Magic Johnson to speak on campus Wednesday News Thursday February 26, 2015
Student kicks off career at Nickelodeon
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Features
The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton
Volume 97 Issue 17
Man arrested on sexual battery charges At least seven incidents took place near CSUF CYNTHIA WASHICKO Daily Titan A 21-year-old man was arrested Tuesday suspected of at least seven accounts of sexual battery over the past few months, according to a release from the Fullerton Police Department. Jose Alfredo
Gradilla-Cuevas, of La Habra, was arrested by Fullerton Police Department officers in conjunction with University Police. On Tuesday, officers saw Gradilla Cuevas watch a woman walking on Nutwood Avenue, park and exit his car, run up behind the woman and slap her buttocks, according to the report. He then ran from the scene and was detained by officers. The arrest comes after two Cal State Fullerton students were victims of the same type of assault Jan. 26.
During that incident, both women were walking between Commonwealth and San Carlos Avenue, and both reported a man coming up behind them and grabbing their buttocks. Officers had been searching for a male suspect involved in at least seven incidents of sexual battery, and identified Gradilla-Cuevas’ car as similar to one captured on surveillance video from an earlier assault, according to the report. During the several weeks of surveillance, officers
observed Gradilla-Cuevas stalking dozens of possible victims in Fullerton, Placentia and La Habra. None of the victims were injured in the reported incidents. Gradilla-Cuevas is suspected of approaching women from behind, grabbing their bodies and running away on multiple occasions between August 2014 and February 2015. All of the incidents occurred between 5-9 p.m., according to the report. The incidents occurred in northeastern Fullerton
near the CSUF campus. Fullerton Police believe there may be additional victims in the cities of Fullerton, Placentia and La Habra. Anyone with information should contact Detective C. Wright from the Fullerton Police Department Family Crimes Unit at (714) 738-6754. Anyone who would like to provide information anonymously can call the Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1(855) TIP-OCCS or go to their website at CrimeStoppers.org.
Cadets take to the skies
COURTESY OF FULLERTON PD
Jose Alfredo Gradilla-Cuevas
CSUF center is off the grid Self-sustainable facility provides hands-on learning STEPHANIE GOMEZ Daily Titan
AMANDA SHARP / DAILY TITAN
ROTC cadets from CSUF and other universities took part in a helicopter training exercise Wednesday. The cadets flew in Black Hawk helicopters to gain experience of what it’s like to fly in one of the choppers.
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Titans gets walked off by USD A three-run seventh inning propelled Toreros
SOFTBALL
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RUDY CHINCHILLA Daily Titan The Cal State Fullerton softball team lost in heartbreaking fashion at the USD Softball Complex, falling to the University of San Diego Toreros, 3-2. The Titans and the Toreros headed into the game in complete opposite form. The Titans went down to San Diego having won their two previous games against the University of Nevada and Oklahoma State, respectively. Meanwhile, the Toreros were coming off a pair of losses to UC Riverside. Head Coach Kelly Ford
3 opted for redshirt junior Desiree Ybarra in the circle, the only Fullerton pitcher with a sub-three earned run average. Her opposite number in the San Diego circle was Paige Von Sprecken. Both pitchers did a fine job nullifying the other team’s attack. Ybarra pitched six innings of shutout ball, allowing only three hits over that span. Von Sprecken, however, was equal to her Fullerton foe’s efforts; she was able to shutout the Titan offense for five innings while
AMANDA SHARP / DAILY TITAN FILE PHOTO
The Cal State Fullerton softball team suffered a 3-2 heartbreaking loss Wednesday to the Toreros of the University of San Diego after taking a 2-0 lead into the seventh.
also allowing only three hits in the process. The bats stayed quiet for much of the contest. Courtney Rodriguez entered the game with a .472 batting average through 53 at-bats, while Taukeiaho held a .409 batting average after 44 atbats on the season.
Rodriguez managed two hits off four at-bats, but failed to record a single run batted in. As for Taukeiaho, the junior managed one run off two at-bats, while also being left on base twice. After the prolonged lack of action, the bats finally lit up in the sixth inning.
The action started with a Delynn Rippy single to right-center field. Taukeiaho then stepped up to the plate, but was walked to first, moving Rippy to second in the process. Eliza Crawford then took command of things. SEE SOFTBALL
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Closing arguments begin in Torrez murder trial Arguments set to continue Thursday SPENCER CUSTODIO Daily Titan The prosecution began its closing statements Wednesday in its attempt
to convince a jury to convict Samuel Lopez of first degree murder. Lopez is accused of killing CSUF student Cathy Torrez in February 1994. Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy told the jury that he would paint them a picture so complete that they would be able to look back in 10 years and be convinced that Lopez killed
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Torrez. The defense maintains that Xavier Lopez, Samuel’s cousin, was responsible for Torrez’s murder. Murphy acknowledged that only Xavier’s DNA and fingerprint were found on the scene and on Cathy’s blouse, but reiterated that Xavier did not have a relationship with Torrez and had no real reason to kill her
outside of helping Lopez. Murphy acknowledged that Xavier’s DNA was not found on Torrez or in her car, but reminded the jury that blood can be cleaned off surfaces. He stressed that jurors shouldn’t be focusing on what is there, but rather what is not. Murphy told the jury that Samuel Lopez was seen by the prosecution’s witnesses
doing nothing to aid the search for Torrez. Murphy also showed the jurors some video clips of Samuel stretching, reading his soda can and playing with his hat in a police interrogation room. Something, Murphy said, that normal people don’t do when they learn a loved one has died. SEE TRIAL
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The “crack, crack, crack” sound of stone hitting stone echoes into the into the distance, as a group of flintknapping students sit in a circle hard at work. It is Amy Marymors first try at flintknapping, which is the shaping of stones into arrowheads or other tools by striking them with another stone in a systematic manner. Marymors, a bay area resident and teacher for the West Contra Costa School Unified School District, sits under the shade of the patio built behind the main building at the California State Desert Studies Center in the Mojave National Preserve. Marymor is taking an extended education class in flintknapping offered by the Desert Studies Center through the University of California, Riverside. “It’s a really good opportunity for people who wouldn’t come out to the desert otherwise, to come out with their course work and get credit and learn about what it’s like out here,” Marymor said. “If they don’t come back again, at least they have this experience and have a little better understanding of what the desert is like.” The center runs like a mini campus in itself, said Jason Wallace, the Desert Studies Center’s Site Steward. Multiple buildings hold dorms, a bathhouse, laboratory space and small classrooms. By providing a space for living, in an otherwise harsh climate, the center facilitates groups traveling to the desert to study everything from photography, art in science, geology and even hosts NASA scientists. The main building holds a dining hall, kitchen and class space. It faces a manmade pond called Lake Tuendae, a habitat for the endangered Mojave tui chub fish. Palm trees line the dirt path encircling the pond with various benches, allowing visitors to view the waterfowl attracted to the pond and the scenic view of Soda Lake. SEE CENTER
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