Daily Titan | September 26, 2022

Unlicensed cannabis dispensaries seek legal loophole

Police chief retires, again

VANESSA SIGUENZA Asst. Editor

Former Cal State Fullerton operations captain, Carl Jones, retired three years ago with hopes of more free time. However, once he received a call from CSUF President Virjee last year, asking if he would consider coming back as an interim chief of police until a search committee could secure a permanent chief, he weighed his options.

SINCLAIR ANDRUSKA

Editor DILAN FARIES CARLOS CORDOVA

Sta Writers

Fullerton has been playing hideand-seek with illegal cannabis dispensaries since it made the indsutry illegal citywide in Feb. 2021. On. May 10, one of these dispensaries, Fullerton Exotics, filed an appeal to remain open, despite the city determining it was not a valid dispensary.

According to documents reviewed by the Daily Titan, throughout Dec. 2021, Fullerton issued multiple

citations to Fullerton Exotics’s property owners, Barry and Brenda Wilson Codispoti, the property managers, Clor Realty, and the business tenant Fullerton Exotics. Clor Realty called Cynthia Velazquez-Gil, Fullerton Code Enforcement officer, on bringing their property into compliance. However, no there was no action taken to stop the business.

Despite multiple citations sent to the business tenant, property owners and property managers, the illegal business carried on.

On April 24, Fullerton hearing officer John Van Doren determined in

a written decision that Fullerton Exotics was a public nuisance. When Fullerton Exotics filed the appeal in May, represented by Damian Nassiri, they claimed that they operate as a Primary Caregiver, a medical operation which provides cannabis to no more than five patients, according to state law. This distinction would make Fullerton Exotics exempt from the public nuisance code.

The city countered this argument with evidence of human sign twirlers advertising the buisness and reports from inspectors showing customers enter the storefront empty-handed

and leaving with a small paper bag. A Fullerton code enforcement officer, Cecelia Vasquez, said she received a call from a father claiming his son had purchased mushrooms at Fullerton Exotics.

Codispoti, Clor Realty and Nassiri didn’t respond to requests for comment.

If Fullerton wishes to continue enforcing the public nuisance code, one potential solution to combat this is to become a charter city. Charter cities

SEE GRASS 2

Broadcast program returns as club

Al Día redesigns itself after faculty advisor resigns

NOLLYANNE DELACRUZ Editor

Al Día, Cal State Fullerton’s Spanish-language news broadcast, will return this semester as a weekly, student run production.

Three weeks before this semester started, it was announced that Al Día would not be offered as a class. Jesús Ayala, the former faculty adviser for the broadcast, resigned from his SEE COMEBACK 3

Jones became chief of police once again, serving the Titan community since 1999. Before that, Jones served the United States Marine Corps for 20 years. However, after his year-long appointment as an interim passed, Jones said a new candidate will assume the chief of police position in mid-to-late October.

Jones said his first position at CSUF was a sergeant, where he assumed the duties of patrol shift supervisor. He said he was on the front line of defense to crimes or incidents that strayed from good order and discipline on campus.

He also became a member of the CSU Critical Response Unit as a lead instructor for defense tactics, impact weapons, tactical communications and crowd management, according to the university police website.

“One of the things I’ve always practiced and I’ve always preached is our approach to policing whether it’s on a traffic stop or just walking through the quads on campus, meeting and greeting people or ultimately if there is a justification for a use of force there has to be a humanistic approach to doing that,” Jones said. “In other words, under those same or similar circumstances, treat people the way you would like to be treated. Don’t go overboard with it.”

From July 2000 to November 2019, Jones became a part-time cadet counselor and tactical officer at the Rio Hondo Basic Police Academy.

CSUF PD Captain Willey said that when he first crossed paths with Jones at the police academy, he was intimidated. But, overtime Jones became a mentor to Capt. Willey throughout his career.

Lieutenant Robert Mullaney said that Jones has effectively taught him how to communicate regularly with his team, engage constituents and do

Ash Organics, along with Fullerton Exotics, are some of the dispensaries the city of Fullerton is trying to eliminate.

ROSEMARY MONTALVO / DAILY TITAN

Andres Martinez, Brenda Elizondo, Alan Ruelas, and Bey-Ling Sha, Dean of Communications attended the orientation on Friday.

NOLLYANNE DELACRUZ / DAILY TITAN

Fullerton struggles to find land for housing units

The city council must adjust to meet state mandates.

CARLOS CORDOVA Sta Writer

The Fullerton City Council, in an attempt to build over 13,000 units to stay on track with the city’s plan to provide affordable housing, are still in search of areas to build housing and apartment complexes in the city.

On Tuesday, the council held a study session to receive an update on what areas throughout the city qualify as Housing Incentive Overlay Zones, which will allow property owners to develop housing units on non-residential underlying zoning classifications, requiring that 10% of the proposed units have to be considered affordable housing.

The city’s housing element of the

general plan, Fullerton must build around 13,200 units to house over 143,000 residents within the 2021 to 2029 planning period.

Around 5,200 of these units must be allotted for low income residents.

Currently, 12% of Fullerton residents live below the poverty line.

Initially, the city looked at 19 specific sections throughout Fullerton in 2020, but expanded its search to all non-residential areas citywide. Areas of land that are being looked at include commercial and industrial plots.

