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Software engineers earn degrees online
A bug’s life
Master’s program targets professionals, undergraduates By Noboru Okuyama For the Daily Titan
Rebecca Bremer/For the Daily Titan
Cal State Fullerton students team up with Beechwood Elementary School students to explore the diverse insect life on campus last week.
Students who plan to earn a master’s degree in software engineering at Cal State Fullerton might not have to come to school at all. The Department of Computer Science introduced an online program last semester that specializes in software engineering. The Master of Science in the software engineering program enables students to fulfill all degree requirements anywhere, from their workplaces to their homes. The online program, called MSE, “prepares individuals for careers as
software engineers and software process managers in industry and government agencies,” according to the program’s Web site. Chang-Hyun Jo, a CSUF professor and faculty member of the software engineering program, said the primary targets of this program are professionals who have sufficient working experience in the field of computer science, as well as undergraduate students. Instead of sitting in chairs and taking notes in the classroom, MSE students make use of audio lectures on Blackboard, a site used by faculty and students where assignments, notes and syllabi can be posted. Blackboard also serves as a place for discussion among online students. “In today’s IT market, the ability to architect and manage a successful project is very important, so I
Faculty frustrated with lack of funds Academic Senate examines budget, understaffing concerns By Stefanie Franklin Daily Titan Staff
Students may notice that certain classes are impacted, offered in fewer sections or no longer offered at all – and a faculty shortage may be the reason. The Academic Senate recently met to ask the Cal State Fullerton campus committee to make the budget more transparent. They said this would better allow administration, faculty and students to see exactly how school funding is allocated, members said. Gangadharappa Nanjundappa, California Faculty Association chapter president for CSUF, said that more of the budget should be allocated to instruction, not to more bureaucracy. “The growth of administration
is higher than the growth of faculty,” Nanjundappa said. “We need more instructors in classrooms than administrators in offices.” Nanjundappa said the number of tenured faculty has decreased significantly due to instructors who retire or transfer elsewhere, in pursuit of better opportunities or better salaries. Budget issues can also hinder plans for hiring staff replacements. The CFA and the CSU chancellor agreed to increase the number of tenured and tenure-track faculty over the next eight years, and the agreement was scheduled to start this year. Due to budget issues, the additional money has not been provided. CSUF’s current student to faculty ratio is approximately 21-to-1. Ideally, the lower it is, the better. This figure is often confused with class size, said CSUF Academic Senate member Diana Guerin. She said the number is only a statistic for how much funding the school receives for instruction. Average
class size may be a very different figure, she said. Guerin, a member of the CFA, explained that the campus’ problem lies in its ability to attract and retain faculty. It’s hard, she said, because the salary just doesn’t match with the cost of living. “It’s sad when instructors with Ph.D.s qualify for low-income housing,” Guerin said. At of the end of February, the median Orange County price for new and re-sold homes was $553,000, and average rent was $1,317 a month. According to California PostSecondary Education Commission findings, CSU faculty salaries are 12 percent to 13 percent less than the national average at comparable universities. Exacerbating the dilemma is the fact that Orange County has some of the highest-priced housing in the nation. California State University full-time professors get paid, on average, 20 percent less than professors in other states. “CPEC provides an objective
Web site offers confidential, free Internet file sharing YouSendIt.com aims to eliminate virus transfers, protect users By Courtney Pugatch For the Daily Titan
With peer-to-peer networking programs like Kazaa, WinMX and Limewire being filled with corrupted files and spyware, the Internet will
once again provide a new avenue to share files among Internet users. YouSendIt.com is the latest Web site to offer Internet file sharing, but with a twist: it’s confidential and offers users the ability to share files for free. While other Web sites charge users to sign up and send files with limitations, YouSendIt.com has made it their mission to offer a better solution to file sharing, and at no cost to the user. This means that while other programs can track personal
information back to the IP address, YouSendIt.com has made it a point to keep all information private. Some students on campus are starting to use the Web site to share music, movie and other types of files. “YouSendIt.com is better in my mind than the other peer-to-peer sharing programs because there is no risk of spyware or virus transfer
Damaris Vasquez, a museum staff member, said the program was created to benefit children by “teaching them about different skills and how to make it on their own.” The program benefits the students because it gives exposure to basic art concepts that are fun topic matter, said Joe Felz, director of the Fullerton Museum Center. The children who are involved participate in artwork such as making fish banners by creating collages and using sand painting techniques based on Tibetan artwork. Participants can paint fabric, learn a form of artwork called Adrinkva, or paper mache. Aside from traditional art projects, young students are also introduced to printmaking, which is an art that is reproduced.
