Thursday April 7, 2016

The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton

Thursday April 7, 2016

Volume 99 Issue 33

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CFA, CSU undergoing final negotiations Fact-finding report agitates last effort to make agreement MICAH AUGIMERI-LEE Daily Titan A 48-hour “blackout period” was announced Wednesday as talks between the California

Students teach OLLI language classes

Faculty Association (CFA) and California State University (CSU) management intensify before an impending campuswide strike.

The blackout period was spurred by the an independent fact-finder’s report released at the end of March that agreed with the CFA’s request for a salary increase, thus making the proposed faculty strike legal.

Both CSU management and the CFA have agreed not to speak to any news outlets during this 48-hour time frame, nor to participate in campuswide communications and strike preparations.

The sides hope to come to an agreement on a salary increase for members of the CFA, according to an email obtained by the Daily Titan from Jennifer Eagan, CFA’s president.

“During this quiet time, we hope to develop an agreement that not only settles this contract reopener, but also can lead to an improved relationship between the faculty and the CSU administration,” the email read.

The CFA was encouraged to hear CSU Chancellor Timothy White express his concerns about the impact the strike may have on both students

and faculty, Eagan wrote. This blackout period marks the first time that White will directly participate in negotiations with the CFA, according to the email.

If a tentative agreement is made by the end of the blackout period, there will be no need for the CFA to strike, but if an agreement is not made, “it will be full speed ahead toward the strike,” the email said.

The outcome of the final negotiation will be released Friday morning.

The CFA will strike across all campuses in the CSU system if the chancellor does not meet faculty demands for a 5-percent General Salary Increase and a 2.65-percent Service Salary Increase for all CSU faculty. The five-day strike is set to occur from April 13 to 15 and April 18 to 19.

Mock Palestinian apartheid wall erected in CSUF quad

Spanish majors instruct seniors at learning institute AMBER MASON Daily Titan Elena Brenes was so nervous, she could hardly sleep.

She was finally about to put everything she learned as a Cal State Fullerton Spanish graduate student into practice by teaching for the first time. She joked she was hoping an earthquake would strike and prevent her from entering the classroom.

“It was nerve-wracking; it was exciting and I was a mess coming in,” Brenes said.

She entered her classroom and faced a room full of people who were eager to learn Spanish. Brenes was not teaching as a CSUF professor, but as a volunteer at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).

OLLI offers hundreds of classes, ranging from the arts to foreign languages, to older adults on the CSUF campus, mostly in the Ruby Gerontology Center. The institute also provides language students the opportunity to teach classes.

While Brenes said she was nervous the first time she took on the teacher role, she came back every Wednesday to continue teaching.

As she gained more experience, teaching became less nerve-wracking, Brenes said.

“I leave on a cloud, especially if I see someone learn something or someone takes the time to tell you that they’ve learned something,” she said.

Brenes was invited to become a volunteer at OLLI by Mercedes Vargas, who graduated with a master’s degree in Spanish in April 2015.

The two women decided to volunteer for the program to get experience with teaching Spanish. Both are native speakers who had little to no experience teaching native English speakers.

SEE TEACH

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NOLAN MOTIS / DAILY TITAN

A mock Palestinian apartheid wall was erected in the CSUF quad Wednesday in hopes of raising awareness about current issues in Palestine. The wall was covered with statistics and phrases such as “anti-oppression” and “theft of the land.”

Students for Justice in Palestine aimed to raise awareness EMILY DIECKMAN Daily Titan A mock “apartheid wall” painted with phrases such as “Freedom Fighters,”

“Theft of the Land,” “Home Demolitions” and “Imprisoned Within” was constructed Wednesday in the Cal State Fullerton quad in hopes of raising awareness about issues in Palestine.

Members of the CSUF chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) began erecting the wall from about 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.,

as students stopped by to read it during the construction and throughout the day.

“Lots of times, the media does not cover the Palestinian narrative,” said Noor Salameh, SJP president.

“But bringing this wall to campus just really exposes that and allows students to really see for themselves a lot of things that they may

equivalent of $59 per person in aid to Sub-Saharan Africa, and $6,482 per person in aid to Israel.

“I didn’t know they had prisoners; I didn’t know they would demolish Palestinians’ homes,” said Perla Macias, a 20-year-old anthropology major who was observing the wall.

SEE WALL

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Tour highlights new campus terrain The event aimed to shed light on CSUF’s water reduction EMILY DIECKMAN Daily Titan In honor of California Poppy Day, a group of plant enthusiasts and sustainability experts gathered for a tour of Cal State Fullerton’s water conservation efforts Wednesday.

Since CSUF started its “brown is the new green” initiative, the campus has been shifting its look from lush, grassy lawns to more drought-friendly landscapes, while trying to maintain an aesthetic appeal.

The tour was coordinated by contractors and architects leading the development, members of the CSUF Center for Sustainability and Fullerton Arboretum staff, said Tamara Wallace, Sustainability Projects coordinator. The professional and organizational development department also helped put together the event, said Marian Sherman, organizational development analyst.

