SPORTS: Page 8
A look back at the 2007 Titan volleyball squad
Since 1960 Volume 85, Issue 50
OPINION: Scrabulous offers students a break from upcoming finals, page 4 NEWS: CSUF professors get a chance to teach in Florence, Italy, page 3
Daily Titan
Tuesday December 4, 2007
The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton
DTSHORTHAND Free Billiards Billiards will be offered free in the TSU Underground today to students with a valid Titan Card.
Skating into Winter...
Pub Open Mic The TSU Pub will host its weekly open mic session today. All MC’s, poets and musicians are welcome. Cello Choir Cellist Bongshin Ko will direct a group of cellists in a recital of chamber music at the Recital Hall from 8 to 10 p.m. Advance sales tickets are $5 and tickets at the door are $10. Jazz Ensemble II & III Selections from big band to fusion will be played in the Meng Concert Hall from 8 to 10:30 p.m. Advance sales tickets are $8 and tickets at the door are $10.
Pig-headed burglars leave ‘thank you’ note SYDNEY, Australia (AP) – Thieves stole 17.6 tons of ham and bacon from a warehouse and left behind a message busting the owners’ chops, police said Monday. “Thanks,” the crooks daubed on a wall of the Zammit Ham and Bacon curers warehouse. “Merry Christmas.” Police said the robbery occurred some time between late afternoon Saturday and dawn Sunday. Owner Anthony Zammit said that when he arrived for work Monday he found a hole in a wall of the building where the thieves entered. The stolen meat was worth up to $88,000, he said. Zammit said he was offering a $4,420 reward for anyone who helped to recover the meat, and that his company would work overtime to make sure all its Christmas orders were filled. “We’re working 24 hours a day, seven days a week and put on extra staff,” he said. “We won’t let anyone down.”
Correction
Due to a reporting error, information in the article titled “Tuition relief a student concern” in the Dec. 3 issue of the Daily Titan was incorrect. The signatures will be collected statewide. The Daily Titan regrets this error.
WEATHER Today Sunny / High: 79, Low: 55
Wednesday Mostly Cloudy / High: 72, Low: 52
Thursday Cloudy / High: 67, Low: 54
Friday Showers / High: 58, Low: 50
Saturday Showers / High: 56, Low: 47
CONTACT US
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Photos By Sara Borman/For the Daily Titan
A employee for the Irvine Spectrum’s ice skating rink whirls by to make sure the rink is safe for everyone to skate on. The rink is open 7 days a week.
Ice-skating in Irvine
Reese Miller [left] takes her first step onto the ice at the Irvine Spectrum’s outdoor ice skating rink on Friday.
Winters in Orange County might not be covered in snow, but that hasn’t stopped Irvine Spectrum customers from strapping on their skates and taking to the ice. From November to January, an ice rink and even a miniature Zamboni dazzle the young and old winter enthusiasts alike in a lit outdoor setting.
Open Sunday through Thursday until 8:45 p.m. and Friday and Saturday until 12:30 a.m., weary shoppers can spend an hour gliding through life, reminding themselves why this really is “the most wonderful time of the year.” For more, see Page 5
College algebra proves to be a major hurdle for students Over 40 percent of CSUF students failed the course in spring 2007 By Christin davis
Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
Students at Cal State Fullerton are struggling to get through math classes that are required for graduation – 42 percent of students enrolled in College Algebra in the spring ‘07 semester and 32 percent of students in the fall ‘06 semester did not pass. “Math is very technical, demanding, and generally not viewed as fun,” said Math Department Chair Paul De Land. “For many students it’s a huge burden and a high hurdle to jump.” Many undergraduate students trudge through general education requirements doing their best to avoid any class that consists of equations, formulas and theorems only to find themselves with a slate of seemingly unsolvable quadratic equations. The biggest problem, however, is often just passing. “Remembering the formulas and equations make math hard for a lot of people,” said freshman Emmelynn
Photo BY John Sakata/Daily Titan Assistant News Editor Algebra professor Miguel Cedeno said CSUF algebra professors emphasize the importance of understanding algebra to solve real-life problems
Guevara, an undeclared major who is currently enrolled in College Algebra. “They think they don’t need to learn these things but really, we use it in everyday life.” General education at CSUF requires a minimum of three units to be completed in mathematics from
a choice of seven 100-level courses with a grade of “C” or better. Most students choose to fulfill this requirement with the four-unit College Algebra class; 1,682 students are enrolled in 44 sections this semester. One factor for difficulty is a lack of preparation prior to enrollment in
college level math courses. “Math requires several levels of logical thinking, and unless you enjoy that or are trained in it, it can be difficult,” De Land said. Nearly 1.5 million high-school age students took the SAT college entrance exam this year, the largest
group ever according to the College Board, a non profit group that owns the SAT. The mathematics portion of the new test added questions on Algebra II and dropped quantitative comparisons. In California, 49 percent of graduating students took the exam with an average math score of 516. “There are a lot of people who didn’t have the best experience with math growing up,” said Mathematics Professor Martin Bonsangue. “Without a solid arithmetic background, they will continue to struggle.” In teaching math courses, Bonsangue said he uses an interactive approach to involve students in the learning process. “I try to give students a voice and have them do the problems rather than just watch it be solved in lecture,” Bonsangue said. “I try to find a balance between what I can do to nurture and motivate and what students have to do to be successful. Many don’t realize how much time it takes but there are also a lot of people who study and do very well.” For those students who do not perform well on the SAT exam or the Entry Level Mathematics placeSee COLLEGE ALGEBRA Page 3