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Grads required to watch ‘Pride’ video Seniors behavior must improve on graduation day, Mary Medyn says By Nadine Hernandez Daily Titan Staff
Lauren Hargrove/Daily Titan
The roof of a red-tagged home in Anaheim Hills, Calif., separates due to slides in the area.
Forecast: more rain Big storms threaten Southern California homes, businesses By Lauren Hargrove Daily Titan Staff
Weather forecasts indicate Southern Californians should be prepared for rain until Thursday, according to The Weather Channel. With storms dumping nearly nickelsized raindrops and hail in Southern California since Feb. 19, homes in
the troubled slide areas are fighting to hold ground and structures are pushed to the limits. Haunting creaks and groans could be heard from 357 Ramsgate Drive in Anaheim Hills. The residence appeared to be in the framing stage of construction and is facing an uncertain future. The front windows were broken and parts of the roof are separated and pulled away from each other. The upscale neighborhood looks like a set from an earthquake movie. Three multi-million dollar homes have been red-tagged, said
John Nicoletti, spokesman for the city of Anaheim. Nicoletti said public safety is a major concern for the city of Anaheim and the conditions will continue to be monitored. He said a home located at 365 Ramsgate Drive was demolished in order to preserve public safety and to hopefully help save the other properties in the slide area. According to a preliminary report by the city geologist, fill dirt may be to blame for the slides. storm 4
Students attending commencement might have to leave their bad manners at home. Starting this semester, Cal State Fullerton’s commencement committee will be requiring that all CSUF graduating seniors watch a fiveminute video about Titan pride and behavior before they are allowed to walk. “After the past few years, we have seen some behavioral problems,” said Mary Jo Medyn, commencement coordinator of Academic Affairs. “During the ceremonies, there have been some dishonorable discrepancies.” According to Medyn, commencement begins in the CSUF soccer field where students participate in the ceremony. Due to the typically hot summer weather during graduation, people have been known to leave before the ceremonies have ended. In addition to this, there have been profane words written on graduation caps, Chair of Academic Senate Jack Bedell said. “Locker room stuff has been seen written on caps, tacky stuff,” Bedell said, stating that there have been complaints about commencement
ceremonies from graduates’ relatives. He added that in the past people could be seen talking on their cell phones as they walked up to give their speeches. Friends and relatives are not the only ones attending the ceremonies, he said. “Blow-up dolls are brought by the graduate students,” Bedell said. “It’s just so high school.” Bedell said he and the Academic Senate are encouraging students to graduate with pride and follow the proper decorum. What administrators deem as “decent” behavior is encouraged, while what they perceive as “indecent” behavior will be penalized. “We are hoping to let graduates know what our expectations are,” Medyn said. If students do not watch the required video for graduation, they will not be able to pick up their guest tickets. The video can be seen online and requires that students fill out a questionnaire afterwards. Medyn said that graduation is celebrated with a dignified ceremony and students should reflect that, since they do represent CSUF. Students are not the only ones who work hard to attend the graduation ceremonies. “It is just that so much effort is put into 10 months of planning, it’s a shame to see it all go down the drain,” said Edna Turnbow,
commencement coordinator at the College of Business and Economics. Medyn said the rowdiest grads usually come from the Business Department. Turnbow attributes the disarray to the number of graduating business students. “There is a susceptibility of chaos due to the 1,500 business graduates who are tougher to manage,” Turnbow said. “It is a challenge to manage that large a group when it comes to crowd control.” In order to encourage decent commencement behavior, CSUF President Milton A. Gordon and Medyn promote “dignity” in the video. Online, the phrase “Graduate with Titan Pride” clings to the splash page. Despite certain concerns and criticisms related to student behavior, Turnbow said the commencement committee understands that graduation day is the students’ day. Students have a right to behave the way they do because they put their best into their studies at CSUF, Turnbow said. She also said that students deserve to celebrate but they should wait to party until after the ceremonies are over because the committee aims for students to show respect to other students and to CSUF on the important day. Graduation ceremonies are for the students and their families, Turnbow said. “This is their day,” she said.