Mike Sullivan, one of the landscape architects who helped design the new, more drought-tolerant areas of campus, said that the changes from turfs to meadows have helped to reduce water usage by 65 percent.

SEE TOUR

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NOLAN MOTIS / DAILY TITAN

People were invited to join in on a tour of Cal State Fullerton that sought to educate about the steps the campus has taken to mitigate its water usage.

Workshop teaches marketing strategies

FC Barcelona fan explores European cities

Former brand director of Disney and Wet Seal presents insight into how to become successful in a 2 competitive field

CSUF student’s dream to see his favorite soccer team led him on an adventure through two countries over 4 spring break

News

not have access to from everyday media.”

The wall was covered in statistics about the alleged injustices committed against the Palestinian people, including Israeli prison statistics and the amount of money Israel receives from U.S. foreign assistance starting during World War II. An infographic demonstrated that the U.S. has offered the

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Features

Emoticons can be used to expand dialogue

Opinion

The trendy icons broaden discourse by allowing imagery to convey thoughts that language can6 not articulate VISIT US AT: DAILYTITAN.COM

PAGE 2 APRIL 7, 2016 THURSDAY

Tour: Campus prepared for drought CONTINUED FROM

NOLAN MOTIS / DAILY TITAN

CSUF applied a combination of native and adaptive materials to form the campus’s new landscape.

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“There’s a combination of native and adaptive materials that you can use to make a new kind of California landscape,” Sullivan said. “There’s a whole variety of things you can do and keep the water down.”

Using a variety of landscaping materials to replace the grass, rather than the initial proposal of a uniform material like gravel, has saved the project over $1 million, Wallace said.

Megan Moscol, Sustainability Programs manager at CSUF, pointed out several places on campus where efforts to conserve water have been put in place. For example, she said the campus uses rotator heads on

sprinklers that save water by distributing it in streams, rather than in one solid, circular spray.

“That actually improves the efficiency of water delivery because you lose much less to what they call drift, where the wind can blow it away, or evaporation,” she said.

Moscol said that certain areas on campus, such as the areas near the dorms, the gym pool and the library, are now hydroseed areas.

Hydroseed is a solution of mulch and seeds that is sprayed out of a hose under high pressure to cover an area in seeds, said George Meadows, landscape contractor for CSUF’s shift toward sustainability.

NEWS

“The grasses are planted on a grid as a matrix, and then the flowering plants are put on that matrix here and there,” Sullivan said.

“Hydroseed is more like a shotgun approach. You’re just hoping for the best.”

Everyone who spoke during the walking tour said that they are trying to encourage acceptance of California’s natural climate and the colors of its accompanying plant life.

“In the summer, it sort of goldens up, and we’re trying to say that really, this is fine,” said Laurie Martz, another landscape architect on the project. “This is just part of the progression.”

Another tour will take place on Earth Day, April 22, from noon to 1 p.m.

FOR THE RECORD It is Daily Titan policy to correct factual errors printed in the publication. Corrections will be published on the subsequent issue after an error is discovered and will appear on page 2. Errors on the Opinion page will be corrected on that page.

Corrections will also be made to the online version of the article.

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Pfizer deal ruined by new rules A $152 million merger between pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Allergan ultimately failed Wednesday due to policies put in place by the Obama administration, according to The New York Times.

The Obama administration created an “aggressive and expansive series of rule changes” Tuesday with the goal of limiting an American company’s ability to shed its corporate citizenship as a strategy to avoid taxes.

Though Pfizer has seen steady growth, investors will eventually push toward another big move like the recent failed deals so that the stock grows even higher.

- MICAH AUGIMERI-LEE

PATRICK DO / DAILY TITAN

Editorial

DTBRIEFS

Joe Burke, former brand director for Disney and Wet Seal, presented his lecture “Anatomy of Yes: How People Get What They Want” for students interested in entrepreneurship.

Startup lecture focuses on marketing strategies Former brand director shares insight with future entrepreneurs BRENT CABATAN Daily Titan Joe Burke, known for work with companies such as Disney and Wet Seal, presented marketing and advertising strategies at Cal State Fullerton’s Startup Incubator, “The Importance of Narrative in Startup Marketing.”

Many attending the lecture were trying to get their own businesses off the ground.

The point of this seminar was to not only provide more fundamental marketing knowledge, but also an organic place for like-minded people to network.

Burke was the former brand director of Wet Seal, brand director of Disney and vice president of marketing and community development for Goodwill in Orange County.

Burke’s presentation was called “Anatomy of Yes:

How People Get What They Want.”

John Bradley Jackson, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, said that the Startup Incubator program started in January of 2015, and because of graduates coming back for help, the program is not an uncommon one in entrepreneurship, he said.

Much of the seminar revolved around what he described as “archetypal patterns,” and how a majority of companies and advertisers use these base archetypes in a lot of marketing and advertising.

