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Networking helps students land jobs Business Week event affords Titans chance to meet employers By Jessica Escorsia Daily Titan Staff
Cal State Fullerton’s Latino Business Student Association, along with the American Marketing Association, held its fifth annual net-
Moving Latino Titans forward
working breakfast Tuesday morning to provide students with the chance to meet company representatives in an intimate setting. The event featured 25 to 35 company representatives, each at a different table in the TSU Pavilions B and C. Students were given the opportunity to sit with representatives and talk about employment opportunities while enjoying some orange juice, fruit and pastries. Unlike many other job fairs where students just walk
around and pick up the free stuff, students were able to enjoy a conversation without the usual pressures. The networking breakfast started at 8:30 a.m. when LBSA President Adolfo Romero welcomed everyone and encouraged students to talk to representatives. Romero, a junior marketing major, said every year 75 to 100 students attend this event. This might seem like a small turnout, but Romero added that the event is very successful for students who take
advantage of it. Just last semester at the same event, 10 students were hired for top companies, he said. Romero landed an internship with the Anaheim Angels through a previous networking breakfast. From there, he got a part-time job and just recently received a full-time position as a corporate sales account executive. “Classes really affect the turnout,” David Luong, junior marketing major and director of advertising for AMA,
Warming up Weekley
Digital literacy verifies Web sites’ accuracy, combats plagairism
Also, the test requires that students use basic computer technology to find solutions and perform management tasks such as understanding how to read from a database, how to develop a spreadsheet and how to write an email to summarize the students’ findings, Rockman said. The test is still being evaluated to check for potential improvements before it becomes officially implemented, said Clara Potes-Fellow, spokesperson for Chancellor Charles B. Reed. Plagiarism may be a reason for the test at CSUF and other CSU campuses. The Internet has become an easy target for students to take information from without attributing it, Cox said. She said that an article in The New York Times stated that 38 percent of undergraduate students had engaged in cutting and pasting sentences and paragraphs off the Web, in a survey conducted three years ago. CSUF faculty has discovered a way to spot the plagiarizers. Faculty can access Turnitin.com, a service that offers the detection of plagiarism, to fend off the plagiarizers, Cox said, adding it can be difficult to differentiate between official and unofficial sites claiming to be otherwise. She said students should look for the author of the site and the author’s qualifications. Also, students should assess possible biases, inaccuracies and the site’s intended audience, Cox said. However, there should not be a reason for students not to visit the library with its plethora of resources available to them, she said. The Pollak Library at CSUF offers “a wealth of materials” in print and electronic forms, reference books, magazines, journals, newspapers and subscription databases like Academic
Daily Titan Staff
Eric tom/Daily Titan
Brooke Weekley, a sophomore pitcher for the Titans, warms up between innings during Tuesday night’s game as preparation for this week’s Kia Klassic Tournament. For full story, see page 4
ASI meets to discuss budget, limits on conference travel Director of Statewide Affairs visits D.C. to lobby for aid reform By Jaimee Fletcher Daily Titan Staff
Associated Students Inc. of Cal State Fullerton met Tuesday afternoon to discuss budget issues, upcoming events for clubs and a financial aid resolution. • Valerie Shum, president of the Panhellenic Council, informed board members about their current projects and budget. The Panhellenic is work-
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Students test Internet savvy Daily Titan Staff
By Carolina ruiz-Mejia
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of companies representing all fields. “A job fair is not as custom to a specific major,” Romero said. At the event keynote speaker, Whit Haskel, senior vice president and general manager of the Major League Soccer new expansion team Chivas USA, said a few words. Haskel spoke about sports marketing and shared his experiences with the new Los Angeles soccer team. He
By nadine Hernandez
CSUF receives first of five installments from $2.3 million grant Approximately 27 percent of Cal State Fullerton students are Hispanic. Last October, CSUF was awarded a $2.3 million grant by the Department of Education to augment programs for Hispanic students, especially in math-based programs, said Donald S. Castro, special assistant to President Milton A. Gordon. The grant will be received over a five-year period. The first installment of $433,910 has already been received. “The overall objective of the grant is to make this campus more effective as a Hispanic-serving institution,” said Castro, the coordinator overseeing the grant. When enhancing programs for Hispanics, all CSUF students benefit regardless of their ethnicity, he added. The funds are slated to be used in four different areas. First, The Social Science Research Center will conduct a bilingual survey in 500 different Hispanic households to reveal their expectations of the university, Castro said. The information obtained will be used to improve outreach programs for Hispanics and other CSUF students, Castro said. The survey will begin at the end of this month. The grant’s second objective is to increase and ensure the success of Hispanic students enrolled in mathbased programs, Castro said. “Why aren’t [Hispanic] students taking calculus in high school?” Castro asked. “We want all Latino students to graduate from high school with calculus so they can make the choice of whether they want to go into math… rather than just taking college algebra,” he said. The jobs of the twenty-first century require students to have technical skills, and this is why math-based programs are important, Castro said. Engineering, computer science, biology, physics, chemistry and math fall in the category of math-based programs. Manuel Gutierrez, 25, is a computer science major and president of Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers on campus. He said that an explanation as to why enrollment in math-based programs is so low is that the Hispanic culture is just starting to make education a priority. Leadership is the third focus of the grant. “We want to encourage Latino students, but particularly Latinas to go into leadership positions on campus [and at their] communities and work places… once they get their degree,” Castro said. Hispanic student enrollment in the
said. Senior finance major Carlos Yuriar said he expected there to be more people at the event, but was happy to have attended his first-ever networking breakfast. “The people are nice and they’re not rushing you,” Yuriar said. LBSA and AMA handpicked the companies that would cater to the business students’ needs. They made sure this event would be helpful to the students by providing different types
The Cal State University system has joined hands with the Educational Testing Service along with UCLA and the University of Washington, to have CSUF and other CSUs test students’ ability to differentiate between a bogus Web site and an official one this month at the Pollak Library. The Cal State system was selected by the Educational Testing Service and the Chancellor’s Office to test 3,000 students, said Suellen Cox, Pollak Library’s unit head of instruction and information services. Of the 3,000 students, CSUF is currently testing 295 students who were given incentives such as $25 gift certificates and a chance to win an Apple iPod for participating, Cox said. Both of these incentives were funded by the Chancellor’s Office, Cox said. The test that is given to the participating students is called the “Information Communication Technology Assessment,” said Ilene Rockman, CSU manager of Information Competence Initiative. The test includes seven concepts students must understand, Rockman said. The concepts include defining Web access information and the managing, integrating and evaluating of information. The concepts also include communicating at an appropriate level and communicating at legal standards, Rockman said. The test consists of 16 questions with “real world storylines,” which attempt to challenge students, he said.
