Daily Titan | March 13, 2023

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Relaxing campus study spots

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Yoga

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Softball defends home, wins two straight Interim provost selected

ALEXCIA NEGRETE Deputy Editor

Cal State Fullerton’s former head of information technology was named the interim provost in an email sent early Thursday from Cal State Fullerton’s President Framroze Virjee, following the dismissal of Carolyn Thomas, who held the position until last Tuesday.

Amir Dabirian served as the former vice president of IT for 15 years and is currently a tenured marketing professor in the College of Business and Economics. This semester, Dabirian teaches a marketing analysis course focusing on decision-making in the information age.

In the same email, Virjee announced Rommel Hidalgo would be taking Dabirian’s place as vice president of IT.

Dabirian and Hidalgo are expected to be in their new positions for a limited term of two years, until a permanent president and provost is selected, Virjee wrote. After the two years, they are both expected to return to their original positions.

SEE EMAIL 2

After

Deputy Editor

State, 3-2, on Thursday in a tournament co-hosted by Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount University.

A third game was scheduled on Friday against Purdue, but was canceled due to field conditions.

Pitcher Myka Sutherlin earned both wins and leads the Big West

conference in ERA with 1.27 and strikeouts with 87.

In Thursday’s game against Weber State, she struck out seven batters in seven innings and gave up two runs. On Sunday against South Dakota, Sutherlin pitched five scoreless innings and struck out eight batters.

“She is such a leader out there,” head coach Kelly Ford said. “I think she is a fierce competitor, but she has the ability to play with joy. I think the defense responds to that, they’re really connected to her.”

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Theatre production challenges familial trauma

against violence when combined with intergenerational trauma.

In honor of Women’s History Month, Cal State Fullerton’s Department of Theater and Dance produced “Women of Zalongo,” shedding light on the liberation and overlooked triumphs of women in the face of violence.

“Women of Zalongo” premiered last Friday at the Clayes Performing Arts Center, weaving together the impact of women’s resilience

The play was written by Maria Cominis, directed by Kari Hayter and choreographed by Dr. Elleni Koulos. Events in Cominis’ life inspired the play, particularly her Greek grandmother and her childhood stories of before her family’s immigration journey to the United States in 1915.

SEE GREEK 4

Freshman Delaney Wilder recorded one steal against UC Irvine on Sunday. The Titans had seven steals total.

GABRIELA PEREZ ORTA / DAILY TITAN

The actors in the play honored present-day women's e orts around the world to ght for freedom.

Left elder Bailey Wallace stole second base in the bottom of the fth inning and scored the Titans' second run after an RBI double from Alexa Neil against South Dakota.

DARLENE SANZON / DAILY TITAN

EMILY WILSON

NOLLYANNE DELACRUZ Editor

Fullerton residents will now pay credit card fees

NOLLYANNE DELACRUZ

Editor

The Fullerton City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday to continue to pay credit card and eCheck fees on utilities for customers for one year while passing on fees for non-utility payments.

This restructuring is effective immediately. Fullerton residents will be notified of this change on the city’s website within the month. Their next utility bill will also include a letter to notify residents that credit card and eCheck fees on utility payments will continue to be absorbed until next year.

Fred Jung, the mayor of Fullerton, said this restructuring could save the city $150,000 to $250,000 this year. The move originated from Jung’s goal to reduce unnecessary spending in Fullerton.

“I think it’s important that we find an adequate balance between what our citizens and businesses expect from a municipality in terms of services and how we’re going to, as a city, provide the necessary revenue to pay for that,” Jung said.

Jung said the city could use the money coming from non-utility credit fees, and future utility credit fees to provide more municipal services.

“We can spend it on anything that the city requires, be it an additional police officer, be it an additional firefighter, be it an additional staff at the municipal level,” Jung said.

At the city council meeting, the

council members were given two options based on the discussions from the last city council meeting on Feb. 21: Fullerton absorbed eCheck fees for utility and non-public works payments or Fullerton would continue to absorb utility credit card and eCheck fees and pass on all credit card and eCheck fees for non-utility payments. The city council’s vote was a blend of both.

“Ultimately it was a compromise vote,” said Ahmad Zahra, a Fullerton council member representing District 5. “I would have liked to absorb the utility credit card fees because I think that there are a lot of families in our city still struggling with payments and so now we’re adding another cost by passing through this credit card fee.”

