2007 03 12

Page 1

Online DailyTitan

www.dailytitan.com

Since 1960 Volume 84, Issue 20

Basketball Photo Essay

Ugly Mondays

A collage of images from the Titan hardwood PAGES 6,7

Jeff Klima discusses troubles with student loans OPINION, p. 5

Daily Titan

Monday March 12, 2007

The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton

Tomato Pepper Sale at CSUF

Long Beach Breaks Through

Associated Press info@ap.org

Arboretum to host largest sale in the region, hoping to raise $50,000 By Sarah Gammill

Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com

After weeks of preparation, Cal State Fullerton’s Monster Tomato and Pepper Sale is set to open Thursday in The Potting Shed at The Arboretum. The shed will host the largest tomato and pepper specialty plant sale in the region. The sale, which is one of the larger fundraisers for the Arboretum, is put together by The Friends of the Arboretum, and will run through Sunday. “One thing that is important is that everything that is grown here is grown by volunteers,” said Mark Costello, manager of the group. “We don’t have a big paid staff, and the proceeds from this sale benefit The Arboretum.” Throughout the fourday sale, 3,000 to 5,000 people are expected to come and shop; proceeds are expected to be over $50,000, Costello said. Opening in its seventh year, the sale was originally a part of the other large fundraiser for The Arboretum, Greenscene. But when it became bigger and bigger each year, the group decided to give it its own day and time. Since then the sale has taken off, and drawn consumers as far away as San Diego and Santa Barbara, Costello said. The sale will primarily offer more than 100 varieties of peppers and more than 185 varieties of tomatoes, but will also carry some eggplant as well, said Evie Tyra, manager of The Arboretum nursery. “You can’t buy these varieties at Home Depot or Wal-Mart,” Tyra said. Everything at the sale will be in alphabetical order, and will also have a picture accompanying the plant to make it is easier and quicker for consumers to find what they are looking for. The honey hybrid tomato will be featured this year and will yield eight ounces of sweet fruit, which will be disease resistant. All of the plants have also been organically grown with no pesticides, Costello said. Consumers can also print out a copy of all the peppers and tomatoes that will be at the sale on The Arboretum Web site, so that they can know what they want before they come. Costello advised to come early, though, because last year they nearly sold out of tomatoes and completely sold out of their peppers and chilies. “There’s every color you could think of – orange, yellow, green, purple, black, brown, white; you SEE SALE - PAGE 3

Fire in Orange County

By CARLOS DELGAO/Daily Titan Staff Photographer

CHAMPIONS - Celebrating fans hoist up Long Beach State’s Kevin Houston after the 49ers won the title of the Big West Championship, scor-

ing 94-83 over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at the Anaheim Convention Center on Saturday night. Long Beach State will be making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1995. Check out photos from Cal State Fullerton’s unsuccessful NCAA run on pages 6 and 7.

ORANGE, Calif. (AP) - Authorities evacuated more than 200 homes as a fast-moving brush fire scorched 300 acres of parched hillside Sunday. At least one home in Anaheim’s Hidden Canyon neighborhood was on fire and many others immediately threatened, Anaheim city spokesman John J. Nicoletti said. The fire, stoked by hot dry winds and fueled by dry chaparral, quickly doubled in size in an unincorporated part of Orange County and threatened homes in Anaheim Hills. Steven Miller, another Orange County Fire Authority spokesman, said winds blowing up to 35 mph are making firefighting difficult for the more than 200 firefighters on the scene. Nicoletti said police were going door to door to warn residents to evacuate. Round said the blaze, which ignited at around 8 a.m., may have been started by a vehicle fire on the southbound 241 Windy Ridge Toll Plaza

Career Center to Host Employers By Lauren McKinney

Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com

The Career Planning and Placement Center is hosting its third annual internship event Tuesday from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Titan Student Union. The Internship event will showcase 30 plus companies who are interested in employing Cal State Fullerton students as interns. Leticia Llamas, director of internships and part time jobs at the center, said the event has grown in size during the last two years. “There are more companies participating in the event this year than

previous years,” Llamas said. “There will be a company for everyone and that’s what we aim for.” The event will be small for networking but will also have the feel of a job fair, Llamas said. Representatives from each company will have an opportunity to talk to students about their company and about what they are looking for. After that, students will be able to approach the different tables in the room, where company representatives will be seated. Students may use the remainder of the time to submit their resumes and talk with the representatives. Llamas said students should find a

few employers of interest. Participants include the FBI, Target, Experian, NBC and Universal Music. Llamas recommends that students research the companies prior to attending so that they can ask questions and know more about what the companies do. “It’s always good to bring copies of your resume too,” she said, “You might end up liking a company that you didn’t think you would, so you should bring 30 copies of your resume to be safe.” English major Shanon Foley said she would attend the internship event because she needs a summer internship.

“I haven’t gotten an internship yet for summer, so I’m hoping that I meet people from good companies that are interested in me,” she said. “If anything, it will be a good time to get my resume out there and see what happens.” So far there have been over 200 students who have signed up for the event. “We are expecting about 350 students to attend,” Llamas said, “And a lot of students don’t RSVP before events so we are expecting a good turn out.” Jaime Lopez, public relations major, said he got an internship from a job fair that was held at school last

year. “I recommend that all students should attend a job fair or internship event because it is a good opportunity to meet employers,” he said. “The employers there are looking for interns and if you have the qualities that they are looking for, then it’s really easy to get an internship.” Lopez said companies or businesses often would hire students for permanent full-time positions right after their internships. “Students should really take advantage of the career programs on campus,” he said, “It worked out for me!” .

ROTC Cadets Practice Combat Tactics Students train for realistic combat situations using Airsoft weapons By Jenny houser

Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com

Cal State Fullerton’s ROTC cadets gathered at Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base to participate in a training exercise and a day of fun. The cadets practiced their tactics in an urban setting. The Military Operations on Urban Terrain facility consisted of an empty neighborhood of two-story buildings that allowed the cadets to maneuver and train in a dynamic environment. “It gives them a more realistic view of what they are actually going to be doing,” said Rory Patterson, 27,

business major. “When we train on campus, there are no real obstacles there. If you are thinking of the majority of deployments in the world right now, they are in an urban environment. It’s nice to be able to come out here and train in scenarios you’re actually going to face.” Patterson is among the seniors who observed and instructed the younger cadets during the course of their training. The cadets used Airsoft guns in the training exercise that allow them to literally feel when they made a mistake. The guns, which shoot plastic pellets, allowed the cadets to get into simulated firefights with opposing forces. The guns also provided an element of fun. The guns helped cadets simulate combat that they might face after

By JENNY HOUSER/Daily Titan Staff Photographer

TRAINING FOR COMBAT - Cadets dress as insurgents with Airsoft guns to begin a day of training at Los

SEE AIRSOFT - PAGE 3

Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base.

