2007 03 08

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Since 1960 Volume 84, Issue 19

The birth of a toy from idea to INTROSPECT, p. 6 store package

Daily Titan

Thursday March 8, 2007

The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton

Spring Forward Early

Remember These Titans

By Jake kilroy

Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com

By CINDY CAFFERTY

Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com

Scott Cutley and Bobby Brown, the Titans’ 1-2 punch, lead their team into this weekend’s Big West Conference tournament

By Jaime Cárdenas

Daily Titan Columnist news@dailyittan.com

Bobby Brown and Scott Cutley, Scott Cutley and Bobby Brown.

It’s hard to think of one and not the other. When you see one, you see the other. It’s a package deal.

It’s been that way since they first met in the eighth grade.

The two are usually doing something basketball related, whether it’s playing, practicing or talking about it. But even when they are not around each other they still manage to be in contact, either by calling or texting each other.

“We’re always doing something

MULTIMEDIA

o Check out dailytitan.com for a photo slideshow and video of Cutley and Brown.

together,” Cutley said. “We just hang out all the time, and every time we go somewhere we make sure we know where each other is at. We’re real close. It helps us on and off the court.”

Titans fans know how efficient their bond can be on the court.

Brown, a 6-foot-2 point guard, and Cutley, a 6-foot-5 forward, are the team’s co-captains. The two have formed a 1-2 punch that has given CSUF alumni, students and faculty hope that the Titans might make it to the NCAA basketball

tournament this weekend.

Not since 1978 have the Titans participated in March Madness.

This season could end up being a very special one for Titan followers.

But, win or lose, it’s already been a special season for the two teammates and longtime friends, who also happen to be roommates.

The Titans begin their quest for a berth in the NCAA tournament Thursday at 6 p.m. in the second round of the Big West Conference Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center. After finishing the

SEE TITANS - PAGE 3 SEE MIHAYLO - PAGE 5

Garden Grove Woman Gets 7 Pound Surprise April Branum delivered a healthy baby boy in an unexpected pregnancy

By ERICKA SANTOS

For the Daily Titan

news@dailytitan.com

For a Garden Grove family, the weekend began like any other. Relatives visited, talked over dinner and relaxed in the living room for movie night. Little did they know, that for the last nine months a special guest was preparing for his grand and sudden entrance.

With less than 48 hours’ notice, on Feb. 28, April Branum and Walter Scott Edwards II, became parents to a healthy 7-pound, 7-ounce baby boy.

Severe stomach pains forced 37year-old Branum to seek help at a

local emergency room in Garden tion that runs in her family, a missed Grove Feb. 26. X-rays of her stom- menstrual period was no automatic ach quickly revealed that she was signal that she was pregnant. Earlier carrying a fullvisits to her docterm fetus and tors for sympher stomach toms such as problems were, backaches, tenI just looked up in fact, labor der breasts and at the ceiling and pains. hardening of her “I remember stomach were thought, don’t pass when the docalso consistent out, don’t pass out. tor told me what with complicawas going on,” tions from un– April Branum Branum recalled. successful gastric Mother “I just looked up bypass surgery in at the ceiling and 2000. This kept thought, don’t her and others pass out, don’t from guessing pass out.” the real cause of Although she weighs a little over her symptoms before she delivered 400 pounds, Branum’s weight was Wednesday. not the primary reason she and doc“If I would have known I was tors were unaware of her pregnancy.

Believing she had entered into early menopause two years ago, a condiSEE SURPRISE - PAGE 5

“

next week The Buzz

Hip hop issue

season with the third best record in the conference, the Titans (19-9 overall, 9-5 Big West) have earned a first round bye and are seeded No. 3.

The tandem earned all-conference first team honors on Monday after finishing the season No. 2 and No. 4 in scoring. Brown broke the school record for most points in a game (47) and most career points (1,920) two weeks ago.

Cutley was the conference’s leading rebounder.

Brown and Cutley. Cutley and Brown.

Cal State Fullerton will proceed with naming the new Business and Economics building after an alumnus who donated $4.5 million toward the project despite recent media speculation and on-campus controversy.

CSUF President Milton Gordon said Wednesday that the university will move forward with plans to name the building Steven J. Mihaylo Hall.

“Yes, we are going to proceed with the naming, “Gordon said. “I’m very proud that we are going to proceed. Steven Mihaylo has been a leader at the forefront of this university.”

Mihaylo, a 1969 CSUF MIHAYLO graduate and founder and [former] CEO of InterTel, has been at the heart of recent debate in the local media as well as at CSUF since the accounts of former employees’ attempted bid rigging came to light. Inter-Tel paid a fine, and Mihaylo signed the settlement agreement admitting the company’s guilt. The former employee faces a federal trial later this year.

An ensuing feud between a College of Business and Economics professor and the college’s dean has also contributed to the discussions in recent publications and on campus.

Professor Hamid Tavakolian and Dean Anil Puri have been in disagreement, both internally through e-mails and externally in the press, over the naming of the building.

“I have questions [about the naming of the building]. I want answers.

“

On March 11 at 2 a.m., daylightsavings time will “spring ahead” early.

It will also stay put longer than usual. America won’t “fall back” again until Nov. 4.

For nearly the last two decades, daylight-saving time began on the first Sunday in April and lasted until the last Sunday in October. The recent change was a major theme in the Bush Administration’s Energy Policy Act, passed in 2005. The law also requires the U.S. Department of Energy to study the energy-conservation impact of the change in daylight-saving time, if there is any.

Daylight-saving time was initially suggested to Parisians by Benjamin Franklin in 1784. Franklin was a minister to France at the time.

It wasn’t until Englishman William Willett wrote the pamphlet “The Waste Of Daylight” in 1907 that the idea was brought to light again.

Following Britain’s law of daylight-saving time in World War I, the U.S. put the time change into effect for the last two years of WWI. The law was so unpopular that it was later repealed.

The law was reinstated in 1942 when the U.S. was at war again, but following World War II, there wasn’t any lawful practice of daylight-saving time for another two decades. A law involving daylight-saving time was reintroduced in 1966 and later amended in 1986.

The Energy Policy Act is the latest change to the law, bumping the time-saving period up by nearly four weeks.

“It could be a good thing because it’ll save energy. And I’m all for saving energy,” said Sam Serrano, a 20year-old who is double majoring in broadcast journalism and Spanish.

“We have been wasting a lot of energy.”

Not everyone wants to be on daylight-saving time, though.

History Professor Nelson Woodard recalled his grandparents’ farm with cows. Since the animals ran on a biological clock, Woodard’s grandparents would keep all of their clocks to standard time, rather than the hour of daylight-saving time. All of them stayed standard time, except for one clock that they changed according to daylight-saving time practice, as it was the time that the milk buyers functioned on.

There’s always a problem, such as kids taking buses to school in the dark, Woodard said.

“We have already had some problems,” computer science Professor Susamma Barua said. “Our computers are making all of our appointments one hour ahead.”

Barua advises people to go to the manufacturer’s Web site and look for any updates available.

“The program updates will be available soon and should be free,” Barua added.

Woodard has his own opinion of daylight-saving time.

“Standard time was created by the railroads. Daylight-saving time was created by the government,” Woodard said. “And leave it to the government to screw things up.”

Mihaylo Building Plans Proceed

UNDISCOVERED TALENT The Arab-American voice, emorap endeavors and other hip hop issues.

By ericka santos/For the Daily Titan

happy family - April Branum and Walter Scott Edwards II pose with their one-week-old unexpected arrival, Walter Scott Edwards III. The couple had given up hope of the possibility of a child.

weather For the record MARCH 7: The headline for the Academis Senate article was inaccurate. The Academic Senate approved a resolution calling for faculty to receive additional money for teaching during the summer of 2004.

