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LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATE SPEAKS AT CSUF
dailytitan.com NATION | Election
Romney, Obama end last debate in foreign policy ‘agreements’
Presidential contenders vie for undecided citizens’ vote in dead-heat competition NICHOLAS RUIZ Daily Titan
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Gov. Gary Johnson spoke to a crowd of students in the Quad Monday to stand for the Libertarian Party that has classically been underrepresented in the national contest.
Third party represented Gary Johnson speaks about fiscal responsibility and “crony capitalism”
TIM WORDEN & CHRIS KONTE Daily Titan
Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party’s 2012 presidential candidate, visited Cal State Fullerton Monday to promote his message of limited government, saying that voting for a third-party candidate is not a waste of anyone’s vote. Johnson, who served two terms as the New Mexico governor from 1995 to 2003, originally ran as a Republican in this election, but switched to the Libertarian Party in May after a stagnant showing at the beginning of the election cycle. He is known for his views on low-tax-
ation and military nonintervention. He earned the nickname “Governor Veto” for vetoing what he claimed was more than 700 bills, in addition to 1,000 line-item vetoes while in office. By the end of his eight years as governor, the Washington Post reported the size of state government had been considerably reduced and New Mexico was basking in a budget surplus. Students had a chance to meet Johnson before and after the event, which was set up by the CSUF group Students for Gary Johnson. Many attendees to the noontime speech in the Quad wore Johnson and Ron Paul shirts. Johnson said citizens have the power to change the course of the country.
“You’re your own movie director, you’re your own producer, you’re on the screen. Do you like what you see? If you don’t like what you see, change your life. You have control of your life, and you can make that change tomorrow,” Johnson said to the crowd of nearly 120 students. Johnson made his name by founding a construction and handyman company, Big J, that grew to employ a thousand people. He had never been involved in politics before he ran for governor of New Mexico as a Republican in the 1995 election, something he said a Republican chairman at the time told him would not allow him to win. SEE SPEECH, 2
Mitt Romney and Barack Obama faced off Monday evening, debating foreign policy during their third and final showdown while Cal State Fullerton students watched the broadcast at the Pub in the Titan Student Union Underground. Romney adviser Dan Senor told CNN Monday that Romney plans on scrapping his old in-your-face strategy in favor of a calmer demeanor for the last night of debates. “I don’t think this is necessarily a debate where you’re going to see point-for-point scoring,” Senor told CNN. Romney also planned on bringing up the attack on Benghazi, Libya once again for another bite at the apple. Meanwhile, Obama hoped to capitalize on his experience with national security and foreign policy over the last three years, including the killing of international terrorist Osama bin Laden, according to Reuters. Nicholas Fabrizio, 23, a business major, is one of the many independent and undecided voters in this year’s election that are looking to the debates for a deciding factor. Fabrizio voted for Republican presidential candidate John McCain in 2008, but is not sure if he
Florida sets ethnic proficiency goals
Controversial strategic plan contested on local and national levels Daily Titan
Dormant flower reeks like Halloween Rare “Corpse Flower” budding in Greenhouse Complex, set to skip this Halloween but bloom next year DOMINIQUE ROCKER Daily Titan
Halloween is just around the corner, which means the creepy and the dead are popping up out of the Earth—literally. Amorphophallus titanum, more commonly and affectionately known as the “Corpse Flower,” is a plant that blossoms only once every few years, and when it does, it brings a stench to match the Halloween season. The intrigue surrounding the strange flower is about more than just the reek. Generally, this tropical plant goes through a slow growth process; it spends years as a long, leafy green stem that will grow tall, without flowering. Perhaps most interesting of all, it blooms every three or four years and does not stay open for very long. Edward Read, the manager of the Cal State Fullerton Biology Greenhouse Complex, explained the process. “Each year, it puts out one leaf, until the corn gets to a big enough size to flower. When it does, it will make a big inflorescent that lasts a month or two. When it opens, it only lasts like two to three nights,” said Read.
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There are several leafy plants currently housed in the greenhouses (located behind the water towers across from Clayes Performing Arts Center). The Arboretum also had two Corpse Flowers given to them from the greenhouses. One of these, named Tiffy, last bloomed in 2006. Tiffy was originally planted in 1993 and has blossomed every three to four years from that
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time until 2006. Tiffy’s spadix, the tall middle stem when the flower is open, was over four feet tall and still growing when it last bloomed. The spathe (petal-like structure surrounding the spadix) was expected to reach almost three feet across in full bloom. SEE FLOWER, 2
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NATION | Education
JONATHAN WINSLOW
CAMPUS | Greenhouse
will take the red route this time around. “I don’t always side with the Republicans. I am willing to go with whoever I feel will do the job correctly,” said Fabrizio. He is wary of Obama’s economic record, but is no fan of Romney’s stance on social issues, including abortion. “Since I disagree with Romney’s stance on most social issues, I’m not sure which way to go. Him being pro-life—I’m very against that. You can believe what you want to believe, but you shouldn’t make the rest of the country believe in that same idea,” said Fabrizio. The debate viewing in the Pub was hosted by Associated Students Inc. and had several students in attendance, including Britney Bencomo, 24, a psychology major. Bencomo said she is a proud Democrat who has been politically active from her younger days. “Ever since I was able to vote I’ve really taken an interest because it affects me directly. Not only as a woman but as a student,” said Bencomo. Even though she already plans on voting for Obama, Bencomo looks forward to the debate just to hear what the candidates will say. Bob Schieffer, a CBS News correspondent was the moderator of the final debate, and opened by introducing the candidates and establishing the rules, such as the prohibition of reactions from the audience.
A new strategic plan approved for Florida’s public schools, which includes proficiency goals based on students’ race, has been met with some controversy in the past weeks with opposition claiming that these goals stunt graduation and retention rates. The plan, approved by the Florida State Board of Education earlier this month, is aimed at closing the achievement gap between different subgroups of students and includes performance goals based on the race and economic status of students. For example, the plan sets a goal of 92 percent of Asian students being proficient in math, while only aiming for 74 percent of AfricanAmerican students and 78 percent of economically disadvantaged students to achieve that same level. Proponents of the plan argue that a group-specific approach is justified in light of the considerable achievement gap between subgroups of students in Florida schools. The plan points out that currently only 40 percent of African-American students are at or above grade level in math, compared to almost double the number among Asian students. Additionally, reading scores are also greatly disproportionate, with Asian and white students 10 percent apart compared to Hispanic and African-American students which are substantially lower. It is believed by supporters of the plan that with such goals in
place, all students in Florida’s public schools will be at grade level in reading and math by 2022. Keeping track of the performance of students in categories arranged by race and economic standing is nothing new. The No Child Left Behind Act requires schools to report on how such groups of students are performing already. Scott Spitzer, Ph.D., a political science professor at California State Fullerton, said requesting such information from schools is an important part of tackling the issue of the achievement gap that does appear between different groups of students. “In order for us to address a problem, we need to be able to identify where we are at now, and be able to track progress, and the only way to do that is to measure it,” said Spitzer. “If you just hide your head in the sand and say, ‘Oh, we don’t want to pay attention to race,’ then you’re never going to address the problem.” Spitzer predicted this plan will likely not fly politically, due to the fact that it comes across to many members of the public as an attempt to racially stratify the public education system. Sofia Herrera, 18, a theatre education major, said she believes it is wrong to racially categorize students at all when it comes to education. “Just because I’m Hispanic doesn’t mean I’m dumber than anybody else,” said Herrera. “There’s some kids that are lazier than the others—maybe they just need a little push. They don’t need their standards to be lower just so they can stay at their level.” SEE FLORIDA, 3