Tomorrow The Hub

ONLINE www.dailytitan.com

PROFESSORS DIGGING IN TAR

BASKETBALL SLIDESHOWS

STICKY SITUATION Two CSUF professors are going to get samples of tar to study Olmel Civilization

TWO SHOWS Check out slideshows from the Titans’ attempt to make it at the Big West tournament

weather

TODAY

TOMorrow Sunny High: 87 Low: 60

Sunny High: 84 Low: 59


2

March 12, 2007

Page two

IN OTHER NEWS NATIONAL NEWS

COP BLOTTER: Trashcan Fire, Suspicious Persons and a Gang Fight

Kidnapped Newborn Found Safe and Returned to Mother LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - A newborn kidnapped from a Lubbock hospital by a woman wearing hospital scrubs and a hooded jacket was found safe Sunday in New Mexico and returned to her mother. Four-day-old Mychael Darthard-Dawodu was found in a home in Clovis, N.M., by police following up on tips, a day after she was taken from Covenant Lakeside Hospital. “It’s a joyous time,” Gwen Stafford, senior vice president of Covenant Health System, said at a news conference Sunday. “This has been a roller coaster of emotions. Today there’s not many happy stories; this is certainly one in Lubbock, Texas.”

STATE NEWS California Open Records Under Discussion SACRAMENTO (AP) - Cities from San Francisco to Los Angeles this year have locked reporters out of police disciplinary hearings, citing a court ruling limiting access to government records. The result: Californians might not always know if beatings or shootings by officers are ruled justified or whether those officers are disciplined or labeled as bad cops. In another open-records case, California Supreme Court justices are questioning whether the public has the right to know the salaries of government employees even though they’re paid with taxpayer money. And Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year vetoed a plan to give citizens more power to appeal when politicians refuse to release public records.

LOCAL NEWS Comedian Richard Jeni Dies From Apparent Suicide at 45 WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) - Richard Jeni, a standup comedian who played to sold-out crowds, was a regular on the “Tonight Show” and appeared in movies, died of a gunshot wound in an apparent suicide, police said Sunday. He was 45. Police found the comedian alive but gravely injured in a West Hollywood home when they responded to a call Saturday morning from Jeni’s girlfriend, Los Angeles Police Officer Norma Eisenman said. Jeni died at a nearby hospital. Eisenman said suicide had not been officially confirmed and the investigation was continuing. Jeni regularly toured the country with a standup act and had starred in several HBO comedy specials, most recently “A Big Steaming Pile of Me” during the 2005-06 season. His movie credits included “The Mask,” in which he played Jim Carrey’s best friend, “The Aristocrats,” “National Lampoon’s Dad’s Week Off,” and “An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn.”

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 Main Line (714) 278-3373 News Line (714) 278-4415

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 Editorial Fax (714) 278-4473 E-mail: news@dailytitan.com

Advertising Director of Advertising Asst. Director of Advertising Ad Production Manager Production Designer Classified Manager National Sales Promotions Account Executive Account Executive Account Executive Entertainment Manager Web Master Distribution Business Manager/Adviser Main Line (714) 278-3373 Advertising (714) 278-4411

Emily Alford Beth Stirnaman Keith Hansen Frances Casareno Brenton Haerr Jackie Kimmel Rose Anne De Ramos Kathleen Cisneros Stephanie Birditt Kevin Frederickson Sarah Oak Dan Beam Santana Ramos Robert Sage Advertising Fax (714) 278-2702 E-mail: ads@dailytitan.com

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

To report on-campus crimes please call 714-278-2515. For immediate emergencies call 911. March 3 1:31 p.m. Suspicious Person A male, wearing a beige hat and long pants was hanging out near the Tennis Courts for over an hour. He was suspected of possibly being mentally ill. The police were unable to locate him. 2:41 p.m. Suspicious Package A suspicious package was spotted in the Mail Room. A report was taken. 6:03 p.m. Property Vandalism In Lot E next to the dorms, a student reported seeing damage on her car due to someone placing a flyer on it. A damage report was taken and police gave the person placing the flyers a warning.

6:40 p.m. Suspicious Person Three to four males, who possibly broke into a car in Lot E, jumped into a silver car and left southbound towards Nutwood Avenue. The reporting person described one suspect as a male wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. March 4 10:34 a.m. Suspicious Person A suspicious person was seen near the TSU. He was warned by the police and asked to leave. 12:22 p.m. Disturbance A disturbance was reported at the library. 4:15 p.m. Fire A smoldering trash can was seen

CAMPUS CALENDAR TODAY Headaches: What they’re all about and what to do about them. 12 to 1 p.m.: Informative event hosted by St. Jude Medical Center about the nature of headaches and cures. The lecture will be held in College Park. Pub Monday Karaoke 12 to 1 p.m. at the Titan Student Union Pub. Open to Cal State Fullerton Students TUESDAY Pub Tuesday Open Mic 12 to 1 p.m. at the Titan Student Union Pub Symphonic Band 8 to 10 p.m.: The program will feature music written in Great Britain for wind bands, including compositions by William Byrd, Malcolm Arnold, and Gustav Holst. Admission is $10 at the Performing Arts

Center Meng Concert Hall. WEDNESDAY Eating and Mindfulness: How to Enjoy and Celebrate Food without Binging on it 12 to 1 p.m.: Stress caused by school, work, and family can contribute to mindless eating. Additionally, women are often encouraged to be slim. This workshop focuses on ways to enjoy food and stop eating once satisfied. Speaker will be Rebekah Smart, assistant professor for the counseling department in UH205. THURSDAY CSUF Irvine Campus Legacies: John Carlos 1968 Olympian 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.: The CSUF Irvine Campus Legacies Spring 2007 program presents: An Evening with John Carlos. He is the 1968 Olympic Track & FieldBronze medalist.

outside the lobby of the Performing Arts Center. 8:03 p.m. Suspicious Person A driver was being followed for five to 10 minutes by another vehicle on Placentia Avenue near Starling Drive.

near the Arboretum. He was told he could not park there, but did not leave.

March 5 2:23 p.m. Petty Theft A theft was reported from the east side of the Kinesiology Building. A mouse and a keyboard were stolen.

March 7 6:22 p.m. Suspicious Person A male wearing a light-blue shirt approached a female student in the Nutwood Parking Structure and asked if she needed a parking stall and suggested she park on the first level near the back. Police were unable to locate the suspect.