Officers Bush proposes budget cuts to financial aid promote safety on railroads CSUF students exhibit mixed responses to next year’s reductions By David Barry Daily Titan Staff
O.C. police witness crossing violations, ride along on trains By Kim Orr Daily Titan Staff
Dozens of Orange County police officers clad in navy suits adorned with shining metal badges were hushed Wednesday as a roaring train pulled into the unusually crowded Fullerton Santa Fe Depot. Parked just beyond the boarding platform sat motorcycles decorated in police department regalia, symbols of the message that Operation Lifesaver, an organization dedicated to educating the public about railroad safety, hoped to convey. Officers from Fullerton, Anaheim and Placentia and three railways including MetroLink, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific gathered to support Operation Lifesaver in its daylong “Officers on the Train” program. “This program provides officers with a chance to see what railroad engineers see every day… railroad crossing violations,” said Operation Lifesaver spokesperson Larry Lloyd during a press conference held to launch the event. According to Operation Lifesaver’s Web site, railroad violations, unlike typical pedestrian and vehicle violations, have the capacity to injure or kill dozens if not hundreds of people. railroad 3
Students from around the country have called legislators to protest President Bush’s 2006 budget that proposes to cut millions from financial aid. If approved by Congress, the cuts would eliminate between 45 and 48 Department of Education programs, according to a press release from the United States Student Association and an article in the Los Angeles Times. Jenn Brown, an organizer with the USSA, said that approximately 1,000 students called their congressional representatives to lobby support for federal educational funding. Last week’s call-in was just one event during the “Week of Action,” in which an estimated 5,000 students
nationwide participated, USSA VicePresident Eddy Morales said. The press release includes a statement from USSA President Ajita Talwalker that criticizes Bush’s 2006 budget as “misleading” because it proposes to boost funding for the Pell Grant, while eliminating over 40 financial aid programs such as Perkins Loans, GEAR UP, and TRIO. Despite these efforts, not all student groups expressed the same level of alarm over the president’s 2006 budget. The California State Student Association, which is not a member of the USSA, did not participate in the call-in last week, said Manolo Platin, chair of the CSSA. Platin said CSSA supports USSA’s lobbying efforts to maintain federal financial aid for college students, but is opting for a different strategy. “The California State University has a federal office in [Washington, D.C.] and I’ve been working with those people,” Platin said. “They’re giving me sort of a different story on
the actual cuts. They’re much more convinced that it’s political posturing, and that these programs will not get cut because they’ve decided that there’s strong bipartisan support for both of them; and [that] it’s just a political move on the president’s part to be able to show a balanced budget and then blame Congress for spending more than he said to.” Platin said that while the financial aid programs in question would probably not be eliminated, or “zeroed out,” there is the possibility that they might be reduced. George H. Conant, legislative director at the CSU Chancellor’s Office of Federal Relations in Washington, D.C., said that keeping and expanding financial aid programs such as TRIO, GEAR UP and Perkins Loans remain an “extremely high priority” for his office. “I don’t think those cuts are very likely to be enacted, and in fact it’s possible that the president put them in his budget knowing full well that Congress would fund them, because
Knight Ridder Tribune
President George W. Bush speaks in New York on March 11, 2004. Proposed cuts would eliminate between 45 to 48 educational programs. they’re very popular programs with both Democrats and Republicans,” Conant said. “I think basically the president wanted to present a budget that was closer to balanced, and so he proposed all these cuts to offset some of his new spending.”
Some of this new spending includes an additional $82 billion requested for the war in Iraq, according to the Los Angeles Times. No matter what cuts the president’s budget cuts 4
Berkley artist comes to TSU Art exhibit brings new and unconventional style to campus gallery By Nicole M. Smith Daily Titan Staff
Nicole M. Smith/Daily Titan
Carissa Zeleski’s “Come Again,” part of “Eight Ways to Be Happy”, is on display in the TSU’s Chapman Atrium gallery through Feb. 26.
The Titan Student Union is currently showcasing the drawings and paintings of Bay Area artist Carissa Zeleski in the Atrium Gallery until Feb. 26. “Eight Ways to Be Happy” is an eight-frame series that employs the use of oil and acrylic paints, Sharpie markers and crayon to create images that Zeleski described as, “kind of like a children’s book for adults.” “The exhibit focuses on the use of simple drawing and painting
mediums to render the figure while examining interpersonal relationships,” TSU Marketing Manager Sara Danner said in a press release. Each frame depicts an aspect of Zeleski’s life that brings her happiness and also chronicles a brief, personal relationship involving her and another female. Included with each frame is a written explanation of Zeleski’s creative inspiration. Some of the images were created from photographs while others came directly from imagination, Zeleski said. “There was this high energy I had never experienced,” Zeleski said, referring to the relationship. “We had so much fun. I got to rediscover things that made me happy.” Zeleski, 26, a graduate of the University of California, Berkley has never received formal training
aside from a few high school art classes and said she believes it is a good thing to not be too trained. “I think my talent in art relies on my ability to be raw,” Zeleski said. “Half of it’s instinctual.” Kallie Clark, a CSUF graduate and the TSU gallery coordinator who is responsible for booking all the art shows, said she is looking forward to a diverse display of art exhibits that will run throughout the spring semester. “We’re going to push the envelope as far a we can possibly push it,” Clark said. Zeleski’s exhibit is one of three displays currently being showcased throughout the TSU art galleries. “[Zeleski’s] style seemed to be different,” Clark said. art 4
News
2 Tuesday, February 22, 2005
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Today
Frisbee frenzy
Feb. 22, 2005
b
World
Are you the Bobby Fischer of Cal State Fullerton? If you talk the talk, then walk the walk on down to the Computer Science Building, room 201, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to back up your game against fellow chess lovers.
