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ASI passes ‘05-06 budget
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CSUF faculty discuss salary discrepencies
The Life Aquatic
Staff questions issues of morale related to inconsistent wages
$500 cap on travel for ICCs implemented for next academic year
By STEFANIE FRANKLIN Daily Titan Staff
By JAIMEE FLETCHER Daily Titan Staff
After six weeks of deliberation, Associated Students, Inc. at Cal State Fullerton approved its budget for the 2005-2006 school year at Tuesdayʼs meeting, which includes a $500 cap on travel for Inter-Club Councils, leaving some ASI board and ICC members dissatisfied. Nima Moradian, an ASI Board of Directors representative for the College of Natural Science and Mathematics, proposed an amendment to the $500 cap, which would increase it to $625. Moradian asked the board to take into consideration that each ICC has different needs for the travel money and some clubs may need to utilize more money to fulfill their goals. “We should increase the cap to $625 because each school has its own needs and [ICC members have] their own ideas and purposes,” he said. Amy Roberts, a board representative for the College of Engineering and Computer Science, said if the travel cap is increased, the ICC would not be aware of the financial problems ASI is facing. “They need to know our current fiscal situation,” Roberts said. “The money isnʼt going to be there forever.” While Moradian said he agreed that students should be made aware of the deficit that ASI is facing, he said he thinks placing a cap on their travel budget is not the way to do it. “We do need to inform the ICCs about our current situation,” Moradian said. “ But I donʼt see how enforcing a budget cap sends the right message,” Zehra Syed, a board representative for the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, said she noticed that most groups didnʼt go over the $500 cap and said she thinks an increase may be acceptable in special circumstances. “Itʼs just for those few instances,” Syed said. “I donʼt think [if you increase the cap that] everyone is going to start spending that money.” Overall, Moradian said he thought ICCs should be able to use their funds according to what they think is important for their specific clubs, however Ross McCollum, the vice-president of finance, said he disagreed with this idea. “Itʼs ASI money,” McCollum said. “ICC doesnʼt have the responsibility to manage their money.” Various ICC members have been present at the last six meetings to voice their concerns about the travel cap, including David Kilgo, the chair of the Council of Honor Societies and a gerontology representative to the Humanities and Social Sciences ICC, who was present at Tuesdayʼs meeting. Kilgo said he thinks this cap will drastically hurt the groups. “[Many] HSS members are required to attend conferences,” Kilgo said. “And most of our conferences are on the East Coast.” Kilgo also said he thinks each ICC should be able to decide how to spend its own funds. At the end of the discussions, the amendment to increase the travel cap to $625 was denied in an 8 to 5 vote. Shortly after, ASI passed the budget, ASI 2
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SUZANNE SULLIVAN/Daily Titan
Prapat Apisaksirikul lays down in the submarine that he helped create with Thomas Lam (left), and Debbie Blake (not pictured) while Professor Jesa Kreiner looks observes on Tuesday. See story page 3.
Morale problems were the buzz at a recent faculty forum, as issues that affect Cal State Fullerton faculty were raised. Of the various concerns voiced by faculty and staff, salary was a repeated issue. Compared to other state institutions and many other schools nationwide, the CSU system pays faculty almost 17 percent less than comparable schools, according to a report on faculty salaries by the California Postsecondary Education Commission. The gap has grown for the 2004/05 school year, from around 13 percent, compared to 11 percent and 12 percent the year before. The University of California system also has a salary gap of about 14 percent, compared to comparable national universities. What exacerbates the issue is that California housing costs are some of the highest in the nation, and out-of-state schools or private California institutions are able to attract frustrated faculty by offering them bigger incentives. The California Faculty Association recently proposed a resolution on faculty salary equity issues. CSUFʼs CFA-sponsored proposal was presented at an Academic