However, the Senate does not have the authority to authorize the payments.

TODAY

TOMorrow Partly Cloudy High: 75 Low: 51

Partly Cloudy High: 75 Low: 54

2

March 8, 2007

Page two

IN OTHER NEWS NATIONAL NEWS

Teenager Shoots Ex-Girlfriend Outside School IDLAND, Mich. (AP) - A teenager shot his former girlfriend four times outside her high school, then killed himself in one of two fatal U.S. school shootings Wednesday, authorities said.

Jessica Forsyth, 17, was taken to Hurley Medical Center in Flint, where she was in serious but stable condition, hospital spokeswoman Christie White said Wednesday afternoon.

Midland Police Chief James St. Louis said the gunman died in the parking lot.

The boy, a 17-year-old from nearby Coleman, had gone to H.H. Dow High School on Wednesday morning to try to talk to Jessica, but he was turned away by school officials, the police chief said. The boy then called her and asked her to meet him outside the building.

After a conversation in the parking lot, the boy pulled a gun out of a backpack and shot her four times before turning the gun on himself, St. Louis said.

YouTube Picks of the Day Title: 40 Year Old Virgin Deleted Scene

Duration: 1:22 How we found it: Searching YouTube Summary: Whoever has seen this flick already knows the tawdry nature of Andy, a middle-aged man (Steve Carell) on a quest to lose his virginity.

This scene, deleted from the original film is an extended lecture given by co-worker Mooj, an old and wise Indian man who has all of the secrets to life – or so Andy thinks.

Mooj, while trying to reassure Andy of the upside of celibacy, taunts him with a laundry list of perverse sexual practices that even the most warped of Titans – yours truly included – needed clarification with. At the heart of his speech is a simple message, immortalized by the fab four, being all you need is love – not hot carls or Cincinnati bowties.

-Adam Levy

STATE NEWS

00:55/03:44

California Gas Prices Jump $3 in Certain Areas SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Gasoline prices have jumped above $3 a gallon in some parts of California and Hawaii, and may hit that level other parts of the country when the busy summer driving season approaches.

“It kills me,” said Gloria Nunez, 53, as she filled her Ford Explorer SUV at a San Jose gas station. Nunez, a clerk for a communications company, has started working a couple hours of overtime each week to help soften the blow.

“All of a sudden you kind of have to watch your pennies,” she said.

Analysts say drivers should brace for more increases in the coming weeks.

Crude oil, which makes up about half the price of gasoline, is trading above $60 a barrel. Higher demand, refinery maintenance and fears about springtime shortages are also driving up prices, particularly on the West Coast.

LOCAL NEWS Theaters Still Best Place to Watch Movie LOS ANGELES (AP) - Never mind the plasma-screen TVs. The theater is still the best place to see a movie, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.

Most film fans _ 63 percent _ find “the ultimate movie-watching experience” in theaters, rather than their living rooms, a survey commissioned by the MPAA found. Last year, 69 percent preferred going out instead of staying home.

Those theatergoers gave the nation’s box office a much-needed boost in 2006, ending the industry’s three-year slump, MPAA chairman Dan Glickman said Tuesday. Ticket sales rose 5.5 percent to finish the year with $9.49 billion in domestic revenues.

For the Record It is the policy of the Daily Titan to correct any inaccurate information printed in the publication as soon as the error is discovered. Any incorrect information printed on the front page will result in a correction printed on the front page. Any incorrect information printed on any other page will be corrected on page 2. Errors on the Opinion page will be corrected on that page. Corrections also will be noted on the online version of the Daily Titan.

Please contact managing editor Joe Simmons at (714) 278-5693 or at jsimmons@dailytitan.com with issues about this policy or to report any errors.

Daily Titan Editorial Executive Editor Managing Editor News Editor Asst. News Editor Asst. News Editor Asst. News Editor Photo Editor Sports Editor Entertainment Editor Opinion Editor Introspect Editor Copy Editor Copy Editor News Page Designer Multimedia Editor Web Master Adviser

Adam Levy Joe Simmons Jackie Kimmel Maggie Hauser Robert Moran Marina Zarate Karl Thunman Laurens Ong Jickie Torres Katy French Julianna Crisalli James Thompson Joey English Valerie Rodriguez Ian Hamilton Grant Paulis Tom Clanin

Duration: 3:09 How we found it: Word of Mouth Summary: What happens when you cross a self-righteous Television pontificator with a scum-of-the-earth entrepreneur?

Not much. Scheduled on Dr. Phil’s holier-than-thou pulpit is Ty Beeson, the pompous producer of “Bum Fights,” the video series that pit homeless men against each other for small pittances, be it $20, a 40 oz. bottle of malt liquor, or in one case, even a live frog. To make things interesting, Beeson is garbed like the sanctimonious shrink and even has his head shaved to match Dr. Phil’s famous horseshoe hairdo.

After a brief vignette featuring Beeson showcasing his insolence towards humanity, Phil has had enough and promptly boots him off the show before the segment even begins, calling Beeson and his degrading series “despicable.” Beeson shoots back, pointing out that Dr. Phil’s bread is buttered based off publicizing other’s misfortunes. I think they’re both right.

-Adam Levy SEND US YOUR FAVORITE YOUTUBE VIDEOS; SEND TO NEWS@DAILYTITAN.COM

00:55/03:44

CAMPUS CALENDAR THURSDAY Free Glow Bowling Thursday 3 to 7 p.m. at the Titan Student Union Underground.

Richard III by William Shakespeare 8 to 10:30 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center Young Theatre. Tickets are $8 in advance for students with current CSUF identification and $9 for adult general admission. The play will run until March 17.

FRIDAY Hammer ‘n’ Hot Dogs – Track and Field Meet All day at the Sports Complex Track Richard III by William Shakespeare 8 to 10:30 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center Young Theatre. Tickets are $8 in advance for students with current CSUF identification and $9 for adult general admission. The play will run until March 17.

SATURDAY Ben Brown Track and Field Invitational All day event at the Sports Com-

plex Track. Admission is free.

Richard III by William Shakespeare 2 to 4:30 p.m. and 8 to 10:30 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center Young Theatre. Tickets are $8 in advance for students with current CSUF identification and $9 for adult general admission. The play will run until March 17.

SUNDAY Richard III by William Shakespeare 2 to 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center Young Theatre. Tickets are $8 in advance for students with current CSUF identification and $9 for adult general admission. The play will run until March 17.

Women’s Gymnastics vs. Arizona State 2 to 4 p.m. at the Titan Gymnasium.

Atlantic Brass Quartet 4 to 6 p.m.: The quintet offers a blend of Renaissance, Baroque, Romantic, Contemporary and Ethnic sounds at the Performing Arts Center Meng Concert Hall.

7

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The Daily Titan is a student publication, printed every Monday through Thursday. The Daily Titan operates independently of Associated Students, College of Communications, CSUF administration and the CSUF System. The Daily Titan has functioned as a public forum since inception. Unless implied by the advertising party or otherwise stated, advertising in the Daily Titan is inserted by commercial activities or ventures identified in the advertisements themselves and not by the university. Such printing is not to be construed as written or implied sponsorship, endorsement or investigation of such commercial enterprises. The Daily Titan allocates one issue to each student for free.

Copyright ©2006 Daily Titan

Title: and theVideo Bum Fights TitleDr.Phil of Todays 2 creator

STRANGER THAN

FICTION

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) It wasn’t the most romantic of honeymoons. Police said a groom is in jail, accused of trying to run over his new wife after a weekend wedding in Las Vegas. “We have a wedding certificate for (March) 4th. They were still honeymooning when he ran her over,” said Lt. Paul Jaroscak, a spokesman for the Salt Lake County sheriff’s office.