March 6 9:47 p.m. Suspicious Person in Vehicle A male with a shaved head was sitting in a car parked in the dirt lot

March 8 3:09 a.m. Agency Assist A gang fight broke out in an apartment on Deerpark Place. A report was taken.

STRANGER THAN

FICTION

Women Calls in Cannabis

20-Year-Old Error Fixed

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A middle-aged New Zealand woman rang police to report a theft of cannabis plants she had been growing at her North Island home, local media reported. The crying woman told police in the city of Napier the plant theft was the fourth from her property in as many years. The 45-year-old woman, lamented that someone had again sneaked on to her property at night to steal her three carefully nurtured marijuana plants. “I am a good person. I am sick of these low-lifes stealing my things,” the woman told a police communications officer.

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) The city of Hagerstown corrected a municipal spelling error Thursday, 20 years after committing it. A sign directing drivers to “Municpal Stadium” was replaced with one displaying the proper spelling, said Erik Kline, city traffic control supervisor. The sign was erected in the mid-1980s, but the error went uncorrected until it was brought to City Hall’s attention this week. Kline said the longtime tolerance for the misspelled sign shouldn’t reflect poorly on the western Maryland city of 38,000.


March 12, 2007

NEWS

Airsoft: ROTC Training From Page 1 graduation. The use of Airsoft brings the training to a new level. While cadets from previous semesters had used paintball guns, the ROTC program decided to give the pellet guns a try. “We used to do paintball but it got so expensive as we started to increase in cadets,” Lt. Col. William Howard said. “It was too expensive. This is much easier. Even though we are doing tactics and making it more realistic, it’s also primarily just for fun. They love this.” “Our original plan was paintball, but we didn’t have enough funds for that,” said Freddie Do, 24, business major. “We decided to spend a onetime deal of $1600 on the Airsoft guns for more realistic training.” Do said the training exercises would help cadets hone their skills, learn how to move from building to building, and clear rooms when opposing forces are in them. “Before last year there were no Airsoft guns,” said Do. “One of

the biggest issues last semester was finding a place to shoot the Airsoft guns.” The cadets were divided up and sent down different lanes, or scenarios. Each lane was set up differently to test the cadet’s knowledge and teach them the proper way to attack an objective. Opposing forces hid in the buildings and shot at the cadets with their pellet guns. “It gives them a better sense of reality,” Patterson said. “If you don’t have any kind of round coming at you, there is no reason to get down and take any cover. Nobody wants to get hit, no matter what it is.” Do said the day’s exercises were essential in preparing the cadets for the training they would face this summer in Fort Lewis, Wash. March 2nd was the first time CSUF’s ROTC has used the Los Alamitos facility for training. The urban setting, as well as the use of Airsoft guns, helps prepare men and women to become officers in the Army.

Oprah Lecture By Sarah Gammill

Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com

As Women’s History Month kicks off, discussions of women’s issues have been circulating around Cal State Fullerton’s campus. Discussion of the struggles and achievements that women have experienced throughout the years has been the main focus of lectures sponsored by the Women’s Studies Department to promote the education of women’s history. “People are somewhat unaware of Women’s History Month and even others like Black History Month,” said Renae Bredin, program coordinator and professor of women’s studies. As part of the lectures, many influential women were discussed, including Oprah Winfrey. In a lecture titled “Oprah as philosopher,” presented by assistant women’s studies Professor Marjorie Jolles, Oprah’s monthly views on the world and women were discussed and debated. It was also announced that Oprah would not be present as some had thought. “She has tremendous influence over a gigantic audience,” Jolles said. “She represents an image of self determination of somebody who became powerful by using her own power.” Oprah’s influential words and how they affect so many of her millions of followers throughout the world were also elaborated on. “I’m really invested in Oprah as a woman and as an activist,” said Anita Avila, a women’s studies major. “She defiantly inspires and helps a lot of people.” The main focus of the hour-long discussion was Oprah’s “O” magazine, and her “What I Know For Sure” column that runs at the end of

3

her magazine each month. The column is Oprah’s insight for women on how to find their true, authentic self, Jolles said. Jolles then discussed how Oprah was once a mediator for her audience, and now how she has come into her role as philosopher by showing and telling women how to “live your best life.” Jolles said Oprah lets women know that the biggest part of living a good life is putting an emphasis on themselves and not others. Women should depend on themselves for happiness and no other relationships, Jolles said. One must learn to be free from others, society, an instead rely on self-determination, she said. “There are problematic contradictions in this message, and this narrative of personal fulfillment is in fact inaccurate and in conflict with a lot of what feminism has to teach us on how to become the selves we want to be,” Jolles said. Jolles compared Oprah’s message of self-reliance and closure from relationships with the teaching of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who echoed similar views. The discussion was then turned to the audience to get their feedback and views on individualism, relationships and Oprah. “The world is not constructive without relationships,” Bredin said. “I could live my best life if I was worth $ 1.2 billion dollars,” said Rebecca Vigil, a religious studies major. The conclusion that was meet by most audience members was that, although Oprah’s message is noble, she does not really try to live by her own message at times. By relationships with her best friend, boyfriend, and various celebrities around the world, Oprah cannot survive without her relationships, audience members said.

Kottler Visits Nepal to Help Women By Colleen barrett

Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com

After an eye-opening visit to Nepal in 2001, Jeffrey Kottler has spent the past six years raising funds to educate young women in the poverty-stricken country and reduce their risk of being sold into sex slavery. Kottler, counseling professor and department chair, visited Nepal to supervise a research project on maternal mortality in the country, which has the highest death rate among new mothers in the world. It was during this trip that Kottler met his collaborator Kiran Regmi, a female obstetrician in Nepal. While conducting their research, the pair made a disturbing discovery: many young women in the villages were disappearing. It is estimated that 7,000 girls between 8 and 12 years old in Nepal are kidnapped or sold into sex slavery. “Many families can’t afford to feed their children, so they sell them. They likely believe that an employer will find jobs for them in India, but in fact what happens is that they get indentured to brothels in Bombay,” Kottler said. He said that men in India who are HIV positive believe sex with a virgin will cure their AIDS. Once the girls are infected, they are sent back to their villages in Nepal where AIDS continues to spread. “It’s just the most horrifying thing that I had ever heard in my life,” Kottler said. “Kiran and I decided we had to do something.” Kottler and Regmi started the Madhav Ghimire Foundation to provide educational opportunities to young women in Nepal and, in turn, keep them from being sold into brothels. Madhav Ghimire is the national poet of Nepal. His poems discuss themes of peace and other principles of the foundation. The first girl that Kottler and