Burke inquired about one of the attendees’ companies and applied what he called the “Dragon and the Treasure,” and how it applied to his brand.

“The customer is always the hero. What you are doing is giving the hero the tools to complete their journey,” Burke said.

He talked about how Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump knows marketing and media and

that he is doing things in his campaign that a lot of companies don’t do. “(First off) he has a visual hammer. A visual hammer is something you see all the time, and it’s his hair … that is his identifying mark,” Burke explained. “The second thing he does is he understands mantras. What he is saying with his mantra is ‘Build a wall, build a wall, build a wall’ … he knows that they work.”

The seminar concluded with a Q & A session and Burke offered to connect an audience member to someone he knew to use as a resource.

The CSUF Startup Incubator program takes applications for those who want to become part of the program, provided the applicant’s business concept is stable and he or she can finance it for at least six months. CSUF Startup Incubator events are free and open to anyone who wants to learn about entrepreneurship.

Sanders, Cruz win Wisconsin Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Bernie Sanders won the Wisconsin primaries Tuesday with 48.2 percent and 56.6 percent respectively, according to NPR. Hillary Clinton got 43.1 percent while Donald Trump had 35.1 percent, and Gov. John Kasich came in at 14.1 percent.

Sanders has won Utah, Idaho, Hawaii, Alaska and Washington, but is still behind in the number of delegates needed for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Out of the 86 Democratic delegates up for grabs in Wisconsin, Sanders picked up at least 45, while Hillary Clinton picked up at least 31, according to the Associated Press.

- MONSE RODRIGUEZ

UN workers allegedly raped girls U.N. peacekeepers allegedly raped and abused over 100 women, girls and boys in the Central African Republic, according to CNN. United Nations senior official Jane Holl Lute is headed to the Central African Republic in an effort to stop the peacekeepers’ abuse, said Farhan Haq, U.N. spokeswoman.

Sexual abuse allegations have been reported since the U.N. sent forces to the country two years ago.

The Central African Republic is one of the world’s poorest nations, where Christian and Muslim militias battle for control after mainly Muslim rebels expelled President Francois Bozize in March 2013.

- MONSE RODRIGUEZ

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NEWS

PAGE 3 THURSDAY APRIL 7, 2016

NOLAN MOTIS / DAILY TITAN

Wednesdays wall demonstration proved to be more peaceful than the same event last year when a student kicked the wall and spat on it. The goal of the wall is to give students an opportunity to learn about Palestinian struggles that are not covered much in American mainstream media.

Wall: Event aimed to show struggles CONTINUED FROM

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SJP and other similar student groups have been criticized for being anti-Semitic or for demonizing Israel.

During last semester’s wall demonstration, a student kicked the wall and spat on it, while yelling slurs about Palestinians. However, Salameh emphasizes that the

issue is political, rather than religious.

“Israel does not represent Judaism, and I know that because I have stood in solidarity with Jewish people all over the country,” Salameh said.

“It’s not a religious issue. It’s really a political one.”

Salameh and other club members also emphasize that the wall, while a good way

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to present information, is not the only problem Palestinians face.

“I want people to understand this is really a serious matter. It’s not something that’s just like, ‘Here’s a wall, here’s a few facts,’” said Fadia Mohd, an SJP member.

Both Salameh and Mohd are Palestinian and have seen the actual wall. Seeing the

wall in person made it clear it was a blurry split between Israeli and Palestinian territories, Salameh said.

“It’s just really inhumane to see. It’s huge,” Salameh said. “It’s just very eye-opening to see something like that built that’s separating you from other parts of your neighborhood.”

SJP also created a type

of board game out of a map of the CSUF campus. A row of pushpins divided the campus like a real apartheid wall and there were 19 checkpoints on the board map, representing the checkpoints Palestinians have to go through to navigate their own neighborhoods.

“In a space as small as campus, you would have to

go through multiple checkpoints, depending on where you’re going, and at checkpoints, they can ask you anything,” Salameh said. “They reserve the right to deny you entry.”

The mock wall will be on campus again Thursday, and SJP members will be available to answer questions about the issue.

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FEATURES

PAGE 4 APRIL 7, 2016 THURSDAY

Soccer dream takes student abroad

FC Barcelona fan spends spring break exploring Europe VICTOR GALLEGOS Daily Titan

Disclaimer: Victor Gallegos is a staff writer for the Daily Titan.

It was pouring outside, yet there in the middle of the historic Altare della Patria, two flames kept burning, unfazed by the storm that was flooding every street. This was day two of a long-awaited vacation to Europe, and Rome was the epicenter of everything.

It was March 27, Easter Sunday. Thousands of travelers flocked to the Vatican to hear the pope speak. But I stood on the steps of the Altare della Patria, in awe of its detail.

After years of desiring to travel to Europe to watch my favorite soccer club play live, I finally had the opportunity to do so during spring break.

Originally, my plan was to only visit Spain for two weeks, with the whole trip based around when FC Barcelona played.