Additionally, Styrofoam, cardboard and stone are a few of the materials that are available to children in the program. By using a printing plate and etching, children learn to draw or cut images onto a plate. In different ways, ink is applied and paper is pressed onto these plates by hand. The finished product is then pulled from the plate. The participants will be “painting and doing art projects that centered on and around the ‘world’ theme every week, including countries such as Asia and Africa,” Vasquez said. Students who join the program learn a variety of techniques as they are exposed to different art
study that most people don’t know about,” said Alice Sunshine, spokeswoman for the CFA. “It shows the salary gap between California and other states’ university faculty.” Additionally, because of budget cutbacks, CSU faculty hasn’t had a cost of living increase in two years. “The senior faculty is becoming frustrated,” Nanjundappa said. “The understaffing situation is affecting faculty morale.” Though making less, the faculty may be working more. According to documents published this year by the CSU Advisory Committee, CSU faculty is on the job about 4.4 hours more per week than faculty at comparable national institutions. Lower-than-average pay and longer hours can make recruiting and retaining faculty difficult. “We can’t hire,” Nanjundappa said. “We can’t provide attractive workloads, research support money, lab equipment and other opportunities. The incentives to teach in the CSU system are minimal.”
Despite the problems, he said instructors are doing a wonderful job and remain committed to serving the students. Nanjundappa said another issue is the ratio of full-time and parttime instructors. The current ratio of permanent professors to temporary and part-time instructors is even at a ratio of 50-to-50. Guerin said the number should be closer to 75-to-25, with more full-time instructors. Part-time professors are typically business professionals who teach students as current experts in their field. “Temporary and part-time faculty may teach on many different campuses,” Nanjundappa said. “Our temporary colleagues do a wonderful job, but they can’t devote the same amount of time as tenured instructors do.” Together with the tenured faculty members, part-time faculty brings the number of CSU faculty to over shortage 2
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Kids explore arts at local museum Fullerton museum offers art education programs for children By Kristi Allen Daily Titan Staff
Young artists are exploring the many facets of creative expression in an art education program offered at the Fullerton Museum Center called “Saturday Art Studio for Kids.” The program, which allows children ranging in age from 6- to 10-years-old to actively engage in such artistic endeavors as drawing, painting, charcoaling, clay modeling and mask-making.
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At the Pollak library, students study for midterms late into the night.
feel I am receiving the right type of training for today’s demanding market,” said Brook Gonsowski, an MSE student who waited almost two years for the program to begin. “It has been worth it.” Currently, 45 students are enrolled in the program with another 45 students expected to join in the fall. Although the number of current and prospective students sounds favorable for the future of the program, there are resource issues stemming from the program’s annual budget. “We don’t have enough funds,” said Jo, about the prospects of MSE. “It directly affects the number of instructors and course materials.” Bing Cong, a CSUF computer science professor who is also the mse 3
CSUF nurses receive grants $1.6 million will fund nursing credential, master’s program By Carolina Ruiz-Mejia Daily Titan Staff
The Cal State Fullerton Nursing Department received nearly $2 million in grants to improve working conditions at hospitals and to create credential and master’s degree programs. The department received one grant of $1.6 million from the Federal Department of Health and Human Services and another award from the Orange County Children and Families’ Commission of $385,000. The goal of the federal grant is to improve the workplace environment for nurses, said Christine Latham, a nursing professor and director of Extramural Funding at CSUF. By improving the nurses’ working conditions, hospitals will be able to keep them in the workforce, she added. “We have an extreme nurses shortage,” Latham said. “Hospitals struggle to get enough nurses and they have trouble retaining them.” Latham said her goal is to get involved with the community hospitals to help them maintain their nursing staffs by improving their working environment and having nurses mentor each other. If the nurses’ expectations are met, then people will receive appropriate health care when they visit a hospital, she said. To ensure education, mentoring and the retention of nurses, Latham has partnered with Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach and UCI Medical Center in Orange. “I philosophically believe that as a professional department, we need to be very involved with our community [and work together] to advance the profession,” she said. The need for mentors is great, said Karen Ringl, a full-time CSUF lecturer and registered nurse. Ringl is providing education and training grant 3
2 Tuesday, March 22, 2005
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Today
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MARCH 22, 2005
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The Association of Inter-Cultural Awareness is hosting AICA Week featuring a variety of cultural events. Check out the Quad today from noon to 1 p.m. and see a dance exhibition.