With more areas considered, over 24,000 plots of land met the requirements for HIOZ, according to Dudek, a planning and engineering firm hired to conduct research for this project. Left out of this assessment were areas that fell under public use, like schools and city property, as well as historic sites, infrastructure plots and areas that fell below a screening average.

Council Member Ahmad Zahra pointed out that the development

process will take a long time and that the 10% affordability requirement will not be as impactful.

“My concern is that the percentage is too low to be able to meet the affordability levels,” Zahra said.

Dudek representative Gaurav Srivastava explained that the affordability requirement must be strategically decided upon to avoid a “poison pill” effect, in which a high affordability inclusion percentage could deter builders from development and the city might lose potential housing opportunities.

“The net result of that is that you get zero affordable units and you get zero market rate. So we need to be very careful on where that threshold is set, which is why we suggest that 10% as a tentative number,” Srivastava said.

Zahra advocated for incentives for builders who prioritize 100% affordable developments.

Council Member Nicholas Dunlap condemned the affordability requirements and expressed that higher

density development bonuses would be a better solution to drive costs down.

“The idea of mandatory inclusion or forced inclusionary housing came up and that’s just generally not something I’m supportive of,” said Dunlap.

During the public comment section of the meeting, some residents addressed concerns over housing complexes with high density population in the city.

“Are we getting money to widen the roads? We getting money for bicycle lanes? We getting money for parking? Are we putting new charging stations in?” one Fullerton resident said.

Dudek’s assessment states that areas larger than one acre would be able to house up to 45 units, while areas smaller than an acre would be able to accommodate 30 units.

Residents also commented on a lack of community outreach concerning the housing element in both low income and multicultural

neighborhoods.

Siding with the residents, Mayor Fred Jung questioned Dudek on this miscommunication between the city and its residents.

“Fullerton has its share of disadvantaged communities and communities of color. It seems as though outreach has been extraordinarily limited, if any at all,” Jung said.

Explaining that Dudek was only half way through with its research, Srivastava expressed that they had not completed all their outreach.

Srivastava said more community outreach will take place when they have further recommendations from the city and more information is available to share.

The city has been able to fund this research through state grant money totaling over $120,000.

Fullerton has extended its contract with Dudek through July 31, 2024, allowing it to use all available funds from the grant, not impacting the city’s general fund.

Grass: Dispensaries remain illegal in Fullerton

CONTINUED FROM 1

invoke authority to the local officials and allow them to enforce certain reformations, but Mayor Fred Jung of Fullerton has the city has no plans to create a charter.

“If they are going to decriminalize cannabis which is well within the margins of what the voters want in the state … they do have to have consequences for illegal grower’s legal dispensaries to make sure that the ones that are doing business legally can survive,” Jung said. The legal market for cannaibs is highly regulated and tracked by the state.

“Every single molecule of legal THC. in the state of California right

is tracked,” said Josh Holloway, manager of Planet 13, California’s largest dispensary.

Holloway said the tracking process involves METRC, a company that uses radio-frequency identification that allows them to track packages through cloud-based tracking software. Fullerton cannabis dispensaries cannot join METRC because the company only handles legal operations.

“Despite what they tell you, it’s not permitted, it’s not legal, there is no compliance involved,” Holloway said.

Holloway said that licensed dispensaries must get their products from another licensed business or a compliance testing lab, to verify that the products have been tested before they hit the

shelves.

By operating illegally, it cannot be verified if Fullerton cannabis dispensaries properly test their products before selling them.

An anonymous source with knowledge of how unlicensed dispensaries operate told the Daily Titan that even legal dispensaries will sell excess products on the black market to cover costs.

“If the product can’t move, then it’s a complete loss. So whatever connections they still have in the black market, they’re gonna dump it there,” the source said.

The source once owned multiple unlicensed dispensaries from 2014 to 2018 in Orange and Los Angeles

county. One location ended in a law enforcement raid. Today, the source owns a licensed dispensary in Santa Ana andspeaking publicly could put their license at risk.

According to WeedMaps, an application that connects buyers with cannabis retailers, the city has over 20 illegal dispensaries ready to deliver products directly to customers’ homes.

Due to the discrete nature of operating a delivery service, it may make it harder for city officials and law enforcement to track illicit businesses.

Delivery services are typically unmarked and housed in industrial buildings. Since customers call in their orders or order online, there is no need for the excessive signage that exists at

walk-in dispensaries.

The anonymous source explained that unlicensed dispensaries either tell their landlords upfront of the nature of their business and pay a premium rent, or take the risk of not disclosing that information.

For customers 21 years of age or older, they are typically done online with the buyer uploading a photo of their ID or texting it directly to the dispensary.

California law requires that delivery drivers verify physical copies of a customer's ID before handing over the product.

Still, walk-in or delivery dispensaries, according to the city of Fullerton, are forbidden.

From left to right: Councilmember Bruce Whitaker, Mayor Fred Jung, and councilmember Nick Dunlap discuss land avaiable for a ordable housing.

CARLOS CORDOVA / DAILY TITAN

Retire: Police to appoint new chief

CONTINUED FROM 1

his best to serve them.

Jones said he hopes to see more efforts in community engagement with student organizations after he retires, especially in his favorite outreach programs such as Breaking Barriers United and Game Changer.