Although Zahra did not prefer this option, he said the city had to do what it needed to continue to pay for services for residents.

The first option would have saved the city $340,000 while the second would have saved $140,000, said Ellis Chang, the director of administrative services.

Nick Dunlap, the council member representing Fullerton’s District 2, argued to pass all credit card and eCheck fees onto customers in Fullerton.

“I just don’t think the city should be subsidizing these expenses. They’re fees that are incurred as a result of payments and they should be allocated back to the residents that are choosing to pay via those vehicles,” Dunlap said.

However Zahra advocated for absorbing credit card and eCheck fees on utility payments for one year with the intention

Email: Dabirian named for two years

of revisiting it later based on feedback from the community.

“For utilities specifically, in our case water and other things that are utility-related, then we do have a lot of low-income families that may have to use a credit card in order to pay the water bill that month for example,” Zahra said. “And so the credit card isn’t really a choice at that point to some degree for some people. It’s a necessity because they couldn’t make up the cash flow for that month or the bill came up a little higher.”

Jung said there are no plans to revisit the impact of passing on these all credit card fees to customers. He also said because the credit card and eCheck fees are so small, it may not impact people significantly.

“The bulk of the fees where it’s really going to impact the city and impacts the city now are with business fees that are being purchased and paid for in credit card,” Jung said. “It’s really not a utility thing. If folks are using a credit card as a bridge for their utility, that’s usually a very small bridge; it’s not in perpetuity.”

Zahra said he would like to hear feedback from Fullerton residents to see the impact this change would have on them and if they need to reconsider this shift.

“I know our council meetings are not often well attended so I'm hoping that we can hear from the community what people think as the word starts spreading about this,” Zahra said. “I'm always open to feedback and see how we can better serve.”

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Dabirian is a CSUF alumni and received his master’s degree in engineering and his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. Dabirian also received a master’s degree in computer science from UC Riverside. He also has a Ph.D. in Industrial Economics and Management from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden.

He has also served 15 terms as a member of the Academic Senate, with 12 terms on the Executive Committee.

“Dr. Dabirian’s extensive service as a sta ff and faculty member make him ideally suited to maintain the momentum we’ve built and to help us accomplish our highest goals moving forward,” Virjee wrote in the email.

Hidalgo has been serving as associate vice president of IT since 2019. He is also a CSUF alumni and graduated with a master’s degree in management science/information systems, as

well as earning a bachelor's degree in psychology and a MBA from the University of Guam.

Su Swarat, who has been serving as executive in charge since the removal of Thomas on Feb. 28, will no longer be serving in the position.

Thomas served as university provost for over two years. In 2021, she earned a regular pay of about $291,803 and total pay and benefits of about $416,000. She received a salary increase of about $303,000 in July of 2022.

In 2021, Dabirian earned a little over $360,000, including total pay and benefits.

As part of Thomas’ retreat rights, she is now serving as a special assistant to the president. Her new position began on Feb. 27 and is expected to continue until the fall semester, wrote Ellen Treanor, the associate vice president for Strategic Communications and Brand Management, in an email to the Daily Titan.

The Daily Titan reached out to Virjee but he was not available for comment.

Newly elected leadership win uncontested

MARIO LEAL Sta Writer

After running unopposed, the duo composed of Maysem Awadalla and Mark Zavalkov were elected as the new Associated Students president and vice president for the term of 20232024 on Wednesday.

Positions representing each of the eight Cal State Fullerton colleges on the board of directors were also elected last week.

Other notable races for a seat in the board of directors were in the College of Health and Human Development, where Andrea Ramirez-Rivera won by six votes, and in the College of Business

Economics where Shawan Mansoor took the seat by four votes.

747 of the 40,000 students that attend CSUF voted this year. Awadalla and Zavalkov obtained a total of 446 votes, while the remaining 301 students who voted chose to abstain.

Elections opened for two days and were run exclusively online.

In the spring 2022 election, ASI had a total of 2,686 votes.

This will not be Awadalla’s first time in student government, she currently serves as ASI’s chief diversity and inclusion officer.

Zavalkov has no prior experience with student government. However, last year Zavalkov ran for and won a position as the board of directors representative for the College of Natural Sciences and

Mathematics. However, he said he stepped down from the position due to complications.

Awadalla and Zavalkov said in a debate earlier this month that some of their objectives are diversifying CSUF’s faculty, hosting financial stability workshops for students and engaging students in more campus activities.