At the last minute, I had a change of plans and decided that I would take advantage of being on a different continent by exploring as much as I could. My trip began March 26, when I landed in the city of Rome.

Rome is a city that blurs the line between its past and present. Visit the countless historical monuments, like I did, and one can’t help but relive the glory that was the Roman Empire.

Each object is so meticulously crafted, with such high attention to detail and pride.

But I couldn’t help but get the feeling that Rome is living off its past, sort of gliding along in nostalgia.

I had the opportunity to visit the Colosseum, more commonly known in Rome as the Flavian Amphitheatre. It epitomizes the era of the great Roman Empire.

My first impression was that it is massive. The amphitheater, which housed up to 50,000 spectators, was used for gladiator games, executions and killing of animals.

I had the fortune of tagging along with an Italian family from Milan. Throughout the tour, our guide, speaking in Italian, pointed out the Colosseum’s significance in Roman and Italian history.

To get an idea of how popular the Colosseum is, there was a two-hour line to gain entrance, and due to the incident at Brussels’ airport, police and military personnel roamed the grounds for added safety.

The tour was definitely worth it. Once the sightseeing was finished, I retreated back to the outskirts of Rome, which had a much different feel. Graffiti decorated nearly every building, especially the metro station buildings. The city had a very hard-nosed feel. Everybody worked and went about their business. It reminded me of Los Angeles.

I departed Rome, en route to spending two days in the city of Venice.

Venice is unique in every way imaginable. The first thing I noticed about Venice is how old the buildings look. It is a testament to the city that these buildings still stand.

Water-buses are the primary mode of transportation.

The highlights of my time in Venice included taking a gondola tour through the canals and eating at various restaurants.

One in particular, called Dal Moro’s – Fresh Pasta To Go, is home to possibly the world’s best pasta. Pasta is cooked to order and created right in front of the customer’s eyes. It is

VICTOR GALLEGOS / DAILY TITAN

Victor Gallegos, CSUF communications major, spent years dreaming of watching his favorite soccer team, FC Barcelona, play in their home stadium, Camp Nou (above). He was finally able to do so over spring break, cramming in visits to many historic cities along the way.

then handed off in a small carton to-go, with many customers eating the pasta right outside the restaurant overlooking a canal.

Venetian people, I learned, are not very fond of other parts of Italy. They consider Venice to be sacred, and free from bad influences. As I took a stroll down the Grand Canal, signs read “No Mafia, Venezia é sacra” (“No Mafia, Venice is sacred”).

The last stop on my tour of Europe was the one I was looking forward to the most: Barcelona. I chose Barcelona

mainly for its soccerl culture, as I am a die-hard supporter of their Futbol Club Barcelona.

My trip revolved around two important matches for the club: El Clasico, a match against eternal political and sporting rivals Real Madrid, and a champion’s league match against Atletico de Madrid.

The Nou Camp stadium, home of FC Barcelona, fits roughly 100,000 spectators.

Walking into the stadium for the first time on match day gave me goosebumps.

Supporters spend hours

before the match on the streets marching and chanting anthems. Once the action begins, everybody stops and watches the match as if it were an orchestra.

During my visit, FC Barcelona lost the El Clasico match 2-1, but won the Champions League match 2-1. Barcelona’s atmosphere seems to change based on the team results. If Barcelona loses, everybody is in a foul mood; Barcelona wins, and everybody celebrates.

Traveling Europe in one week gave me a glimpse

of another world. I learned about taking the metro, communicating with strangers and experiencing other cultures through observing and asking questions.

I learned that there are other ways of life outside the United States. I learned that coffee in Europe has a much stronger taste than in the states.

In the end, I learned that there is history in every part of the world, whether it is thousands of miles overseas or in our own backyard in Fullerton.

NOLAN MOTIS / DAILY TITAN

1 BL OCK SOU T H OF CAL S TAT E F UL L ER T ON PREMIER STUDENT APARTMENTS

Elena Brenes, CSUF Spanish graduate student, instructed her first class when she volunteered to teach Spanish for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute on campus.

Teach: Students take on instructor roles CONTINUED FROM

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Vargas had been tutoring in Spanish for years, but taught mostly native speakers. She said she learned how to teach English speakers the language through the OLLI program.

“I watch their reactions and see how they learn,” Vargas said, “although some of them say that they will get old and probably still be here, trying to learn Spanish.”

Currently, Vargas is teaching the subjunctive in Spanish, which Gene Hiegel, a retired CSUF chemistry professor, described as a bold choice.

“She’s teaching the part of Spanish that most people don’t want to teach because it’s complicated,” Hiegel, who is also taking OLLI courses, said.

He said this part of the language is one of the hardest things for non-native speakers to learn because it includes 14 verb tenses. Subjunctive in Spanish refers to the indefinite tenses of verbs that reflect the mood of the speaker. This is widely used in Spanish, but

rarely in English.

“Some of the students have been there for four or five years and have never been exposed to the subjunctive,” Vargas said.

