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Cross country captain doesnʼt run from adversity, he thrives on it 6
Leader of campus Israeli club rails against Palestinian “homicide bombers” 4
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Global slave trade still in existence Francis Bok visits CSUF to expose his struggle for freedom
spoke of its prevalence around the world. “Global slave trade is the second largest crime enterprise in the world,” Calvert said. According to United Nationsʼ statistics, there are approximately 27 million people who are enslaved worldwide, the majority of whom are women and children. On May 15, 1986, in the village of Nymala, Bok, at age 7, witnessed the brutal massacre of his family as well as other members of his village. “I have never, ever witnessed such evil like that before,” Bok said. “I didnʼt know what to do. I had never even witnessed a dead person
before.” Bok was then captured, enslaved and dragged by camel up North where he would later be sold to an Arab family. “I witnessed one girl get shot on the way because she was screaming that she had seen her mother get shot in front of her eyes,” Bok said of his journey to his unknown future. “One of the militiamen told her to stop crying. But she couldnʼt stop crying and the guy just took her out of the group and shot her in the head, just to keep a kid quiet.” Bok took note of what the militiamen were capable
semester, said James Blackburn, director of Admissions and Records at CSUF. “I am not really passing the class even though I study hard. The professor goes off his notes for the tests so I canʼt rely on the book,” said Jessie Hernandez, a business major. “Also, he has limited office hours so whenever I go there is always a long line.” The penalty for a D or an F is much higher than a W, but Blackburn said not only do students lose out on the money they spent on the class, but taxpayers do too. “Students pay less than one-third of the total tuition, the rest is paid by the taxpayers,” Blackburn said. According to the request for withdrawal form, a student must provide a serious or compelling reason to withdraw. Poor attendance and aca-
Additionally, the professor, demic performance are not considered serious or compelling. department chair and associate dean However, Blackburn said depart- must sign the withdrawal form in ments might have order for it to be different ways of approved. enforcing the rules. “It is a ʻno goʼ if Withdrawing not “ Wi t h d r a w i n g one of those three only denies you not only denies you people doesnʼt the benefit, but the benefit, but it sign,” Blackburn it also denies also denies another said. another student student who wanted Reasons for who wanted to to add the class,” withdrawals can add the class. Blackburn said. include health James Blackburn Nevertheless, problems, perDirector, CSUF Admissions students with busy sonal tragedy and Records lives donʼt always and employment get to put their class circumstances, loads first. Blackburn said. “I have family “I was working responsibilities and living in L.A. a lot less at the beginning of the makes it really hard for me to get semester, but then they got shorthere on time for class,” said Nancy staffed so I started working five to Hernandez, a CSUF student. six days a week,” said sociology
major Eddie Duran. According to Academic Advisement, students normally come in and ask for assistance in deciding whether to withdraw from a course. “We usually explain policies for withdrawing and see if it is a realistic idea based on their major,” said Sean Slusser, an adviser for Academic Advisement. “But we leave it up to them to figure out what to do.” Less than 10 percent of students withdraw from a class, Blackburn said. “I lost my job and I had to get a new job all in the process of moving,” said Ray Marquez, a political science major. Blackburn said those who decide to grant withdrawals try to be understanding, but “the death rate for grandmothers is really something.”
Institute offers certification in different leadership tracks and is free to all students. E-mailed tips from CSUFʼs Career Planning and Placement Center emphasize that one of the most important qualities employers look for when hiring employees is their ability to work well and communicate with others. SLI certification gives students training through scheduled seminars to fine-tune those skills and documentation to boot. Four leadership tracks are avail-
able, some with concentrated areas. The Career Leadership track focuses on skills students will need to enter the workforce and is collaboratively taught through SLI and the center. The EMBRACE track, short for Educating Myself for Better Racial Awareness and Cultural Enrichment, is a very important part of todayʼs multicultural and multinational environment, according to volunteers at the center. The Public Service and Non-Profit Leadership track prepares students
“To achieve goals, think about where you want to go and consistently check to make sure you are on the right track to get there,” Wong said. “Realizing dreams requires vision, passion and work and suggests creating a vision in your mind of where you want to be.” Margaret Puentes, a CSUF student, is on the Public Service and Non-Profit Leadership track. “This is my third workshop, but
By ASHLEY HEGLAR and VIRGINIA TERZIAN Daily Titan Staff
JOSHUA SCHEIDE/For the Daily Titan
Francis Bok, an escaped slave from Sudan, takes a moment to tell Mercedes Parker about his educational goals here in the United States while he signs a copy of his book.