“We want to work with the students. We are a student government made up of students for students,” Awadalla said.

The ASI election director, Kamille Morales, said she believes that the price of running a candidacy could be the reason why students are shying away from running for student leadership positions.

“I think number one could be funding. You would have to print their

own flyers and run their own campaign. It’s a process,” Morales said. “I know people who have, like campaign managers.”

The current ASI president, Lydia Kelley, said she believes that the time on campus COVID-19 took from students could also be a challenge that gets in the way of enrollment in student government.

“We had three years of students who have never been on campus,” said Kelley. “So I think there’s still a visibility need for what ASI is and what it does. There’s still a lot of students that don’t know,” she said.

The Associated Students Inc. is a non-profit organization who is funded by a mandatory student fee and oversees the programming of student activities and services like the Titan

Student Union, the Student Recreation Center, the Children’s Center, leadership scholarships and other student-centered programs. ASI is also responsible for funding campus clubs and organizations and shared governance of the university.

“I think it provides a check and balance for the relationship between our university and our students,” Kelley said.

Kelley and the ASI vice president Christapor Mikaelian did not run for reelection because they are both graduating.

“I think a lot of the work we’ve done here is extremely meaningful, but at the same time, eventually, student leaders gotta cycle out. I think that’s important,” Mikaelian said.

Associated Students appoints director to fill vacancy

ANDREW TORRES Sta Writer

The Associated Students board of directors voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of appointing Jennifer Uribe as one of two directors for the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics — a position that has been vacant since the beginning of the semester.

Uribe is a senior majoring in biology who will graduate this spring. Although she will only serve as a director until the end of the semester, vice chair Morgan Diaz is confident in Uribe’s abilities to serve the role.

Diaz said that Uribe’s insight and goals have made her a very strong candidate to help maintain women in STEM.

Uribe will serve alongside Nicholas Furtado, who represents the same college. Furtado believes Uribe is a highly qualified candidate who could assist him and bring valuable skills.

“I would like to have somebody be able to be at the forefront and be a face of pulling everybody together making community because I have a hard time doing that, and she excels,” Furtado said.

Uribe said her experiences working with Ballet Folklorico, a club that teaches and performs the traditional Mexican dance of that name and Mesa Cooperativa, a Chicanx/Latinx student organization, have helped her obtain the necessary

Gun control activist to visit CSUF

DOMINIC SAMANIEGO Sta Writer

Activist and school shooting survivor David Hogg will speak at the Titan Student Union Pavillion on Friday, March 17, from 12 to 2 p.m. as an event in conjunction with Social Justice Week and the “Beyond the Conversation” series.

The event will be hosted by Associated Students, Inc. at Cal State Fullerton and the Division of Student Affairs and Human Resources, Diversity and Inclusion.

Guest speaker David Hogg was seventeen years old at the time of the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14, 2018.

Years after the shooting, Hogg has become an advocate for stricter gun laws to prevent further violence due to firearms.

His work and many other survivors built the foundation for March

For Our Lives in 2018 to mobilize voters to help end gun violence.

The March for Our Lives movement sparked a series of gun violence protests across the United States. Organizers and activists across the country staged protests in their schools, demanding legislators enact legislation that enforced stricter laws surrounding the use of firearms.

“Beyond the Conversation” is a series of events where guest speakers specializing in different fields of study and topics come together to engage students in discussions surrounding diversity and inclusion.

Previous events include a range of professionals, from journalists, educators, and actors like Nikole Hannah Jones, Angela Davis, Daniel Dae Kim and Michael Phelps.

Guests have spoken on various topics, such as actor Danny Trejo, who spoke to students about his own experiences in his professional career and personal life.

Austin Ysais, the manager for student programs and engagement, wrote in an email to the Daily Titan that he hopes that students will become inspired and grow in all aspects of their lives through this program.

“The goal is to inspire students and bring folks to campus that students can learn from and grow from,” Ysais wrote.

Last month, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones visited the Titan Student Union, where she spoke to students about racial injustice and democracy.

Ysais said he believes Hogg’s resilience makes him the perfect keynote speaker.

“With social justice week taking place this week we felt that having a keynote speaker like David would be great. The theme of the week is resilience and we believe through David’s experiences he is a great example to keynote the week,” Ysais wrote in an email.

Ysais added that the security measures enforced at the event could not be disclosed but that ASI would do diligence in ensuring that the event is safe for students and sta ff

tools for the position.