According to the university website, Game Changer utilizes sports to create a solution-oriented and fun atmosphere for a focus group of community members, law enforcement, elected officials and members of the judicial system.

Transitioning into an official retiree mentality, Jones lit up at the thought of kicking back. “First and foremost, rest, relaxation and not to be concerned about when my phone rings, I got to jump up and go to work. I can actually kick back and chill. Travel will still be a challenge. It’s a mess.”

Out of the seven continents, Jones said he has traveled to six. He wants to revisit South America and Europe. As a nature-lover, he yearns to hike through Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park to catch the glimpses of wildlife. He and his wife own an recreational vehicle and plan on camping in the near future.

Reminiscing on over two decades of dedicating his life to the CSUF PD and to the country, Jones said it has been an honor filling once again the chief of police position even though he never aspired to be a chief.

“Usually when a command-level person leaves a department it’s like, ‘nice knowing you, good-ridden,

Comeback: Al Día focuses on community

CONTINUED FROM 1

teaching position at CSUF over the summer.

Alan D. Ruelas, a fifth-year transfer student majoring in communications, Brenda Elizondo, a senior communications major with an emphasis in broadcast and certificate in Spanish media, and Andres Martinez, a CSUF alum and treasurer of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, collaborated to bring the program back.

Elizondo serves as the executive producer and Ruelas is a producer. Martinez is the club adviser and founder of Al Día.

Ruelas said that he felt it was important to bring Al Día back for the community.

“It’s not about journalism; it’s about community. Nuestra familia,” Ruelas said.

Elizondo said that they plan on producing regular news broadcasts in topics like sports, news, and weather. Martinez also said that they will be producing investigative journalistic content and looking into using different kinds of video formats.

Ruelas said that they are also going to continue outreach and collaborations with other Latino student organizations on campus, and that he would like the students to “leave their fingerprints” on their work at Al Día.

“I want to humanize the tone of what we're able to promote to our students or, better said, inform our students, so I definitely say that there is a token of, I call it casual formal work,” Ruelas said. “So we want to bring out the best version and allow our students to reach the fullness of their potential by being themselves and

deliberately creating content by students for students.”

Ruelas said that he did not want to exclude anyone from Al Día, and emphasized that it is open to anyone who is available on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., regardless of their race,ethnicity or major.

“The goal of Al Día is to empower students and give that experience that was briefly stopped, briefly halted. It's really to create a community within our students, leadership skills, professional growth, building portfolios, all that was already established,” Elizondo said. “We just want to continue that and provide it to the new incoming students that have transferred, that have taken the out ones and just want to take it one more time and expand on their portfolio.”

Several students at the orientation expressed their excitement that Al Día was brought back.

Alexis De La Cruz, a fourth-year student majoring in communications, said that, since Al Día is a club now, there are more opportunities for the students to get to know each other better on a personal level.

“I know that it’s going to be different, but that doesn't necessarily mean it’s different in a bad way. I think it being a club is going to take off some of the pressure of grades and stuff like that,” De La Cruz said. “I think with it being a club this year, it might be a little more fun.”

About 10-15 students attended the orientation, a higher number of students than when Al Día was a class.

The students were eager for opportunities to become better multimedia journalists, strengthen their Spanish-speaking skills, and connect with their

community.

Enrique Medina, a senior communications student with a concentration in journalism, attended the orientation with plans to gain more experience by trying out different roles in broadcast journalism at Al Día.

“Working the teleprompter, working the cameras, being floor director or being an executive producer or just a system producer, anything like that,” Medina said. “Those are stuff I personally haven’t tried in the past, so I want to get that chance to be able to test it out, test the waters, see if I like it or not, and take it from there.”

Robert Rodriguez, a senior communications major with an emphasis in journalism, said that he wanted to join Al Día to represent the voices of the Latino community.

“As students, we tend to have different views and different opinions, and we can always see different sides of things,” Robert Rodriguez said. “I would say that being able to broadcast that and show people what we see through our eyes, helps benefit the people around us.”

Oscar Rodriguez, a fourth-year communications major with a concentration in journalism, said that he was looking forward to collaborating with other students to make impressive, quality content.

“Having just all students helping each other out, I feel like it’d be more beneficial, and then it’d be able to produce more quality content,” Rodriguez said. “Not only impress us, but impress the Department of Communication that they made a mistake for shutting down the class.”

EDITORIAL

you’re leaving, opens a door for my elevation to another position.’ But for people to reach back and ask you if you’d consider coming back, that’s special,” Jones said. “That’s indeed the pinnacle of the reason why it was an easy decision for me to come back.”

Lt. Mullaney says that the qualities he would like to see in the next chief are vision, tact, commitment, strength and empathy.

Ten potential candidates for the chief of police position recently underwent the interviewing process conducted by Capt. Willey and the CSUF police chief’s search committee he represents, Willey said. The committee selected four candidates that will be brought to an open forum to engage with the police department and students from Oct. 3-6 on campus.

The qualifications for chief of police include five to six years of management in policing and a preference for a master’s degree or a doctorate, Willey said.

Capt. Willey echoed Tonantzin Oseguera, the vice president of student affairs, that the committee is seeking a candidate that embraces reform and has the ambition to create “innovative ways to look at policing.”

“We hope to carry on his story that he’s left here. I’ve only got about two and a half years myself before I retire and I want to make sure that it’s left in good hands,” Willey said. “We care a lot about this department. We care a lot about our community and having the right person to steer the ship is really important.”