Police received an emergency call Monday from someone reporting a couple fighting in a car as they traveled on Highland Drive, about 10 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. Katie Martindale, 29, apparently got out of the car and started to walk away when James Olwine, 33, drove off the road and hit her with the car, pushing her into a snowbank, Jaroscak said.

Martindale was not seriously injured but might have a broken leg, Jaroscak said.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - An off-duty Northwest Airlines employee was arrested after a woman on a flight from Seattle complained that the man had ejaculated on her.

The FBI identified the man as Samuel Oscar Gonzalez, 20, of Lakewood, Wash. He was charged in federal court with simple assault, a misdemeanor.

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, the woman said she was trying to sleep in her seat when the man sat down in an empty seat next to her. She said he touched her, and then got up and left. She then realized what had happened, and told flight attendants, according to the affidavit.

The crew moved the man to a seat near the front of the plane until the end of the flight.The flight crew asked that police meet the flight from Seattle when it arrived early Monday.

4

NEWS

NEWS

March 8, 2007

RAPE: new legislation makes consent prior to sex a binding contract No means no, unless she says yes initially.

That was the ruling in a recent Maryland case where it was concluded in court documents “if a woman consents prior to sex, she may not withdraw her consent during the act and accuse her partner of rape if he continues the act.”

The ruling has women’s rights and victim’s advocacy organizations such as the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault up in arms about the

ways such legislation may define rape and what the new definition means for victims of sexual assault.

“The reason it doesn’t make sense is that you have to consider that consensual sex is about respect,” said Susan Leavy, who specializes in rape prevention and survivor services at the Cal State Fullerton Women’s Center.

“If I have to say stop in the middle of having sex and they refuse, there’s some coercion involved. If it’s really

consensual sex and I say stop, he’ll stop.”

According to an Associated Press article, the original rape conviction was overturned when a three-judge panel made the now-controversial court decision at the level of ap From Page 3 peals.

In a recent Time magazine article highlighting new nationwide rape legislation, Mel Feit, executive

director of the National Center for Men, an organization that promotes men’s rights, said biology should be considered as a factor when drawing conclusions on what constitutes rape.

“At a certain point during arousal we don’t have complete control over our ability to stop,” Feit said for the Time article. “To equate that with brutal, violent rape weakens the whole concept of rape.”

Leavy said common myths about

rape can be very dangerous to rape survivors and social understandings of rape.

“There is this belief in our culture that everything except ‘real rape’ is regrettable sex,” said Leavy. “This can lead people who are uneducated about rape to believe that anything that’s not horrific, violent rape by a stranger was just an unfortunate situation. The truth is that 75 percent of rape is acquaintance rape.”

Another aspect of the legislation

that is worrisome to its critics is the antiquated tradition that it is drawn from. The appellate court based its decision on a 1980 ruling that stated “the initial de-flowering of the woman as the real harm.”

In the Maryland case the court wrote that “the act of penetration was the essence of the crime of rape.”

Any additional injury after initial penetration was written to be less consequential because the “damage was already done.”

By Jake kilroy

Linda Fuller initially suggested the Women Builds program in the late 1980s, as a new campaign within Habitat For Humanity. Since then, women crews have built more than 250 homes in the United States.

An official Orange County Women Build committee was formed in April 2000.

To complete the home projects, homeowners and volunteers build the houses under supervision, which are then sold through a non-profit mortgage. House payments are recycled to build future WomenBuildOC homes. There is also “sweat equity,” where Habitat families contribute 500 hours of building their own home, helping another family build a home or in some other way in the community through the organization.

With so much help from local businesses and those active in the community, the projects are done without the financial help of the government. Habitat For Humanity does not accept federal funds, but does work fluidly with local governments.

“We use individual donors and corporate sponsors. And, we’re working with the city of Fullerton,” said Hernandez. “They’re giving us the land to build.”

WomenBuild-OC is looking for college students ready to react and help.

“We’re encouraging all of our col-

legiate locals [to come and assist],” said Hernandez.

And though “women” is in the title, the opportunity to help is open and volunteers are needed.

The first home project was mostly men, said Ziegler, also a CSUF alumni. The second home had more women and the last one in Hunting Beach was 80 to 90 percent female.

“We’re not going to say ‘no’ to any men,” said Hernandez. “But we think it’s empowering for women.”

“It can seem intimidating to walk onto a construction site, but they’d be amazed to see what they’d learn and what they’re capable of,” said Loretta Drummond, site supervisor for the last WomenBuild home project.

“Women don’t typically have the construction skills,” said Ziegler.

“Men may know, but we don’t know how.”

“We have some training courses, but most of what the volunteers learn is right on site,” said Drummond.

If volunteers don’t want to build, but would still like to help, Ziegler said, there are also positions available on committees, such as hospitality, public relations and fundraising.

“We would love to invite students at Cal State Fullerton to get involved,” Ziegler said.

A second WomenBuild-OC home in Fullerton is in the works and to be announced.

Habitat For Humanity Program to Build Orange County Home Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com

Well, they’re at it again.

Habitat For Humanity’s WomenBuild-OC program will begin construction on a four-bedroom home in Fullerton this summer.

“We’re building in late, late summer, so we can recruit as many women as possible,” said Gladys Hernandez, media relations for WomenBuild-OC. “We only build Tuesday through Saturday,” said Joan Ziegler, also a media relations representative. “We use volunteers, so most can only come out on Saturdays.”

This will be Orange County’s fourth Women Build-OC home, following the first three built in Costa Mesa, Santa Ana and Huntington Beach.

Founded in 1979 by Millard and Linda Fuller, the Georgia-based Habitat For Humanity has built 122 homes in Orange County since 1988.

Habitat For Humanity saw national visibility in 1984 with a skyrocket of new affiliates when former President Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn became active in Habitat For Humanity, creating the Jimmy Carter Work Project.

“We have a good reputation and people are willing to help,” said Hernandez, a Cal State Fullerton alumni.

STATION: Plans set Campus police and the students they protect can look forward to the plans for a new campus police facility becoming a reality; a plan which is five years in the making.

Michael Smith, director of the offices of Design and Construction said the new facility will be located west of the State College parking structure in what is now Lot B. Ground breaking for the $6.3 million project is scheduled for October 2007. Construction of the facility has an expected completion date of December 2008, with police occupancy in January 2009, Smith said.

The one story building will occupy 9,500 square feet; more than double the square footage of the current police building.

Smith said that according to the plans, the building will have a brick façade along State College that will be a continuation of the Arts complex.

“It will be a user-friendly building for students and has parking convenience and a location close to the Titan Student Union and the [Student] Recreation Center,” Smith said.

The building will also include an additional 1,000 square feet for an From Page 3 Emergency Operations Center located at the front of the building.

The EOC is a designated space that police officers can use in a major event such as an earthquake, fire or terrorist threat, Cal State Fullerton Police Chief Judi King said.

In addition to the EOC, the facility will also feature a 350-squarefoot lobby with public restrooms, a drinking fountain and a larger waiting area than the current building’s lobby.

King said while the university recognized the need for a new, larger police facility, Vice President for Administration and Finance, Willie Hagan, made the project a top priority over the last two years.

March 8, 2007

5

NEWS

NEWS

Women’s Center Explores Mixed Messages news@dailytitan.com

The CSUF Women’s Center hosted a lunch time program entitled, “I Know That’s What I Said, But That’s Not What I Meant,” where attendees learned how communication can be misinterpreted and misunderstood, and what can be done to avoid communication breakdown.

Alumna Susan Leavy, community educator for the Crimes Against Women program and marriage counselor, spoke to students about the importance of being clear when communicating with others.

“In my life I have said things that have not landed on the other’s ears the way I had intended,” Leavy said.

“I know it’s easy to mishear something.”