Palestinians welcome 500 freed prisoners
Mary Herman, director of health promotion for the SHCC, will be giving a seminar that explores eating patterns, habits and eating disorders. The seminar will take place from noon to 1 p.m. in University Hall, room 205.
JERUSALEM – Palestinians gave a jubilant welcome to 500 prisoners freed Monday by Israel as part of a truce, but many complained that uprising leaders were not among those released. Hamas militants appeared unmasked in a West Bank city, their leader shouting that there can be no peace “as long as there is a single prisoner in Israeli jails.” Suhail Abu Madala, 35, spent four years in prison and had three more years to serve when he was set free Monday.
For just $2 per game it’s singles bowling in the TSU Underground between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Those who get hungry bowling up a storm could grab some pizza and beer in the Pub afterwards.
North Korea hints at return to talks SEOUL, South Korea – North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told a visiting Chinese envoy that his government will return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks if the United States shows “sincerity,” the communist state’s official news agency said Tuesday. The announcement - the latest in more than two years of conflicting statements over North Korea’s nuclear program - came less than two weeks after Kim flouted Washington and its allies by claiming that it had nuclear weapons and would boycott the talks.
It’s Student Leadership Day for the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Not only can students meet ECS students and faculty, but there will also be a cookout where students can learn more about ECS organizations, projects and competitions. The event will also feature a display of different projects. Go to the ECS quad and lawn from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call (714) 278-2887 for more details.
Lebanese hold historic anti-Syrian march BEIRUT, Lebanon – Tens of thousands marched Monday in the biggest anti-Syrian protest in Lebanese history amid signals that Syria will soon withdraw its troops from parts of the country. President Bush renewed demands for Syrian forces to leave Lebanon immediately. The protest marked one week since the Feb. 14 death of Rafik Hariri and began at the bomb-scarred site of the former prime minister’s assassination, which turned many Lebanese against Syria and increased international pressure on Damascus to extract its army from Lebanon.
Nation
david pardo/Daily Titan Asst. Photo Editor
Bush appeals to European allies for help BRUSSELS, Belgium –- President Bush scolded Russia for backsliding on democracy Monday and urged Mideast allies to take difficult steps for peace, appealing for Europe’s help in both troubled areas to “set history on a hopeful course.” Bush opened his discussions with a gesture of reconciliation toward disgruntled allies, hosting an elegant dinner for French President Jacques Chirac, the harshest critic of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Campus CSUF fans arrested at basketball game Two fans were arrested Saturday after storming the court in celebration of a victory that was the first of its kind in over ten years for the Cal State Fullerton Men’s Basketball team. Announcements were made prior to the game and in the last ten seconds during a timeout reminding fans not to step foot on the court to avoid being arrested. Police officials had been informed that a group of individuals belonging to the Titan Hoop Club were planning to rush the court in the event of a Titan victory. In preparation, five officers were present during the game to control the crowd and maintain peace after the game. As the game ended, fans were instructed to stay in the stands. Two men made it past the officers, on to the court, and were detained and arrested. The men that were arrested are affiliated with the Titan Hoop Club. Members of the club were unavailable for comment. Reports compiled from The Associated Press
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Hope University students Zach Gibson (left), Mike Westfall (center) and Steve Valdez (right) play a friendly game of Frisbee football with CSUF students in the rain Thursday afternoon.
Cop 2/14
Blotter
12:22 A suspicious vehicle was reported in Lot F on State College Boulevard. An officer responded, and everything checked out OK. 16:36 A report was taken regarding a grand theft from the Sports Complex.