Vargas, who also teaches part time at Cal Poly Pomona, likes that she can take her time with such difficult material.

At Cal Poly Pomona, she has to cover specific material and follow guidelines while teaching class, cramming in as much Spanish as her students can absorb in a 10-week quarter.

For the OLLI students, she can slow down and make sure they fully grasp the material before moving on. Her classes are designed to immerse students in the everyday uses of Spanish.

Brenes is learning how to relate to non-native Spanish speakers in order to better teach them.

“That’s going to be the challenge every time, to figure out how they think, because I did not learn (the language) the same way,” Brenes said.

She said the experience has

been invaluable because she has been able to practice what she has been studying.

Currently, Brenes is teaching her students the preterite, which are verb tenses that indicate a past, completed action. Noting that many of her students were well-traveled, she designed an activity to get her students to talk about the past in Spanish, which also served the purpose of familiarizing students with each other.

“I had them bring in a little something from one of their trips so they could go back into the past and tell me what they ate, what they saw and what places they visited in Spanish,” Brenes said.

Vargas and Brenes said they appreciate the OLLI students’ eagerness to learn.

Vargas said that while her Cal Poly Pomona students seem to take classes for units, the people at OLLI genuinely want to learn.

“These students are your dream students. They’re eager to learn and they make you want to learn,” Brenes said.

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FEATURES

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Long-distance relationships find salvation online Technology makes it easier to date across several zip codes EMILY DIECKMAN Daily Titan My boyfriend lives about 700 miles away.

Maybe 50 or even 20 years ago, I would be saying this to complain. Nowadays, it’s really more of a plain statement, because long-distance relationships are infinitely easier than they used to be.

That’s not to say I never complain about it, especially to my boyfriend. I express my displeasure in carefully crafted, eloquent statements such as, “I miss you,” and “School is stupid, everything is stupid. Let’s quit so we can hug each other full-time.”

It’s especially hard to transition out of spending actual time together and into only being connected through words and screens.

Parting ways over spring break felt like going from having a real, 4-D boyfriend to having a trail of tracks left in your music library that seem to indicate a boyfriend. As one of my friends said, “Long-distance relationships: the joy of being with someone you love without them actually being there.”

But I have no actual justification to complain about my situation. There are couples who are separated for

far longer periods of time, across far greater distances. There are couples who can only call each other on rare occasions due to military deployments. And there were couples, in some far-off, barbaric time period, who were separated over enormous distances for extensive periods and could only communicate through letters.

My boyfriend and I do send each other letters, but that’s really the icing on top of the instant-communication cake. I look forward to a letter from him with the eagerness of a child, but I also know exactly when to expect it, thanks to the Snapchat he sends me of him dropping the letter into the mailbox. And that Snapchat is one in a sea of snaps, texts, Facebook messages and phone calls that we send back and forth.

In some ways, technology has complicated long-distance relationships. Sometimes people are different through texting than they are in face-to-face interactions. Of course, there’s the classic issue of misunderstanding a text because there’s not a font to indicate sarcasm, and the issue of wondering why someone read your message and hasn’t responded.

I’ve had plenty of friends warn me about long-distance relationships, citing the time, energy and money — especially money: plane tickets, gas and extravagant outings upon reunions

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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY PATRICK DO / DAILY TITAN

Contrary to popular belief, long-distance relationships can last, thanks to modern technology. New forms of communication give couples the ability and freedom to speak with each other whenever and wherever they want.

— they poured into a relationship that didn’t feel quite real.

But the technology seems to have made long-distance relationships much easier. I’ve heard happy stories about falling asleep together on Skype, of watching movies together over the phone and of care packages filled with thoughtful gifts.

Besides, realistically, I don’t have time to hang out with my boyfriend this semester anyway. If he lived closer, I would probably either never see him because of school, work and all of the other things that keep me busy; or see him all of the time, at the expense of my academics, my job and all of the other things that

keep me busy.

Even though my friend was joking about having someone you love without actually having them, the reality of it is actually kind of nice. We both have the support system, the conversational partner, the music/ book/movie recommender and the partner in badpun crime. We also have

our own space, and our own lives and our own time to work.

The fact that I found a person so cool that I want to date him, even from far away, means I can’t really complain. I have a person who makes it worth it. Of course, the ability to talk to him whenever and wherever doesn’t hurt, either.

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OPINION

PAGE 6 APRIL 7, 2016 THURSDAY

Emojis inherently convey a different tone of language The communication of our emotions can be enhanced by pictures GERARD AVELINO Daily Titan Communication would be so much easier if everyone would just let his real feelings show.

Everyone has, at some point in his lives, either asked someone, “What do you mean by that?” or just assumed what the other person was feeling. Miscommunication happens when that assumption is wrong; just ask anyone who’s broken up with an insensitive significant other.

Natural communication may have methods of showing emotion, but most of these are merely paralinguistic in nature. That is, these emotions manifest beyond what can be said in words, such as intonation or volume. For example, a girl can say, “I hate you,” in response to a cheesy joke from her mischievous boyfriend and not really hate the guy.