As an example of this, Leavy showed the audience the famous Abbott and Costello skit, “Who’s on First?” which was an example of how if two people do not begin on the same page while communicating, it is easy to get lost in the details.

“We get so used to communicating that we forget how complicated it is,” Leavy said. “If we’re not clear about what we’re going for [when communicating], you get caught in a spiral.”

Leavy then broke down the three levels of a complete message. There is the message, the words we use; the metamessage, the undercurrent of the message and the body language, which includes body movements and tone of voice.

It is not just the words we use that you say it but think about how you can misconstrue the message. When are going to say it, especially when communicating, Leavy said if the communicating with someone you three levels of do not know all communication that well. do not coincide, “We get into another message a cadence with How can I make them can be delivered partners and hear it the way I want that is altogether loved ones, and different from they [know what them to? the words that we mean],” she – Susan Leavy are being said. said. “When we Community Educator “Incongruuse shortcuts ence [the body with people we language not don’t know that matching the well, the message message] comisn’t the same.” plicates the issue,” she said. “It delivBesides thinking before speaking, ers additional information.”

Leavy said there are many things Leavy said a way to avoid this people can do to avoid miscommuincongruence is to not only think nication. One of the requirements is about what you want to say before that all participants in communica-

“

“

By MICHELLE ASCENCIO

Daily Titan Staff Writer

SURPRISE: Bundle of joy arrives unexpectedly From Page 1 pregnant, of course I’d do prenatal care. What kind of person do people think I am?” she said.

Although Branum and her fiance Edwards, 46, had given up hope for children of their own, Branum never abandoned her passion for caregiving. At age14 she found time to baby-sit for neighbors, later adopted four dogs with her fiance and eventually became a professional babysitter for children of co-workers and friends.

The Cox family has been neighbors to Branum for 27 years. They believe she has always displayed a tender heart and gone out of her way to help with their children. Their daughter Samantha, now a 21-yearold, human services major at CSUF, reminisced about her memorable times with Branum.

“She used to take me and my friend Heather to the store all the time for arts and crafts or ornaments,” she said. “And she’d sit and

mihaylo: open 2008

paint with us all day. She was just always so fun.”

Added neighbor Terri Howell, 48: “April was always active with the kids. Running in the front yard or walking the dogs.”

Official statistics of undetected pregnancies were unavailable, but other cases of the rare occurrence have been reported. In 2006 Amanda Brisendine, 26, of Seattle, Wash., unexpectedly gave birth to a baby boy. She experienced normal periods and mistook other pregnancy symptoms for pre-existing problems, according to the WLTX-TV Web site.

Similarly, Jennifer West, 31, of Villa Park Ill., delivered a healthy boy after arriving in an emergency room describing “the worst period of her life,” according to Parenting magazine. And in 2005, ABC7 News reported that Annice Allen gave a surprise birth to a baby girl at Long Beach Memorial Hospital.

The phenomenon of surprise babies can affect women of any age, any shape and in any city across

Scott Edwards III was born on Feb.28, 2007

America. And while reasons for their undetected pregnancies may vary, for Branum and Edwards, the start of their new family will remain memorable.

Neighbor Colleen Doerner, 45,

From Page 1 I don’t know the answers,” Tavakolian said.

He said his students “were studying Inter-Tel as a success: a CSUF graduate to show you don’t need to go to Harvard to be somebody … now I have questions.”

Puri said he didn’t understand why Mihaylo’s gift was controversial.

“I don’t know why this is a story,” he said. “This is an old story about the company and an employee. Steve Mihaylo did the right thing. He was never accused of any wrongdoing.

The case against his company has been closed; penalties were paid.”

Mihaylo addressed the issue in an e-mail to the Daily Titan, which was printed on March 5, but he was unavailable for further comment.

Mihaylo wrote to the Daily Titan that after the government told the company that it was under investigation for possible bid rigging, “Inter-Tel conducted its own investigation and felt that an employee in its Bay Area sales office had attempted to rig a bid. We fired the employee and agreed to pay a fine based on a formula that is very clear under the law – end of story.”

Gordon said he had heard that Mihaylo had recently told a reporter that he will continue to give. “That’s the kind of man he is. I am concerned that this [recent media criticism] could deter other donors from stepping forward. Steve is strong.

Others may not want to endure that.”

Puri and Gordon said Mihaylo is the largest booster in the history of Cal State Fullerton.

CSUF News Director Paula Selleck also supported Mihaylo. “We got to see what Mihaylo was made of,” she said. “He stepped up to the plate. This is a guy who’s done nothing but good things for this institution, and I ask you is that a good model for our students? We think it is.”

Construction on the $87.5 million College of Business and Economics building will continue as planned. Steven J. Mihaylo Hall is slated to open in 2008.

By CARLOS DELGADO/Daily Titan Staff Photographer

picture frame - Bill Lever and his son Daniel of Seal Beach

take a scenic walk at Hilltop Park.

By ericka santos/For the Daily Titan Walter

BONDING TIME - Mother and son share an intimate moment.

harbors no doubts that Branum will be a “dynamite mother” to Walter Scott Edwards III. Mom, however, hopes there’ll be no more surprises for awhile.

tion must be in the conversation 100 percent in order for successful message conveyance.

“Reduce distractions and make sure everyone’s attention is completely in the conversation,” she said.

Another way to avoid miscommunication is to avoid anything that can be interpreted more than one way. “[Ambiguous content and statements] are the crux of ‘not what I meant,’” Leavy said. “Be clear with your intentions and ask, ‘How can I make them hear it the way I want them to?’”

Also, she said to not feel pressured to respond to others’ comments and questions immediately.

“We often feel pressured to make an instant comment, but take the

time to process how that may land on someone’s ears and then respond,” she said.

Some other suggestions included “owning your statements” by using “I” statements [“I think,” “I feel,” etc.] and verifying what you said was understood by the listener by having him or her repeat back to you what they heard.

Diana Shadwell, a liberal studies major, said the speech had a lot of information she plans to use in her life.

“This speech was so helpful. I’ve been having issues at work and some things that I’ve learned here might help,” Shadwell said.

Leavy said that she wanted to make sure that for her lectures she not only discusses the problem, but offers possible solutions as well.

6

March 8, 2007

Introspect

periodically producing limited edition figures.

And armed with the right feedback, he is in a position to give the people what they want.

What old is new again for the WWE and Jakks Pacific

Sign on the dotted line

By Adam Levy

Daily Titan Executive Editor alevy@dailytitan.com

D

on’t mistake it for child’s play – there’s a lot of action that goes into creating a successful

toy line.

The spiffy dolls you see hanging from retailer’s shelves are the end product of a vision brought to life via a team effort of brainstorming, creativity, artistry and marketing. They see the six-month process through, from the conception of an idea, to its shaping and development, to the birthing table that is your local toy store.

Just ask Jeremy Padawer.

The 33-year-old serves as the vice president of Boy’s Entertainment for Malibu-based Jakks Pacific, a prominent player in the toy business – an industry that grosses $1.5 billon annually.

After working for Mattel, Padawer was hired on by Jakks four years ago to revitalize slumping sales numbers in the action figure department. And did he ever.

Jakks ‘06 revenue stood at $765.4 million, in part due to the success of Padawer’s opus, the WWE Classic Superstars line.

The brand is second only to Star Wars in the action figures genre.

Photos By chad scott/Special to the Daily Titan

Royal rumble - A large collection of WWE Classic Superstars sit atop the office shelves of Jeremy Padawer, vice president of Jakks Pacific.

Figure Mania Padawer’s office is an experience in and of itself – think Tom Hanks in “Big.” The wall is adorned with an impressive collection of autographed memorabilia, while a table showcases a menagerie of the colorful action figures he has produced. He said that his background as a wrestling fan and toy collector has given him the proper perspective to cater to the hungry consumer masses.