ing on programs for Greek Week and is planning on sending members to the Western Regional Greek Conference, according to Shum. • President of Golden Key’s Cal State Fullerton chapter, Giovanni Avila, withdrew his previous request for funding two students to attend the Golden Key national conference. Avila said that Golden Key realized that they have sufficient funds to support two students for the conference and they no longer need the financial support from ASI. • Courtney Patterson, ASI’s Director of Statewide Affairs, will be lobbying on behalf of ASI and Cal State Fullerton in support of the
Federal Financial Aid Reform in Washington, D.C., this weekend. The majority of ASI voted for Patterson’s resolution to show CSUF’s support for financial aid reform. • The issue that received the most attention from board members was Inter-Club Council guidelines, brought up by board member, Scott Behen. Members discussed, but have not yet voted on, making rules for distinguishing how much money should support student travel to conferences. A percentage rule was debated in which ASI would fund a previously agreed upon percentage for students who want to attend conferences. This issue will be voted on at a later date.
students, she said she works hard at school, but finds that it is often difficult to make ends meet. Peña, who represents the financial struggles of other student-parents like her, said she finds state subsidies that help pay for childcare “a lifesaver.” “I want to be an elementary school teacher and eventually teach college,” she said, whose aunt watches her daughter when she cannot be at the center. She said without the state’s support, “I’d be so lost.” Located behind the University Police station, the Children’s Center
labors to provide affordable childcare even smaller and she worries about for student parents how she will pay on campus. For some for it. parents, however, Villanueva got [ASI] gives the the cost still leaves married last March, Children’s Center a deep hole in their which has transthe highest budgets. formed her single amount of money A n g e l i c a income into two of all the CSUs ... Villanueva is another incomes. student-parent with “We live with Betsy Gibbs a subsidy, but she my mom,” she said. Children’s Center Director will lose it at the end “I make $2,000, of May due to an and he makes $36, increase in finances. 000.” The added costs will make her budget Villanueva, a liberal studies major,
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Rising childcare costs pose another challenge for parents Student families claim lack of state subsidies creates financial drain By Stephanie park For the Daily Titan
Cal State Fullerton student Diana Peña spends her time working toward the completion of a double major in liberal studies and history while her daughter attends the Children’s Center on campus. Like most college
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said she also wants to teach elementary school. In preparation for the credential program, she works 20 hours per week at an elementary school, but worries about her daughter. “I don’t really see her,” she said. Additionally, she worries about the cost. “[After May], I won’t be able to afford it here,” Villanueva said. An interview with the Children’s Center Director Betsy Gibbs, who has been director of the center since 1974, Childcare 3
Rejection hotline offers an easy way out of unwanted advances Beware of bogus phone number when asking for a stranger’s digits By Jenny Star Lor For the Daily Titan
It’s for students who hate wasting time telling someone why they are
not an object of interest. It’s for those who ever had the urge to give out a fake number to someone who just couldn’t take the hint It’s for victims of annoying pick up lines; an automated recording called the Rejection Hotline is, according to their Web site, a phone number given to those won’t take “no” for an answer. This phenomenon has snowballed
into an effective tool against creeps in the club. “I never dreamed of it to be this big,” said Jeff Goldblatt, creator of the Rejection Hotline. After observing a pushy patron attempt a pass and get burned, Goldblatt and his friends embarked in a debate about which rejection was worse, being subject to public humiliation or getting a number only to find
a Pizza Hut employee at the other end of the receiver. Inspired, Goldblatt created the original Rejection Hotline message and placed it on a voicemail for his friends to hear in the summer of 2001. What started off as a joke among friends surfaced its way among the public. News of the Rejection Hotline spread by word-of-mouth by marketing through local radio interviews the
following year. The hotline got its big break when CNN featured the date diverter in its programming. It now serves 29 cities in the United States, each with its local number. Fullerton students interested in the free hotline services are able to utilize the Los Angeles phone number. REJECTION 2