By Rebecca Hartness/Daily Titan Staff Photographer

HELPING HAND - Dr. Jeffry A. Kottler started an organization in Nepal that gives scholarhips to young girls in an effort to stop sex trafficking. Regmi supported was 12-year-old Inu. The principal of Inu’s school said she was a gifted student, but her father was an alcoholic and her mother was poor. Inu was at risk of vanishing. Kottler offered her a scholarship of $50 a year, enough to sponsor a child’s education for a year in Nepal. Inu is now 17 years old and recently graduated high school. She will attend a university soon, Kottler said. The foundation is now supporting 42 girls and one boy in three Nepali villages due to contributions from Kottler’s friends, students and colleagues. The principals of the village schools choose candidates for the scholarship based on the child’s academic performance. “Our goal is to keep doubling the

number of girls we can support each year,” Kottler said. “We are going to have thousands of children supported soon.” Kottler takes groups of colleagues and students to Nepal once or twice a year to visit the children the foundation supports. They travel to each child’s home and meet their families and neighbors. The trips end with a weeklong trek in the Himalayas. “We let them know that we are there for them and we are not going to just go away. As long as their children continue to do well in school, we will continue to support them,” Kottler said. Alex Perkowski, graduate counseling student at Cal State Fullerton, accompanied Kottler on his recent trip to Nepal in December. She was

surprised to find that the people of Nepal seem to be unaware of the poverty that surrounds them. “They are so happy. Material things don’t matter to them. The anger and anxiety here in the U.S. is so infectious, but there they exude calmness even though they have nothing. It was just so pure and I think that is what is missing in our society here,” Perkowski said. Jane Kinsley, another graduate counseling student at CSUF, also went on the trip. She was inspired to go on the trip when she passed by a photo of five Nepali girls on a bulletin board outside Kottler’s office. “I was immediately taken by their sweet smiles and dark eyes. Jeffrey [Kottler] gave me a photo of them that I kept on my bedroom wall. Every night before going to bed, I would look at their darling faces and wonder what they were like,” Kinsley said. Instead of going on the mountain trek, Kinsley stayed in Bandipur, Nepal, for eight days and taught in a preschool and in two high schools. She tracked down two of the girls from the photograph that she found so inspiring and now corresponds with them. She also raised $5,500 from her church and friends to donate in scholarships. Six years after founding the scholarship program, Kottler is beginning to see his efforts and experience come full-circle. As he recalls his initial visit to Nepal to research maternal mortality, his ultimate goal takes shape. “Kiran and I found that the high maternal mortality rate was largely due to women giving birth without a physician. In their culture, they would rather die than endure the shame of letting a male doctor touch their private parts, and all the physicians are men,” Kottler said. “Our hope is that these girls will go on to medical school and become the next generation female physicians in Nepal. We figured if there are more women in positions of power in Nepal, then that would create more opportunities for young girls.” For more information on the Madhav Ghimire Foundation, visit www.ghimirefoundation.org.

SALE: TOMATOES AND PEPPERS TO BE SOLD AT CSUF From Page 1 could make the prettiest salad,” Tyra said. The beef stack variety of tomatoes seems to be the most popular among consumers, but the sale

will also offer hot, sweet, bell, and chili peppers, Tyra said. However, all the plants available to buy will not be fully grown. The tomato plants will be eight weeks along and the peppers will be 12 weeks along.

www.dailytitan.com

“It’s much easier to buy a small or young plant and watch it grow, and its fun to nurture a plant from a youngster until you pick fruit from it,” said Greg Dyment, director of The Arboretum. This year all the plants will be sold

for $2.50 each. “It’s a good idea to bring your own wagon to carry all your plants in too,” Costello said. The sale will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. all four days with free admission and parking for the public


March 12, 2007

6

NEWS

BIG WEST

A Win Versus Pacific

By KARL THUNMAN/Daily Titan Photo Editor WINNING - Titan Fans cheers as the Titans advance to the semifinals of the Big West Conference Tournament Thursday at the Anaheim Convention Center. right Ray Reed (left) and Marcus Crenshaw celebrate after Crenshaw knocked down a threepointer. Far Right - Boby Brown watches his shot. Brown scored 30 points in the game against Pacific.

By KARL THUNMAN/Daily Titan Photo Editor SLAM DUNK - The Titans’ Frank Robinson goes for the slam dunk during the 100-92 victory over Pacific in the Big West Conferance quaterfinals. Robinson scored 25 points and had 10 rebounds in the game. By CARLOS DELGADO/Daily Titan Staff Photographer

By KARL THUNMAN/Daily Titan Photo Editor

9OU COULD TELL THEM ON A TOTE BAG

/R YOU COULD TELL THEM ON

4ITAN9EARBOOK COM INSTEAD 3IGN UP ,OG IN 'ET #ONNECTED


7

NEWS

BIG WEST

March 12, 2007

A Loss Versus Cal Poly SLO

By CAMERON PEMSTEIN/Daily Titan Staff Photographer TOP - The Titan bench looks at Bobby Brown during the final moments of his college career. Brown, who has earned the most points in school history, was injured with 12 minutes to play in the first half of the Big West semifinal game.

By Carlos delgado/Daily Titan Staff Photographer TOP - Justin Burns consoles Scott Cutley after Cal Poly San Luis Obispo defeated Cal State Fullerton, 81-56.

RIGHT Disappointed fans look out over the Anaheim Convention Center where the Titans lost their shot at the NCAA playoffs.

LEFT - Titans thank their supporters for a good season after being eliminated from the Big West tournament Friday night at the Anaheim convention Center. By KARL THUNMAN/Daily Titan Photo Editor

By CAMERON PEMSTEIN/Daily Titan Staff Photographer


March 12, 2007

5

opinion Providing insight, analysis and perspective since 1960

“It’s About Time” If you were expecting a vitri- by a 17-year-old high school olic, angry tirade on some per- student to similar results. ceived injustice at this school So what does one have to do or in society in general, this with the other? isn’t your lucky day. The inclusion of a black Just the opposite, in fact. princess is something that DisOn this 12th day of March, we ney should have done a long are going to give props to the time ago. Even Barbie got that evil, mouse-eared empire. memo. Disney announced over the First of all, it’s good business weekend that production has sense – everybody’s money is commenced green, after on “The Frog all. It opens Princess,” an the door for animated film Disney to sell The inclusion of to set in New a more diOrleans whose a black princess is verse market. main charac- something that Dis- But the main ter Maddy, ney should have done reason this is a princess, is a positive dea long time ago. Even velopment is black. We say Barbie got that memo. that generaM a d d y tions of black couldn’t have children will come at a betfinally have ter time. a legitimate Fifty years ago, a college role model they can emulate professor named Kenneth without having to compromise Brown devised an experiment a part of their culture or idenwith young black children. tity. They can worship a fairy Having them choose between princess that looks like them a white doll and a black doll, as opposed to Belle, Ariel or the majority of the black chil- Snow White. And perhaps that dren chose the white dolls, cit- would mean less inclination to ing the black ones as undesir- reach for the white doll. able and ugly. The experiment Now that’s what we call a was conducted again recently happy ending.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Titan Editorial is solely the opinion of the Daily Titan editorial board and was written after the open debate between board members. The editorial board consists of the executive editor, the managing editor, the opinion editor, the news editors, the copy chief and other editors upon appointment of the executive editor.