Iraq sees largest militant toll in months
Men’s basketball vs. Georgetown at 4 p.m. The National Invitation Tournament game is away. The game will be televised on ESPN and students can watch the game on a big screen in the Games and Recreation TV Lounge in the TSU.
BAGHDAD, Iraq – U.S. soldiers, ambushed by dozens of Iraqi militants near the infamous “Triangle of Death,” responded by killing 26 guerrillas in the largest single insurgent death toll since last fall’s battle for Fallujah, the U.S. military said Monday. The high number of deaths in Sunday’s daylight battle south of Baghdad was attributed to the large number of attackers, unusual in a country where most clashes are carried out by small bands of gunmen or suicide bombers.
Cheer on your fellow Titans on the Titan Courts today at 2 p.m. The women’s tennis team will be playing against Montana.
Nation
Ailing Rehnquist returns to court
Lambda Pi Eta, a newly formed honor society for communications majors, will be meeting at 2 p.m. at the Off Campus Pub. The honor society is accepting new members. All are welcome.
WASHINGTON – Ailing Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist was back Monday where many thought he’d never be: on the Supreme Court bench hearing arguments. Rehnquist, who had not sat for any cases since being diagnosed with thyroid cancer in October, looked frail and was slightly hoarse with a high-pitched voice. But he ran the court much as he did before the illness, asking questions and keeping lawyers on time. At the conclusion of two hours of arguments he struggled momentarily to get out of his chair. Justice John Paul Stevens, who at 84 is the court’s oldest member, helped Rehnquist to a nearby railing.
Author Gloria De La TorreWycoff will be on campus today from noon to 1 p.m. in PLN 130. The topic of discussion will be “Scarred by Scandal—Redeemed by Love: The Triumph of an Unmarried Mother.” The author will discuss her personal and professional perspective and the motivation behind her book.
Judge won’t issue decision on Schiavo yet
TAMPA, Fla. – Armed with a new law rushed through Congress over the weekend, the attorney for Terri Schiavo’s parents pleaded with a judge Monday to order the brain-damaged woman’s feeding tube re-inserted. But the judge appeared cool to the argument. U.S. District Judge James Whittemore did not immediately make a ruling after the two-hour hearing, and he gave no indication on when he might act on the request.
If free food, giveaways and a movie screening sound good, head to the Titan Pool at the Kinesiology and Health Science building at 6:30 p.m. “Dive in Movie” sponsored by Rec Sports will feature the recent release “Friday Night Lights” with Billy Bob Thornton. A valid Titan ID is required.
Sex offender charged in Fla. girl’s death
INVERNESS, Fla. – A convicted sex offender was formally charged Monday with capital murder and other crimes in the abduction and death of a 9-year-old Florida girl. John Evander Couey, 46, was also charged with burglary, kidnapping and sexual battery on a child under the age of 12, officials said. His arraignment is set for Tuesday, officials said.
10 dead in teen rampage, police say
BEMIDJI, Minn. (AP) _ A high school student went on a shooting rampage on an Indian reservation Monday, killing his grandparents at their home and then seven people at his school, grinning and waving as he fired, authorities and witnesses said. The suspect apparently killed himself after exchanging gunfire with police. It was the nation’s worst school shooting since the Columbine massacre in 1999 that killed 13 people.
