Opinion
Sports
Angelsʼ season is done, but the general manager is just getting started 6
A future where women are no longer seen as sexual objects 4
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, O c t o b e r 1 2 , 2 0 0 4
Daily Titan w w w. d a i l y t i t a n . c o m
Vo l u m e 7 9 , I s s u e 2 3
Hostage slayings 1,000 down, 4,001 to go in Iraq total 29 New beheading cases add to number of deaths since April By RAWYA RAGEH The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq – A Turkish contractor and an Iraqi Kurdish translator were beheaded on a video posted Monday, and a statement said they had been taken captive by the Ansar al-Sunnah Army – the same group that killed 12 Nepalese hostages. The killing of Turkish contractor Maher Kemal brought to 29 the number of foreign hostages slain in Iraq since a wave of kidnappings began in April. Also Monday, the Arabic language television station Al-Arabiya broadcast a video showing three hooded gunmen threatening to behead another Turkish hostage within three days unless the Americans release all Iraqi prisoners and all Turks leave Iraq. The statement that accompanied the video of Kemalʼs killing said he was working for the Americans at a base north of Baghdad and was abducted Friday on the main highway between the capital and the northern city of Mosul. The videotape warned foreigners against coming to Iraq “to make cheap, earthly profits in the service of the Crusaders in their war on Islam.” On the tape, Luqman Hussein, the Iraqi Kurd, said he worked as a translator for American forces in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi and had accompanied American soldiers on raids against suspected militants. Hussein, who came from the northern city of Dahuk, said he was
captured while traveling Friday from Ramadi to Baghdad. Numerous Iraqis working for the Americans, including translators, drivers and even laundry employees, have been killed by insurgents for allegedly collaborating with foreign troops. Insurgents in Iraq have kidnapped more than 150 foreigners in their campaign to drive out coalition forces. Most have been kidnapped for ransom and freed unharmed. The Ansar al-Sunnah Army also claimed responsibility for beheading an Iraqi hostage earlier this month, saying the man was an Iraqi contractor at the U.S. military base of Taji, north of Baghdad. It vowed to hunt down others helping the U.S. military. In addition, Ansar al-Sunnah claimed credit for the Feb. 1 twin suicide bombings that killed 109 people at the offices of two Kurdish political parties in Irbil. The tape broadcast by Al-Arabiya television showed three hooded gunmen standing behind a seated hostage said to be a Turkish truck driver. One of the gunmen identified the kidnappers as members of Tawhid and Jihad, Iraqʼs most feared terror group, which has been responsible for beheading several foreign hostages. However, the tape did not feature the groupʼs banner, which has always appeared in Tawhid and Jihad video statements. The gunmen were also dressed differently than those in Tawhid and Jihad videos. “We of the group of Tawhid and Jihad announce ... that we will cut off the head of this hostage if our demands are not met,” the speaker said as the hostageʼs eyes darted
By JASON KEHLER For the Daily Titan
This yearʼs elections are approaching and along with the presidential vote, there is also a list of propositions on the ballot, one being Proposition 68, otherwise known as the Gaming Revenue Act. This proposition, if passed, allows the governor to renegotiate existing compacts with Native American tribes concerning gaming at their casinos. The current compacts allow the tribes to hold a monopoly on slot machines in the state of California. The requested renegotiation specifically asks the tribes to agree to give the state 25 percent of their net gains. This money will be paid to a trust fund that would be spent toward local governments, primarily for child protective, police and firefighting services. The tribes would continue to hold their monopoly on slot machines if they agree to the changes within 90 days. However, if they disagree, they would lose their monopoly allowing for 11 existing card clubs and five existing horse tracks to have slot machines, which would be redefined as gaming devices. Should these 16 institutions be allowed to have slot machines, they would be collectively limited to 30,000 such machines. Furthermore,
By NIYAZ PIRANI Daily Titan Staff
Courtney Patterson and Philip Vasquez want studentsʼ votes. In fact, they want 5,001 of them. Associated Students Inc. and the California State Students Association
are working together to register 5,001 Cal State Fullerton students before the registration deadline on Oct. 18, 2004. Patterson, ASI director of statewide affairs, said the CSUF Votes campaign is a registration, education and mobilization campaign. Patterson said the 5,001 registered votes they plan to get do not include students who are already registered. The goal of CSUF Votes is to get people who are not currently regis-
tered to sign up and vote, she said. “Weʼre currently just over 1,000, which is not good,” Patterson said. “But weʼre still optimistic.” Vasquez, ASI president, said ASI allocated $1,000 toward registering voters, but he would rather spend the money on educating students. “We are trying to institutionalize voter registration so that the school takes the responsibility of getting the students to vote,” Vasquez said. Patterson and Vasquez said people
should not only register, but they should educate themselves on voting issues and candidates. “Weʼd really like to spend the money doing educational events so that students can learn what the difference is between a Republican and VOTES 2
Heroism redefined
IRAQ 3
Gaming proposition seeks to tax tribes Supporters, opponents discuss economical effects of Proposition 68
ASI aims to register CSUF students before Oct. 18 deadline
The Associated Press File Photo
Actor Christopher Reeve is shown in a scene from the film “Superman” in this 1978 handout photo. Reeve, the star of the “Superman” movies whose near-fatal riding accident nine years ago turned him into a worldwide advocate for spinal cord research, died Sunday.