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Fullerton honors Dodgers legend at museum

The city celebrates second annual Tommy Lasorda Day.

Sta Writer

Nearly 41 years since his first World Series win with the Los Angeles Dodgers, local residents and fans gathered in Fullerton to celebrate the life of legendary Dodgers manager and former Fullerton resident, Tommy Lasorda.

The City of Fullerton and Fullerton Museum Center co-hosted the event on Lasorda’s birthday, Sept. 22, honoring the Baseball Hall of Famer in front of the museum at East Wilshire Avenue.

The museum stayed open later than usual until the fair’s end at 9 p.m. It

was free for fair-goers to visit the exhibits dedicated to baseball: “Picturing America’s Pastime” and a special exhibit, “Lasorda Legacy: A Tribute to Baseball and Dodgers Legend Tommy Lasorda.” His daughter, Laura Lasorda was one of the curators who contributed to the exhibition.

“I think it’s such a great example of the history of not only baseball, but the history of my family,” Lasorda said. “That’s important to me to keep that legacy going and alive.”

The exhibits opened Sept. 10 and will run through Dec. 30. Elvia Susana Rubalcava, executive director of the Fullerton Museum Center, said this is the first time these two exhibits are being shown.

“Everyone in so many walks of life have a story about how he touched their lives,” Lasorda said.

As the fair opened, specks of Dodger-blue lined the street, which was closed just for the event. Fans,

young and old, donned their team hats and jerseys, soaking up the sights and sounds of all things Dodgers. The band, Lover Sonicos, played familiar sing-a-long tunes and even managed to sub in Tommy Lasorda’s name into some of the lyrics.

The Fullerton Police Department, Fire Department and Water Division represented the city with booths offering information to residents about community and public services.

Play Coffee created the “Lasorda Latte” just for the event and wanted to pay it forward by giving the drink away for free. Leon Wansikehian, the owner of Play Coffee, wanted to commemorate the special day with a Dodger-blue coffee made with a pigment extract of blue-green algae.

“It’s nice when this street is closed, and there’s city activity going on,” Wansikehian said.

The Monkey Business Café food truck sold traditional Los

Angeles-style street dogs piled high with grilled veggies and peppers stuffed into a warm, toasty bun and served with a side of seasoned shoestring fries. Monkey Business Café also uses ingredients in their seasonings harvested from the Fullerton Arboretum.

The aroma of freshly-made funnel cakes wafted through the air, luring sweet tooths to partake in an after-dinner dessert at the far end of the street. The line was the longest at Funnel Cakes, but the wait was worth it.

Eva Arevalo, the administrative aide to the Fullerton City Council, said the idea to honor Lasorda first came from Roberto Angotti, filmmaker and director of the documentary “Italian American Baseball Family.” Angotti suggested to Fullerton Mayor Bruce Whittaker that Fullerton become a sister city with Tollo, Italy, the hometown of Lasorda’s

father.

Mayor Whitaker contacted the Fullerton Sister City Association and the Mayor of Tollo, Angelo Radico, who agreed to join Fullerton as its sister city, Arevalo said.

The two mayors met through Zoom, followed by a tree-planting ceremony and a press conference at Amerige Park in Fullerton. Laura Lasorda was also present in the proclamation of naming Lasorda’s birthday as Tommy Lasorda Day. Rubalcava, said she always wanted to host a street fair.

“We can invite local vendors, have our beer garden, have music and have a nice Lasorda Day Street Fair festival to celebrate him,” Rubalcava said.

Tommy Lasorda managed the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1976 until his retirement in 1996 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997. He died on January 7, 2021.

The City of Fullerton and the Fullerton Museum Center co-hosted Tommy Lasorda Day on Sept. 22 in honor of Lasorda's birthday.

JENNIFER LUND / DAILY TITAN

JENNIFER LUND

(From left to right) Alissa Leitchman, Leon Wansikehian, Victoria Rivas.

JENNIFER LUND / DAILY TITAN

Laura Lasorda, daughter of Tommy Lasorda, helped curate Tommy Lasorda Day.

JENNIFER LUND / DAILY TITAN

Column: Closing the gap in a long-distance relationship

Over 2,000 miles and we still made it work.

NICOLE TRINIDAD Sta Writer

Two and a half years passed.

Two and a half years of waiting; of struggling with my doubts and worries; of holding onto something that may never come. But somehow, it did.

As the world spiraled in May of 2020, so did my relationships around me, and it started with him. The love of my life had to leave me and our home, hoping for financial stability in an unstable time. Looking back now, I didn’t prepare for what happened when he stepped out of that door.

During our first few months apart, I witnessed all the social media posts of couples quarantining together and still having the audacity to talk about their struggles.

He told me on countless occasions of men at his job site getting injured and hospitalized or how carefully he needed to handle chemicals that could get into his lungs and give him cancer; all I could do was lay in bed and text him, “please be safe.”

As I dealt with my thoughts, I also realized that no one believes long-distance relationships can work. I cannot blame them because I didn’t think I could do it either. The weight of others' judgment and belittlement definitely did not help.

My parents told me to see this as a blessing in disguise: I could focus on my life and juggle work and school without distractions. But even now, I don’t know if they realized the depression and mental toll eating away at me. The one person that motivated me to wake up in the morning was not there.

