Tuesday Oct. 14, 2014

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History of the Titan House

San Gabriel Mountains

Titan House was built in 1886 and is now home to the Athletics Department

The new national monument provides many benefits local residents

Features 4

Tuesday October 14, 2014

The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton

Opinion 6

Volume 96 Issue 24

Robotic arm aids ALS patients Students present research on mechanical arm at engineering conference this month

BRITTANEY CARPENTER Daily Titan

YUNEUN BONAPARTE / DAILY TITAN

Jeanette Reese, an OLLI student and co-coordinator of the flash mob, leads OLLI students in a choreographed flash mob to Pharell’s song Happy in the Quad Monday at noon.

Shakin’ it to celebrate Dozens take part in flash mob to culminate OLLI anniversary celebrations

RACHAEL GARCIA Daily Titan Spontaneous dancing isn’t entirely unusual on college campuses, but when dozens of gray-haired retirees break into a choreographed number, it tends to turn a few heads. To celebrate the institute’s 35th anniversary, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) members shook, shimmied and swayed to Pharrell’s hit song Happy in the quad Monday. With the sound of a sudden foghorn, music started playing and a group began to dance. Two more

groups jumped in a few seconds later. A few minutes later, the song was over, but an encore kept the dancing going. Once the dancing and celebrating stopped, the crowd dispersed and in typical flash mob fashion, it was like nothing had ever happened. OLLI provides study groups, lectures and social activities to retired people with the goal of engaging retirees in continued learning. The Cal State Fullerton OLLI chapter provides members with student benefits, including library access and the option to audit any regular class on campus with professor permission. SEE OLLI

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute • Established as the Continuing Learning Experience in 1979 • Serves 1,500 members with 340 classes per year • A $1 million grant in 2006 from Bernard Osher Foundation led to current name • Osher foundation awarded another $1 million in 2013 • CSUF chapter now part of 119 lifelong learning programs supported by the Osher foundation

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A group of Cal State Fullerton students and one alumnus presented their research on a mind-controlled robotic arm at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) conference last week in San Diego. The students, along with Associate Professor of computer engineering Kiran George, Ph.D., developed the arm last year and began working with patients diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). More commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS is a neurological disorder that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The progressive degeneration of nerves leads to paralysis and eventually death as the nerves become incapable of sending motor signals to the spine and muscles, according to the ALS Association. Approximately 5,600 people are diagnosed with ALS each year. The group is allowing their design to be recreated to benefit those who need it. George and his team of assistants have worked with 12 ALS patients over the past four months on a newer generation of the arm. Now in its third iteration, each version has enabled the arm to complete more and more tasks. SEE IEEE 2

Finding your niche Salsa Club

The CSUF salsa club welcomes students and non-students to learn and practice the dance

DEANNA GOMEZ Daily Titan Every Wednesday a large group meets in the Cal State Fullerton Kinesiology building. They put on their dancing shoes and practice salsa. The CSUF Salsa Club, founded in 2010, gives students an outlet to express their fiery love of dancing. Team Coordinator Joshua Mendoza founded the club after the previous salsa group on campus diminished. The club, once known as Candela, had about 25 members. As the president of Candela was preparing to leave, none of the current members showed any interest in keeping the club going. That is when Mendoza decided to take over and revamp the dying art of salsa dancing at CSUF. At the same time, Kazumi DeVries, the club’s current instructor, was also busy keeping the love of salsa alive. “At one point, the salsa population kind of died

DEANNA GOMEZ / DAILY TITAN

The club’s current instructor, Kazumi DeVries, has over 13 years of experience in salsa dance and teaches members basic salsa moves.

down … I’m a salsa dancer, so I figured I needed to have a place to dance,” DeVries said. DeVries helped keep the salsa scene going by hosting her Clave Lab Social in Fountain Valley. Mendoza was introduced to DeVries through another member of the club. DeVries, who has practiced salsa for about 13

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years, came to the U.S. as an exchange student and began to study art. She is an international artist and was also teaching art at the time Mendoza approached her. Four years later, the club has over 150 members. “There’s a lot of love and care and a lot of thought that’s put into it. I really think Kazumi really cares

for each one of her students ... I think that’s why we got to where we are today. Once the club started, every year we were doubling our membership from then on,” Mendoza said. Mendoza admits it hasn’t always been easy running the club. He said it can be difficult to manage 150 members and figure out the expenses for

the club. However, the club’s executive board as well as DeVries help with responsibilities. The executive board has played a large part in the success of the club, Mendoza said. They are in charge of getting rooms and reservations for all of the clubs events and making sure the events run smoothly. The club is open to both

students, non-students and has two organizations within one. General members meet every Wednesday for FUNdamentals, a class where members learn basic salsa moves and techniques. The other part of the Salsa Club is the competitive team. The organization is set up so that general members can progress and become a part of the competitive team if they wish. After attending the FUNdamentals classes, members can choose to attend the Salsa Academy held on Fridays. The Salsa Academy’s aim is to further member’s techniques and prepare them for the competitive team if they choose to join it. These members come from all walks of life and each has their own reasons for joining the club. “I love to dance and it’s a lot of fun dancing with people. You get to feel the beat and also make some good friends,” said Hugo Diaz, 24, who joined the Salsa Club this semester. “They were always great to me. They were always welcoming.” SEE NICHE

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