News
Sports
D1 Professional Drift Grand Prix gains ground in U.S., Titans head to NIT 6
Experts and students share experiences, advice on underwater sex 3
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, M a r c h 1 5 , 2 0 0 5
Daily Titan w w w. d a i l y t i t a n . c o m
Vo l u m e 8 0 , I s s u e 1 9
Senate considers faith-based hiring
Synchronized strumming
Federally funded groups to hire based on religion if bill passes
The U.S. Senate is currently considering a House of Representatives bill to legalize discriminatory hiring practices for faith-based organizations, even if that group receives taxpayer money. Controversy surrounded the White House-backed bill from the beginning. HR 27, also known as the Job Training Improvement Act, contains a clause that is creating great debate over millions of dollars in social service funding. Rep. Robert C. Scott (D-Va.) pushed an amendment to delete the
clause, allowing federally funded organizations to hire as they choose. However, the controversial clause stayed, and the House’s Republican majority sent the bill to the Senate for further consideration with a vote of 224-200, according to The Los Angeles Times. House Republicans and Democrats alike claimed the moral high ground in the debate. Both sides cited the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act as a basis for their positions on the bill. “The 1964 Civil Rights Act explicitly protected the ability of faith-based institutions to hire individuals who share their same faith, and to do so when they receive federal funds,” said Kevin Smith, a spokesman for Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). Boehner, chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, criticized Democrats
for failing to “take advantage of the positive role faith-based institutions play in our communities in serving those most in need,” according to an online press release titled “House Passes Job Training Reforms, Rejects Attempts to Undermine 1964 Civil Rights Act Protections for FaithBased Institutions.” Scott said Republicans are the ones trying to undermine the 1964 Civil Rights Act. “They’re just making stuff up,” Scott said. “The fact of the matter [is] if you are offended by someone being denied a federally funded job because of religion, I mean you can’t dress it up any kind of way to make it something that it isn’t … you can put lipstick on a pig but you can’t pass it off as a beauty queen. And you can dress up ‘We don’t hire Catholics,
or completely new to juggling,” Fero said. “Once the club becomes better established, I anticipate that it will encompass a wide range of skill levels, where the more experienced jugglers can learn from each other and help new jugglers advance more quickly to that level.” The Juggling Club considers expanding its appreciation for juggling even further by incorporating contact juggling, plate-spinning, ballspinning, club-swinging, poi balls, balancing and more juggling techniques into their weekly meetings, Fero said. “The club is a nice way to take a break from the classroom and work environments and focus on something
different,” said club member Sara Jerzykowski. According to the CSUF Juggling Club Web site, the Juggling Club plans to have local jugglers speak or perform on campus, but also hopes to find funding for professional jugglers to perform at CSUF. “Eventually, I’d like to start holding and attending competitions and performances with the Juggling Club, but we have not done so yet. I’m looking into having the Juggling Club perform in a local Fourth of July parade,” Fero said. The Juggling Club has 20 members, and it recruits members by attracting passers-by during their weekly meetings or by recruiting friends.
“Mostly it’s been word of mouth, or grabbing our friends and telling them that they have to come to the meetings,” said Juggling Club Vice President Manya Ettner. The Juggling Club, created in October 2004, meets for an hour or more every Wednesday at noon on the Engineering and Computer Science Lawn in front of the Health Center. The Juggling Club provides enough equipment for several members during their meetings, but also sells juggling beanbags for a small fee. “Juggling is a lot of fun, and it’s not as difficult to learn as most people believe. Absolutely anyone has the ability to learn how to juggle,” Fero said.
By David Barry Daily Titan Staff
Eric Tom/Daily Titan
Max Mendoza, a freshman classical guitar major (left), and Drake Price, a freshman cello performance major, practice their art outside the Performing Arts Building Monday afternoon.
