buying burden By NIYAZ PIRANI Daily Titan Staff
JACQUELINE LOVATO/Daily Titan
Adam Eastham, CSUF theater arts major, and friend Abigail Orr, escape the summer heat in the Titan pool. Temperatures reached a high of 107 degrees in Anaheim over Labor Day weekend. The university’s pool is open to all CSUF students during the fall 2004 semester: Monday through Friday from noon to 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m.
Poll reveals Titan political views CSUF professors explain that “lying” is all in perception By ALI DORRI Daily Titan Staff
JACQUELINE LOVATO/Daily Titan
Phi Kappa Tau member Christian Silvestre tosses a Frisbee with a friend during Discoverfest on Sept. 2. Fraternities, sororities, clubs and organizations set up during the two-day event to recruit new members.
College texts under review
Nevermind the heat
An informal survey taken last week by the Daily Titan revealed that 62 percent of students surveyed believe President Bush lied to build his case for going to war with Iraq. Of the 80 students polled, 59 percent believe Bush to be generally dishonest. A second informal survey of 35 students reveals that 54 percent believe Bushʼs alleged lying is more serious of an issue than John Kerryʼs supposed flip-flopping. Advertising major Michael Bloomer said he will go with who he thinks is the lesser of two evils. “I am not enthralled by Kerry. He seems like a liar too,” Bloomer, 23, said. “But I think he is more trustworthy than Bush.” Pre-war intelligence has raised
credibility issues for Bush and a series of commercials put out by the group Swift Vote Veterans for Truth have done the same for Kerry. Jack Elenbaas, a Cal State Fullerton history professor, said perceived lying does make a difference to voters because it hits them on a personal level. Elenbaas points out that this reaction to dishonesty develops through oneʼs early relationships with family and friends because lying is looked down upon in these relationships. “Voters translate their personal life into the vote,” Elenbaas said. This morality has been a factor in recent elections. Stephen Stambough, a CSUF political science professor, said that being associated with dishonesty is enough to effect an election. Former President Gerald Ford could never shake the Watergate scandal, even though he was never found to have done any wrong doing, which eventually forced former President Richard Nixon to resign, Stambough
said. “In 1976 people tied Ford to Nixon, and Carter ran on a notion that he will tell the truth,” Stambough said. After the capture of Saddam Hussein in December 2003, a Gallup Poll showed Bushʼs approval rating at 64 percent, but it decreased in the following months. In a May Gallup Poll, his rating fell to 46 percent. Last monthʼs poll revealed a boost back to a 51 percent approval that coincidentally came when the Swift Boat advertisements were released, which depict Kerry as lying about his combat role in Vietnam. “Itʼs tricky,” Elenbaas said. “Lying is a subjective term. One personʼs lie is another personʼs rational explanation. You have Republicans saying that [Iraq] was a matter of poor intelligence, not a lie. And with the Swift Boat stories, you will hear many different interpretations.” Elenbaas said none of this is conSURVEY 3
PASA represents: cultural club hosts annual hip-hop auditions Pilipino American Student Association struts its stuff By DESDEMONA BANDINI For the Daily Titan
The usually quiet Cal State Fullerton campus had serious bassblasting hip-hop music bumping behind Titan Shops last week. The Pilipino American Student Association hosted its annual hip-
hop dance audition for the collegiate dance troupe, Team Millennia, and was responsible for the noise. Danny Batimana, a PASA member who is now the director for Team Millennia, founded the team in 1998. “Everyone here loves to dance,” dancer Christine Bueta said. “You do not have to be Pilipino. You just have to love hip-hop and having a good time.” Batimana took the stage to teach the swelling crowd of almost 75
talented hopefuls the routine for Sundayʼs audition. Though he graduated and now teaches math at West Covina High School, Batimana remains an active alumnus of PASA and said he hopes to turn his love for hip-hop into a real business with a dance studio in Fullerton. For now, they practice on the cement behind the campus bookstore three times a week. Team Millennia is an extension of the PASA club but is not limited
Honors program director gets reappointment Hobson to serve three-year term with honors and scholars By ANNA LOUSTAUNAU For the Daily Titan
Wayne Hobson was reappointed as the director of the University Honors and Scholars Center for a three-year term on Aug. 19, allowing him to continue spreading support to students and faculty alike. Hobson has been a well-respected member of the Cal State Fullerton faculty since 1973, with great achievements in the American Studies Department and previous
