O DailyTITAN
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S Volume 84, Issue 50
So Soft and So Fuzzy
Antics of a D.C. Madam
Fans of anthropomorphic animals gathered in Costa Mesa THE HUB, p. 4
Will she name the high-profile OPINION, p. 5 clients on her list?
D T
Tuesday May 8, 2007
T S V C S U, F
VP Smith Impacts CSUF Academics
Design Team Prospers
BY COLLEEN BARRETT
Smith has established academic partnerships with universities in news@dailytitan.com Taiwan, China, Germany and Lithuania. Vice President for Academic Af“We’ve been doing this for many fairs Ephraim Smith has a profound years, and we have very strong reimpact on the academic experiences lationships with schools overseas,” of students at Cal State Fullerton Smith said. from his “behind-the-scenes” posiHe said CSUF hosts one to three tion. groups from China at any given Smith is responsible for over time and currently has a group in 1,500 faculty members and over- from Germany as well. sees every aspect of academic life These students study a variety at CSUF, including faculty em- of majors while in attendance at ployment, admissions and records, CSUF, but he finds that business academic advisement, program de- and engineering are the most popuvelopment, libraries, and the uni- lar choices. versity budget. Smith is an “Academic Afaccountant by fairs is different training. He from Student never worked as You watch these Affairs in that a professional programs develop, Student Affairs is accountant, but work hard to get them concerned with instead used his what is happentraining for acaapproved, and some of ing outside the demic purposes. them are very successful. classroom while Originally from – E S I am concerned Massachusetts, VP for Academic Affairs with what hapSmith earned pens inside the his bachelors, c l a s s r o o m ,” masters and docSmith said. “Evtorate degrees in erything inside accounting from the classroom we look at, from put- various universities back east before ting the furniture in the room to coming to California in 1990 to work putting the students in the room.” as the dean of the School of Business Smith said interacting with peo- at CSUF. He was chosen to serve as ple and program development are vice president for academic affairs in the most rewarding aspects of his June 1998. job. “All my life I just assumed I would “You watch these programs de- go into teaching,” Smith said. velop, work hard to get them apIf his schedule allows, Smith still proved, and then some of them are teaches an accounting course in fedvery successful,” Smith said. eral income tax at CSUF. He said the most difficult part Writing is one of Smith’s principle of his job is annual faculty perfor- interests outside of work. He has mance evaluations. written five books on accounting and “We review the faculty, and management, one of which is now in sometimes we don’t have a good fit its 23rd edition. with one of the hires. So you have While Smith has plans for expandsome difficult decisions to make ing and strengthening new and curand it can be stressful,” he said. “I rent programs at CSUF, the grandhave all those files I have to read father of five has no specific personal tonight,” Smith said, pointing to a plans for the future. cart holding around 17 three-inch “I take it a year at a time,” Smith binders full of paperwork. said. Daily Titan Staff Writer
BY MICHELLE RAMOS
Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
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BY KARL THUNMAN/Daily Titan Photo Editor SWING BATTER - The Titan’s Chris Jones swings for an incoming pitch during the second game against the
University of Pacific on Saturday, April 21. The Titans won 2-0.