With 35 percent of action figure consumers constituted of males 15 and older, Padawer took a retrospective route with the line.

“The focus was on celebrating the nostalgic part of the brand,” Padawer said. “Wrestling fans have a real sense of their history – people live and breathe this stuff.”

The line is a collection of figures based on wrestlers from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Popular characters in the assortment include household names such Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant and Rowdy Roddy Piper, as well as lesser-known mat men of yesteryear such as Hillbilly Jim, King Kong Bundy and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan.

“Those guys are the true heart of wrestling,” Padawer said of the more obscure characters.

Padawer said a major factor in the lines’ success is the direct communication with his target audience; he maintains an ongoing dialogue with fans and collectors via his blog Jeremy.com.

He sets the quantities of each character corresponding to the wrestlers perceived popularity, as well as

Running an action figure line based on real people adds an intangible most toy makers needn’t pay mind to – the human one. It’s not as if Chewbacca, G. I. Joe or Bart Simpson carry grudges or hold out for more money.

While many of the superstars are signed to a WWE Legends Contract, which authorizes merchandising rights, a separate element of Padawer’s job involves tracking down estranged wrestlers – some of whom left the WWE on less than rosy terms – and signing them to year-long contracts that are independent of the wrestling company.

In a move he said was intended to set the tone, Padawer’s aggressive enterprise led him to ink a wrestler whose nasty and public dispute with WWE had gone on for the better part of a decade.

“In the first assortment we signed the Ultimate Warrior,” Padawer said. “We were going after it.”

Padawer said that getting wrestlers into the creative collaboration process towards developing the figure’s appearance is a key element.

“I don’t know how much more personal you can get than an action figure.”

The contracts are not just limited to the living. In the case of deceased wrestlers, Padawer negotiates contracts through the wrestlers’ estate. Posthumous Classic Superstar figures include wrestlers such as Andre the Giant, Yokozuna, Mr. Perfect and The British Bulldog.

say cheese -

By rebecca hartness/Daily Titan Staff Photographer

Step 1 After communicating with the WWE and independent wrestlers, boys entertainment vice president Jeremy Padawer confirms which wrestlers will be produced in each line.

An ensemble of figures, from left, “Captian” Lou Albano, Arn Anderson, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, Jimmy “The Mouth of the South” Hart and Doink the Clown.

Step 2

Upon confirmation, production manager Peter Skourtis (above) begins a detailed process, merging vintage wrestlers with modern-day technology. The wrestlers are involved in the creative process with Skourtis, sending him pictures and undergoing a head scan.

Step 3

Skourtis puts the head scans to a computer where he tweaks images based on capturing the essence of the subject.

Step 4

With the compute ages from the head in tow, the head m cast out of wax an sequently resin. Ab a preliminary hea for current WWE star Batista.

March 8, 2007

Introspect: From Pitch to Product

7

By ChAD SCOTT/Special to the Daily Titan

say hello to my little friends! - Jeremy Padawer shows off his action figures in his Malibu office. He said that his favor-

ite figure in the Classic Superstars collection he helped produce is Ric Flair. The 33-year-old is the vice president of boys entertainment fot Jakks Pacific, a Malibu-based toy company.

The Architect Once the list is confirmed and contracts are signed, the handoff is made from Padawer to senior project manager Peter Skourtis.

If Padawer is the heart of the Classic Superstars line, Skourtis is the soul.

“I try to do it for the person buying the figure,” Skourtis said. “We want to make sure every detail does it up to life.”

The 28-year-old said he strives to makes figures that he would buy.

“I was a fan when I grew up, so I remember them from that perspective,” Skourtis said. “There’s a lot of passion behind this – these are my babies.”

The cubicles that encompass his office are not traditional, to say the least.

Amid the desks, computers and files, lie hundreds of loose action figures the project manager uses as paints to his pallet.

Skourtis’ job is to process the list of names given to him into eight-inch replicas that capture the essence of the wrestler during a given time period.

Steps involved in this process include a computer scan on a picture of the subject’s head; sculpting a head mold; and cobbling together a body and costume that will further embellish the product.

Skourtis said he uses old wrestling footage and action shots taken from the Internet or sent to them by the wrestlers as reference points to what the figure should resemble.

“It’s a lot of research, but it’s kind of

er imd scan mold is nd subbove is ad cast super-

fun,” Skourtis said. sique to each wrestler.

He uses a variety of facial expres“Once the heads are done and we sions, such as neutral, happy, angry, get them back, we’ll Frankenstein them and so forth, to determine which look here in the office,” Skourtis said. will spark a sentimental flashback The project manager demonstrated in the eyes of the consumer. Skour- this by grabbing a few figures, fiercely tis clicked on his computer screen, pulling them apart and creating a new and brought up an old picture of the figure on the spot.

Honky Tonk Man, the wrestling Elvis Once the approval is givimpersonator; then dragged up a pic- en for the heads and sculpts, ture of the accompanying head mold, the molds are shipped off sporting the same expression. to Honk Kong where a proto“That was the one that sold me on type and painted version are the head,” Skourtis said of the picture. produced and sent back for ap“He looks like such a jerk!” proval. If green-lighted, a typical Jakks uses Real scan technology, a four-month production begins with laser-generated program that captures the mass production of accurate dimensions of the wrestler’s the figures and the packaging. skull to cast a mold upon.

Skourtis said of the technology, “It’s Let the bidding begin… like a giant Xerox copy that scans their heads.”

As soon Once the template is as the figOnce the heads are set, Skourtis works with ures hit the done and we get sculptors, casting the market, the head mold out of wax collector race them back, we’ll and then resin, a synthetis on. Retail Frankenstein them ic substance used in the shelves are here in the office. plastic industries. depleted of The product manager the scarc– Peter Skourtis er said specific communifigures Senior Production Manager cation with the sculptor sooner than is vital to get the details you can say of the head just right, in “Tickle me a process which he said, Elmo.” On “You can see the magic happen.” any given night, hundreds of e-bay When planning the head mold for auctions buzz with bids as high as 80’s wrestling star “Ravishing Rick $500 for a single figure.

Rude,” Skourtis said he pulled no At the Frank & Son’s Show in City punches when streamlining the details of Industry, collectors and merchants with the sculptors. congregate in a warehouse twice a “Literally what I told him was that week for a swap meet of Magic cards, we need a dirty, 70s porn-style mus- video games and action figures. tache,” Skourtis said. “It’s a lot of nitAnthony Cabrera, a 26-year-old picking – sometimes you just gotta be merchant at the show, has a booth deexplicit.” voted to selling the popular toys. He The next step in the process encom- has fetched bounties as high as $200 passes matching a body to the mug. for a single figure, a Series One Shawn Due to cost expenditures, Jakks does Michaels. He said the figures usually not make a custom body sculpt for become a hot commodity once they each figure, but rather “Frankensteins” are not available on retail shelves, and them together out of stock parts until also commented on the generational they come up with a comparable phy- gap the line bridges.

“

“

And then there’s reporting to the chairman of the board, WWE CEO Vince McMahon. While the billionaire’s larger-than-life television persona would lead you to believe he’s the boss from hell, Padawer said otherwise.

“Vince is very hands off, he trusts us,” Padawer said. “He’s very easy to work with.”

Step 5

With the heads done, Skourtis uses parts from other figures to “Frankenstein” body parts together. The body parts are based on factors such as muscularity and girth.

“When the kids come in, they buy the newer ones,” Cabrera said. “But the parents wind up buying something also – [the Classic Superstars] catches their eye.”

A longtime enthusiast, the peddler lauded the line compared to past wrestling figures.

“They are a hundred times better because of the articulation and the detail now that they have real scan,” Cabrera said.