2/15
11:54 A hazardous material with a burning odor throughout the breezeway and up the escalator was reported at McCarthy Hall. Everything checked out OK. 12:40 A traffic accident involving a vehicle and a person on a bicycle at the corner of State College Boulevard and Dorothy Lane resulted in injuries. The victim was assisted by police.
Did you
know?
Strip club artfully slips by anti-nudity law A strip club in Boise, Idaho, has found an artful way to prance past a city law that prohibits full nudity. On what it calls Art Club Nights,
University Police log for the week of Feb. 14 – 20
2/16
1:30 Police responded to the Delta Zeta House after reports of a suspicious person making loud noises in the yard and roof. Officers were unable to locate a suspect. 9:07 Microsoft Xbox games were reported stolen from the Sycamore Dorm between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m. 14:25 The men’s restroom at the Library was vandalized, but officers were unable to locate a suspect.
2/18
17:24 A verbal dispute was reported at the Kinesiology and Health Science Building.
2/19
2:36 Police responded to a traffic accident with possible injuries at State College Boulevard and Bastanchury Road.
2/17
3:13 Police responded to a call of someone who reported hearing three shots fired on Langsdorf Drive. Officers were unable to locate a suspect.
15:12 A suspicious person was verbally cited by officers at the El Toro Campus for not showing identification at the gate.
23:06 A student from the dorm area reported suspicious behavior to police after receiving several calls from a friend. The student reported hearing screaming and yelling in the background. Everything checked out OK.
8:55 Police responded to reports of graffiti at the Visual Arts Building, Langsdorf Hall and the sixth floor men’s restrooms in McCarthy Hall’s.
the Erotic City strip club charges customers $15 for a sketch pad, pencil, and a chance to see completely naked women dancers. In 2001 the Boise City Council passed an ordinance banning total nudity in public unless it had “serious artistic merit” – an exemption meant to apply to plays, dance performances and art classes. “We have a lot of people drawing some very good pictures,” said Erotic City owner Chris Teague, who has posted many of the draw-
2/20
ings around the club. Teague said he got the idea when a customer asked if he could get in for free to sketch the dancers. Realizing that “art classes” were exempt from the law, Teague decided to bill Mondays and Tuesdays as art nights, and let the dancers go without their G-strings and pasties. In the two months since they began, Art Club Nights have drawn full crowds of 60 people but no police citations, he said. Compiled from Yahoo oddities.
Tom Blake, an author and columnist for the Orange County Register, will be giving the “Finding Love After 50” seminar in the Ruby Gerontology Center as part of the Best of the Eclectics series offered by Continuing Learning Experience. Wander down at 1:15 p.m. for the two-hour seminar. Got stage fright? Conquer the fear by reciting a poem or other writing to fellow Titan creative minds. Open Mic will be in the TSU Pub between noon and 1 p.m. Need help with your resume? A critique session is scheduled in Pavilion A at 10 a.m. Over 40 successful professionals from various fields like entertainment, business, engineering and humanities will be available to help. Out of shape? Check out Cardio Funk in KHS 203 at 5:30 p.m. In the mood to relax? Increase flexibility and brain repiration at Yoga in KHS 264 at 5:30 p.m. Free to CSUF students. Rec Members can purchase a Drop-In Fitness pass at the Rec Office for $60 a semester. All events are free and on campus unless otherwise indicated. If you would like to have a specific entry put in the calendar section, please send an e-mail to news@dailytitan.com.