Each year students of Engineering 419 gear up to compete against schools around the globe in the Society of Automotive Engineers Collegiate Design Competitions. Of the five major projects produced, two of them competed at the competition this year, which included a radiocontrolled aircraft and a Mini Baja, which is a dune buggy-like vehicle. The class, taught by engineering Professor Jesa Kreiner, provides an arena for graduating mechanical engineering students to put their knowledge to the test. In aero design, a team of six students designed and constructed a radio-controlled aircraft that was set out to carry as much cargo weight as possible within a restricted wing area of 1,000 square inches. The testing process was conducted with the help of a wind-tunnel that would simulate actual flight. With the help of computer modeling and simulation, they were able to create landing gear that would allow the plane to ease safely onto the ground. At this year’s competition the safety of the landing gear could not stop an untimely crash. “We were in eighth place after our presentation and technical report, and then we had an engine malfunction, [the plane] crashed and snapped the wing in half,” 29-yearold engineering student Tony Bova said. Out of 37 teams, Cal State Fullerton’s aero design team placed 17th SEE ENGINEERING - PAGE 3
California Faculty Association OKs Tentative Contract BY YVONNE VILLARREAL
Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
California Faculty Association members voted unanimously to accept the tentative agreement it reached with the California State University administration in April. Union members voted on deals about issues of salary, workload, parking, grievances and appointments through recommendations offered in the fact-finding report. “It’s a good contract,” said CFA Fullerton chapter President G. Nanjundappa. “I’m glad most of the faculty members were happy with it.” Under the new contract, faculty would receive raises that would total 20.7 percent, in phases retroactive to July 2006 through 2010. In addition, some faculty will get added
raises based on merit, seniority and new salary steps fashioned in their pay ladders, according to the union’s Web site. The total salary package will cost CSU more than $400 million over four years, according to the CSU Web site. A contract vote was held last week, in which 97 percent of CFA members voted to approve the provisional contract – after nearly two years of negotiations that almost resulted in a strike. CFA’s 12,000 union members were eligible to vote on the ratification of the tentative agreement, although the union bargains on behalf of about 23,000 campus workers. The contract vote brought in a 65 percent voter turnout last week, down from the 81 percent who cast their ballot in April on whether to sanction
a series of two-day rolling strikes. “I am pretty confident that they’ll ratify the agreements and make it a reality,” Nanjundappa said. The CSU Trustees, which include 19 members and 1 student alternate, will decide whether to implement the contract during their May 15 meeting, according to Paul Browning, a CSU spokesman. “We are happy to ratify this contract and hope that the CSU administration will do the same,” CFA President John Travis said in a press release. “Through intense negotiations, faculty activism and finally strike preparations, the CSU faculty have won a contract that provides fair salaries, retirement security, proper grievance procedures and much more.” “Our focus now is on ensuring the university has adequate resources to pay for compensation increases,”
CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed said in a statement. “We will continue working with the Legislature and the Governor to secure additional funding to minimize campus impacts.” According to a CSU press release, the average salary for a tenure-track faculty member will increase from $74,000 to $90,749, and the average salary for a full-time, full professor with tenure from $86,000 to $105,465 by the end of the contract period. The strike was a “key factor” in producing an agreement both the union and the CSU could agree on, according to Nanjundappa. “It sent a strong message to the chancellor that we were not happy with the way he dealt with negotiations,” Nanjundappa said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Kinesiology Bathrooms Get Fresh Makeover BY MISA NGUYEN
Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
BY REBECCA HARTNESS/Daily Titan Photo Editor
ACADEMIC TITAN - Ephraim Smith, Vice President for Academic Affairs since June 1998, poses in front of a ceiling-high book shelves in his office.
With leaking bowls and mangled tile, the Physical Plant has started their restroom reconstruction in the classroom wing of the Kinesiology and Health Science building. “There are certain restrooms that are long overdue for a major overhaul,” said Willem van der Pol, director of Cal State Fullerton’s Physi-
cal Plant. Older restrooms in the Kinesiology and Health Science building have toilets that leak when you flush them, said Albert Beltran, the intramural sports coordinator. But the newer ones are so much nicer with new wash places and new showers, he added. Restrooms where the paint has dulled to a yellow color, the valves are broken and the chrome has worn off [which] can really detract stu-
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dents, faculty and staff from using them, van der Pol said. The restrooms that receive complaints from students and faculty are usually the restrooms in older buildings. “It’s not that they’re not clean - we clean them everyday,” van der Pol said. “But no matter how much you scrub, it still looks 40 years old.” Asserting the fact that the kinds of restrooms with worn-off chrome accents and urine stains are the ones in
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need of an upgrade, van der Pol also assured that these exact restrooms are the ones that will be receiving the overdue makeover. Everything will be taken out – including partisans, sinks and mirrors – and replaced with brand new tiles on the walls, new lighting, new partisans, new toilets and new urinals, van der Pol said. SEE BATHROOM - PAGE 3
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