But what if language had a way of explicitly conveying emotion? This is where the world of constructed languages comes into play. Constructed languages, lovingly abbreviated as “conlangs” by language nerds, can prove to be an

interesting avenue for contemplative experiments on how people use words.

The conlang Lojban includes a set of words called attitudinal indicators that tell the listener exactly what the speaker means.

There’s no guesswork needed to figure out the context: just add a particle, and your intention is perfectly clear.

For example, “What is he doing here?” could be said in English with a tinge of jealousy, or a sigh of exasperation or a tone of honest curiosity. In Lojban, each of those emotions would be denoted by a specific word.

That’s efficiency in action.

But just as Lojban would probably never catch on, the real world is probably not entirely ready for another constructed linguistic marker of emotion.

While a relatively new phenomenon in the West, Japan already had these little pictures of faces, food, animals and buildings built into Internet-capable phones since the late ‘90s, when developer Shigetaka Kurita was tasked with making online information look more user-friendly. The word emoji is itself borrowed from the Japanese word for “pictograph,” which serendipitously sounds similar to the English “emotion” or “emoticon.”

Emojis have since taken the world by storm ever

since Apple put a specialized keyboard in its iPhones in 2011. Now, almost every operating system has emojis in some form or another.

Everyone can now send each other an emoji of a shiny red heart, a sassy information desk girl or a fancy salsa-dancing lady.

If someone has something more risqué in mind, various suggestive emojis of produce are available, like peaches and eggplants.

These little pictographs have become so ubiquitous that the Oxford Dictionaries chose the “face with tears of joy” emoji as its word of the year for 2015.

But not everything is fun and games with emojis.

Right around when Facebook sent the tech world ablaze with its groundbreaking and completely newsworthy addition of five new emoji-themed “Like” button styles (insert sarcasm emoji here), a 12-year-old girl from Virginia was arrested in February for using the gun, bomb and knife emojis in an Instagram post. A few weeks before that, the NYPD jailed a teen for putting a gun emoji to the policeman emoji’s head on Facebook. Just last week, a French court sentenced a man to three months in prison for sending an ex-lover a message with a gun emoji.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY NOLAN MOTIS / DAILY TITAN

Emojis bring a great opportunity to language. People can convey sentences of emotions through one simple icon; however, the latest trend could be confusing to some.

Who knows, American liberals may probably soon have to come out with a resolution to regulate the use of gun emojis, and conservatives may have to start a National Gun Emoji Association. I’m joking; I’m pretty sure the founding fathers never thought of that when they wrote about free speech and well-regulated militias.

Communication and

technology go hand-inhand these days, and with that comes a constant evolution in the way people talk to each other. Emojis are great; they’re a fun, quirky way to express emotional context through text, provided they are typed with the right hands and seen with the right eyes.

I’m talking to you, police: you probably won’t find anyone who legitimately

plans to murder you posting about it using emojis, especially not edgy pre-teens.

In the end, while those tiny yellow faces with bulging eyes are far from the greatest scourge the world of communication has known, humanity has much to learn when it comes to communicating with emotions. Basically: stop sending me the unsolicited eggplant emoji. Thanks.

Letter to the Editor The Apartheid Wall: A Gross Misinterpretation of Israeli-Palestinian Relations FROM OSCAR TRINH, TITANS FOR ISRAEL This week, a garish piece of handcrafted architecture arrives on our campus quad to provoke pathos and provide a flitting distraction for students in between classes. Dubbed the “Apartheid Wall,” the installation will serve to promulgate misguided notions of Israel as an apartheid nation that ruthlessly pushes a colonial Jewish state at the expense of the Palestinian people. Filled with misrepresented figures, images and reports, the Apartheid Wall will no doubt elicit feelings of repulsion toward anything to do with Israel, Zionism and the worldwide Jewry.

What the Apartheid Wall conveniently leaves out is the complex narrative and historical circumstances that have shaped Israeli-Palestinian relations, and the contemporary context calling for continued necessity of a security measure. With construction beginning in 2003 and ending in 2006, the security fence (and it is a security fence, since only 5 percent of the structure is concrete wall) was a defensive reaction to the horrors of the Second Intifada. After failed peace talks organized by Bill Clinton at Camp David, former PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat greenlit a wave of terror in which Palestinian suicide bombers attacked and killed civilians. After the horrendous month of March in 2002 where 139 Israeli civilians were murdered by suicide bombers, construction began on a defensive barrier to stem the terrorism. The

project was only undertaken after it became clear that Palestinian leadership was unable and unwilling to partake in political solutions to stem the violence. Since its construction, the security fence has been understood as a temporary physical barrier erected in an act of self-defense, not a means to annex Palestinian land beyond the scope of past territorial agreements. The temporal nature of the structure is characterized by its frequent change in position as a result of Supreme Court rulings on cases filed by both Israelis and Palestinians.