By Misa Nguyen

Daily Titan Staff Writer opinion@dailytitan.com

“Mi casa es su casa.” On the World Wide Web, however, it becomes “my homepage is your homepage.” Various Web sites on the Internet allow people to interact with one another, the most popular being MySpace, Facebook and Friendster. Popularity has never been so easy to measure before now. How many times have you gone to a person’s MySpace page and thought, “He can’t possibly be this popular or as hot as Tila Tequila says he is?” My feelings exactly. How much of what we see on the Internet is actually true, anyway? Now skepticism has been raised once again. A new Web site called FakeYourSpace.com is providing less popular MySpace, Facebook and Friendster users a solution to their social problem. For 99 cents a friend each month, anyone can enhance their site with hired friends and their comments. That’s right, for less than a dollar every month you can change your social standing. From social loser with a capital “L” to pimp daddy with a capital “P,” you can change your destiny. Has it really come to this? Are we so shallow that all we can think about is what others think of us? Have we lost the ability to appreciate ourselves for what we know to be true? Are all the great characteristics that make us who we are less important than what so-and-so from MySpace has posted on such-and-such date? Come on, people! When the use of Friendster was first introduced to me, I thought to myself, “Alright, I’ll sign up and see what it’s like. Through several months of usage, I found out that it was just like AIM, a place I can add “friends” to a list and talk to whenever I feel I am good and ready. It was a means of collecting social contacts for reasons of popularity or personable so-

cial gain. If I ever wanted to know about a good place to eat or where the best shopping spot was in a certain city, I could always message a friend I would never really speak to outside of the online world and ask them. Although I was suckered into using Friendster, I have yet to jump on the MySpace bandwagon. And from what I’ve seen so far, I think I’ll keep it that way. This notion of counting friends and checking for daily messages makes me think that people are too worried about their own image. As I sit here in the computer lab, writing this article, all I have to do is look two rows in front of me, five seats to my left, and three seats to my right, and surely enough, I see students checking their MySpace accounts. This is ludicrous! Have we really become that self-absorbed? A recent article in the Los Angeles Times, “Gen Y’s ego trip takes a nasty turn,” stated that our generation has become so preoccupied with ourselves, through means of MySpace and YouTube, that it is setting us up for lives revolving around narcissism. Our egos have inflated to enormous proportions and now FakeYourSpace.com is offering us a oneway ticket to popularity through means of false representation and people buying. The founder of FakeYourSpace.com claims that his motive for creating the site was altruistic; to help those in need of more Internet friends and comments. Because these social networking sites are no longer used for just friend finding and hottie scoping, but also for potential employers to see a more personable side to their job applicants, Walker has created a way for worried individuals to have a little peace of mind, for a price. MySpace started off as a good idea for social networking, but has now taken on a different path since its increased popularity amongst teens and young adults. What we are looking at now is a dark path to high self-regard. This concept of social worth through acceptance amongst peers you hardly know or know only through the use of the Internet means some people will be taking some desperate measures.

Illegal Immigrants Unfairly Blamed in Society By Tom Madden

Daily Titan Staff Writer opinion@dailytitan.com

Recently a friend told me that the immigration bureau raided her work at America’s happiest place on earth last month, detaining and arrestingillegal immigrants, leaving several of Downtown Disney’s restaurant cleaning services depleted. While immigration officials try to pass off the sting as mainly targeting illegal immigrants with criminal records, it’s just another example of how immigrants are constantly portrayed as crime-committing deviants in our society. Now while some might agree that immigrants willingly and proudly perform jobs that many of us are too brainlessly filled with pride to take, some simpletons still blame all our social problems on a group that humbly lives in our shadows and makes our existence so comfortable. The Mexican immigrant culture in Southern California is one of peace and tranquility. They are a group that quietly labors like clockwork everyday while we pass them on our road to higher expectations and health-insurance-providing jobs. Yet once in awhile, whenever there is a flaw in our community, the proverbial finger usually gets pointed the immigrants’ way. The immigrant community generally gets a bum wrap, but there are statistics that suggest that bad reputation just isn’t true. Last month, in a UC Irvine study led by sociology Professor Ruben Rumbaut, it was found that five times fewer immigrants are incarcerated than native-born Americans and that 3.5 percent of American-born men aged 18 to 39 were incarcerated in jails or prisons in 2000, compared to 0.7 percent of foreign-born men. This study shows that the blame the immigrant community receives for taking jobs, committing heinous crimes and all of the other demoralizing stereotypes that follow is un-

just. It’s rather ironic that whenever we hear of a crime in our utopian Orange County we blame the easy target instead of considering the Newport Beach trust fund baby, the greedy businessmen or the real-life scenario of David Park, former Irvine police officer. According to ocweekly.com, even after DNA testing and an admission of guilt, Park was subtly found not guilty of three felony charges after

masturbating and ejaculating on the sweater of a female driver during a supposed routine traffic stop. The trial went rather quietly for a case with such perverted details, and has been forgotten by most. However, imagine the outrage and bigotry that would pour out of the mouths of Orange County residents if this same incident occurred with an immigrant gardener or an immigrant kitchen staffer. Shouldn’t the tax-paid public of-

ficial, who used a female’s cardigan as target practice, be the one being deported? If this study is correct and immigrants do commit less crimes, perform jobs that we wouldn’t ever imagine doing and pass through our lives unnoticed, it’s time that we stop blaming them for our social ills. For those who feel otherwise, don’t worry. There are plenty of job openings at Downtown Disney this week, but I bet you won’t apply.

