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Womenʼs point guard ready to return after two knee surgeries 6
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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
We d n e s d a y, O c t o b e r 2 0 , 2 0 0 4
Voters register in high numbers
Daily Titan
Purse thief targets women on campus
Set in stone
Man is linked to other incidents involving vehicle break-ins By BRITTANY KUHN
California residentsʼ interests in elections surge, break record
Daily Titan Staff
A man suspected of breaking into womenʼs cars at the Arboretum was in court Monday to face charges of burglary and possession of stolen property. Suspect Sierra Windy Isaia, a Placentia resident, was arrested Oct. 10 after he allegedly broke into a car in the Arboretum parking lot. He is being held at the Central Orange County Jail in Santa Ana. “He has numerous charges against him so heʼs looking at some time in prison,” said Robert Botzheim, investigations officer working on the case. “He admitted he broke into the
The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO — A riveting, tight presidential race and 16 California ballot propositions ranging from gambling to reforming “three-strikes” sentencing laws is driving a “dramatic” record-breaking hike in voter registrations for the Nov. 2 election, statewide elections officials reported Tuesday. The California secretary of stateʼs office reported up to 40,000 new registrations daily across California in the final two weeks before Mondayʼs deadline to register. County registrars, still scrambling to enter thousands of new registrations into computer databases, said the final count will likely far exceed the stateʼs previous record of 15.7 million registrants for the November 2000 presidential election. “I think in this one you have the issue of whatʼs going on nationally and internationally, as well as what happened in the 2000 election,” said Elma Rosas, spokeswoman for the Santa Clara County registrarʼs office. “This is definitely democracy.” Californians will pick a president and U.S. senator, choose 53 congressional representatives and 100 state lawmakers, while also eyeing special new taxes for emergency rooms, a $3 billion bond for stem cell research and new rules making it harder to sue businesses. Locally, theyʼll pick hundreds of officials to run schools, cities and counties, and decide initiatives ranging from a public safety tax in Los Angeles County to high-rise towers on the bay shore of Redwood City. County registrars said theyʼve never seen such a frenzied surge of people wanting to vote, with thousands of registrations arriving from Californians on military duty overseas and thousands more from partisan voting drives and so-called “bounty hunters” paid to register voters. Many voters endured long lines and rain to register for a dead-
REGISTER 2
Vo l u m e 7 9 , I s s u e 2 8
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car on campus and stole the purse, but he denied breaking into any other cars.” Botzheim said he believes Isaia, who was out on parole after serving time for previous burglary charges, is responsible for breaking into womenʼs cars and stealing purses in Fullerton, Brea and Garden Grove. According to campus police, Isaiaʼs tactic was to look for women who did not have purses with them when leaving their vehicles. “Weʼve been trying to catch this guy for a while,” Botzheim said. “Heʼs very sneaky. He just takes 15 seconds at most. He sees the purse, smashes the window and heʼs gone.” In the police report, Kerri Hand, the officer who responded to the call, said the woman said her purse was stolen from her vehicle while she was in the Arboretum planning her wedding.
“I noticed that the right rear window was smashed and glass was in the rear area of the vehicle and on the ground,” Burglary suspect Hand said. “The Sierra Windy Isaia right window had possible pry marks from a tool that may have been used to break the window.” According to the report, Hand received information that Isaia used the womanʼs stolen credit card to purchase an item, upon which Botzheim took over the case. After tracking Isaia through use of the credit card, Botzheim performed a records check and obtained a search warrant to Isaiaʼs residence. Police THEFT 3
New Web site answers users’ questions about elections CollegeVote.org responds to studentsʼ political inquiries JAMES TU/Daily Titan
Construction workers level out the concrete poured onto the roof of the new Performing Arts Center on Tuesday morning.