HR 27 3
Time Students juggle more than just classes to ‘rock your refund’ Campus juggling club welcomes all skill levels, plans to expand By Christina Schroeter For the Daily Titan
TurboTax aids young people with tax return filing on new site By Ishell Linares Daily Titan Staff
For some college students, April 15 might not seem like an important date to mark on the calendar, yet this is the IRS deadline for filing taxes. As the date draws near, an increasing number of people will flock to tax franchises for last-minute tax preparation. For those who want to avoid the lines, filing online is an appealing alternative. Web sites exist to help the technologically-inclined tax-filer. TurboTax has developed a Web site, www.rockyourrefund.com, that caters specifically to 18- to 24 year-olds, many of whom are firsttime filers. The Web site was created to ease young tax-filers through the process by providing simple, stepby-step guidance and tax jargon avoidance said Colleen Ferrin, spokesperson for Intuit, the makers of TurboTax. The Web site is a result of research conducted by Intuit in which 300 participants ages 18 to 24 were surveyed. Their research determined that there are 18.4 million taxpayers in this age group. “Ninety percent of tax filers in this age group get a refund of $939,” Ferrin said. “But many may not be aware that they are entitled to this type of refund.” Their research also concluded this age group is not very involved in its finances. “The overall attitude is that they don’t care so much about taxes,” Ferrin said. “They just want to get it done fast, easy, and correctly,” which is the goal that the Web site is trying to help them achieve. The Web site includes other services that young tax filers may find taxes 4
Many Cal State Fullerton students spend their time juggling classes, homework, work and time with friends. How many actually spend their time juggling? Now that there is a juggling club on campus, students can juggle that too. Most people are familiar with juggling, but many aren’t aware of the diversity of the sport. CSUF’s
Juggling Club incorporates the use of devil sticks (juggling sticks), diabolos (Chinese yo-yos), scarves, clubs, rings, bean bags and unicycles in hopes of expanding the appreciation of juggling as both an art and a sport to CSUF students. While most of the members of the Juggling Club are relatively new to the sport, the club welcomes students of all skill levels to join. Raymond Fero, president of the club, can ride a unicycle and is training himself to juggle seven bags, but also enjoys sharing his knowledge of the sport and teaching new members the basic skills of juggling. “We welcome everyone to join the juggling club, whether experienced
Finding sanctuary in nature’s wonder CSUF’s wildlife center provides an out-of-theclassroom experience By April Miller Daily Titan Staff
With buildings, cars and signs covering almost every square inch of space around the Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary, the area, owned by Cal State Fullerton, seems a bit out of place in congested Orange County. Rolling hills are covered with green shrubs. The only signs of civilization are the paved roads and a few
the telephone poles along the drive. “You kind of think you’re going the wrong way,” said Karon Cornell, director of the sanctuary. “Suddenly you see the sign.” It’s right at the doorstep to the Cleveland National Forrest, said Birkin Newell, the Tucker site manager. “From the ridge you can see the ocean. It’s a great opportunity for folks to learn about the mountains.” Tucker is really popular with hikers and mountain bikers, Newell said. It’s the peacefulness of the place that strikes people. Tucker’s a great place to take photographs, he said. Tucker serves as an off-campus site for CSUF students, Cornell said. It’s
April Miller/Daily Titan
Jerry Unrich brought his own bird, Max, in case they didn’t seen any birds at Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary.
By April Miller Daily Titan Staff
From Goodwin Field, one would never suspect that just a few feet away is an incredible sampling of trees and foliage from all over the world. The Arboretum’s signature tree isn’t a tree at all, but a shrub. The Ombu tree stands over 35 feet tall, and its roots spread outward on the surface of the ground, making walking precarious. “The Arboretum is a large, out-
door classroom kept as natural as possible,” said John Shea, a volunteer nature guide. “The Arboretum is not a park for throwing Frisbees. It’s kind of like a zoo for trees.” Free tours of the 26-acre grounds take place on the second Saturday of each month. Tours range from four to 40 people. The tour features a conifer collection, which is characterized by needle-like leaves and pinecones. Shea said that some people take little potted Christmas trees and plant them in the ground. “It’s hard to believe that was a baby Christmas tree,” Shea said pointing to massive 30-foot-tall tree. Shea said conifers are wind-pollinated. The seeds are like little
Food drive aims to aid needy families in time for Easter holiday
a unique opportunity for students to conduct field research. Students from the Volunteer and Service Center planted a sensory garden with fuzzy, sticky and fragrant plants stimulating
the five senses. “It’s pretty remarkable, such a neat resource being so close to us in
helicopters flying in the air. A thousand seeds can fly, but only a few really mature into a tree, he said. “Oh, I see you found the baseball vine,” Shea said to the boys from Placentia troop 798, who found four Cal State Titan’s baseballs hit over the Arboretum fence. The Arboretum also features a Bunya Tree from Australia. “These cones can get to be the size of bowling balls,” he said. You wouldn’t want to stand under one.” Margaret Williams, who was on the tour and tried to locate one of the pinecones, said, “We see trees, but we never really look at them.” A pond at the Arboretum is a temporary home for mallard ducks. “We don’t encourage feeding
the ducks.” Shea said. “They are not residents. They are migratory ducks who come here to eat, and nest.” On sunny days, turtles line up on the bank of the pond. In the afternoon they face a different direction, Shea said. “They’re all lined up like cars on a used car lot getting sun out of their eyes.” Sometimes, nature plays little tricks on us, Shea said. He brushed the gray film off of a leaf and underneath the film is green. The film is nature’s sunscreen, he told the tour group. Shea discussed the petals of flowers from trees. One is a little stronger, he said. It’s like a little
Cal State Fullerton’s El Toro Campus is in the midst of its first spring Canned Food Drive. Cardboard boxes were placed in various locations around the campus on March 1 to encourage students and faculty to donate dry, non-perishable foods to Families Forward of Irvine for the upcoming Easter holiday. When the drive is completed on March 23, the collected food will be delivered to Families Forward where it will be distributed to Orange County families in need. The organization feeds over 1,500 families throughout the year said Jessica Fournier, a Families Forward staff member. The goal of the drive is to collect non-perishable food items, but Fournier encourages students to donate any items they are able to give for the drive. “We don’t only give the families food, we give them anything that can be found in a supermarket,” she said.
Arboretum 3
food drive 3
Tucker 4
Arboretum brings nature into suburbia Monthly nature tours are more than just a nice walk in the park
El Toro campus helps hungry By Dennis Olson Daily Titan Staff