Ugly Mondays BY Jeff

Klima

Graduating into Debt So, I am starting to feel the sort of chemical dependency. heat. Not the literal temperature No, my stupid ass bought an heights of this wacky early sum- arcade game, a handgun, a kegmer, but rather the heat of grad- erator, hundreds of DVDs and uation. Most of our graduating a piece of the Hollywood sign. I class is eagerly anticipating the am talking some really worthless sweet release from homework’s crap. I think I have been keepbosom. Not me, I’m a motor- ing Rigoberto’s in business with boatin’ son of a bitch if you catch the student loan monies I have my drift. I fear graduation like I shunted into their carne asada fear the case of crabs I know I’ll burrito concoction. So now that catch at the party on graduation the well of wealth, my proverbial night. But why, you ask? golden goose, is about to dry up No, it isn’t the fear of not and come due for payback, me knowing what I’ll do, nor is it the is screwed. fear of growing older and turnI am a thinker though … and ing the page on another chapter I’ll be damned if I can’t figure a of the Harlequin romance novel way out of this mess before dime that is my life. one leaves my But rather, it is bank account. the goddamned My first idea inmountain of I didn’t even do any- volves allowing debt I have acdude who thing so piteous as that crued while wants his name pushing myself spend the moo-la on on the business through this cocaine or some other building to put institution of name on sort of chemical de- his so-called higher me. Not with pendency. learning. his tongue or While most anything creepy people pulled like that, but for out enough stuthe 50 grand or dent loans to cover the cost of so that I will owe, he can autotuition and books, I have been graph my left tit. Or I can aupulling out astronomical sums tograph his, depending on what of money, amounts towards kind of a jungle-ass freak he is. the double digit thousands evOption two? I can file bankery semester. Utilizing what I ruptcy, move to Sweden (what thought was “hacker” acumen, with their no extradition laws), I wheedled the banks and loan sell myself to a place that lets institutions into supplying me millionaires hunt human bewith cash out the yin-yang. And ings, survive doing that for did I spend it on anything that seven years and then move back would truly enhance my educa- when my credit has cleared up. tion like important and histori- Between you and me, I like the cal novels, tours of the finest mu- first option better, but you know seums and trips to culturally rich what they say about beggars and countries? No! I didn’t even do choosers. anything so piteous as spend the I’ll probably see you all in moola on cocaine or some other seven years.

Titan Editorial

Hiring Fake Friends for MySpace is Pathetic

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.


4

March 12, 2007

Gaming New Releases This Week Xbox 360 EA Games’ “Def Jam: Icon” was released March 6 to some fairly good reviews. The third installment of the hip-hop wrestling series features artists from the Def Jam/Warner Music Group as well as a crazy new story mode to entice beatboxers everywhere. “Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2,” also released March 6, picks up where the last game left off. Mexico faces civil war with the uprising of Mexican loyalists and the Ghosts, an elite fighting group, must defend the U.S. from imminent threat.

Playstation “God of War II” for the PS2 finally hits shelves tomorrow. Fans of Kratos have been thirsting for blood ever since the games’ showing at last year’s E3. Now they have their chance for total slaughter. It is beautiful, it is fluid and you will thirst for more. For the sports fans out there, “College Hoops 2K7,” which features stunningly realistic graphics, is available for the PS3 tomorrow. 2K Sports looks to be taking advantage of the hype surrounding college basketball’s March Madness season, with release dates for the other systems set later this year.

Wii On the Nintendo side of things, “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07” will be on the shelves tomorrow. The game mechanics take advantage of the Wii remote to simulate the swing of a club, the same way that the “Wii Sports” did with its golf game. Nintendo has released a brand-new trailer for the highly anticipated “Super Mario Galaxy” at the on-going Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The trailer is available online and features game play of Mario floating through space from planet to planet, encountering new challenges and battling strange enemies on each new world.

Not the Green Army Men From Your Youth No magnifying glasses here – adults are playing war games in a new way Erin Tobin

Daily Titan Staff Writer maneditor@dailytitan.com

Last Wednesday at the Adventurer’s Guild in Riverside, a full-fledged war broke out. The owner of the store wasn’t worried – that type of thing happens at least once a week. Besides, the ones actually battling were only inches tall and, while intricately painted, were only made out of pewter. Everything was going as planned at the store’s weekly Warhammer tournament. In Warhammer, a game created in 1983 by Games Workshop, three-inch-sized miniatures are pitted against one another in fictional battles. The game has two brands, each focusing on a different theme. Warhammer 40,000 focuses on science fiction inspired characters while the original Warhammer has more of a fantasy theme. Games Workshop also carries a game that focuses only on the universe of “Lord of the Rings.” “Games Workshop has its own stores. They are opening more and more of them,” said Jonathan Meyer, the owner of Realm Games and Comics in Brea. “It generates more interest and people come in asking about it.” At The Adventurer’s Guild, Mike Gregory has made a home for Warhammer over the last 13 years. Half of his store is dedicated to table-top gaming and has eight tables on hand not only for tournaments, but for spontaneous play as well, Gregory said. The openness of his store encourages interest in the different games being played, Gregory said. “A lot of people start out with card games. When they see the [war] games being played out, they think it is something like extreme chess,” said Gregory. “They start asking questions and then they get really interested.” Players of these games are offered a menagerie of armies to choose from. Each race has its own rules and pros and cons for play. Gregory explained that each race has fighting styles that are particular to it. These

7

characteristics determine how many pieces are needed to make up the army. “There’s a race in Warhammer 40k that is made up of bug-like creatures. They tend to move in a swarming fashion, so you need more of them,” Meyer said. In addition to being familiar with the rules for the race the player is using, players must understand the overall rulebook. More important than knowing the rules and being good at strategy is a sense of humor, said Mike Gerner, the commissioner for the Southern California Games Workshop League. “You have to remember that it is a game of dice. I’ve seen people get frustrated over a dice roll and expensive miniatures and dice go flying across the room,” Gerner said. Meyer said certain races are better suited for beginners. “The kids get into Warhammer 40k first, it’s a little simpler,” said Meyer. “The space marines are the most popular. They are among the easiest to learn, plus space marines wear armor and have big guns and

By Cameron pemstein/Daily Titan

a little aggression - Players of table-top war games paint and assemble each piece. Armies can be several dozen figures large, so completing a full warband can take several weeks or months. Above: A group of orcs – green brutish creatures originally created for J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” novels – are arrayed against Brandt Ford, 12, at Games Workshop’s outlet store at the Block in Orange. Left: This mounted figure is a hero of the Empire, one of Warhammer’s many human armies.