Bart Kapitzke is the 34-year-old owner of the AWS Collectibles Store, which specializes in wrestling-related merchandise. He estimated the Classic Superstars line accounts for 25 percent of his sales.

“They love them, they’re collectors and that’s what they want,” he said of his customers. “They’re 100 times better because of all the scans – it’s all about the scan.”

“A Dream Job” Both Padawer and Skourtis said they have the proverbial “dream jobs.”

“You have to fall in love with something to do it right,” Padawer said.

“The funny thing about dream jobs – the job is what you make of it.”

“I talk to Ultimate Warrior,” Skourtis said. “It’s surreal – totally surreal.”

Skourtis said the bottom line for the line’s enduring success was their attention to the little things, no pun intended.

“The details are very important. These keep selling – there’s plenty of room to grow.”

Step 6

Once the heads are sculpted and body molds are matched up, prototypes are both with and without paint. Upon approval, it is sent to Hong Kong where mass retail production ensues.

By rebecca hartness/Daily Titan Photo Editor

Step 7 The figures are placed into packaging and distributed to retailers for promotional purposes. The Hulk Hogan figure (left) is a rarer mailaway piece that was selling for over $150 in multiple eBay auctions as of March 7.

8

March 8, 2007

opinion

Got Cherries? You Soon Will

Titan Editorial

Providing insight, analysis and perspective since 1960

“Baby Mama Drama” We live in a litigious na- should be at least partially tion. taken to task for getting pregA nation that loves to sue nant with a child she could for anything – and we mean not afford to bear. anything.

This case is a microcosm of Take Jennifer Raper for ex- the problems with some peoample. ple – they don’t take responsiThe 45-year-old Boston bilities for their actions. woman is suing Planned ParRaper fits the bill perfectly. enthood and a pair of doctors, Despite having sex, probably claiming them responsible for unprotected, it’s someone not succeedelse’s fault. ing at adSo instead ministering Unless this turns out of bucking an abortion. to be the second im- up and takHer child is ing responmaculate conception, sibility for now two.

W e l l , we think mom should her actions, where do we be at least partially tak- she’s playing start?

The the blame main lesson en to task for getting game. And to derive pregnant ... getting ink. from this And may freak show even get a is: accountpayday. ability, or should we say lack While we agree that the thereof. doctors may have dropped A human being exists and the ball on something like needs the basic amenities of this, by no means does that food, clothing and shelter, make them accountable for and someone has to foot the the costs of the child for the bill. next 18 years – that’s the reHer baby’s daddy? Planned sponsibility of the mother Parenthood? The inept physi- and father. cians?

We hope they laugh Raper Hey, how about Raper all the way out of court and herself? Unless this turns out onto her keister – then she to be the second immaculate can sue the steps of the courtconception, we think mom house.

“

The marketing man behind milk will try his hand at cherries.

By Andrew Snyder

Daily Titan Staff Writer opinion@dailytitan.com

You’ve seen his ad campaigns on television, the “Got Milk” project being arguably the most recognized, but you may not know the man behind the genius.

Jeff Manning, a marketing strategist from Northern California, has been given the task of shifting yet another food product’s image in order to help consumers see the benefits rather than the drawbacks.

What food product is surely going to be the center of attention come some Superbowl Sunday in the future?

Tart cherries, which will now be called a “superfruit.”

The name is to express its nutritional superiority over other fruits and the campaign is designed to broaden the appeal of tart cherries and show people, the consumers,

just how much these cherries can benefit one’s health.

But I ask this question: Will going by a nickname and having the “Got Milk” guy really make a difference as to how we see cherries?

I don’t know if seeing ads about a cherry are going to make me want to eat more of them.

Sure, they may make me laugh and entertain me, but am I really going to get up, go to the grocery store and buy more cherries because some T.V. commercial told me they are good for me?

I’d rather eat a burrito.

It makes sense to hire a success story like Manning to guide the ship and maybe the clever nickname “superfruit” is catchy, but does anyone besides myself feel a little pessimistic about the whole idea of “spinning” a food product?

I’m not saying that it’s a bad idea to show people that cherries have the potential to improve health, but I’m just wondering how they are going to make the general public care about eating cherries more than they already do.

If you remember the “incredible edible egg” ads, they told consumers that eggs were good for you and an important part of your diet.

They tried spinning the views of cholesterol, explaining that there are two types, Dietary and Blood, and discussed the importance of moderation. Sure, there may be cholesterol from eggs that our bodies need, but to promote a product by telling us that moderation is the key just seems ... silly.

Isn’t it common sense to realize that moderation is the key to anything?

And did learning about cholesterol make me want to eat more eggs?

People work hard on these campaigns but it ultimately comes down to the consumer.

The “Got Milk” commercials did an excellent job of making me laugh, and tried to convince me that milk was what I wanted to drink.

But a dog with peanut butter and a guy who needs milk with his cupcake didn’t exactly convince me. I guess I am expecting to see the same thing with these cherry commercials.

Funny and entertaining advertisements can hold my attention for 30 seconds but won’t make me run to the store.

With the power of the “Got Milk” name, this campaign may be successful. But maybe it won’t.

It will be interesting to see what kind of show this whole thing will be, whether these ads have cherries improving peoples abilities to “super human” levels or cherries with huge bulging muscles wearing capes.

But at the end of the day, when we watch these commercials about the tart cherry and we are fed the image of this food as a “superfruit,” will it really matter?

“

March 8,2007

9

opinion

EWP Prompt is A Joke New Web Site Tracks Bad Drivers opinion@dailytitan.com

In an effort to be the well-informed, always in-the-know of student body happenings, proud Titan I’m supposed to be, I habitually frequent my online student portal.

Ask me what band is playing at Becker Amphitheatre this Wednesday from 12-1 p.m., or the title of this week’s free movie at the Titan Theatre from 6-9 p.m. and I can tell you. If games are your fancy, Tuesday nights are free bowling and billiards. Everything I need to know about upcoming university and departmental events is posted for my convenience.

The thing I was most recently surprised to learn from my student portal was that there were “no test results available” for my EWP ...

EWP? Test results? Was there a test I needed to complete that was worthy enough to be plastered on my student portal? And worse, why was I just now finding out about it?

Not a single counselor had ever informed me of this exam that, come to find out, is actually a writing proficiency exam every student must take in order to graduate. Being that my graduation was pending on the results of this test, I paid the $25 registration fee and signed up for the earliest available test date.

After much anticipation, my test date finally arrived on Feb. 24. They say it’s not good to take a test on an empty stomach, so I ate a bowl of cereal and took my coffee to go so I could arrive 30 minutes before test time. I, along with hundreds of other students, stood outside our assigned classrooms with our dictionaries, thesauruses and No. 2 pencils waiting to be checked in.

After 30 minutes of random seating, instructions and filling in bubbles, we finally began.

I situated myself, opened my test booklet and began to read the prompt. By the third sentence, I could hardly contain myself. Appalled by what I was reading, I had to cover my mouth to avoid bursting into laughter in the silent room.

What are the compelling issues that are important enough to discuss in a college-level writing proficiency exam today?

Myspace and Facebook.

Yes, you read that correctly.

We were to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Myspace and Facebook in a well thought out, intelligent essay. I had 90 minutes to prove my competency in written English and this was the topic I was forced to write about.

Now, I’m not denying that social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook aren’t a big part of youth culture. The mere existence of the sites have seriously changed communication in our society. But should the relevance of the topic be a pending point of my college graduation?

Perhaps these Web sites have more relevance than I thought.

Real-life relationships are defined by virtual relationships that exist online. And if you don’t want to talk to someone in person or over the phone, it’s perfectly acceptable to break up, hook up and build relationships in isolation over a 12-inch screen and keypad.