Weather
forecast
Tuesday, Feb. 22 Showers Low 49°
60°
Wednesday, Feb. 23 Showers Low 47°
64°
Thursday, Feb.24 Mostly Sunny Low 48°
67°
Compiled from The Weather Channel
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from page 1
Federal Railroad Administration statistics show that in 2003 California ranked fifth among the top 15 states with the most highway-rail grade crossing incidents. This statistic has become more prevalent in the wake of the recent Los Angeles MetroLink accident that claimed 11 lives after an SUV was left parked on the tracks. “If we are in a hurry, it is easy to think we can take shortcuts around crossing gates, but it’s shortcuts like these that can easily cost you your life,” said Denise Tyrrell, MetroLink’s media relations adviser. “These accidents are completely avoidable. That is why we are here today.” The daylong program began at 7 a.m. as police officers stationed themselves at railroad crossings in Fullerton, Anaheim and Placentia with the intentions of citing vehicle and pedestrian crossing violations. “We are not out to punish people,” said Sgt. Rick Martinez of the Anaheim Police Department. “We are out to make them understand the seriousness of their actions.” After only three hours, Tyrrell said police had given out 48 tickets ranging from simple warnings to $300 fines for violations such as illegally driving around railroad crossing guards, walking or parking on the tracks and ignoring railroad lights and signals. It was not a typical day for officers such as Sgt. Steve Matson of the Fullerton Police Department who called the event “a showcase to highlight enforcement.” After a 10 a.m. press conference, members of the media and individual
Students may find insurance now affordable CSU Healthlink offers healthcare, application deadline March 17 By Leeann Morrissey Daily Titan Staff
Suzanne Sullivan/Daily Titan
Local police gather for the “Look, Listen and Learn” campaign, Wednesday, at the Fullerton Santa Fe Depot. citizens were invited along with participating police officers to board a MetroLink train and learn how a standard train operates. Control board simulations and monitors portraying an engineer’s view of the tracks provided educational reminders of the dangers of ignoring railroad crossing safety procedures. “It takes a train one to two miles to stop after the engineer has initialized the breaks and if you consider that most trains are 4,500 feet long or more, that is a long stop,” said Kevin Garcia, manager of operating practices for Union Pacific.
Do you have Do dates laugh at you when you arrive for an outing?
Tuesday, February 22, 2005 3
Tyrrell said that with gates dropping only 20 seconds before trains arrive at railroad crossings, drivers who decide to ignore railroad warnings put themselves in serious danger. Orange County Transportation Authority Media Relations Specialist Michael A. Litschi said that there are currently 64 tracks on the ground in Orange County that allow for potential collisions on which the OCTA is currently working to minimize risk. “Instead of having one gate we would have two so that cars would not be able to get between the gate and the railroad,” Litschi said. “And
we have several other programs like that that we hope will eventually improve safety.” Despite efforts to improve safety on Orange County’s railroads, California State Public Utilities Commission spokesperson James McInerney said that public awareness and education still represent the first steps toward preventing railroad accidents. “People think that if they violate the law they can get home a few minutes faster,” McInerney said. “Please understand that if you violate the law at a railroad crossing you may never get home.”
Do parts of your car fall off while driving on the freeway?
the crappiest car ever? Send photos of your atrocious automobile to features@dailytitan.com
Do people on the bus snicker when you drive by?
For students, health insurance can be expensive and unaffordable, but CSU Healthlink is helping students get the coverage they need. Lisa Hannon is an account executive at Summerton, an insurance broker whose job is to find insurance for all of the California State University schools. “We are always striving to offer the best plans to students and schools,” Hannon said. Hannon said the insurance Cal State Fullerton currently has is Mega Life and Health. The 12-month non-renewing plan is not automatically renewed because the company has no way to know if a student is still attending Fullerton, she said. “The 12-month plan coincides with the campus’ academic schedule,” Hannon said. Another plan that is offered is the spring/summer plan. “A lot of students don’t know this is available, said Cathy Busby, executive assistant of Associated Students Inc. “It is meant to pick up where the Health Center leaves off.” Hannon said the insurance works with the Health Center and students can be reimbursed for the fees they have to pay. The insurance offered through CSU Healthlink is a Preferred Provider Organization, which is an “80/20” plan. The insurance pays 80 percent and the student pays 20 percent of medical bills as long as they go to
doctors that are covered within the plan, Hannon said. If they go to a doctor outside of the network then it’s 50/50, she said. In a written statement, Hannon said undergraduate students taking six or more units and graduate students taking any units at CSUF are eligible for this insurance plan. Age groups arrange the plan’s prices. “For a student 25 and under it is $577 and for 25 to 30-year-olds it is $813 for the year,” Hannon said. According to Hannon, the groups are designed to offer coverage to student age groups that will most likely need the insurance. “This is a great affordable plan for students,” said Audrey Nguyen, a public relations major. “The plan only covers injuries and sickness, not preventative things like the flu shot or physical exams,” Hannon said. The reason the benefits are reduced is because most students have a four-year plan to get them through college. “It is scaled to provide coverage students may need,” Hannon said. Prices are kept down because only needed services are included in the plan. “This program is for emergencies like hospital visits or surgery that the Health Center can’t help with,” Busby said. Busby added that within five miles of campus there are 900 doctors who are in the contract. Nguyen said having many doctors within just a few miles of school is more than other health plans usually offer at that price. “It gives us a variety of physicians to choose from,” Nguyen said. The application deadline is March 17, 2005. For more information visit www. csuhealthlink.com.
