Opinion
Sports
Former CSUF Assistant Coach Dave Serrano’s return is bittersweet 6
Schiavo case increases debate’s intensity over right to life issues 4
C a l i f o r n i a S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y, F u l l e r t o n
Daily Titan
M o n d a y, A p r i l 4 , 2 0 0 5
El Toro to open visitor center
Parishoners honor pope, mourn death Catholic leader John Paul II remembered for his compassion
Information about campus, community available to students
By Ryan Townsend Daily Titan Managing Editor
By Dennis Olson Daily Titan Staff
After being established over two years ago, Cal State Fullerton’s El Toro campus will finally open its Visitor Information Center. As the latest addition to El Toro, the center will help make learning as convenient and personal as possible. Located at the edge of Lot L, the Visitor Information Center will be staffed by student assistants and will provide students and visitors with a variety of services. The center’s two main functions are to get students to the right classes at the beginning of the semester and to help visitors on campus who need assistance or information. Karen Hebri, the facility coordinator at El Toro, said she encourages anyone on campus to come to the center whenever they have a question or need help. “People should feel welcome. The center is for anybody that comes by and needs information,” she said. The campus is located near what will be the main entrance of the Great Park and officials hope to expand the size of the campus as it is developed over the next few years. Other information available at the center will help students and visitors with parking problems, locating staff members and finding classrooms, Hebri said. El Toro 3
Vo l u m e 8 0 , I s s u e 2 6
w w w. d a i l y t i t a n . c o m
Photos by David Pardo/Daily Titan Asst. Photo Editor
Top: Many sobbing parishoners could be found among the hundreds who attended Mass at the John Paul II Polish Center. Bottom: Izabella Boguki sheds tears while holding her son Michael during Sunday’s Mass.
Catholics of all ages gathered across Orange County on Sunday to mourn and celebrate the life of Pope John Paul II. In Yorba Linda, hundreds packed John Paul II Polish Center for a special Mass to commemorate and pray for the pope’s soul. The center, built in 1983, holds Mass in Polish and English and was named in honor of Poland-native Karol Joseph Wojtyla, who rose from humble beginnings to become the head of the Catholic Church. Polish Americans expressed gratitude for the impact the pontiff had in their homeland and around the world. “He’s done a lot for the world and for Polish people because he was responsible for the solidarity and the fall of communism,” said 24-year-old Peter Piestrzeniewicz of Fullerton. Others in the congregation spoke about the influence the pope had in their own lives. “I always looked up to him because he got shot and then went to prison to bless and forgive the person who shot him,” said Thomas Ladzinski, a Fullerton resident. Catholics who gathered said the pope would be remembered as a peacemaker and a man of great compassion for the poor. “He just wanted peace on earth and for everyone to unite,” Piestrzeniewicz said. In Vatican City, Pope John Paul II’s body lay in state Sunday, his hands clutching a rosary, his pastoral staff under his arm. Millions
prayed and wept at services across predecessors and was credited with the globe as the Vatican prepared helping bring down communism in for the ritual-filled funeral and Europe and spreading a message of conclave that will choose a suc- peace during his frequent travels cessor. around the world. Television images gave the pubPope John Paul II, who was 58 lic its first view of the pope since when the cardinals elected him the his death: lying in the Vatican’s first non-Italian pope in 455 years, frescoed Apostolic Palace, dressed also left a legacy of conservatism. in crimson vestments and a white He opposed divorce, birth conbishop’s miter, his head resting on trol and abortion, the ordination of a stack of gold pillows. women and the lifting of the celiA Swiss Guard stood on either bacy requirement for priests. side as diplomats, politicians and The mourning stretched from clergy paid their respects at his the pope’s native Poland, where feet. 100,000 people filled a Warsaw An estimated square at the spot 100,000 people where he celeturned out at St. brated a landmark He showed us Peter’s Square for Mass 26 years how to live and he a morning Mass ago, to the earthshowed us how to and thousands quake-devastated die. He reached more – tourists, Indonesian island out to people ... Romans, young of Nias, where a and old – kept priest led special coming throughprayers. Joan McDermott out the day, filling In New York, Parishoner in New York the broad bouleU.N. Secretary vard leading to General Kofi St. Peter’s Basilica. They clutched Annan and former Mayor Rudolph rosaries and newspaper photos of Giuliani joined parishioners who the late pontiff as they stood shoul- packed St. Patrick’s Cathedral for der-to-shoulder. a standing-room-only Mass. “Even if we fear we’ve lost “He showed us how to live and a point of reference, I feel like he showed us how to die,” said one everybody in this square is united parishioner, Joan McDermott. “He with him in a hug,” said Luca reached out to people of all faiths, Ghizzardi, a 38-year-old nurse not just Catholics and Christians.” with a sleeping bag and a handIn the Holy Land, Israelis made peace flag at his feet. remembered Pope John Paul II as Early Sunday, a text message a builder of bridges between the had circulated on cell phones in faiths, noting how he had embraced Rome, asking people to light can- Holocaust survivors with kindness dles in their windows. and maintained friendships with “May they light up the road to Jewish friends from childhood. God for him, the way he did for The College of Cardinals – the us,” the message read. red-capped “princes of the church” Around the world, bells tolled who now officially govern the 1 and worshippers prayed in remem- billion-strong Roman Catholic brance of the man who reigned Pope 3 for longer than all but two of his
“
”
Never give up on dreams, paralyzed surfer says Spinal cord injury pushes Jesse Billauer to reach his life goals By Jason kehler Daily Titan Staff