The Apartheid Wall also pushes a narrative that Israel is a state built on a foundation of colonialist ideology, bent on subjecting the indigenous inhabitants of the region to a system in which they are treated as second-class citizens. Again, these assertions are false, conveniently leaving out facts and crucial context. Apartheid South Africa was a system of institutions that served to subjugate the nation’s black inhabitants, depriving them of rights granted to the white Afrikaner minority. In contrast, within the state of Israel, Arabs are given the rights of citizenship, political office, serving in prominent positions within key Israeli institutions, such as the Supreme Court, Knesset and Israel Defense Forces.

Equal rights across race, religion, sexual orientation and gender are enshrined within the

Religious Directory

framework of Israeli governing institutions. And because the country is a democratic one, if any forces work toward diminishing those rights within Israeli society, civil alliances that are critical of any attacks will push back.

Like any other country, Israel makes mistakes.

But it is also a democratic country with Western liberal values that allow open discourse among its citizenry to correct those mistakes, an open discourse that includes Arabs, Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze, who are working together to normalize relations between Israel and Palestine. As well as hawks and hardliners, there are moderates who are pushing toward a two-state solution, one not pro-Israel or pro-Palestine, but pro-peace.

They are critical of Israel, but they are also critical of the Palestinian leadership, advocating for efforts of citizens from both sides to learn and coexist with one another.

If you look on the Apartheid Wall and find yourself moved to anger, please remember the victims of the Second Intifada that died before the fence was erected. Keep in mind the attacks that are resulting in the death of Israelis and Americans right now are a result of incitement. And remember the Palestinians are caught between a rock and a hard place because their leaders chose to walk out on peace talks to exchange a better tomorrow for bombs and rockets today.

For more information please contact Religious Director: Ayesha Doshi adoshi@dailytitan.com

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CLASSIFIEDS

APRIL 7, 2016

PAGE 7

SUDOKU

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Quotes for the Day “Ask and it wil be given to you; search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you.”

- Jesus Christ “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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HOROSCOPE

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ARIES

(Mar. 21 - Apr. 19)

You may be so anxious about your future that it’s challenging to pay attention to what’s occurring in the present moment. Oddly enough, a past memory might be even more of a problem today than whatever actually happens next.

LEO

(Jul. 23 - Aug. 22)

You thought you would be ready to make a major move today, but instead you grow more contemplative as the day wears on. You know you should be thankful for the stable ground in your life these days, but you also are painfully aware of the obstacles still blocking your progress.

SAGITTARIUS

(Nov. 22 - Dec. 21)

If you’re running around like a lab mouse on a wheel today, you might be too distracted to fully appreciate the camaraderie of your friends and associates. Slow down and smell the flowers right in your own backyard.

TAURUS

(Apr. 20 - May 20)

You might be so preoccupied with a single idea that it’s nearly impossible for anyone to talk to you about anything else. Nevertheless, following your friends is a clever move now since they will likely steer you in the right direction.

VIRGO

(Aug. 23 - Sep. 22)

You may try to deny your true intentions today. Even if you’re clear about your feelings, you don’t want anyone to know your secrets. Unfortunately, withholding information is a serious waste of energy now, especially since your peers probably already know more than you realize.

CAPRICORN

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 19)

An overdose of blind trust turns Be patient, build on your accomplishments & wait for the opportunities to reap the rewards. Your work ethic is a shining inspiration to everyone around you. Your dedication is an example to follow.

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GEMINI

(May 21 - Jul. 20)

You would like nothing more than to put your feet up and dream your troubles away today, but you’re also worried about too many untied loose ends. Unfortunately, your lack of responsibility could be a familiar theme.

LIBRA

(Sep. 23 - Oct. 22)

You are tempted to express yourself in an outrageous manner today, but your common sense prevents you from going too far overboard. If you encounter resistance to your efforts as you try to do your own thing now, it’s okay to fall back on your willingness to accommodate others.

AQUARIUS

(Jan. 20 - Feb. 18)

Everyone’s intriguing ideas motivate you to start something new now, but you need to be willing to change and grow so you can maximize the current opportunities. Open your mind and dance with the unknown.

CANCER

(Jun. 21 - Jul. 22)

The power of positive thinking sends you off in the right direction today, but you need to follow up with good old-fashioned hard work. Finishing your chores enables you to fully enjoy the pleasures you so richly deserve.

SCORPIO

(Oct. 23 - Nov. 21)

Breaking out of your sequestered world requires extra effort on your part, but you might truly enjoy the company of others once you push past your own resistance. If you keep to yourself today, you may end up wishing you took a more social route, instead.

PISCES

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20)

You can learn a valuable lesson about human nature today by simply stopping to reevaluate your recent history. Paradoxically, your review process might also stimulate your anticipation of the future.

Don’t worry too much about the details.