4 Tuesday, February 22, 2005
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African-American Resource Center opens Students welcome to study cultural and academic interests By Valerie Swayne For the Daily Titan
There is a new place on campus for students to call their own. Located in Humanities 222-G, the African-American Resource Center is a mecca for all students seeking knowledge. In the newly-renovated space, beige carpets lead to a reception desk while an adjacent L-shaped couch beckons comfort. Eclectic artwork by CSUF undergraduate Stacy White and graduate Shirley Harris adorn the walls, creating a relaxed study lounge vibe. The adjoining room contains a row of internet-ready computers lining the wall and a massive, yet empty bookshelf awaiting books about African-American heritage. In the center of the room is a long
wooden table with swivel chairs to be used for individual study or collective group meetings. “Originally [it was] a photo lab with a sink going through the middle of the floor,” said Ngozi Onyeagoro, a sociology graduate student. The updates are positive signs of progress in the long struggle for an African-American resource center on campus. Its inception is tied to the history of the Afro-Ethnic Studies Department. It was originally combined with Hispanic Studies under the title of the Ethnic Studies Department in the late 1960s. At that time, the resource center was a small collection of information based out of the department chair’s office in the Educational Classroom Building. “People should not forget that it was the Afro Department that helped launch Ethnic Studies,” said Wacira Gethaiga, Afro-Ethnic Studies department chair. As the population of Latino students grew to reflect the increasing demographic in Orange County,
Hispanic Studies became a sepa- prehensive African-American rate department renamed Chicano resource center. Studies in the 1970s. The Chicano In addition, Humanities and Studies Department later opened Social Sciences Dean Thomas its own resource center on the first Klammer created an advisory board floor of Pollak led by Julie Stokes, Library South. associate profesThe name Afrosor of the AfroMy hope for the Ethnic Studies partEthnic Studies center is that ly derives from the Department, as everyone will feel definitive afro hairAfrican-American style of AfricanResource Center welcome here. Americans (called Director. The Afro-Americans) in advisory board the 1970s. The term includes student Ngozi Onyeagoro Ethnic Studies was leaders, staff and Student Activities Coordinator retained to encomfaculty members pass an introducsuch as Gethaiga. tory ethnic stud“I want it to be ies class and courses focusing on a home away from home,” said Native American culture. Stokes of the resource center. The development process of the According to an informational African-American Resource Center flier, “The mission of the African was a collaborative effort between -American Resource Center is to several facets of the campus. provide an opportunity for individuAt the urging of black student als to pursue the academic, research organization leaders, Gethaiga and cultural interests of Africanjoined a steering committee to Americans. It provides resources, design a proposal to create a com- services, programs and events that
Nevada Test Site, next to one of the nation’s largest organic farms, next to the state’s largest dairy, adjacent to ... the United States’ fastest growing metropolitan area, next to one of the busiest Air Force bases in the country,” Sandoval said. “If you could choose a worse place to store nuclear waste, I really challenge you to do so.” “My best analysis is that it’s a matter of time before this project fails,” Sandoval told the Senate Finance Committee, adding that it’s behind schedule, funding from Congress and the Bush administration has been cut, and Nevada won a key legal battle over required radiation standards. While Sandoval said he had heard rumors of a possible attempt in Congress to legislate a new standard, he was “very confident with the strength of our congressional delegation” and its ability to stop such an effort. The five-member delegation includes Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, praised Sandoval for his legal efforts against the effort to bring some 77,000 metric tons of waste from the nation’s reactors, adding, “We have to keep the full-court press right up to the last buzzer.”
“They didn’t know what was underground until they started digging,” Coffin said, adding, “If our people hadn’t kept them honest they would have just blown it right by us – just like they did the nuclear tests above ground that threw radiation everywhere.” Sandoval said there’s proven technology for recycling radioactive wastes, adding, “I can’t think of a more primitive way to deal with this waste ... than to dig a hole in the ground and cover it up.” List told the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that “the likelihood of this project is greater than it has ever been” despite a valiant fight by state officials and the state’s congressional delegation. List was joined by Michael Bauser, associate general counsel for the Nuclear Energy Institute, which sets policy for the nuclear industry and includes companies that operate nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel suppliers. Bauser said that out of 13 legal cases, nine of which were initiated by the state, all but one of the challenges were rejected. The successful challenge involved the Environmental Protection Agency’s radiation standard. A federal appeals court found the standard inconsistent with a National Academy of Science recommendation and told the EPA that it can either revise its regulations or go to Congress for legislation. While that will take time, Bauser said the U.S. Department of Energy still plans to submit its application for a dump license during this year. Bauser also said holdups on the project – the DOE is putting the opening date at 2012, two years later than originally scheduled – have nothing to do with the litigation and are results of the “inability of DOE to complete tasks in a timely fashion.”