Having witnessed the atrocities of modern-day slavery in Sudan, former child slave Francis Bok and abolitionist Tommy Calvert spoke out against slavery in the Titan Student Union Pavilions on Tuesday. During a time when much of the world believes slavery is a forgotten part of history, Calvert and Bok
SLAVERY 3
Campus Students ponder withdrawing from classes to receive “ network upgrade Nov. 12 marks last day to drop courses with grade of W By LAURA PELTAKIAN For the Daily Titan
Telecommunications system to be revamped throughout university By CASEY RITTENHOUSE Daily Titan Staff
Cal State Fullerton will undergo technological changes because of the Telecommunication Infrastructure Upgrade Project, which will be installed throughout campus buildings. The project began Nov. 1 and is due for completion in December 2005, according to a letter from Willem Van Der Pol, director of the Physical Plant. The projectʼs purpose is to make telecommunication easier for users throughout the campus by upgrading its data system. Dick Bednar, the senior director of Information Technology, said the project would consist of installing pathways and hangers inside the walls and through the ceilings of campus buildings. “The goal is to keep this [telecommunication system] maintained for years to come,” he said. The devices used to transport data throughout campus will be wired in a neat fashion so that Information Technology Help Desk consultants can easily deal with any changes in the system, Bednar said. A blue wire will be added to existing data jacks in every office or classroom. During construction, the project might appear as an interference to CSUF faculty, staff and students because the installation will go through the entire campus, Van Der Pol said. “The project will be an intrusive one because we have to tear up roads and go through offices,” Van Der Pol said. “We want to try to be as clean as we can. [The Physical Plant] will notify [faculty and staff] before we enter their room.” Installers are scheduled to work between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. as to not disturb anyone in their offices. A telecommunication room, also known as a “hub” or electrical closet, is typically on every floor of each building, Van Der Pol said. UPGRADE 3
To withdraw or not to withdraw — that is the question facing many Cal State Fullerton students as Friday, Nov. 12, the final day to withdraw from classes, rapidly approaches. “I am debating whether to withdraw because I might get a D and I need a C in the class because it is my major,” said Michelle Martinez, a psychology major. The reason students get a W on their transcripts is because there needs to be some consequence for students who decide to drop a course after the first two weeks of the
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Organization promotes leadership among Titans Student Leadership Institute offers tracks to career success By DESDEMONA BANDINI For the Daily Titan
Cal State Fullerton offers free leadership training and certificates to all students interested in gaining skills and impressing employers. Sponsored by the Dean of Students office, the Student Leadership
interested in advocacy, civic service and active community involvement, as well as a scholarship opportunity. The last track is Peer Education with the option of emphasis in a general track, peer health certificate or tutoring student-to-student certification. Michael Paul Wong, assistant dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, teaches the “Vision and Goal Setting” workshop and said he wishes he had eight more hours to teach it because the program is that important to the formula for success.
LEADERSHIP 3
State’s flood protection system Get to know Gordon in danger of failing, officials say Lack of funding for repairs could affect Californiaʼs homes The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO — Millions of California residents and billions of dollars worth of homes and businesses are located in flood plains protected by century-old levees that are in danger of failing, the stateʼs two top flood control officials warned Tuesday. “Our current flood management system is broken,” said Lester Snow, director of the California Department of Water Resources. “If we donʼt fix it, weʼre going to have disaster after disaster after disaster.” The system is underfunded, has a potentially deadly backlog of repair problems, is encouraging entire subdivisions in flood-prone areas, and
likely faces more pressure as climate conditions change, Snow and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Col. Ronald N. Light told several hundred water managers. Moreover, recent court rulings on liability will cost taxpayers millions of dollars and could bankrupt some local reclamation districts, they said at a two-day conference sponsored by the nonprofit Water Education Foundation. “Circumstances have changed dramatically since the system was conceived and constructed,” said Light, who heads the corpsʼ Sacramento district. “Today we have a system that is stressed, deteriorating and in danger of failing.” The 1,600 miles of levees that permitted much of the development in the Central Valley was built to protect farmland, not cities. Levees were often poorly constructed of sand and gravel dredged from rivers
that had filled with sediment washed down from the Sierra Nevada by gold miners. Yet that haphazard lacework now protects 2.5 million people, 2 million acres of farmland, and $47 billion worth of homes and businesses while encouraging even more construction in flood plains, Snow said. Construction techniques didnʼt improve until the 1950s, Light said. Only now is the corps retrofitting some of the most vital old levees with expensive footings that sometimes can extend 90 feet deep to prevent seepage and undercutting by flood-swollen rivers. The corps has a backlog of 185 sites in need of $230 million worth of repairs, even as federal financing is shrinking, Light said. Snowʼs estimates were higher: 200 projects costing $600 million. Both said the lack of money is the biggest problem.
JACQUELINE LOVATO/Daily Titan
President Milton A. Gordon shares his journey from the wards of Chicago to the ninth floor of Langsdorf Hall. See full story, Page 5