One of the top amateur surfers was out surfing one day with some friends. As he pulled out of a backside barrel, the lip hit him in the back, sending him head first into the sand just below the water. The impact caused a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the chest down with minimal use of his arms. This is the story of Jesse Billauer. Since his accident at the age of 17, Billauer has been in a wheelchair. He told his story of the accident and what he has done since to a kinesiology class at Cal State Fullerton on the nine-year anniversary of his accident. Despite being in a wheelchair, Billauer said he was not willing
to stop doing what he loved. He dream of doing that,” said Heather also said he continued to follow his Carrick, a kinesiology major dreams of surfing in a professional at CSUF. “He’s done it [and] he surfing event, being in a feature doesn’t even have the abilities that surf film, graduating from college we have.” and getting married and starting a Since his accident, Billauer has family. become very involved in research About three and for helping to cure a half years after his spinal cord injuries. As long as you accident, Billauer, He has started an try, as long as with the help of organization called friends and on a Life Rolls On to you don’t give up custom-made surfhelp raise money on things, what board, went surfing for research and seems impossible for the first time raise awareness. can be done. since being para“It’s not about lyzed. Jesse, it’s not Jesse Billauer “As long as you about Life Rolls Surfer try, as long as you On,” Billauer said. don’t give up on “It’s about others things, what seems impossible can who stay at home and don’t have a be done,” Billauer said. voice.” Billauer has been surfing ever Billauer said people need to find since and was highlighted in the surf something they love and continue documentary “Step Into Liquid.” to do it, no matter what. He said Last summer, he surfed ten-foot it’s important for people to discover waves at Sunset Beach in Hawaii. what they love at an early age so that “Average surfers, all of us, only way they know what they like.
“
”
“Think about your own life,” Billauer said. “Never give up on your hopes and dreams.” Through three separate events, Billauer has seen and revisited his goals and dreams he has had in his life. The first was a car accident when he was in high school. He was thrown from his car through a closed window onto the street and, as he laid on his back, wondered if he would accomplish everything he wanted to do. This same thought came back to him the day he was hurt surfing. “I found myself on my back on the beach,” Billauer said. “And those same dreams flashed before my eyes.” After relearning the basic tasks of everyday life, Billauer fell backwards in his wheelchair one day and suffered the same nerve damages from his surfing accident and once again saw his dreams flash before his eyes. Surfer 3
Fullerton Flyers find home at CSUF’s Goodwin Field Independent league team will use baseball facilities on campus By Erika Myers For the Daily Titan
Cal State Fullerton’s Goodwin Field is now home to a new professional baseball team, the Fullerton Flyers. The Fullerton Flyers is an independent team and part of a new league called the Golden Baseball League, which has been in the works
for the past three years but will begin its first season this month. The league consists of eight charter teams found in cities throughout California and Arizona, with one travel team that does not have a home stadium and is simply called the traveling team. This season, the Flyers will be playing against Chico Outlaws, Long Beach Armada, San Diego Surf Dogs, Mesa Surprise and Yuma Scorpions. They operate under a single-entity ownership and are sponsored by Safeway/Vons.
The teams are not affiliated with any major league team and do not plan on becoming a farm team, but do anticipate scouts coming out to watch and recruit their players, said Brian Delehoy, the director of ticket sales for the Flyers and a CSUF alumnus. Delehoy said one of the goals of the league is to unify independent baseball across the country. Season ticket sales have already started and people from the community have been showing interest in the new team. So far, the team has sold close
to 200 full-season tickets, as well as 100 mini-plans, Delehoy said. There is one month until the season begins and ticket orders come in on a daily basis. Ticket prices range from $5 for general admission to $13 for the premium box seats for home games. The team has been putting up banners in the community and reaching out to little league groups to get its name out. The CSUF athletic department and the Flyers have created a partnership in order for the team to flyers 3
April Miller/Daily Titan
Seniors “Bunny Hop” their way to improved balance and mobility.
Seniors seek better balance, mobility Class offered at Ruby Gerontology Center helps elderly age well By April Miller Daily Titan Staff
Everybody’s doing it. As time goes by, people have no choice. It’s bound to happen and they can’t stop it. Some try to slow it down by eating right and exercising, but the aging process – no matter how hard they try to avoid it – ultimately catches up with everyone. Most people in their 20s and 30s can physically ride a bike, go up a slope and walk over bumpy surfaces without giving it much thought or suffer any aching afterward. But as people age, aches and pains, which were temporary just a few years ago,
begin to linger. The older people get, bounce-back time from an injury is longer and muscles don’t respond the same way. The aged may start tripping over an uneven piece of sidewalk or losing balance while doing tasks that seem easily done just yesterday. Welcome to the world of aging. Getting seniors to keep their balance, thus preventing falls and spills, is the mission of the balance and mobility class at Ruby Gerontology Center. With a spring theme incorporated into the workout, the class balanced on top of exercise balls while the “Bunny Hop” song played on the stereo. Putting their right feet out, they bounced to the beat of the music while keeping control of their balAging 3