ROTC experiences hands-on training Cadets travel to camp for extensive program and simulations By CASEY RITTENHOUSE Daily Titan Staff
A weekend getaway to picturesque San Luis Obispo, Calif., would be ideal to some travelers. But putting a M-16 in someoneʼs hand and trying to make them navigate through a dark forest at nightfall may have those same travelers looking elsewhere for a vacation. Cal State Fullertonʼs ROTC will be put in that situation this weekend and it is expected to be far from an ordinary retreat. Sixty-five ROTC students will be
lodging at Camp San Luis Obispo, a place that trains National Guard volunteers and is located almost four hours north of Orange County. The trip is designed to help the ROTC build their leadership abilities, as well as learn about the elements students may face in actual combat, Master Sgt. Takacs said. While at the camp, students will be participating in various activities. “First training is land navigation, both day and night, which entails the use of a map and compass to find their specified location,” Takacs said. ROTC students have been preparing in classes, learning how to read ROTC 3
Students, as well as educators, are now able to access even more information they need to cast an educated vote in the upcoming election. CollegeVote.org, which launched in April, is the first Web site that concentrates on answering voting questions for college students and educators. The Web site is intended for faculty, administrators and students to help individuals on and off campus gain a greater understanding of, and appreciation for, the electoral process. Kathy Goodman, primary founder of the site, said CollegeVote. org is different from other existing sites devoted to students and voting because it has annotated links to models for campus programs that support electoral participation and curricular resources that can be used in the classroom. The Web site also encourages students to participate in voting events like hosting a “debate watch” or traveling to different states to help recruit non-votersʼ participation in the elections, she said. Goodman said she wanted to cre-
ate a non-partisan Web site so one party did not have a louder voice than the other. The non-profit Web site not only informs people of upcoming events, but also has a question is raised on how one vote section where studentsʼ questions can make a difference and after can be answered, she said. the question it states: “In 1948, Joel Torrez, a human services Lyndon B. Johnson, our 36th presimajor at Cal State Fullerton, said dent, became a U.S. Senator by a CollegeVote.org was the first politi- one-vote margin.” cal Web site he has surfed. Paul Peretz, a political science “I think itʼs pretty cool because it professor at CSUF, said the Web shows how students can be misled site is for a worthy cause. He also by statistics,” he said. said that even though it has poor Torrez, who works with graphics, the Web site is helpful REACT (Resources to Engage in and has useful information. Advocating Civic On the site, Transformation) Goodman, along on campus, also with her fellow ... if colleges said the Web site graduate coland universities answers many leagues Noreen commit to questions that OʼConner and educating about the typical voter Daniel Singh, democracy and might have on states: “This the electoral elections. is the personal process, more C o l l e g e Vo t e . project of three students will org informs those graduate stuvote ... who are unfamildents who share iar about the cana vision that links www.collegevote.com didates and the college education different parties. and democracy. It even has links We believe that if to other Web sites colleges and unithat might have different informa- versities commit to educating about tion that could be useful, Goodman democracy and the electoral prosaid. One of them, Rock the Vote, cess, more students will vote and is a strong supporter of the new become involved in politics, thus Web Site. creating a country where justice On the Web siteʼs main page, a and equality abound.”
away and go to class,” Flores said. Students said they also notice a difference in parking at El Toro versus CSUFʼs main campus. Jason Clark, a junior who has taken classes at both campuses, said he prefers the parking at El Toro. “I can leave my house later because my class is right across the street,” Clark said. Many of the students who attend El Toro live in either Central or South Orange County and said they would rather not deal with the longer drive and frequent traffic during the commute to Fullerton. Junior Katie Barentine said she favors El Toro because it is much closer to her home in Rancho Santa Margarita. “It only takes me 20 minutes to get
to school this semester,” Barentine said. “Last year it took like an hour to get to Fullerton because there was always traffic.” Another distinction of El Toro is that only upper-division, credential and graduate-level courses are offered, Flores said. Since many of the classes are at night, the campus gives the typical 9-to-5 employees an opportunity to earn their degree without interfering too much with their work schedule. “We are able to serve two populations here,” Flores said. “There is an obvious older age group.” Flores added that the Student Affairs Department puts on community events to try to give the campus a more relaxing atmosphere. This semester, he said, they plan to use
By ASHLEY HEGLAR Daily Titan Staff
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Easy access, better parking helps El Toro campus grow in popularity Other CSUF location offers some students a shorter commute By DENNIS OLSON For the Daily Titan
Horrendous traffic, a lack of available parking spots and a long walk across campus are just some of the inconveniences that a Cal State Fullerton student faces commuting on a daily basis. However, just 20 miles south there is a campus where many of those inconveniences donʼt exist. Since its inception in 2002, CSUFʼs El Toro campus has continued to grow in popularity among students due to the relatively low
number of students, the smallness of the campus and its location in Irvine just off the 5 Freeway. In fact, the campus has become so popular among the over 3,500 students who attend that the number of classes offered has been expanded to 265 this fall. The former Marine base consists of one two-story building with 21 classrooms that were formerly the Western State Wing Command Headquarters. However, other than the requirement to show identification at the entrance guard shack and certain areas being off-limits, there arenʼt any obvious reminders of the closed base. While having only 21 classrooms, El Toro still offers its students the
amenities of a library, computer lab, café and study lounge, just like on the Fullerton campus. Robert Flores, the assistant coordinator of student affairs at El Toro, said the convenience of being able to take care of school-related errands without any difficulty is an advantage for El Toro students. “Convenience is a really big plus,” Flores said. “Students are able to get a lot of one-on-one attention and communication.” Another major difference for students who attend the El Toro campus is the availability of close, convenient parking. It is just a short walk to any classroom from one of the four parking lots that border the campus. “Students are able to park right
the central courtyard to have block parties, give out free food and even give massages to students during the stressful time of finals week. Since the campus has become so popular in its first two years, there has been much speculation of expansion on the 275 acres that remain vacant on the former Marine base. The unoccupied land will be auctioned off in the near future and, Flores said, CSUF representatives are currently meeting with contractors to discuss increasing the size of the campus. Flores said he firmly believes the campus will continue to develop. “In another year or so we should have another building and there is so much room for growth, we definitely plan on being here,” he said.