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Fees on the rise again
Doobies light it up at 10th annual event ‘Front and Center’ fundraiser raises thousands of dollars By nicole M. Smith Daily Titan Staff
The Theater and Dance Department was front and center Saturday, Feb. 5, at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim alongside the Doobie Brothers and opera singer, Rodney Gilfry at Cal State Fullerton’s signature fundraising event. Front & Center, celebrating its 10th anniversary, was created primarily to raise money for the President’s Scholars at CSUF and is expected to net anywhere from $75,000 to $90,000. The program has netted over $1 million for scholarships since beginning in 1996, said Carrie Stewart, associate vice president of University Advancement.
“We want to broaden our outreach in the community and establish the presence of CSUF,” said Stewart. “It’s a great way of showcasing the university and raising money for the scholarship fund.” The production also served as a showcase for the Theater and Dance Department, which had been rehearsing for this production the past several weeks. “This is our biggest event, our premiere event,” said President Milton A. Gordon before the program began. “We look forward to when our students perform. They’re the real stars,” Gordon said. Also in attendance was Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, who after attending nearly every Front & Center, said she was very excited to see the students perform. “Cal State is a gem in our community. This is a beautiful event. It always amazes me,” she said. Sanchez’s brother and mother are
Student fees make up half of $211 million CSU budget increase By Amanda Pennington Daily Titan Staff
both CSUF graduates. The evening began with the Theater and Dance Department taking a look back at the past 10 years of featured guests and entertainers, followed by a performance by Master
Titans wait in long lines hoping to avoid $40 parking fines By Courtney salas Daily Titan Staff
By Mahsa Khalilifar Daily Titan Staff
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of Ceremonies Rodney Gilfry. Gilfry, who said he studied “strictly classical music,” graduated from CSUF in 1981 and has since taken his baritone voice on to perform with the Los Angeles and Zurich operas.
tuition 4
“I’m glad to give something back to the school that has given me so much,” said Gilfry, who met his wife at CSUF and got married the day fundraiser 4
Delays in permit purchases costly
Students and faculty remain divided on the new grading system
Plus/minus 7
parking 4
The Doobie Brothers (left to right): Skyline, Pat Simmons, Tom Johnson and John McFee, perform at the Cal State Fullerton 10th Annual Front and Center Gala at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Saturday night.
Plus/ Minus system in effect
Starting this semester, Cal State Fullerton professors now have the option of giving their students pluses and minuses along with the more traditional letter grade. However, faculty and students remain divided on the affect it will have on the overall learning experience. Voted by the Academic Senate and approved by CSUF President Milton A. Gordon, the new grading system allows faculty the choice of whether to use it or not, as long as they state it in their syllabi. The option to use the new scale might have an impact on a students’ overall GPA, as an Aminus is a 3.8 rather than a 4.0 and a C-minus, worth 1.8, is no longer a passing grade. “It’s ludicrous,” said Ray Reyes, a Chicano studies professor, about including pluses and minuses to the solid letter grades that have been used in the past. “It makes an even more unnecessary competitive society,” he said. “Does a 3.8 make you more brilliant than a 3.7? Of course not, an ‘A’ means excellence no matter if it has a minus or not.” Many professors like Reyes said they don’t like the new scale and will not use it, but there are also many professors using the scale this semester. “I used to teach [summer school classes] at UCLA years ago, and
tor of Parking and Transportation Services at CSUF, said students should purchase their permits online in the future to avoid time-consuming lines. She added that although improvements in parking continue to be a topic of discussion, parking issues have improved throughout the years. “I think parking at Cal State Fullerton, especially this semester, is the easiest it has been in the last 10 years,” said Blumberg. She added that CSUF sells an average of 20,000 parking passes each semester to fill the 11,500 campus parking spots. Whether or not those 11,500 spots are adequate depends on who one asks. “I feel that this isn’t a big ratio, because not everyone is on campus at the same time,” said Blumberg. He added that even at the peak hours of classes, between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, there are about 11,600 students registered in courses, and some of these students use other forms of transportation. Although it may be easy to find students who disagree with Blumberg, there are also those who share her opti-