By Cameron pemstein/Daily Titan

tanks, which the kids like.” According to the Games Workshop’s Web site, the Warhammer franchise is designed so it can be played by children around the age of 11 or 12. In actuality the age of players is quite varied, and leans toward an older crowd. “I regularly play against two police officers, a doctor and a brain surgeon,” Gerner said. One thing that keeps younger players away is the cost. Meyer said he actually tries to discourage parents from buying sets for children

until they are at least 14 or 15 years old because the hobby is expensive. Forming a basic army could cost between $200 and $500, Meyer said. For the serious player, the cost could run much higher, Gerner said. The pieces of the armies come unassembled and unpainted. As a result, assembling and painting have become two major components of table-top battle games. “For people who like playing video games and building model cars, it’s a good combination,” Gregory said. “Better yet, unlike building models which you put together and

they just sit, after you finish a piece for the game you actually get to use it.” While a piece must have three colors to be officially considered painted, most of them are exquisitely detailed to create something out of the player’s imagination. “You could give 100 people the same box of figures, and in six months, each would come up completely differently,” Gerner said. Meyer explained that the races each have colors that are traditionally assigned to them, but creativity is generally more admired than exact reproduction. Gerner said he was once amazed by an army usually described as evil painted in a Christmas theme, including a war chariot designed to look like Santa’s sleigh. “An army takes several months to put together and get painted,” Gerner said. “As soon as you finish one though, you are thinking about what you’ll do for the next.” Painting figures has become such an important aspect of the game that competitions focusing on the figurine’s paint job have become as popular as the game itself. Both Gregory and Gerner said they know individuals who had been awarded the highest awards for painting and Gregory actually sets aside an area of his store for people to come and paint their miniatures. “People will come here after lunch and just sit, paint and hang out. When others come in and ask what they are doing, they’ll explain and then there’s one more person interested,” Gregory said. In the end though, Gerner said no matter how intricate they are, the pieces get used. In Game Workshop’s league, games are played out during a sixmonth season that operates similar to the NFL in every aspect, including drafts for territories and rules for tie breakers. “Your success builds on other success. You start getting attached to units,” Gerner said. “You don’t want to lose them, so we’re very competitive.”


8

SPORTS

Men’s HOOPS: ELIMINATED (From Page 10)

and two blocks. “I still don’t know if we’ve really come to terms with it yet, but in the end, looking back on my career and LB’s career, I feel blessed because there is so much more to life then basketball,” Burns said. “The friends

I’ve made are the biggest thing.” When the game was over, the Titans went over to the home crowd fans and exchanged hugs and hifives. Brown, with ice bags on his knee and ankle, limped over and dished out exchanges with all the fans that he could. For Brown, it would be his last assist in a Titan uniform.

March 12, 2007

Women’s Basketball Ends Season With a Loss UC Santa Barbara squeaks past the Titans, 57-52, in semifinals BY JAIME CARDENAS

Daily Titan Columnist sports@dailytitan.com

By Karl Thunman/Daily Titan Photo Editor SHOWING THEIR LOVE – Titan fans reach out to Cal State Fullerton basketball player Marcus Crenshaw as he thanks them after the Titans’ loss. 001011version (document)// <input>

version5800<<document.5680933=48 8349750(c_in):_99081_[default]

The Line

846745807785933

cin<input>3745673_cout

o126490=MM_reloadPage: }}

Favorite

Orlando New Jersey at Milwaukee

NBA Point Spreads Underdog

1 1/2 at Charlotte 1 at Memphis 3 Toronto

Toni Thomas lined up at the top of the arc and launched a three-point attempt. The shot looked good. The ball hit the front of the rim, bounced backwards and looked as if it was going to drop in. It didn’t. Instead, the ball missed the rim completely and fell to the waiting hands of a UC Santa Barbara player. “I thought it was going in. All the way up I thought it was in,” Titans Head Coach Maryalyce Jeremiah said. “And that would have made a big difference.” Thomas’ shot, had it gone in, would have tied the game with 16 seconds left. Instead it allowed the Gauchos to beat the Titans 57-52 in the semifinals of the women’s Big West Conference Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center on Friday. Senior Charlee Underwood led the way for the Titans (16-16) with 16 points and four-for-four shooting on three pointers. Thomas, a sophomore, did her part by scoring 14 points and getting six rebounds. The Titans have lost 28 consecutive games to the Gauchos (18-12),

By Carlos delgado/Daily Titan Staff Photographer NICE SHOT – Cal State Fullerton’s India Allen scored a game-high 19 points off the bench in an opening round 75-65 victory against Cal State Northridge. who were guided by center Jenna Green scored a game-high 27 Green and guard Jessica Wilson. The points and pulled down seven retandem combined for 35 points and bounds. Wilson almost had a triple20 rebounds. double by scoring eight points, pull-

ing down 13 rebounds and dealing out nine assists. The Titans, after advancing to the semifinals with victories over Pacific and Northridge, weren’t accurate enough with their shots to get the victory, Jeremiah said. “We could have shot better,” she said. “We probably took too many threes … and we got out rebounded rather badly.” Had they shot better and rebounded better, the game “might have been different in the last minute,” Jeremiah said. The Titans shot 18 of 56 from the field (32 percent), eight of 20 from behind the three-point line (40 percent) and were out-rebounded 41 to 32. But despite their woes in those categories, the Titans still had a chance to at least send the game into overtime on Thomas’ shot. Several UCSB players also thought the shot was going in. It brought Gauchos’ guard Jessica Wilson flashbacks of last year’s tournament finals game against UC Riverside, which UCSB lost on a last second shot that bounced up and in. “It went in and out. I thought of last year,” Wilson said. “I just said ‘thank you, Jesus.’” UCSB’s Jenna Green, who was guarding Thomas on the shot, said, “my heart stopped.” So did the hearts of the Titans. This is the Titans’ fourth consecutive loss in the semifinals. They are 2-4 all-time in Big West Tournament semifinal games.

Cal State Fullerton Gymnasts Enjoy Senior Day Festivities in Win BY SHAWN TRONDSEN

Daily Titan Staff Writer sports@dailytitan.com

Individual wins by Senior Erica Ficarrotta and Freshman Shannon Kawada vaulted the Titans Gymnastics team to a 193.550 – 193.175 victory over a ranked Arizona State, Sunday. The Sun Devils, ranked No. 21 nationally, led by a full point before heading into the final rotation. Three

Arizona State falls, including one by Lisa Lanza, a replacement for Kaitlynn Bormann who left early after an injury on the vault, granted a window of opportunity to Fullerton. Fullerton had stayed alive to that point thanks in-part to a second place all-around finish by Ficarrotta. The Titans were then able to clinch the meet victory in their last event, achieving a season high floor score of 49.075 as the Sun Devils struggled to a 47.700 on beam. “Floor was phenomenal,” said

Titans’ assistant coach Mace Patterson. “We’ve been telling them all year ‘don’t watch the scores’ and they [followed that advice] tonight.” Nicole Lim was one Titan who made the most of her floor routine, scoring a personal season best 9.875 and capturing second place in the event. Like her teammates, she was surprised when the final cumulative scores were announced. “It was definitely an unexpected win,” Lim said. “They’re competitive regionally … but luckily we came

out on top.” Lim was also named the Western Athletic Conference Specialist of the Week on Friday for her performance on beam against San Jose State. “It’s an honor, especially being a senior,” Lim said. “I’m so competitive out there.” Patterson felt Lim’s recognition should have come sooner. “She was due for it,” Patterson said. “I thought she should have gotten it a couple of times before [this season].”