While my friends were loving and supportive, they had

never experienced this before, so it was hard to explain my feelings without it sounding like a never-ending complaint. Even outside my circle of loved ones, I tackled issues with people I barely knew.

Male acquaintances sent me direct messages asking invasive questions or pushing for sexual advances even with the knowledge of my existing relationship. Sobbing to my boyfriend over a video call was one of the hardest things I have ever done.

While other long-distance couples probably have the chance to visit each other frequently, it wasn’t the case with us. When I finally had the opportunity to see him, his work forced him to move the week I got there. I was heartbroken. It seemed like we could not catch a break.

I ask myself a lot, how do we make it work? The answer to that is still hard to grasp. It feels like a never-ending emotional hardship, but all it takes is remembering the one I love and feeling like we can do anything.

I can’t think of anyone else in my life who makes me feel loved, appreciated and accepted even when they’re nowhere near me. And even through all the tears and trauma, this selfish side of me would not let that feeling go. I couldn’t let him slip through my fingers and live with regrets. So, I didn’t.

In August of 2022, my boyfriend was able to secure a job in California, where he plans to stay and climb the ladder the best he can. I can’t say it was all perfect. He was so worried about paying his bills and living situation that we almost couldn’t see each other the first day he arrived. I was disappointed, but as he held me in his arms, I knew we were just fine. I am not here to advocate for long-distance relationships and tell anyone, “it all works out in the end.” Honestly, I was lucky and in love. Previously, I said I hoped to see him and land back in my partner’s embrace, but I didn’t need to wish. It was destined for him to catch me.

Review: Pugh outshines Styles in "Don't Worry Darling"

Behind-the-scenes drama wasn't enough to overpower the film.

AMBER JUAREZ

Asst. Editor

Despite the drama and rumors surrounding the film “Don’t Worry Darling,” the psychological thriller is a must-see. From the cinematography to the score,

the film delivers an eerie and anxiety-filled experience that encapsulates the domination of patriarchy disguised as paradise.

Many people had been anticipating the premiere since the beginning of its production in 2020 because of the lead actors, Florence Pugh and Harry Styles. Thanks to highly publicized rumors involving cast drama, the film attracted attention far before its premiere.

Set in the 1950s, “Don’t Worry Darling” follows a young and madly in-love couple, Alice (Pugh) and Jack Chambers (Styles), living in a California desert utopia. While the women stay at home and the men work the average 9-to-5 job, everything

seems perfect until things unravel.

Alice begins questioning Jack, who is not allowed to discuss any projects the men are working on.

As Alice grows more uncertain, her husband and friends call her crazy for questioning the environment they live in.

Chris Pine stars as Frank, Jack’s boss, who perfectly embodies a cult leader. Throughout the film, Pine’s hypnotic voice plays through the radio and TV boasting their perfect town, Victory Valley.

The film is cinematically beautiful with shots reminiscent of Jordan Peele’s “Get Out.” They share a similar plot, with the main character stuck somewhere against their will.

If you enjoy Peele’s films, “Don’t Worry Darling” will be a great addition to your watch list.

Pugh gives one of the best performances since her role as Dani in "Midsommar." Her captivating portrayal of an emotional wreck of a character draws in viewers, who can feel her paranoia and anxiety through the screen. Pugh’s outstanding performance alone makes the film worth watching.

Unlike Pugh, Styles delivered an average performance in his second film appearance, though he doesn’t get as much screen time. Although his acting wasn’t bad in some scenes, Styles lacked the emotion needed to meet his character’s full potential,

oftensounding monotone and unbelievable.

The film’s eerie score draws viewers in, creating anxiety surrounding what’s yet to come.

Throughout its duration, Alice frequently mumbles an original song by Styles, “With You All the Time” under her breath, leaving audiences wondering, “am I really hearing that, or is that just the movie playing next door?” This annoying mumble serves as a trigger that gets tied in at the end of the film.

“Don’t Worry Darling” will leave you questioning your existence and overthinking your next relationship.

Men's soccer loses to UCLA, 1-0

Titans fail to convert in nailbiter against ranked opponent.

NAVTEJ HUNDAL Editor

In their first matchup since 2010, Cal State Fullerton men’s soccer lost to the No. 20 UCLA Bruins, 1-0, on Saturday evening at Wallis Annenberg Stadium, falling to 5-3-2 overall.

Bruins forward Constantinos Michaelides scored the lone goal of the game in the eighth minute. After midfielder Riley Ferch kicked the ball towards the goal, Michaelides scored a header in the box as the ball bounced off the hands of Titans goalkeeper Tetsuya Kadono.

Offensively, CSUF could not get anything going as the Bruins’ defensive scheme led to multiple missed opportunities to tie the game, leading UCLA’s goalkeeper Nate Crockford finished with only four saves.

Kadono recorded six saves against the Bruins, increasing his season total to 35 saves. He is second in total saves among goalkeepers in the Big West Conference.

Throughout the first half, the Titans had no response to the Bruins but they did not let the game get out of reach.

Despite multiple Titans communicating and rotating defensively, they allowed the Bruins to get past midfield with the Bruins' emphasized ball movement. Both displayed physicality throughout the match as a combined four yellow cards were called.