Local
Day laborers not welcome in Costa Mesa COSTA MESA – A job center opened in 1988 to keep day laborers off sidewalks and out of parks is slated to close in June. The city council voted 3-2 to close the center, saying that some day laborers weren’t paying income taxes and that some employers failed to supply worker’s compensation insurance. The land’s potential value for development, however, was the overriding reason for the closure, one council member said. Closing the Costa Mesa Center will not solve the problem of day laborers, opponents said. “It seems wrong for us to be talking about people seeking work as if they’re criminals,” Councilwoman Katrina Foley, who voted against closure, said. “We have a reality (of day workers) that’s not going away, and we need to plan for it.” Reports compiled from The Associated Press
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A Titan pitcher’s mit waits in the bullpen during an evening softball game. Women’s softball will be playing tonight at 4 p.m. against the Washington Huskies and again at 6 p.m. against Ohio State Buckeyes. Both are home games. Admission is free to students with Titan ID.
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Mother commits suicide, wills eyes to blind sons
NEW DELHI - An Indian woman committed suicide so her two blind sons could receive her eyes and see, a newspaper reported Monday. But doctors say the chances of success are bleak, The Indian Express reported. Thirty-seven-year-old Tamizhselvi’s sons, Kumaran, 17, and Kumar, 15, have been blind since birth. Doctors in the southern city of Chennai say Kumar’s condition cannot be helped with a cornea
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20,000. However, said Guerin, permanent full-time professors are important for courses as they are the faculty members running the research programs, writing the curriculums, serving on committees and providing student advisement. Currently, the system is understaffed by approximately 300 fulltime tenured and tenure-track professors, he said. “With more faculty, we can offer
transplant and also suspect his elder brother does not have a cornea defect. “We had told the family earlier itself that a corneal transplant was not needed for the younger son,” the Express quoted hospital official G. Seethalakshmi saying. The family is insisting Tamizhselvi’s corneas can only be used for her sons and no one else. Army blows up new scooter after citizens report possible bomb LONDON - Heidi Brown was told she could park her new scooter outside the vehicle registration office while she waited to get license plates. To her horror, it was blown up by the army after someone reported more classes and students can graduate sooner and get on with their lives,” Nanjundappa said. “It does not serve the best interest of the students to keep them in the system longer than necessary.” The solution would be to have a bigger budget to pay professors more, which would attract more faculty into the CSU system, he said. However, additional money isn’t available. Nanjundappa proposed getting better representation at the capital to lobby for more money as another solution. Even without additional funding,
that it might be a bomb. Police in Ipswich, eastern England, confirmed on Thursday that a moped had been blown up in a controlled explosion after local business people “raised concerns” that it could be a bomb. “The moped was chained to the perimeter fence outside the building. We weren’t able to identify whose vehicle it was because there were no license plates on it,” said a spokeswoman for Suffolk Police. She said the surrounding office buildings were evacuated and three roads were closed off. The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported the scooter belonged to Brown, a 22-year-old care worker, who said she had been told she could leave it there awaiting inspection. Reports compiled from Reuters
faculty could be paid more. “In spite of the budget crisis, reallocation of current funds would solve part of the problem,” he said. “Instruction and student services should be the number one priority in the budget.” Currently, only 43 percent of the CSU budget is spent on funding for teaching. At CSUF, approximately 47 percent is spent on it. “We’re the third largest campus, and not even half of the budget is spent on what the university is here to do: teach,” Nanjundappa said. “How do you justify that?”
There is a meeting for Intramural Sports Men’s and Women’s softball captains and managers today in KHS 170 beginning at 4 p.m. All Intramural Sports softball rosters are due today by 5 p.m. in KHS 159. If you want you voice to be heard on campus run for ASI Board of Directors or ASI President/ Executive Vice President. Today is the last day to turn in an ASI candidate packet. For more information: (714) 278-3295. Looking for an Internship? The Career Center is hosting The Internship Event from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Grab 15 copies of your resume and head out to the TSU to meet employers. 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.