The unexpected victory came on senior day for the Titans, where Lim and Ficarrotta were joined by fellow seniors Ina Higashi-Izumi, Jaime Howe and team captain Brittany Evans. The seniors were given framed photographs and flowers, and were accompanied by family in a ceremony to open the meet. “It was awesome for our seniors to go out on a big win like that. There’s no better way to end your season,” Patterson said. “I’m so proud

of them. It feels great for me, so I can only imagine how great it is for them.” Tears were in the eyes of several of the experienced gymnasts as they were cheered on by teammates after finishing their final floor routines in the Titan Gym. Titans Head Coach Jill Hicks was also excited for the final home win for her seniors. “It was nice to go to floor on our last event and see them have fun,” Hicks said.


10

March 12, 2007

SPORTS

Brown’s Titan Career Ends as the Titans are Bounced Out of the Big West Tournament Men’s basketball guts out an opening round win but loses 81-56 in semis BY JASON KORNFELD

Daily Titan Staff Writer sports@dailytitan.com

For the Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team and Bobby Brown, this wasn’t how it was supposed to end. When the Titans went into their Big West Conference semifinal against Cal Poly on Friday night, getting blown out 81-56 was not something they wanted to see happen. Instead of being able to finish his career on two legs, Brown was forced to limp on one, but he continued to battle with his bruised right knee anyway. “I thought he would have a hard time anyways because he played 48 minutes last night. Our trainer felt that he could play but it really slowed him down,” Titan Head Coach Bob Burton said. “He was not the normal Bobby Brown. It was a tough way for him to end up, but it was tough for our whole team.” The Titans struggled early after Brown injured himself with just less than 12 minutes to play in the first half. The Mustangs went on a 13-0 run at that point. Brown only shot 1-10 in the first half and only had 3 points by the break with the Titans trailing 36-28. He finished the game with 11 points on 3-15 shooting. The Titans were led by Scott Cutley who had 20 points and 10 rebounds. He had nine points by the half. Frank Robinson had seven points in the first half but finished the game with only eight.

By KARL THUNMAN/Daily Titan Photo Editor CONSOLING MOMENT – Cal State Fullerton’s Bobby Brown receives a hug from a supporter after the Titans lost their game against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Friday night at the Anaheim Conveniton Center Arena. The Titans committed 11 first half turnovers to the Mustangs eight. Fullerton only shot 31.4 percent in the first half and a woeful 32.3 percent for the game. The Mustangs shot 38.2 percent in the first half but

improved in the second half shooting 44.4 percent for the game. “I’d like to really congratulate Cal Poly, I thought they played absolutely terrific,” Burton said. “I knew this would be a difficult game, especially

after our game last night.” The Titans started the second half ice cold, not scoring their first points until there was 15:44 left in the game. The Mustangs could do no wrong, going up by 24 points with 13:10 left to play. They proved to be too much for the Titans who had battled in a tough double-overtime victory the night before, when they defeated Pacific 100-92 on Thursday night. “I think the fatigue was bit of a problem but the biggest problem was Cal Poly, they played great defense and shot the ball so well and they really deserved the win they had tonight,” Burton said. With the Titans trailing 71-48, Brown was taken out with 5:30 left to play, wincing in pain. As he was consoled by players and coaches, Brown fought back tears, burying his face in his jersey. “For him to end like this, I just feel for him right now and I hurt inside because I’m so close to him,” Cutley said of Brown. Justin Burns joined Brown on the bench, the two seniors stared blankly at the rest of the game, and then Brown sat on the floor with his head in his jersey. With 2:40 left in the game, Cutley joined them on the bench. “I apologized to both of them when the game was over because I felt like I could have done more,” Cutley said. “For them to end their careers on a blowout, it’s just really disappointing … no one wants to lose like that, it’s heartbreaking.” For Brown, the light at the end of the tunnel is the prospect of playing in the NBA. Burns finished his career with six points, 10 rebounds, SEE MEN’S HOOPS - PAGE 8

... And One BY Jonathan Saavedra

Can Scottie Pippen Help the Lakers? The rumors of the Los Angeles Lakers possibly signing Scottie Pippen seem to get louder and louder as injuries keep piling up and the team continues to freefall out of the playoff picture. Pippen has been mulling a return to the NBA for about a month now and speculation has been circling around a reunion between he and Phil Jackson, who have won six NBA championship rings together. With multiple losing-streaks and recent losses to bottom-feeding teams such as Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Minnesota, there is no question that the Lakers are trying to run their way into securing a playoff spot like a deer with a wounded leg. But is the return of a 41-yearold the answer for this depleted and desperate Los Angeles team? Well, that depends on a number of things, which is probably why the Lakers are carefully looking at their situation before throwing the dice with Scottie. First, the biggest concern is what Pippen can realistically bring to the table. As someone who is more than twice the age of 19-year-old Andrew Bynum, Pippen obviously isn’t the player he once was physically. The last thing the team needs is to sign someone with a history of bad knees. Another question mark is playing time. Jackson recently said, “I have no doubts as to him fitting in on what we do. The question would be how many minutes he could play.” His 40-minute games are likely

well behind him, but 15 to 20 quality minutes as a reserve could make a difference for this team with an inconsistent bench. What Pippen can offer this struggling team is an understanding of the intricacies of the triangle offense. The “point forward” probably knows Jackson’s system better than most of the current Lakers. He also brings veteran leadership to a sophomoric team, as well as playoff experience. He is second in NBA history with 208 playoff appearances. Another characteristic he can probably inject into the team is some of that old-school passion. There are times when the Lakers have a lackadaisical demeanor and seemingly throw in the towel prematurely in games. Outside of Kobe Bryant and Ronny Turiaf, most of the team seems to carry a contagious disinterested attitude in crucial minutes of the game. With 18 games left in the regular season, the Lakers are still in position to hang on to a playoff spot with the possible returns of Luke Walton, Lamar Odom, and Vladimir Radmonivich. If those three players can return and play at a level similar to earlier in the season, Los Angeles can regain the potential it once had. While the hypothetical addition of Pippen won’t put the Lakers over the top and bring them a championship ring, especially with teams like Dallas, Phoenix and Detroit around, it probably wouldn’t hurt much either.

Jonathan Saavedra’s columns appear every Monday. sports@dailytitan.com


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.