News
Sports
Spring training nearly underway for several former Titans baseball players 6
Study Abroad programs benefit students hungry for culture, knowledge 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, F e b r u a r y 1 5 , 2 0 0 5
Daily Titan
Vo l u m e 8 0 , I s s u e 4
w w w. d a i l y t i t a n . c o m
Students celebrate African heritage Afro-Ethnic group hosts ‘Change Through Dialogue’ By valerie swayne For the Titan
February means more than just tokens of affection on Valentine’s Day or a day off for Presidents’ Day.
Web access made easier
It is African Heritage Month, the time of year during which America takes the time to reflect on the accomplishments of African-Ameri cans. The Afro-Ethnic Student Association presented this year’s Black Consciousness Week, Feb. 7-11. The association’s president, Nnamdi Okafor, said she personally designed the event around a central theme, Change Through Dialogue.
Each day featured a specific topic, ranging from a panel discussion on spirituality and psychology, unity topics at a student-faculty mixer, and advocacy issues with a screening of the film Malcolm X. The event culminated with “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” a Black Love Discussion held in the TSU Alvarado AB on Thursday at 7 p.m. The open dialogue, moderated
by Okafor, focused on relationships between black men and women but also included larger issues such as black love on campus and interracial dating. Some blamed a lack of “campus love” for the fact that CSUF is a commuter campus, while others admitted to putting up barriers because of previous bad experiences. Issues that were discussed focused mainly on the black community, yet universal
Officials say rules were repeatedly violated, cancel show
The Third Floor Radio group, which is Roslynn Cobarribias, Darrell Palacio (DJ Concise) and John Paul Pacana Modesto (DJ JayP), said it was impossible to break rules that were never enforced or existent at the time. Cobarribias said that on Feb. 5, the meeting when their show was canceled, TIR introduced and implemented a set of rules. “After five years of committing to a weekly radio show for free with our own equipment, and having consistent listeners all over the world, you would think that there would be more of a support system, but there wasn’t,” said Cobarribias. Third Floor Radio, which was named “Weekly Radio Pick” by the Los Angeles Weekly four consecutive times, is boycotting the station. “We aren’t going to plaster negative statements about TIR or take personal jabs at DJs,” said Cobarribias. “The boycott just means that anyone who has ever worked at TIR, or heard of the station through our five years of promotional marketing throughout the world will no longer listen via TIR. They won’t return to TIR, and artists [who] support what we do, will no longer do interviews at the station.” TIR says its goal is to make the station more high profile. To accomplish this, it wants the staff and faculty to be more professional and accountable for the studio’s policies, equipment and guests. “We have lots of equipment here that we need to make sure is safe,” said Heather Aguirre, general manager of TIR and senior radio-TVfilm major. “We want to make sure there’s a station here for future students. If that means enforcing rules that have been existent since 1999, then so be it. If you have a show here, no matter who you are or how long you’ve been here, if you break the rules you’re no longer welcome to use TIR facilities.”
Daily Titan Staff james carroll/Daily Titan
Kim Ritt examines the detail of the tiny Lincoln bedroom at the Richard M. Nixon Library and Birthplace’s White House in Miniature exhibit on Thursday.
Miniature White House on display at Nixon Library
Forty years in the making, replica gives visitors closer view By april miller Daily Titan Staff
Somewhere in the White House a phone rings. A television set is left on in an empty room. Computers glow on desktops. There is a movie playing in the movie room in the east colonnade. But no president has ever slept here. Welcome to an exact replica of the White House, where one inch equals one foot and the display is 70 feet long. Light bulbs are the size of a grain of rice and light up. The library is full of books the
size of a thumbnail. Everything is miniature down to the trash in the trashcans. “All the books in the library are by American authors, except for the Bible,” docent Paulene Minardi said. The White House in Miniature, which has been 42 years in the making, has found a temporary home at The Nixon Library through Sept. 5, she said. It has visited all 50 states and has been on display at the Smithsonian Institute. Visitors who might not be able to visit the White House in Washington D.C. come from miles around just to catch a glimpse of what the real thing might look like inside. Visitors may see more here than they would at the limited viewing of the real one in
Washington. Each miniature room is open for inspection. Chandeliers are lit. The dining room is set for a formal dinner. The wallpaper is copied from the White House, as are the rugs. If things in the White House change with a new administration, the miniature version changes as well. According to author Gail Buckland in her book, “The White House in Miniature,” this incredible gift to America is the dream of Jan and John Zweifel, who proposed the idea in the Kennedy era, but didn’t get the go ahead from the White House until Zweifel showed the Ford administration the miniature furniture of the Lincoln Bedroom he had made. miniature 3
black history 3
Alcohol ruins TIR broadcast Daily Titan Staff
By megan dangermond
internet 2
“I was very much pleased with the turn out,” Okafor said. “I would like to push again to have the event next year with greater cooperation from other campuses and the [larger] community.” Others said the event was well designed. “It was a good mix of topics within the time period”, said Danielle
By joseph gavica