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News Entrepreneur creates new drinking buddy Tuesday, March 22, 2005 3
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for nurses who will later mentor other nurses, she said. Mentors help nurses to become familiar with their units and deal with clinical and professional problems, Ringl said. If nurses learn how to cope with these problems, it helps their retention. The nursing department is conducting research on why nurses leave their workplaces, she said. The program resulting from the Children and Families’ Commission
grant will be beneficial to busy or working students because it will be offered online, said Mary Ann Kelly, director of the program. The program will be available on the Web because the nurses enrolled are employed full time as nurses, Latham said. “We want to make it more accessible for them to attain the credential so they can sustain their position,” Latham said. “[Nurses] work long hours and it is difficult for them to come to campus every week.” The nursing credential program will be the first in Orange County, Latham said. The courses will
include counseling, audiology, secondary education and science. The program is still under development and awaits four more department approvals, Latham said. The program hasn’t opened but is already impacted. There have been about 100 inquiries about the program, Latham said. Seventy people want to enroll in the program, but there are only 20 spaces, she added. Latham said she was excited to receive the grants. Most importantly, she said, is the fact that the CSUF Nursing Department is working with the hospitals and nurses that serve the community.
Mickey Marchello targets college students with I.M. Happy doll By Jason Kehler Daily Titan Staff
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cultures. This particular class is taught by Aimee Aul, the museum education coordinator, who began working at the museum in 1989. The program she is involved with has been around for two years, after it started with the idea of bringing family together and eventually turned into a class for children.
“We found a need to provide something that wasn’t terribly rigid with some structure that was more experimental, but not a free-forall,” said Aul, who added that her goal is for children to gain knowledge of art by demonstration and instruction. The program is a four-week session that costs $80 per student and includes all materials. In one session, children may participate in finger painting and arts
and crafts with bamboo, said David Lien, a museum staff member. Recently there have been many requests to offer more family-oriented programs, he said. This class offers another activity for children on Saturday mornings and provides participants with a lot of one-onone attention. “Children of this age group really know how to draw,” said Aul. “Their drawing at ages 5 to 8 is breathtaking,”
Never drink alone again. I.M. Happy will always be there to throw back a beer or two, or six, with you. Happy, who sits on his barstool, is a new doll with four different cycles of humorous sayings and catchy drinking songs. Happy is a balding, pot-bellied character complete with a plumber’s crack coming out of his jeans. Happy’s shirt displays his name on the front and “Drink up!” on the back. Happy has one heavy eye and has drool hanging out of his mouth. Rather than wasting beer, Happy will take a fake swig out of his plastic beer mug while singing his songs, said Mickey Marchello, creator of the doll. “I came up with this idea because of a song,” Marchello said. “That is how I developed the doll.” The song is “World Party Anthem,” written by Marchello, and is the main tune that Happy sings. Marchello said
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coordinator of MSE, said the program is in the progress of developing its standard content, exemplified by the introduction of a reusable video lecture in an effort to
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during the file download,” senior Karen Bury said. “Generally, I know exactly who I’m getting my files from and can trust them to not embed something hostile into the file trans-
the song is upbeat and about beer. The song was initially created in April 2001. When the attacks on Sept. 11 occurred, however, Marchello said he felt that the world was not ready for it. The development of the doll grew out of the marketing of the song, Marchello said. “I was trying to find a way to move this song,” Marchello said, stating that the doll was inspired by the melody. Marchello said both the doll and the song were gaining popularity when he tested them both in the market. Happy was designed with a microchip that allows his mouth to move with the words he is saying and singing. “I developed a doll that was like a Rolls-Royce,” Marchello said. “The rest are are like Volkswagens.” Happy will initially be sold for $34.95 only through the Web site, www.57happy.com, until it gains further popularity. Marchello is looking to promote the doll through outlets like Comedy Central, Spike TV and Howard Stern. He is also going to market it to college students. “It would make me feel less like an alcoholic if I drank with it,” said Scott Cappelli, a senior radio-TV-film major. “Because then I wouldn’t be
drinking by myself.” Cappelli also said the doll could be fun in a group setting because you could play drinking games with it. “There is a niche out there for this,” Marchello said. “There are a lot of beer drinkers.” Julie Stokes, an Afro-ethnic studies professor at CSUF, warns against the type of behavior that the doll would promote. “Having a party favor that drinks at a party can actually encourage increased consumption in regards to alcohol,” Stokes said. Stokes said binge-drinking for women is defined as four or more drinks in one setting and five or more for men. Normal drinking for women is considered as one drink and two drinks applies to men. “Sometimes college students over use alcohol,” Stokes said. “Primarily because they really don’t know what is considered normal drinking.” Stokes also said drinking alone, or with a doll, can be problematic in itself. “Drinking norms are generally socially defined,” Stokes said. “If one is drinking by themselves, then they have no reference point by which to gauge the amount of alcohol they’re drinking.”