Identities are created and deleted with the click of the mouse and the

freedom to express oneself is easily achieved, one Myspace account at a time. Everyone is at stalking distance on computer screens across the nations and children are exploited left and right by their own naiveté.

Everywhere I go, I overhear the conversations of people around me.

“Did you see what she had on her Myspace?,” “How come I’m not in your Top 8?”

And the inevitable click, snap and “This picture is so going on Myspace!”

As much as we all hate to admit it, Myspace and Facebook creep into many conversations, tainting any chance of pure, intelligent discussion. A person’s worth, personality and character are defined by a virtual painting that is plastered all over the public domain of the Internet. Employers and college admissions representatives can initially judge applicants by their Myspace pages.

There is no question that Myspace and Facebook have exploded all over society, leaving bits and pieces of their colorful waste on every street corner. But that doesn’t mean we need to continue traipsing through it or allow it to pollute our lives.

Everyone knows that too much of anything – even a good thing – can turn into a bad thing. If everyone would just use Myspace and Facebook for the benefit of another means (as opposed to the only means) of communication, we would all be much healthier. And writing prompts that affect my college graduation requirements could be reserved for issues of greater importance to the human race.

I’m still trying to decide which is worse: the power that Myspace and Facebook have over today’s culture and society, or the fact that this power is so strong that we are writing about it for a test as important as the EWP.

Losing My Religion

BY Dave

Bruemmer

On God’s Free Will On the Daily Titan message present and future. Thus, He boards, many of the posters knows everything that He will have responded to my articles do as well. Tonight some of you discussing mankind having free will be praying and asking somewill. This is supposed to be the thing of God. He knows right idea behind why our beliefs and now if He shall give you what choices will result in either eter- you ask for or not. He knows nal bliss or eternal punishment, that tomorrow He will cure your according to many. Some people mother’s cancer per your request. say man has free will but others, So if God knows right now that such as modern day Calvinist He is going to cure that cancer descendants, will say that man tomorrow, can He change His does not have free will. How- mind when tomorrow comes? ever, almost all of those who be- If God knows His choice in adlieve in the Biblical God that ex- vance, then He is stuck with that ists in the form choice because of three persons He already (i.e. the Trinity) knew. Suppose So God cannot be God will decide will certainly proclaim that both all-knowing and that He is going God Himself all-powerful at the to change His has free will. same time. Those ideas mind at the last God’s free will minute since is a better av- are mutually exclusive. He is all-powenue to explore erful, then that in order to inwould mean vestigate the that He didn’t verisimilitude of His existence. know ahead of time, right?

Because God is described as So God cannot be both alla person who thinks and makes knowing and all-powerful at decisions, then it would seem to the same time. Those ideas are me that He has free will. Certain mutually exclusive. If He knows conditions are necessary in or- everything, then the set of all fuder for a being to have free will: ture events is fixed. That means having a need or a want, mul- that He cannot change things, tiple options available to choose and that means He cannot be from, being able to choose with- all-powerful. It also means that out any external restraints and He cannot have free will eihaving a rational basis for mak- ther. He will simply have to say, ing a choice. There is one other “Well I can’t cure mom’s cancer critical condition that I will talk because I knew yesterday that about where God definitely fails I wasn’t going to.” This would the test, and that is that the fu- make God resemble some sort ture cannot be known in order of computer program executing for free will to exist! It is sort of a statements or an automaton, derivation from the old skeptical rather than a person. offering that asks: can God can God cannot be a person, given make a rock that is so heavy that the attributes that are assigned even He cannot lift it? to Him. Therefore God cannot God is supposedly all-power- exist because the entire concept ful and all-knowing. So He can of an omniscient, omnipotent do anything He wants to and He being with personality and free knows everything about the past, will is wholly irrational.

“

“

by Rebecca Hartness

Daily Titan Staff Writer

Email Dave at opinion@dailytitan.com

By Florance Chung

Daily Titan Staff Writer opinion@dailytitan.com

Drivers who are angry with other drivers no longer have to resort to ranting to their friends, screaming out the window or raising their middle fingers. A collection of Web sites devoted to exposing poor drivers, inconsiderate parkers and other vehicular horrors are sprouting up.

Complete with photographs of the offenders and information such as license plate numbers, violations and car descriptions, these sites are both therapeutic and embarrassing, depending on which end the driver happens to be on. However, does exposing these thoughtless people online actually help the problem?

For those of us not involved in the giving or receiving end, the raging tirades and the hastily captured pictures of bad parking are amusing.

I’ll admit to walking by cars in the CSUF parking lot and marveling at the poor parking jobs. While I’m thankful my car is not involved, I still laugh. Sometimes, it’s so bad that I wonder if there’s secretly a camera crew nearby from MTV’s Boiling Point, waiting to document some angry motorist.

One such parking Web site documenting the lack of parking eti-

quette is Parkly.net. The majority of the photos seem to be of people who can’t stay on their side of the lines.

A truck that is parked in two spots garnered over 30 comments alone.

Aside from simply being an amusement and a stress reliever, it’s hard to imagine anyone actually getting results from these Web sites.

Most people who commit atrocities on the road are hardly ignorant of their behavior. I doubt that virtual infamy is a true deterrent.

Speaking of potential deterrents, some of us have probably gotten notes scribbled, “Learn to drive!”

Did we care? We simply snickered at the idiots who would waste their time digging for pens and paper to write these notes.

On Platewire.com there are 62,300 such writers who have taken their notes to a new level. These people leave either good or bad comments about their encounters.

Others commiserate with each experience, adding anecdotes of their own.

While some comments are actually noteworthy, like “speeding at 100 mph,” others leave somewhat arbitrary comments, such as “your headlight is out.” It is as if these people really think that all Americans wake up in the morning to check these sites as they wait for their cof-

fee to brew.

Even YouTube is not exempt from the motorists’ wrath. Searching for bad drivers resulted in over a thousand videos. Unfortunately for humanity, some of these drivers can’t even drive straight. That said, I’m guessing that being on YouTube probably hasn’t changed their ways either.

So while those of us who speed, weave and tail will continue to live on in the virtual world, it is unlikely that it will actually impact us in any other ways. Do I really have the time to memorize all of these license plates when I’m out? I am probably too busy dodging them and trying to find a decent parking space instead.

But it sure feels good to have the sympathy of others.

The Daily Titan welcomes letters to the editor.

Any feedback, positive or negative, is encouraged, as we strive to keep an open dialogue with our readership. The Daily Titan reserves the right to edit letters for length, grammar and spelling. Direct all comments, questions or concerns, along with your full name and major, to executive editor Adam Levy at alevy@dailytitan.com.

10

SPORTS

Titan Men’s Basketball Honored

BY JAIME CARDENAS

Daily Titan Columnist jcar@csu.fullerton.edu

In the world of college voting politics the player and coach of the year awards usually go to members of the best team. This year that team was Long Beach State.

The 49ers, the regular season Big West Champions who beat the Titans both times they played, swept the top two awards on Monday.

Long Beach’s Aaron Nixon and Larry Reynolds were named player and coach of the year, respectively.

Cal State Fullerton made school history, earning two All-First Team honors for the first time since the 1984-85 season.

But, debatably, the best player in the conference did not pick up the MVP award because his team did not finish in first.

“It did bother me a little bit when

I first saw it,” Cal State Fullerton’s Bobby Brown said. “But there isn’t anything I can do with it. I just have go into the conference tournament and prove people wrong. I have a chip on my shoulder now.”

During the Big West Conference Tournament tele-conference on Monday morning, UC Santa Barbara coach Bob Williams was adamant of the MVP award going to the top player on the top team.

“There is no doubt that he (Nixon) is the player of the year,” Williams said. “I’m a firm believer that the players of the year should come from the best team.”