CSUF forward Reziq Banihani attempted the team’s only shot attempt at goal in the first half as his attempt to score towards the bottom-center of the goal was blocked by Crockford.

The Titans came out of the locker room with a sense of urgency to create scoring opportunities as they had 11 shot attempts in the second half compared to the Bruins’ three.

In the 69th minute, the Titans were charging down the Bruins’ side of the field with a clear opportunity to score. With an empty net in front of him, Titans midfielder Sebastian Cruz had an open shot attempt but Bruins forward Andre Ochoa made a last-second save as he slid to the bottom-left corner of the goal.

Following a sequence where the Titans did not capitalize on their best chance for a tie, Jorge Quintero’s shot attempt twirled out of the top left side of the goal.

The Titans continued to rely on the NCAA’s leading scorer in Cruz, who missed three out of the team’s five final shots. CSUF had a final chance for a tie but Cruz’s shot attempt went wide right in the 87th minute.

With the loss, the Titans have lost three straight games to the Bruins dating back to 2009.

CSUF will open conference play when the team travels to UC Irvine Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Women's soccer defeats UC San Diego, 3-0

Led by Megan Day's two goals, Fullerton now sits atop the Big West Conference.

ROSEMARY MONTALVO Editor

Led by defender Megan Day’s two first half goals, Cal State Fullerton women’s soccer breezed past the UC San Diego Tritons, 3-0, in their conference home opener at Titan Stadium Sunday night.

The Titans now sit atop the Big West standings at 2-0 in conference play and have a 5-3-3 overall record.

The Titans were unstoppable on set pieces and scored three goals off of corner kicks. CSUF head coach Demian Brown was impressed by the way his team was able to capitalize on set plays.

“It's something that we’ve been stressing about in regards to we’re going to get into a big game and a set piece is going to be important, so for us to score 3 goals on things that we’ve been intentional on makes us feel really good,” Brown said.

Day scored her first two goals of the season against the Tritons in a span of five minutes toward the end of the first half and was assisted by junior defender Meghan Schroh for both.

The Titans took the lead in the 32nd minute of the match. Schroh centered the ball from a corner kick and found Day at the back post who was loosely guarded and headed the

Volleyball splits conference openers

game with 15 kills, followed by redshirt sophomore outside hitter Tommi Stockham with 13.

Freshman middle blocker Bianca Martinez, senior outside hitter Danielle Jefferies and sophomore outside hitter Lyla Traylor posted six kills each, but it was not enough to stop the Mustangs.

ball into the goal. Maintaining aggression, Day scored again five minutes after her first goal.

Schroh centered the ball from another corner kick and found Day at the back post, jumping higher than the Tritan defender to head the ball into the back of the net yet again in the 37th minute.

The Titans went into the half with a 2-0 lead over the Tritons.

The Titans maintained possession and were able to connect with short quick passes from the backline all the way up the opponent’s box which created more scoring opportunities.

Schroh added the third goal for the Titans in the 75th minute off another corner kick. She sent the ball dead center into the 18-yard box that went above the Tritons defenders' heads and curved into the back post and into the net.

Schroh’s two assists and goal in the second half showed what she is capable of, Brown said. Brown highlighted her efforts on both ends of the field.

The Titans kept applying pressure on the Tritons’ defense throughout as they outshot the visitors 24-8, with 11 shots being on goal compared to their counterpart's three shots on goal.

The Titans’ center backs were the stars of the game and were a crucial part of getting a shutout against the Tritons.

Titans goalkeeper Mia Ranson added to her breakout season and picked up her fifth shutout of the season.

CSUF will head to Long Beach State Thursday at 7 p.m.

In their first pair of conference games this season, Cal State Fullerton women’s volleyball started with a win against the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners on Friday and a loss against the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mustangs on Saturday, ending the Titans’ six-game winning streak.

The Titans are now 7-3 overall and stand in fourth place in the Big West behind UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly SLO and the University of Hawai’i. All their losses of the season came from away games, as they still remain undefeated at home and neutral arena matches.

CSUF swept the Roadrunners in dominant fashion, 3-0, before the Mustang’s swept them, 3-0.

The defeat for the Titans came from the hands of Mustangs senior opposite hitter Maia Dvoracek, who led the

Senior setter Elizabeth Schuster led the Titans with 24 assists, while Mustangs’ redshirt freshman setter Emme Bullis held a game high 36 assists.

The Mustangs showcased a strong defense in the first set, dictating a loss for the Titans. The Mustangs went on a 9-0 scoring run to take an early 16-8 lead before Traylor dumped the ball to temporarily stop the run.

Stockham’s eight first set kills along with the Mustangs .438 hitting percentage were instrumental in the first set victory 25-14.

The Titans battled in the second set after struggling in the first set, but errors proved to be fatal in their 25-19 second set loss as the Titans recorded eight errors .

After being down 2-0, the Titans had a steep mountain to climb but the Mustangs’ momentum from the first two set victories carried on into the third set, where they took a 12-2 lead after a 10-0 scoring run.

The Titans bounced back with a 7-0 scoring run of their own, bringing the score to 12-9, before the Mustangs ran off with the lead and finished the game with an exclamation match-point kill by Stockham.

CSUF was led by Traylor with 10 kills on 18 attacks, followed by senior outside hitter Julia Crawford with nine kills on 21 attacks. Schuster led the game in assists with 31 in the loss.