Microsoft modifies Internet displays for deaf and blind The Internet has become a huge source of information that features anything from video files to local news reports to how to bake cookies. Without captions or transcripts, however, it may be hard for those who are hearing-impaired to understand what is going on. “I am a severely hard-of-hearing student,” said Cheryl Doorley, a Cal State Fullerton history major. “Therefore I seldom attempt to access video files on the Internet.” She is not alone. “I have not seen any closed-captioning available for video files on the Internet,” said Rosa Jaramillo, who is also hearing-impaired. A freshman majoring in child and adolescent studies, Jaramillo said she uses the Internet daily for work and school, as well as for her enjoyment. “I wish they would [provide closed-captioning] for news, music, or any other kind of video files that interest me so I can understand more clearly what is going on or what is being said,” she said. Andy Hung, a computer graphic design major, is also a hearingimpaired student who said he goes on the Internet daily. “I have a problem with any movies that are on there,” he said, through help of a sign language interpreter. Hung said that news clips, sports events footage and even movie previews are difficult for him because there is no closed-captioning. “It would help when doing certain types of research that may involve film clips,” he said. For people like Hung, the options for accessing Internet files are limited. Lip-reading can be difficult, even for those who can do it and Internet files can vary in quality depending on the size of the file and the speed of the computer. “Sometimes it is blurry or technical difficulties make it hard to understand the person speaking,” Jaramillo said. Legislation like the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was created to protect people with disabilities by allowing access to public and commercial services, still does not cover Web access. Amended in 1998, however, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires access of electronic information about federally funded programs and services in order to be made available to disabled federal employees as well as
themes emerged, such as strengthening student outreach by “getting out of the comfort zone of the core group by providing programming,” as well as raising consciousness by reading outside of the classroom. Students also said they felt it was important to build cultural values and get back to their roots by talking with parents and grandparents. Overall, most students said the event was a success.
After a five-year tenure, Titan Internet Radio officials terminated the internationally known Third Floor Radio show Feb. 5 when a container that reeked of alcohol was found in the studio’s trashcan. “Without warning, our show was canceled,” said Roslynn Cobarribias, a member of Third Floor Radio and a radio-TV-film graduate. “Faculty that the DJs barely see at the station, that some say don’t necessarily care about the station, made the decision without hearing our side of the story.” When confronted by TIR officials, Third Floor Radio contacted the guest artist from the previous night’s show. The guest said he brought alcohol hidden in a Coca-Cola bottle unknowingly and disposed of it at the station, said Cobarribias. “After finding out what happened, we let TIR know about the situation,” said Cobarribias. “But it was too late.” TIR said Third Floor Radio had several verbal and written warnings for breaking several rules, including propping the door open while onair, not reporting play lists and not signing in. TIR staff told Third Floor Radio in a letter from the station manager that the alcohol incident was the only significant reason for canceling the show. “The staff of Titan Radio was facing a total ban on student-run shows if disciplinary action wasn’t taken,” said Ben Kerridge, an anthropology graduate student and host of the Rational Voice Radio Program on TIR. “They were the most flagrant violators of the station’s rules.”
Former CSUF student solves murder in Family Secret Author Warren Hull takes readers down the road to find “Bugsy’s” killer By nadine hernandez Daily Titan Staff
Former Cal State Fullerton student and “Family Secret” author Warren Hull says he has a real-life family secret of his own; but what makes his family’s history better than most is that his secret involves the highly publicized 1947 murder of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel. According to Hull, he has always known his family was somehow involved with Siegel’s gambling-related murder, but had never given it much thought, especially since the relative who had reportedly been involved in the crime died the same year Siegel was murdered. It wasn’t until he did a little digging that he found out just how his family was involved. “The book is based upon the story behind Siegel’s murder and the people involved leading up to that point,” Hull said.
According to Hull, his great-aunt worked for Franklin Shaw, a former Los Angeles mayor who had ties to Jack Dragna, an organized crime leader in the 1920s through the 1950s. “She then became a part of LA’s high society by marrying a wealthy man, eventually having a daughter, Betty Ann, who then married Bob Macdonald, whose father had ties to Howard Hughes,” Hull said. Hull said that Macdonald had to straighten out a gambling debt by murdering Siegel for Dragna. He allegedly shot his own wife, Betty Ann, and then himself after realizing he had just killed Siegel. “Betty Ann’s parents tried to cover up the crime to protect their status in society,” Hull said. Hull’s research took him seven years, which resulted in a journey of discovering family secrets, rather than one of uncovering the Siegel murder. Hull, who said his dying father requested that he write the story, has received considerable feedback regarding his book. He said that in many ways, he is shocked by the public’s positive reactions to the book.
“Family Secret” went on sale in December and has sold 50 copies at Hats Off Publishing through wheatmark.com in addition to sales at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com,” said Meredith Hayes of Hats Off Publishing. The book can also be special-ordered from Barnes and Noble bookstores, Hayes said. “For the book to be stocked in stores nationwide 2,000 copies must be sold,” said Hayes. “It’s a great book, the story’s wonderful.” Despite the success of his novel, Hull said he was not always interested in writing a book. Hull, who was an exercise physiology major at CSUF when he started a number of years ago, said he later went on to have a great career in education. Though Hull said he had no dream of writing a book while he attended CSUF, he had a fine group of professors who encouraged him with his studies. Hull is now the athletic director at Kennewick High School in Washington, where he has coached and taught for 18 years. Hull said he has taught at the college level author
2
Provided by Hats Off Publish