overcome the budget issue. The work group, composed of eight faculty members, designed everything for the program, such as the renewal of audio lectures, a time-consuming process that required them to work even during the weekends. Faculty members said their
efforts will pay off for students living under severe time constraints. “I would be very happy about that,” said Tim Bradley, who just enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in the software engineering program. “This is a time-convenient program and would be helpful for a student like me.”
fer.” In order to use the Web site, log on to the site and upload a file. Unlike email servers, which can only transfer 250MB at a time, YouSendIt.com allows up to 1GB of information to be uploaded onto the server. Once the upload is complete, a URL is sent to the person uploading the file, which can then be used for either 25 downloads or seven days, whichever happens first. At this point, the URL expires and any information on that link is deleted from the site’s records. Freshman Emily Feldman said she uses YouSendIt.com with her friends to send videos or to share music in small communities of peers. She said the communities had to be very small since the 25 downloads don’t allow for many transfers to take place. YouSendIt.com originally started
in 2003 as a way for businesses to transmit larger document files to multiple clients and employees without having to deal with small email servers, bandwidth issues or shared passwords. Within the last six months, however, many of the users of the Web site have been college students looking for an easier way to locate hardto-find files, or to just share something they love with others on the Internet. “It’s not like you can actually actively search out the things you want to download,” CSUF junior Jinra Ilustrisimo said. “Finding YouSendIt.com files takes a bit more effort on your part to kindly ask someone to upload something for you, as opposed to just running a program, doing a search and clicking on a file to download.”
News Research links personality type to health 4
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
How a person reacts to everyday problems can affect well-being By Desdemona Bandini Daily Titan Staff
Personality types vary, but there are enough basic similarities that led two American cardiologists, Dr. Meyer Friedman and Dr. Ray Rosenman, to discover and categorize different “personality types.” There are some people who can take all that life throws them with a grain of salt (Type B) and there are some people who can’t (Type A). Additionally, Psychiatrist Lydia Temoshok found
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that there are some people who say little one way or another about how they feel (Type C). A person’s personality type has more to do with the individual’s chances of living a long, happy and successful life than one might realize. For example, Type A personalities may face the serious risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) if they do not learn how to change their behavior. Type A traits are aggressive, competitive, time-urgent, controlling, hostile, multi-tasking, unable to ask for help and focused on numbers and completing things fast. Type A’s are constantly in a fight or flight mode and tend to be hot reactors to things that require little reaction. This behavior can take its toll on the
Cycle of life
heart and the body. “I think I am probably a Type A,” said Victoria Gropp, a Cal State Fullerton anthropology major. “I think I am anal about a lot of things, and I get impatient. I have that drive for success. I am fine with what I am, but I do want to learn to have more patience, especially when it comes to dating.” In her stress management class, therapist and CSUF Stress Management professor, Maureen Haney, teaches students techniques to better handle life’s more difficult situations. She said that Friedman suggested Type A’s cultivate an interest in activities with “Three P’s: people, pets and plants” to relax. People-pleasing Type C’s are too
passive to say anything, which can also lead to high stress and adversely affect quality of life. The real goal is to become more flexible and easy going by taking things more in stride like the Type B behavior. Haney explained that in the mid1950s Friedman and Rosenman frequently had to reupholster the chairs in their waiting room. When a new upholsterer came in to assess the problem, he noticed that the wear and tear on the chairs was not typical. The chairs were literally worn at the edge of the seats, leading him to ask the cardiologists what kind of practice they had. In the book “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers” by Robert Sapolsky, Friedman recounted his encounter
with the upholsterer: Friedman, a self-proclaimed recovering Type A, said, “I didn’t pay any attention the man, as I was too busy.” It was not until five years later that Friedman’s formal Type A research confirmed what the upholsterer suspected; there is a link between behavior and heart disease. Haney said another cardiologist, Dr. Dean Ornish, observed that as life saving as coronary by-pass surgery is, often the same patients would be back on the operating table several years later. This led Ornish to believe that by-pass surgery alone was an incomplete approach and that cardiologists needed to treat the underlying cause of heart disease. Ornish went on to
develop a research-based program to reverse coronary blockage emphasizing lifestyle change with a strong focus on the concept of opening up your heart to love and reducing hostility and social isolation. According to the textbook “Comprehensive Stress Management” by Jerrold Greenberg, in the past coronary heart diseases had been typically attributed to poor diet, smoking, obesity, heredity and lack of exercise. “Friedman would say ‘You can’t change personalities, we just try for more B-like behavior,’” Haney said. “Although he worked as the director of the Meyer Friedman Institute at UC San Francisco until his death, he clearly took his own advice, living until the age 90.”