The game on Friday continued the Titans hot start to the season beginning conference play.

The first set was the most competitive out of the three played, but kills by Martinez and Traylor put an end to the first set 25-17.

The Roadrunners recorded 14 errors

in the second set compared to the Titans two, which played a crucial role in the set going the way of the Titans. Fullerton won, 25-10, and was closed with a kill by Jefferies.

The Titans and Roadrunners traded points throughout the third set until Traylor’s kill sparked a 9-1 scoring run that ended the set at 25-15 and capped off the victory for CSUF. The Titans truly outclassed the Roadrunners in striking, posting a .421 hitting percentage to the Roadrunners .049 percentage.

The Titans' next game will be the conference home openerTuesday at 7 p.m. against Long Beach State in the Titan Gym.

Cross country falls short at Dellinger Invite

ALYSSA ORTIZ Sta Writer

Despite a few standout performances, Cal State Fullerton cross country finished third and sixth place in the Men’s 8K and Women’s 6K, respectively, at the Bill Dellinger Invitational at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Springfield, Oregon.

The women’s team placed behind University of Oregon and UC Davis. CSUF ended in a tiebreaker with UC Davis, but UC Davis won the tiebreaker as they had more runners finishing in a higher placement.

After losing the tiebreaker, assistant coach Alex Tebbe said the Titans will use the loss as motivation when CSUF participates in the Big West Conference championship later in October.

“I was thrilled. We lost a tiebreaker to Davis, our inner conference competition. That’s okay, I would rather be on the other side of the tiebreaker. So the women are fired up to go get them in about a month when the conference meet occurs,” Tebbe said.

The women’s team was led by senior McKaylie Caesar, who had a strong outing with a personal record time of 19:58.8 Caesar placed third in the race, falling behind University of Portland’s Laura Pellicoro and UC Davis’ Sierra Atkins. Caesar’s time cemented a record in program history, as she became the first woman to run the 6K in under 20 minutes.

“Obviously, I wish I could have come out of it with the win, but I felt really good all throughout the race. And there were good competitors around me to push me and get the time that I did,” Caesar said about her performance.

Following Caesar, sophomore Mia Bergman finished at 20:53.05, sophomore Eva Rethmeier at 21:05.8, senior Dana McGrath at 21:11.3 and freshman Nanette Novak at 21:16.8. They all placed within the top 30.

The men finished their 8K race, gathering 145 points and finishing in sixth place. University of Oregon, University of Portland and UCLA finished in the top three.

With a time of 24:06.9, junior Alexis Garcia led the Titans in 18th place. Five other Titans placed in the top 50.

Sophomore Andrew Castellon finished with a time of 24:33.5 and sophomore Tony Chavez finished at 24:37.1. They both finished within the top 40 and achieved their personal best times.

Rounding out the top 50 was sophomore Talman Young at 24:45.5, junior Vincente Huerta at 24:49.2 and sophomore Jeremiah Castellano with a time

of 24:52.7.

With six runners finishing under 25 minutes, Garcia noted the team’s improvement from last season's invitational where two runners finished within the same time frame.

“The team did a lot better than last year,” Garcia said. “Last year, we only had two guys under 25. And this year, it's six, a lot better than last year. We’re just waiting for the training to pick up and then we should be ready for the conference race.”

Despite the improvement, Tebbe was not satisfied with the men’s team performance, pointing out that they did not stick together as a team with huge disparities in the runner’s placements in comparison to one another.

The Titans’ next meet will take place at the Highlander Invitational at the UCR Agricultural Operations Course in Riverside, Oct. 15 at 8 a.m.

Defender Megan Day scored rst pair of goals for the season against UCSD.

LEANNE CISNEROS / DAILY TITAN

JONATHAN GONZALEZ Sta Writer

Lyla Traylor goes for spike against Weber State on Sept.10 at Titan Gym.

NAVTEJ HUNDAL / DAILY TITAN

After a win against CSU bakersfield, CSUF lost to Cal Poly SLO.

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Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Club at CSUF

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Club at CSUF fundraises, educates, and advocates for ending blood cancer. We participate in two major fundraising events, Light the Night in the fall and Visionaries of the Year in the spring. Light the Night is a walk around Angels Stadium, where we band together in solidarity against blood cancer. Visionaries of the Year has competing fundraising teams to see who can raise the most for a great cause!

We also educate our members and community on what blood cancer is and what our parent organization does with the fundraising money and how it helps save lives. We meet bi-weekly on Tuesdays evenings. If you’re interested in joining, please follow us on Instagram @llsclubatcsuf for more details.

For your club or organization to be featured, email production@dailytitan.com with photo(s) and a description with no more than 125 words.

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Discord is for students, not professors

Teachers joining class

Discord servers is an invasion of privacy.

TONY PHAN VO Sta Writer

College students are increasingly using the messaging platform Discord to connect with one another outside of the classroom. However, professors now want to join or create class Discord servers with their students. Professors should not create a Discord server for their classes without first consulting students.

Often, students make a Discord server at the beginning of the semester for anyone in the class to join. Servers come with an online voice chat, access to screen sharing and the ability to make any server you want. This lets students communicate with each other and chat about

anything related to the class. It is especially helpful for last minute questions, like the night before an assignment is due.

Thomas Stenson, a sophomore majoring in business administration and information systems, said that he joined the class Discord to socialize with others.