Students are becoming increasingly aggravated as fees continue to rise, despite the governor’s promise of additional funding for the CSU. Clara Potes-Fellow, spokesperson for the CSU, said if the California Legislature passes Governor Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal as it is written, a revenue increase of $211 million can be expected for the university. “This year the governor was very good to the CSU,” she said. “He honored the compact that he had agreed upon with the Chancellor of the system and the President of the UC system.” Although the governor’s budget includes an increase in higher education spending, the majority of the funding in CSU revenue will not be provided by the state. Instead, about $110 million of the $211 million will be coming from student fees, PotesFellow said. The recent trend of passing California’s budget woes on to students is a development that is slated to continue. According to proposed plan, undergraduate fees are slated to rise another 8 percent in the upcoming year, while graduate fees will increase by 10 percent. Last year, undergraduate and graduate fees were hiked by 14 percent and 25 percent respectively. In the fall of 2002, student fees totaled $940. By the fall of 2004, fees had been increased to $1402, which did not include the $144 parking permit. This 49 percent fee increase over a two year period far exceeds inflation rates. According to a news release from Cal State University officials, the university system experienced a net loss of $522 million in funding during the past three years. Ephraim Smith, vice-president of Academic Affairs at Cal State Fullerton, said this year’s increased budget and higher student fees will
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Eric Tom/Daily Titan
CSUF students stand in line, past University Hall, at the Student Financial Services to buy parking permits as well as handle any other financial business they may have on the first day of the semester.
Parking continues to be a major issue at Cal State Fullerton for students who waited until the first week of classes to purchase parking permits, which resulted in 783 parking tickets being issued during the first two days of school. Many students delayed purchasing parking permits until the first week of school, resulting in extremely long lines at the University Hall cashier’s office, where people waited for a chance to fork over $144 for what may or may not provide them with the privilege of parking their cars on campus. Mechanical engineering major Jason Mena, 25, was one of the many students who waited in the warm 75 degree weather. “I felt the line was relatively organized, but it was too long of a wait and too hot outside,” Mena said. Paulette Blumberg, associate direc-
‘Super Sunday’ pleases hungry students, football fans Free pizza, bowling and billards in the TSU lures Titans to campus party By benjamin weiner For the Daily Titan
Super Bowl Sunday, the number one unofficial national holiday, kicked off on the lower level of the Titan Student Union during the game in the Games and Recreation area. Creatively dubbed “Super Sunday” by TSU managers, the event offered two large-screen televisions, “Super Food,” free billiards and free bowling. Sara Danner, marketing manager for the
TSU, and Jessica Smillie, the coordinator of “Super Sunday,” said they set up the event to provide an alternate venue for students, as well as to create a strong community on campus. The first annual “Super Sunday” certainly came through with what was promised. Sofas, and tables filled the rear of the underground, surrounded by two 60-inch televisions. Sound was pumped throughout the entire room, via ceiling and wall speakers. Two liters of soda, bottles of water, as well as variety of chips, cookies and candy, constituted the “Super Food.” Pizza arrived towards the end of the first quarter, and it was immediately evident that at least half of the forty or so people came for what could have been dubbed “Starving
Student Sunday,” instead. The pizza barely made it to the table before it was stacked high on plate after plate. There was plenty of pizza for all in attendance and to the surprise of some, everybody stayed for the rest of the game. A young child’s birthday party occupied the bowling center for the majority of the Super Bowl. This brought many glum looking fathers into “Super Sunday,” who were obviously very distraught at missing the big game for a misfortunately scheduled birthday party. The TSU contained a fairly even split of fans for the three sides. Yes, the three sides. New England Patriot fans, Philadelphia superbowl
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Throwing the football at the target, Christian Medina, a junior international business major at CSUF, takes part in the first Super Sunday viewing party.
NEWS
INTROSPECT
OPINION
SPORTS
Text book cost still on the rise 3
Aide finds joy in helping elderly 5
Women, it’s OK not to Patriots win over want children 11 Eagles, 24-21 9
FULL EFFECT Scary movies fail to thrill See insert