Senate meeting a month ago to University President Milton A. Gordon and the other senators for a vote. It proposed that CSUFʼs salary inequity issues could be addressed using the $600,000 in funds typically appropriated for the University Initiative Program. A large problem is in hiring. It has proven difficult, with budget cuts and rising housing costs, to recruit and retain faculty. According to a faculty profile for CSUFʼs Institutional Research and Analytical Studies, due to a budget freeze last year, for example, CSUF was able to hire only nine new tenure-track faculty members, whereas 49 had been hired the year before, and 64 the year before that. In order to secure employment offers, the school has had to offer higher salaries to new staff, CFA Fullerton chapter and Academic Senate member, Gangadharappa Nanjundappa said. Current faculty and staff hired three, two and even one year ago are upset about the discrepancy between their pay and newer colleaguesʼ salaries, he said. Some of the faculty at the recent forum meeting noted that theyʼd be happy to receive more pay, but other incentives may add to the value when money isnʼt available. They offered commute-cost subsidizing, additional training for professional development, skill-based rewards and better benefits packages as ideas for more successful faculty SALARY 3
‘End of Late Fees’ may offer costly proposition Blockbusterʼs latest return policy falls flat with some customers By KIM ORR Daily Titan Staff
Renting a movie inevitably comes with the often more difficult task of returning it—a potentially costly proposition, considering that late fees can exceed the sale prices of
the movies themselves. Blockbuster was one of the first companies to eliminate late fees with its “End of Late Fees,” a policy put into effect January of this year. Blockbusterʼs new policy aims at eliminating its stringent late fees, but what some customers fail to realize is that the company still retains the right to charge for longoverdue movies; the catch being that customers are now permitted to keep their movie rentals. The new return policy has gained
attention, especially amidst the companyʼs history surrounding late fees disputes. Before the “End of Late Fees,” Blockbusterʼs late fee policy consisted of a midnight due date for each movie and a late fee charge of the full price of an additional rental. Customers who returned movies even one hour after midnight were still charged with the full late fee, said Walde Mejia, the assistant store manager of the Blockbuster on State College and Chapman Avenue.
Some have expressed frustration with the storeʼs return policies. “We returned one movie on time and [Blockbuster] didnʼt think we returned it and tried to charge us $50 or $60 in late fees,” said Yussuf Obaid, a marketing major. “We had to argue with them that we did return it so we wouldnʼt be charged.” Rentals still need to be returned if customers wish to avoid additional fees. “Every rental still has a due date, but we allow a seven-day grace
period with no further charge,” said Mejia. “After the eighth day, Blockbuster assumes you want to buy the product for the pre-viewed price minus the rental fee, but you have a 30-day period to return the movie with a one-time restocking fee of $1.25.” “Part of the strategy behind the new policy was to relieve the stress between the employee and the customer,” said Mejia. “With the late BLOCKBUSTER 4
El Toro helps students celebrate Deconstructing David Campus will hold event to honor its graduating class By DENNIS OLSON Daily Titan Staff
Cal State Fullertonʼs El Toro Campus will recognize graduating seniors who attend the satellite campus with a Graduation Recognition Event today. The event is for students and their friends and family to celebrate
their accomplishments before the had a campus in Mission Viejo but Commencement ceremonies on the ceased when El Toro opened in the CSUF main campus the following fall of 2002. Since then, the weekend. amount of space The ETC It’s always nice to on campus hasnʼt Student Affairs have your peers changed. The numand Administration recognize you. ber of students, are organizing the however, has conevent. While this is Mary Collins tinued to increase, the first time this El Toro Student prompting the inauevent will happen gural celebration at the campus, it wonʼt be the first time an event like today from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the this has been held at a CSUF satel- courtyard. lite campus. A similar event was EL TORO 3 held each semester when CSUF
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Workshop aims to ‘Maximize Rewards’ Professionals provide business students with essential information By JESSICA ESCORSIA Daily Titan Staff
The Family Business Council met on Tuesday to discuss acquisitions and mergers in a workshop titled, “Growing Your Family Company Through Strategic Acquisition:
Maximizing the Rewards, Minimizing the Risks.” The council is part of Cal State Fullertonʼs College of Business and Economics and functions as an outreach to the community of family-owned businesses through the university. The council was founded in 1994 to provide opportunities for education, interaction and information tailored to the needs and concerns of business students, according to a press release.
A variety of people involved in Orange County business showed up for the workshop, from companies such as Mar Vac Electronics and OʼConnor Mortuary. The introductory speakers were Margaret Shanley and Allen Suderman from RSM McGladrey, a business consulting, accounting and tax firm. Other speakers included Kim Ha, from the Union Bank of California; Steve Paulin, from BUSINESS 4
MEGAN DANGERMOND/Daily Titan
Students walk past the broken statue of David on campus near the Pollak Library on Tuesday.