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SPORTS

PAGE 8 APRIL 7, 2016 THURSDAY

Titans saddle up for the Mustangs Softball looks to continue stellar play against Cal Poly SLO ANDREW SALMI Daily Titan After opening Big West Conference play with a bang last weekend, the Cal State Fullerton softball team (2810 overall, 3-0 Big West) sets its sights even higher when it heads north this weekend to take on the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mustangs (16-14 overall, 0-3 Big West).

CSUF is currently riding a wave of confidence as the team is fresh off a series sweep of the UC Riverside Highlanders (23-12-1, 0-3) at Anderson Family Field. The Titans managed to outscore UCR 23-4 throughout three games.

Against Riverside, the Titans were led by the dynamic duo of senior third baseman Missy Taukeiaho and junior catcher Alexis Gonzalez.

Gonzalez racked up four RBIs in the 9-1 series opening victory, including a tworun homer and two sacrifice flies. Gonzalez leads the team in home runs with six.

In the series finale, Taukeiaho smacked a grand slam in the bottom of the third inning in a 12-2 rout of the Highlanders. She was honored with a Big West Conference Player of the Week award earlier this week.

In the series opener last Saturday, CSUF southpaw pitcher Desiree Ybarra struck out seven UCR

PATRICK DO / DAILY TITAN STOCK PHOTO

Cal State Fullerton junior utility player Megan Estacio reaches first base in the Titans’ 12-2 victory over the UC Riverside Highlanders on Sunday. She went 1-2 and scored two runs as the Titans went on to take their first conference series 3-0.

batters and allowed one run in six innings pitched. She currently leads the Titans in strikeouts with 86 and boasts an impressive 1.89 ERA. With the exception of only two one-run losses to highly ranked Alabama and UCLA during the month of March, CSUF is a red-hot 15-2 in its

last 17 games.

While the Titans are riding a three-game winning streak and were victorious in eight of their last nine contests, the Mustangs sit on the other end of the spectrum with eight straight losses, including a three-game sweep at UC Santa Barbara this

past weekend.

For the Mustangs, junior righty pitcher and infielder Sierra Hyland leads in the majority of the team’s offensive and pitching categories. Her .403 batting average, three home runs and 19 RBIs are all teamhighs at the plate, while

her impressive 10-4 record and 1.67 ERA in the circle make her one of their best all-around players.

Hyland, who has struck out an eye-opening 154 batters in 100.2 innings pitched this season, threw a no-hitter last month on her 21st birthday against

the Saint Peter’s University Peacocks.

The upcoming series at Cal Poly will begin on Saturday with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., followed by Sunday’s matinee game, also starting at 1 p.m.

All games will be held at Bob Janssen Field.

Baseball locks in on Cal Poly SLO series CSUF seeking to corral the Mustangs in weekend road swing BRANDON ROSS Daily Titan The surging Cal State Fullerton baseball team will look to keep its momentum going this weekend as it travels to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to square off against the Mustangs in its first conference road series of the season.

The Titans (17-11 overall, 3-0 Big West Conference) have won five straight games and are undefeated in conference play. Meanwhile, Cal Poly (17-10 overall) will compete in its first conference series of the season.

On the road, CSUF has not played up to standards, going 4-5 on the season outside of Goodwin Field. The Mustangs are at an impressive 12-4 at home this season.

Last season, the Titans took two-of-three over the Mustangs at Goodwin Field.

Fullerton came off an impressive 4-2 win over the San Diego Toreros on Tuesday night at home, extending its win streak. Entering the bottom of the seventh tied at two, CSUF took advantage of San Diego miscues by scoring two go-ahead runs off an error and a passed ball that ultimately secured the win for the Titans.

Through 28 games, CSUF has a team batting average of .243. The team has collectively hit 13 home runs. Senior outfielder Dalton Blaser is leading the team in overall hitting, batting a staggering .355 and continuing to get on base with a .439 on-base percentage.

The Titans pitching staff has been lights out throughout the season, boasting a solid 2.45 team ERA. While all four major starters are doing well on the mound, junior righty Blake Quinn is arguably CSUF’s most consistent ace, donning a 2.06 ERA and a 3-1 record through seven starts. Quinn also leads the team in strikeouts with 47.

Cal Poly’s batter’s box will

PATRICK DO / DAILY TITAN STOCK PHOTO

Titan junior pitcher Blake Quinn (left) gets ready to take the mound in Tuesday’s matchup with San Diego. He is 3-1 on the season with a 2.06 ERA.

pose quite the challenge for Fullerton as the Mustangs enter their conference opening series with a respectable .277 batting average. They are led by junior catcher Brett Barbier, who has been nothing

short of outstanding from the dish with a daunting .400 batting average. Barbier leads San Luis Obispo with 38 hits.

On the other hand, the Mustangs have struggled as a team on the bump,

recording a bleak 4.19 collective ERA. Sophomore southpaw Kyle Smith, however, is Cal Poly’s best starter this season, putting together a 2.98 ERA and a 4-1 record.

The Titans will take on the Mustangs at Baggett Stadium this weekend in another pivotal Big West Conference series matchup with the first game taking place on Friday at 6 p.m.

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