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focus on the total integral and success of African-American students. Additionally, the AARC complements the university’s efforts in building a sense of community. It also serves as a tool for empowerment of the diverse segments of the university population through increased accessibility to scholarly research, cultural awareness education and collaborative activities.” The AARC will be open Monday through Thursday from noon to 8 p.m. Although the advisory board is still working out the details of the center’s day-to-day operations, it will monitor the number of students who use the facility by swiping Titan Cards at the reception desk. “My hope for the center is that everyone will feel welcome there,” said Onyeagoro. As coordinator of all student activities, she fulfills several duties including scheduling meetings in the center for student organizations and planning programming such as a lecture series on applying to graduate school.
Stokes has several long-term plans for the AARC: a math clinic for students of color, partnerships with community agencies, mentoring and internships, increased retention and matriculation rates of students of color and the creation of databases to identify and provide outreach to commuter students. The emphasis of the AARC is not only on African-Americans, but also on building a community of inclusiveness at Cal State Fullerton. “We need more underrepresented groups out there to come to the university in order to integrate society and bring more equality,” said Gethaiga. The grand opening of the AfricanAmerican Resource Center will be held on Feb. 28 with a tour of the center, followed by a reception to be attended by CSUF President Milton A. Gordon. “President Gordon has been a blessing to this campus,” said Gethaiga. “His vision is clear; one of inclusiveness. He cares about students as people.”
Proposed nuclear dump Afghanistan remains one of world’s least developed a gamble in Nevada Attorney General says storage tanks would fail within 100 years The Associated Press
CARSON CITY, Nev. – Lawmakers were told Monday that a proposed federal nuclear waste dump at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain will never open because of major problems – including its creation over time of “the world’s largest septic field” of radioactive material. Attorney General Brian Sandoval added that proposed storage tanks in which the waste would be stored probably would fail within 100 years, causing the high-level waste material to leach into groundwater. Sandoval said he was surprised to hear dump advocates tell lawmakers last week that the project in the southern Nevada desert is inevitable. The advocates included former Gov. Bob List – a strong dump opponent while in office but now a Nuclear Energy Institute consultant and lobbyist. The dump location, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is “literally a volcano that sits on an earthquake fault, above an aquifer, next to the
storm
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Nicoletti said a more in-depth report will be available on March 1. Fill dirt is dirt that is brought into a construction site from another location. An investigation looking into why homes were approved for construction on potentially unstable ground will be launched, Nicoletti said. According to Nicoletti, homeowners are responsible for providing the city with a geotechnical report when building homes. These reports are completed by private individuals or companies.
budget cuts
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budget calls for, Conant said that John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, is a strong supporter of financial aid. “Boehner, basically, went to school on Perkins loans,” Conant said. “And when he spoke to A.C.E. [American Council on Education] he basically
Country ranked 173rd out of 178 in latest U.N. report The Associated Press
KABUL – Afghanistan remains one of the world’s leastdeveloped countries, the United Nations said Monday, warning that the nation which harbored alQaida terrorists until 2001 could fail again unless more is done to lift it from poverty. In a new report examining Afghans’ security, welfare and ability to control their own lives, the world body ranked the country 173rd out of 178 surveyed, with only five states in sub-Saharan Africa faring worse. While landmark October elections showed Afghanistan’s political progress, the report urged President Hamid Karzai and his international backers to redouble their efforts to tackle miserable health and education standards, as well as growing inequality, which could fuel fresh conflict. “Sustained peace in Afghanistan is not guaranteed despite the early successes in state-building,” it said. “The price the international community would pay to protect itself from Afghanistan would be far greater than what it will pay to help develop the country.” Karzai wrote the forward for the study, saying it would help craft better policy. “Curbing corruption, bringing reconstruction gains to all regions of Afghanistan, drawing in foreign investment in a secure involvement and opening up the political process to participation remain the top priorities,” Karzai