“It’s a way of interacting with other people within the class. If needed, I can always contact the person directly, a person in that class, if there’s something I want to say to them, but not in front of the professor,” Stenson said.

Many professors create Discord servers for their classrooms in order to engage with students where they spend most of their time: online. The chat platform has become more and more popular among teachers as a place to both hang out and learn.

Privacy is integral for a class Discord server. Because Discord provides an off-campus digital space,

students are able to connect with each other without the fear of their professors monitoring their chats.

Students may feel uncomfortable when they join a server that is hosted by a professor, and it may prevent students from joining a class Discord.

Rania Khalaf, a senior majoring in business administration, said that having a professor in the Discord is strange. Students should have the freedom to talk with what they like and not have policies placed by the professor, Khalef said.

“I think it’s weird. I don’t like that. I like for students who have conversations by themselves, talking about stuff so they can be free and have no restrictions on being watched and messages read,” Khalef said.

However, this need for privacy can evolve into an issue of cheating. While this is a legitimate concern, professors should reconsider the structure of their classes to create a discussion to create a learning

environment where collaboration, discussion, and support are valued instead of sheer memorization.

Emily Erickson, a professor in communications, said that she structured her class to be collaborative to prevent cheating.

“What I’m doing to combat that is to create courses in which collaboration is built in as opposed to prohibited,” Erickson said. “I actually encourage them to collaborate on everything.”

Students should be in charge of their class Discord servers, not the professors. There should be discussions between students and professors on whether the professor should be included in it. Collaboration becomes futile when there is pressure to follow cautious procedures, especially if the Discord doesn’t have a clear instruction by the professor.

Stenson said that if a professor is going to have to have a Discord server, they should set clear instructions

for the students.

“I feel like if a professor is going to have a Discord server, they’ve got to at least set some sort of guidelines and explain to the students what their monitoring processes are like, what’s allowed and what’s not,” Stenson said.

Instead of trying to get into Discord, professors should utilize Canvas because it already has the capabilities just like Discord with all the features built-in for learning.

Richard Garcia, a junior majoring in theater arts, said that professors should just stick to Canvas. Canvas has so many tools that a professor can use to their advantage - they don’t need Discord.

“One reason why they shouldn’t is they should utilize the tool of Canvas that they already have for official class discussions,” Garcia said. “I think Discord is something that should probably stay with the students and for the students.”

Reducing reliance on textbooks is long overdue

Additional readings and videos contribute to in-depth learning.

MAHEALANI WU

Asst. Editor

Students want to leave college with degrees that reflect a realistic skill set that's applicable to the real world, yet textbooks are dense and outdated resources that should not be the main source of instruction. Professors need to have accurate and reliable course materials that can help students achieve their goal as cost effectively as possible.

Students spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks each semester. Implementing more primary sources into

class curricula can help reduce costs for students.

“I don't actually purchase my textbooks. I try not to, I get online PDF versions since it's much cheaper and much easier for me,” said Kassandra Bautista, a second-year kinesiology major at Cal State Fullerton.

Primary sources are a better alternative to textbooks. Unlike textbooks, primary sources, such as documentaries and journal articles, are easily accessible and are often available at little to no cost online or at college libraries.

Not only are they a cheaper option, but they are more accessible than textbooks and have the ability to provide students with more context about a class without the complicated and dense information of a textbook.

Multi section courses often require faculty to coordinate on a single textbook. And with the semester only being 15 weeks long, students

are expected to learn at a fast pace. This means that professors structure their lectures and classes around the textbook, offering students a shallow learning experience.

“Most of the stuff that's on the test is from the textbook. So it's less of them teaching and more you having to teach yourself, which is no offense, but not what we're paying for,” said Sadiya Ismail, a junior student at CSUF majoring in human services.

Implementing more primary sources into class syllabi can help students better understand the topics that they are learning. Newspaper articles provide examples of concepts in the present day, while documentaries and videos allow students to hear the perspectives of people affected by issues throughout history.

Lana Dalley is an English professor who teaches Victorian literature at CSUF and almost exclusively uses primary sources in her classes.

Dalley said she assigns materials in respect of what is most affordable.

“Fortunately, for me, because I mostly teach historical literature, almost everything I teach is out of copyright, which means that students can choose to buy a book,” Dalley said.

In addition to course material, she pastes sections from the textbook into her slideshow lectures in consideration for students that may not have the book in class.

“They're not reading any long novels, they're reading shorter excerpts. And so the textbook provides them all of that in one space,” Dalley said. This is a classroom dynamic that creates an environment that is inclusive and respectful of how students prefer to learn. Supplementing textbooks with other readings and videos help students understand key concepts in a variety of ways.

Professors need to implement more

primary sources into the syllabus and say goodbye to textbooks. The way students learn is dependent on those who teach them, and it’s a big responsibility to carry.

It is crucial that professors should recognize when a textbook has lost its utility. When a textbook or reading material becomes obsolete, professors should support it with more current information. Students want to apply what they learn in class and draw conclusions that are applicable to the real world.

Professors and students have a symbiotic relationship that should allow students to challenge professors’ beliefs and elevate their strengths. Professors become in danger of tunnel vision when they aren’t willing to be flexible with their teaching methods.

SYDNEY CARROLL / DAILY