experience as the program director in 1991. “He brings experience to the position and a deep caring about the students involved,” said Kandy Mink, dean of students. “Hobson truly understands the values of the honors program and is committed to its success. The campus is lucky to have him.” Hobson, who is originally from Washington, grew up in an educational background. His father was an agricultural economist and his mother, a teacher, instructed him early on about the importance of academics. His ultimate passion? “Intellectual honesty,” Hobson
said. “People should try to understand and see each other for who they really are and never lead one another on in life.” With this perspective in mind, Hobson, with a doctorate in American history, has gone on to achieve a variety of leadership positions, including serving as president of the California American Studies Association, and has a wide array of administrative experience at CSUF in the social sciences and American studies programs. “Iʼll never forget when I started teaching American studies. I had much support and assistance from HOBSON 3
to CSUF students, said Michelle Maramba, the teamʼs manager. “This is the annual audition for next yearʼs team where we will choose our team captains and junior team captains. We also have a Team Millennia junior troupe for anyone under 18,” she said. “We compete against other collegiate Pilipino dance teams like UCI, UCLA and CSULB all over California. We also do benefits and special events. It is a lot of fun and itʼs growing so fast,” Maramba
added. The troupe just hosted a miniintensive two-day dance camp, Maramba said, and the word must have spread as the turnout doubled her expectations. “It is just a fun and cool way to meet people, connect and have a great time dancing,” Maramba said. “Hip-hop dancing is really such a great, healthy outlet and it is so much fun. We welcome anyone to participate who wants to have a good time and loves to dance.”
Traveling a-Cross Country
FRANCIS SZYSKOWSKI/Daily Titan Asst. Photo Editor
Maria Belasquez finished eighth overall in the cross country season opener at Carbon Canyon Park in Brea. Read the full story online at www.dailytitan.com.
In a stack of bills on Gov. Schwarzeneggerʼs desk is an outline for a textbook rental program on college campuses. Assembly Bill 2678, drafted by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood), was approved with bipartisan support. According to a study by the California Student Public Interest Research Group, the average fulltime student spent $898 per year on books during the 2003-04 school year. “Since students are a captive customer base, they have to buy the books, they have no choice,” said Bart Broom, senior assistant to Koretz. “Because of this, there is an opportunity for the industry to abuse the customer.” The bill outlines a system in which students pay a certain percentage of the cost of a textbook to rent it for the semester. The idea was spawned at Taft College in Bakersfield where most students were going to class without books because they could not afford them. “There are 20 rental programs across the United States,” Broom said. “And the rental rates are approximately $130 per year for all books.” Broom said there were some failures because students cancelled credit cards used as a deposit and kept the books instead, but the program was most successful when failure to return the books resulted in registration holds and the withholding of transcripts. Broom said the program cannot work unless faculty can agree to use a textbook for a certain amount of time. In addition to faculty cooperation, book publishers, who Broom said are remaining neutral on the situation, may stand to make a profit from the rental program. A process called “revenue sharing,” outlined by Barry Pasternak, Cal State Fullertonʼs department chair for Information Systems and Decision Sciences, may hold the solution for book publishers. “With revenue sharing, the bookstore obtains the books at a lower cost and then shares the revenue with the publisher each time that book is rented,” Pasternak said. Through revenue sharing, publishers would be able to make a profit on both new and used books, possibly providing the incentive to update textbook editions less frequently, Broom said. Ultimately, itʼs the students who will determine the fate of textbook rental. “[Rental] depends on if the resale of the book is less than the rental cost,” said Amrish Parekh, a fifthyear marketing major. With surveys showing a skyrocketing of textbook prices and new editions being released with little more than cosmetic changes, textbook rental may turn the bookstore into a “library” in the near future. “ʻMoby Dickʼ will always be ʻMoby Dick,ʼ” Broom said. “No matter what it looks like.”