wrote. “As the country now turns a new leaf, our ambition is to give hope to each and every Afghan.” The 288-page report by the United Nations Development Program paints a mixed picture of the country’s re-emergence since U.S. forces drove out the former ruling Taliban for harboring Osama bin Laden in late 2001. On the plus side, Afghanistan’s economy is booming, growing at least 25 percent annually since then and expected to expand by at least 10 percent a year in the next decade. Some 4 million children have enrolled in school – more than ever before – and more than 3 million people forced from their homes have returned, most from Pakistan and Iran. However, it still has the worst education system in the world, according to the U.N. calculations. The U.N. calculations point out that nearly three-quarters of all adult Afghans are illiterate and few girls go to school at all in many provinces. Moreover, most of the country’s income is being mopped up by warlords with strong political and military connections, creating a dangerous gap between rich and poor and between the cities and the countryside. Half of all Afghans are poor, it said. As a result, the average life expectancy for an Afghan is 44.5 years, 20 years less than in neighboring countries. One Afghan woman dies in pregnancy every 30 minutes and the country is the world leader in infant deaths caused by contaminated water. “Our team found the over-
Dan Gestine of Anaheim said there is no threat to homes in his area. Gestine lives in the gated community that includes the homes on Ramsgate Drive. Across Southern California, other homeowners are faced with danger from slides. Many homeowners in hillside communities have prepared for the storms. Black plastic and sand bags cover some hillsides in Anaheim Hills and Mission Viejo. The rain has pushed other structures past their limits; at a Virgin Megastore in Burbank, the roof began to creak on Friday afternoon. Employees hurried customers from the store and a short time later part of
the roof collapsed under the weight of water from the storm. Rain has affected structures, but it has also affected drivers in Southern California. People need to slow down and pay attention, Sarah McCann, of Yorba Linda, said. “I was on my way to work and I almost got hit twice,” McCann said. “I feel bad for the delivery people when it starts raining.’ Traffic is worse, and people seem to be in a bigger rush when it rains, she said. McCann works at a flower shop in Placentia, Calif., and said the driver at her work gave her some great advice: go slow and bring an umbrella.
said too that he didn’t think that they’d be cutting those programs.” If there was enough pressure to adopt the president’s budget, Congress could enact an across the board cut to financial aid of about two percent as they’ve done in the past, he said. For those looking to contact congressional officials on financial aid issues, Conant said that the most effective way to lobby is to keep the communication positive – to emphasize the good things that the programs
are doing on campus. In keeping with his advice, Conant emphasized some of the positive points in Bush’s budget proposal, including increases in the Cal Grants for the first time in three years and an additional Pell Grant for students who study year round. Platin plans on traveling to Washington, D.C., next month for a “Grassroots Legislative Conference” to discuss issues impacting college students, including financial aid.
whelming majority of people hold a sense of pessimism and fear that reconstruction is bypassing them,” said Daud Saba, one of the report’s authors. The report was also critical of the U.S.-led military engagement in Afghanistan, saying it helped produce a climate of “fear, intimidation, terror and lawlessness” and neglected the longerterm threat to security posed by inequality and injustice. It also described reconstruction projects sponsored by the U.S. military as “inadequate and dangerous,” echoing concern from some relief groups that they have blurred the lines between soldiers and civilians, and made aid workers into militant targets. Still, it stressed the need for Afghanistan to develop its own national army and police – two projects which the United States is trying to accelerate – and proceed with a belated U.N. disarmament drive for factional militias. The U.N. report also urged Karzai to back calls from human rights groups for a reconciliation process to address the crimes of the past. Officials from Canada, which sponsored the new report, and the World Bank said donors needed to balance big-ticket infrastructure such as dams with projects providing jobs for the poorest. Canadian Ambassador Christopher Alexander said hundreds of deaths linked to Afghanistan’s harshest winter in years exposed both Afghans’ vulnerability and the weakness of their government. “Let us all rededicate ourselves to tackling the challenge of poverty in Afghanistan head-on to ensure no Afghan is left behind,” he said.
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The show was booked after a cancellation left an opening in the gallery. Clark said she wanted to fill it with an exhibit that might bring a little controversy and also provide a sense of balance among the other exhibits. “Recent Drawings” by Cal State Fullerton student Charles Kilgore is currently showing in the Center Gallery and another CSUF student, Trevor Walker is now displaying his “Life From the Zoo” in the Plaza Gallery, Clark said. “We have an eclectic bunch of groups,” said Clark. “I feel like [these exhibits] really represent artistic styles and natures. We try to connect with the audience in different ways.” Zeleski said she is anticipating some level of judgment from other artists who may not appreciate all the different layers that go into each picture and that some people may not take the exhibit seriously. “What’s more controversial than creating something where someone says, ‘that’s not art’?” she said.