Recent legislation attempts to reduce teen auto deaths
Association of Motor Vehicle Administration said that their organization strongly recommends a series of restrictive licensing for drivers. “It increases a new driver’s experience level, but in stages,” King said. “Graduated licensing helps to reduce traffic crashes. The program works.” According to USA Today, certain legislators like Adrian Mendel of the Maryland state legislature, are pursuing other ideas, such as adopting a national licensing age standard, and many proponents aim to set the age at 18. Fifteen-year-olds in Arizona, Hawaii, North Dakota and several other states are able to obtain driver’s licenses without provisions. South Dakota residents can apply for a license three months after their 14th birthday, with restrictions on passengers and driving hours. In many states, restricted licenses can be obtained at 16, and, after hours of training and on-the-road experience may graduate to less restricted licenses, eventually gaining full driving privileges at 18. Many foreign countries such as Germany and France already have the 18-year-old age standard in place for issuing driver’s licenses. Other countries impose certain restrictions
on younger drivers, such as special speed limits, unique vehicle markings to identify new drivers, and highway driving limitations. Some even have horsepower limits on the cars that new drivers operate. April, a graduate linguistics student at CSUF who withheld her last name, has a younger brother in Thailand where the driving age is 18. She believes increasing the age to 18 in the United States would be a good idea. “It might be better because older teenagers tend to be more mature,” April said. Some argue that maturity may be the scientific difference between 16 and 18 year olds, based on brain development. “We know that the prefrontal cortex does not reach maturity levels on executive decision making until the late teens and early 20s,” said Larry Musselman, director of the teendriving institute at the Safe America Foundation. “But we all know that there’s a tremendous number of immature drivers even after the age of 25.” Some people with children of driving age see the problem differently. While some parents see the benefit of additional training, many oppose the idea of upping the licens-
ing age to 18 and making it a national standard. A common concern of parents is that 16 and 17-year-olds need transportation, and if they can’t provide it themselves until they’re 18, their parents will have to compensate. Other common concerns include how teens will get to and from their place of employment. According to a 2003 Department of Labor report, 26 percent of 16year-olds were employed outside of the home between 1996 and 1998, and 35 percent were employed when school was not in session. Approximately 3 million youths aged 15 to 17 were employed while in school, and the majority worked in retail. Businesses could be affected if the main employment population could no longer get to work. “A way to get around moving the driving age to 18 is simply to have all states require driver education beginning at age 15,” said Musselman. “If you could provide them with additional and rigorous training, teens would be more prepared to be on the road with that extra experience.” Musselman added that no matter what the driving age is set at, there will always be very young teens that can handle driving, and very old teens that can’t.
Raising driving age may raise safety By Stefanie Franklin Daily Titan Staff
Eric Tom/Daily Titan
Students enjoy the sun in the Quad Monday afternoon. The weather was a welcome change after a rainy weekend.
According to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Web site, on average, more than 42,000 people in the United States die each year in driving-related accidents. The Safe America Foundation adds that this figure exceeds the number of people that have been lost in every war the United States has fought since 1776. Of those 42,000 deaths, teen drivers account for around 6,000. Recent legislation in several states is intended to reduce these numbers through training programs and licensing age standards. “Typically, drivers ages 16 to 19 comprise about 50 percent of all fatal driving injuries,” said Mike Mirando, spokesperson for the California Office of Traffic Safety. “As drivers get older and get more experience, that percentage goes down.” A way for new teen drivers to get that experience is through training, Mirando said. Jason King from the American