American superhero remains cultural icon around world The Associated Press
they would have to pay 30 percent of their net gains to the state to provide for the same services that the tribes would pay toward. One advertisement describes how Indians are making a substantial amount of money yet donʼt have to pay taxes. Now they would so have to pay so it is considered a “fair share for California.” Another degrades the proposition, commenting on how it would put casinos next to schools and create more traffic and crime. “The ads only talk about the role of money,” said Stephen Stambough, a political science professor at Cal State Fullerton. “They donʼt talk about the trigger method that allows for slot machines in card clubs.” The proposition would also impose a ban on the opening of new card clubs, and would prohibit the location of tribal casinos on newly or recently acquired lands. The positive arguments toward this proposition are that it would generate money for the state to help repair the debt. Tribal gaming casinos are estimated to make approximately $6 to $8 billion a year. If the proposition is passed, the state could make approximately $1 billion annually from either the tribal casinos or the 16 non-tribal gambling institutions. “The money still goes to California,” GAMING 3
NEW YORK — One could bend steel from the moment he arrived; the other insisted, over and over, that “nothing is impossible.” One took to the skies heroically and effortlessly; the other was grounded tragically, and battled to stand up again. The oddly intersecting worlds of an American myth and an American celebrity — Superman and the man
who brought him to life for millions of people, Christopher Reeve — reveal how a nation consumed with creating fresh heroes finds its role models. “Christopher Reeve became a cultural icon himself,” said M. Thomas Inge, a popular culture historian and author of “Comics as Culture.” American heroes are usually rugged individuals linked to the Horatio Alger archetype — plain folks from humble, often rural beginnings who react gracefully to the hands they are dealt or achieve the impossible against the odds. But Superman was extraordinary
from infancy, the survivor of a doomed world, and he didnʼt have to overcome any odds. His vulnerability wasnʼt self-doubt or human intransigence, but a glowing green rock. “What else is there left for Superman to do that hasnʼt been done?” Reeve said in 1983 after donning the cape for a third movie. But the actor who played the superhero would find a new purpose 12 years, a horse-riding accident and two fractured vertebrae later. In comic books, itʼs the Batmans and the Spider-Mans who adhere to the American citizen-soldier notion — reluctant superheroes pressed
into service by the murder of parents or the happenstance bite of a radioactive insect. Theyʼre selfdoubting and intense — but ultimately they prevail. Real American life has long coughed up similar, if less melodramatic, hero tales. Abe Lincoln emerged from the Kentucky woods determined to become a statesman. A frail, deaf kid named Thomas Edison willed himself into being a genius inventor. And in the media age, Pfc. Jessica Lynch, a smalltown West Virginia girl, returned from her terrifying Iraq hostage REEVE 3
Schwarzenegger opposes health care funding Proposition 67ʼs phone surcharge would raise $500 million a year The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Monday his opposition to three measures on the November ballot including Proposition 67, which would raise $500 million a year for hospitals, clinics and emergency medical services through a surcharge on telephone service. Already the governor has come out strongly opposed to two gambling initiatives and a measure that would require employers to provide health care benefits. Now the governor is also oppos-
ing Proposition 61, which would authorize $750 million in bonds for improvements at childrenʼs hospitals and Proposition 63, which would impose new taxes on anyone with a net income of more than $1 million to benefit the mental health programs. While the governor has complained that some of the measures on the November ballot are the creations of special interest, he noted the three initiatives he announced his opposition to on Monday have some merit. “What we have here are three initiatives that are not special interest shams but unfortunately are poor public policy for California at this time,” he said in a statement. “I commend the proponents for their good motives, but unfortunately
California needs more than good intentions right now.” The decision of the popular GOP will no doubt hurt the chances of supporters of the three measures, even though all propositions 61 and 63 are doing relatively well in the polls. Proposition 67 is losing in recent polls. Proposition 67 is supported by a coalition of health care groups including the California Medical Association, Planned Parenthood and the American College of Emergency Physicians. Backers argue the surcharge is needed to help off set the cost clinics, hospitals and doctors face in treating the working poor who often do not have insurance. The leading opponents of the proposal are telecommunications
companies and groups representing senior citizens. They say there is a problem with funding emergency room services but putting the burden on a class of consumers is not fair. Schwarzenegger said he is concerned about imposing new taxes or borrowing more money when the economy remains uncertain. Some critics note that Schwarzeneggerʼs choices have against lined up with his supporters in the business community. “Heʼs a compassionate conservative,” said Steve Maviglio, Democratic consultant, “cut from the same cloth as George W. Bush.”