The news was not that surprising. Titans head coach was already expecting it when interviewed over the weekend, but held off hope for a co–MVP award.

“Coaches really feel that the MVP should come from the championship team,” Burton said on Friday,

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three days before the announcement.

“Bobby is really well deserving, and Aaron is well deserving. I’d like to see a Co-MVP, to be honest.”

That didn’t happen, though.

Brown, who was a little better than Nixon in several categories did make the first team for a second time.

Brown was joined on the first team by teammate Scott Cutley.

No Titan made it on the All-Second team, but Frank Robinson did earned honorable mention.

The Titans (19-9, 9-5) enter the tournament having lost four of their last five, but the team was battling some injuries at the end. Burton said during the tele-conference that health is not going to be an excuse for the Titans.

“We are healthy now, there are no excuses,” Burton said. “We’ve absolutely have hit a wall here. This is not a good time of the year to have this.”

March 8, 2007

ABOVE THE REST

Read the Daily Titan Online www.dailytitan.com

By carlos delgado/Daily Titan Staff Photographer

TAKING CHARGE - Cal State Fullerton’s Toni Thomas [center] elevates past three Pacific players during No. 5 seed Cal State Fullerton’s 69-58 defeat of No. 8 seed Pacific on Wednesday in the first round of the Big West Conference women’s basketball tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena. Thomas, a sophomore from San Bernardino, recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. It was CSUF’s first Big West tournament win since 2004. The Titans will play No. 4 seed Cal State Northridge today at 2:30 p.m. at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena. CSUF swept their regular season series against the Matadors with a 78-73 win on the road in January and a 86-79 win on Feb. 10 at Titan Gym. In Wednesday’s game, Titan senior Charlee Underwood also contributed with 19 points, including two three-pointers and seven rebounds.

March 8, 2007

Index Announcements 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100

Campus Events/Services Campus Organizations Greeks Legal Notices Lost and Found Miscellaneous Personals Pregnancy Research Subjects Sperm/ Egg Donors Tickets Offered / wanted

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12

March 8, 2007

SPORTS

Looking for a Second Season Reprieve I M O Men’s basketball aims to turn things around in the Big West Tournament

BY JASON KORNFELD

Daily Titan Staff Writer sports@dailytitan.com

Second chances are rare commodities in sports but Bobby Brown and the Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team hope they can repossess their lost swagger and atone for poor play down the stretch.

The Titans will take their 199 overall record into the Big West Tournament beginning tonight at the Anaheim Convention Center, and if they are unsuccessful, Brown and the Titans will only exist together in history.

The Titans have a chance to erase their poor performance down the stretch in which they were only able to win one out of the final five games.

Should the Titans be victorious, they will be rewarded only the second NCAA Tourney Berth in school history.

To get to the Dance, as it is commonly called, Fullerton needs to pick up victories on Thursday, Friday and in the championship game on Saturday.

Before the final five games, the Titans were in first place in the Big West and having one of the most successful seasons in the program’s history.

First the Titans let go of their No. 1 tourney seed which would have given them two first round byes.

Then the Titans lost their No. 2 seed, which would have also given them two first round byes.

One first round bye will have to be good enough, as the Titans head into the tournament in third place.

Long Beach State holds the No. 1 seed, Cal Poly has the No. 2 seed, and Fullerton is followed by UC

By CARLOS DELGADO/Daily Titan Staff Photographer VITAL COG – Marcus Crenshaw was selected as the Sixth Man of the Year.

Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Cal State Northridge, Pacific and UC Riverside respectfully.

Fullerton missed a second opportunity to claim their 20th victory when they fell to the lowly 4-23 UC Davis on Saturday night.

That win would have given the Titans only their fifth 20-win season in school history and fourth at the

Division I level.

Fullerton will be appearing in the tournament for the 29th time.

They remain 3-7 in semifinal games and are 12-8 in preliminary rounds which gives them a 16-27 record in postseason play.

Brown, who averaged 20 points and five assists during the regular season, was selected to the Big West

All-Conference first team for the second time and is a finalist for the Cousy Award.

In addition, Brown was also named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-District 9 team, joining such players like UCLA’s Aaron Afflalo and Darren Collison.

The Titans will lean on him heavily along with Scott Cutley.

Cutley averaged nearly 16 points a game and pulled down just over nine rebounds, which earned him firstteam All-Big West accolades and the conference’s rebounding leader.

Ray Reed, Frank Robinson and Justin Burns figure to round out the starting lineup for the Titans.

All three have struggled down the stretch but will be counted on to give the Titans a lift.

Robinson was an honorable mention on the men’s Big West All-Conference team.

The Titans can expect a big punch off the bench from recently awarded “Sixth Man of the Year” Marcus Crenshaw, who averaged almost 12 points and just over two assists for the Titans.

Crenshaw hit 13 treys in the final three games.

Should the Titans fall short in the tournament, this year will still mark their third consecutive winning season, a feat not accomplished since former Titan Head Coach George McQuarn had four winning records between 1981-82 and 1984-85.

Titan Head Coach Bob Burton has turned the program around in recent years, and his tutelage will be an intricate part of the Titans success.

With the NCAA tournament in their sights, Brown will have to propel this Titan team to the next level and demonstrate the leadership of a true point guard. If Brown can do this, he will add to an already impressive Fullerton career, and possibly increase his NBA draft stock.

For the Titans, they have their second chance and the time is now.

BY Jaime

Cardenas

Falling In Love With the Men’s Team March, 22, 2005. Cal State Fullerton versus Georgetown.

The game that changed it all.

Not exaggerating. It changed everything about CSUF men’s basketball. Alle. Tutti. Tous. Tudo.

Todo.

Spring semester of 2005 was my first semester at CSUF. I didn’t attend any games that year because all of my classes where at the El Toro campus (now the Irvine Campus). I only drove up twice to the main campus, I think.

I didn’t know many people and didn’t know my way around the area so I didn’t go to Big West Tournament that year either.

But even though I never went to a game, I did watch the Titans’ nationally televised NIT game against the Hoyas on ESPN2.

I wasn’t keeping up much with school affairs, but I knew it was a big deal.

For the first 10 minutes or so, the game was close. The Titans, playing without star player Ralphy Holmes, were hanging with Georgetown.

But it all came to a crashing halt. Almost everything that CSUF would throw up would be a miss, and almost everything Georgetown launched at the basket would go in.

In the end, the Titans didn’t have enough for the Hoyas as they lost 74-57.

Ending what had been a magical run through the NIT. The game did more good than bad, however. It changed everything for CSUF. The game put the school on the college basketball map, helped with recruiting, and changed peo-

ple’s perception about the Titans’ program.

It also showcased Head Coach Bob Burton’s “Run ‘N’ Gun” style of play, that is fun to watch and attractive to play in.

I wasn’t the only one watching the game. Since the game was in Washington D.C. most watched it on T.V. among them, current starting forward Scott Cutley.

“I was just watching them play and I was just loving how the ball was moving and how it was going back and forth,” Cutley, who at the time was at Kent State, told me two weeks ago. “I could really see myself playing in that kind of system. That’s the kind of system I thought I was coming into [at Kent State].”

After talking with Bobby Brown, his high school teammate and long time friend, he decided to transfer to CSUF. “I was like, you know what?

I’m coming. I want to be a Titan,” Cutley said. “I want to play in that kind of style.”

Burton is cognizant that the game elevated the program’s profile, but doesn’t have too many fond memories of the game.

“We all felt, honestly, that it wasn’t our team. It did help jump us to the next level and give us a lot of credibility and all that stuff … I just wish people could have seen our real team. And they never did,” Burton said. “From a coaching standpont it was great, but you know it could have been better.”

It may not have been a win, but it was a victory.

Jaime Cardenas’ columns appear every Thursday jcar@csu.fullerton.edu