Those organizations taught her how to help people bring their new ideas to life, how to allocate funds in an organizational setting and how different parts of the university operate, like the Inter-Club Council.

Uribe’s main goal while serving as a director is to highlight mental health among STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics students, especially women in STEM.

“I think there's a big disconnect between making sure that they all stay there and feeling sort of like the imposter syndrome, especially when you're like first-gen students, people who come from immigrant households, stuff like that,” Uribe said.

Uribe plans to create a stronger community

within the college of natural sciences and mathematics by hosting recreational activities where students can decompress and not have to worry about their classes.

She also believes continuing renovations in McCarthy Hall and Dan Black Hall will improve the campus’ sense of community, especially for commuter students who do not have space to go outside their classes.

Creating wellness groups and improving an understanding of mental health between students and professors, with the help of Counseling & Psychological services, are major components of Uribe’s agenda.

“I hope that I get to meet more people within my college and that I just become a familiar face that they can come talk to,” Uribe said.

Media Editor Genesis Pavia

Head Illustrator

Sydney Carroll

Faculty Adviser

Walter Baranger

FOR THE RECORD

Distribution Manager

Chelsea Arangcon

Distribution Coordinator

Andrew Shin

Faculty Adviser

Michelle Kurland

Steven Lim encourages students to be creative

and his co-host, Andrew Ilnyckyj, reviewed specific foods at various price points to determine which was the most worth it.

Joann Lee, a senior business administration major, said she felt inspired as a fellow Asian American to be successful in a huge industry.

“You can make it as an Asian American or not even Asian American as like a minority. You can make it. I know the world is very much white-dominated, not as much as we're getting more progressive in the world. But I think one of the biggest things he has reassured me in this event is that you can make it as a minority,” Lee said.

Lim talked about his initial goal of shining a light on Asians and Asian Americans, but when his initial Youtube content wasn’t very successful, he realized he could bring awareness to Asian culture through “Worth It.”

ROSE MENDEZ Sta Writer

YouTuber and CEO Steven Lim visited the Titan Student Union Tuesday to talk about the challenges he faced being an Asian American content creator in a predominantly white industry and to encourage students to

pursue their creative ambitions despite any failures. The Business Inter-Club Council invited Lim during their Business Madness Week for the College of Business and Economics. Lim talked about his experiences going from a chemical engineer to starting up in an industry that lacked solid Asian American representation.

“There was a time when there weren't Asian Americans in the media,” Lim said. “Because there was a lack of representation of who I could be on the screen, on the internet, on the television, I had a hard time finding a sense of identity.”

Lim initially rose to fame during his time at BuzzFeed with his wellknown series, “Worth It,” where he

“I was so insistent on making content around Asian American ideas. I was trying to figure out why is it that nobody cares about me or my people. I realized that there's actually a better way to talk about culture, and it was actually through the medium of food. I realized this is actually a more human way to connect with people,” Lim said.

Business Inter-Club Council president, Dayton Ly, expressed how he was striving to bring a speaker to campus who had a professional but relatable career that students could

feel encouraged by.

“I'm sure all students, whatever major they are, have some sort of creative aspirations, even if they're not planning to pursue it,” Ly said. “So I thought it was really important to have someone close in age as well as a relatable journey that students recognize.”

While Lim’s time with BuzzFeed has come to an end, he has moved on to becoming CEO and co-founder of Watcher, an entertainment company. Despite that, Lim reminded students that people don’t have to have things figured out.

“I don't have it all figured out, and I just know that some of you out there might be worried that you haven't figured it out,” Lim said. “You might be graduating in a few months here and saying, ‘I don't have a job, I don't know what I'm doing,’ and that's okay.”

Kyrstin Huxtable, a third-year accounting student, said events like these are important for the student body because it allows for discussion of different experiences.

“That way, students can kind of hear different opinions and different experiences because that's kind of what college is all about,” Huxtable said. “You learn about other people and it really enhances the learning experience as well because when you get that opportunity to hear about all these different things, you kind of reevaluate your own self.”

Greek: Women of Zalongo highlights resilience

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The play follows several generations of women in a Greek-American family, but is mostly told from the perspective of Angie, a Greek-American woman. She finds a journal belonging to her grandmother, Eleni, which recounts the story of how she immigrated to the U.S.

The story is told non-linearly, interspersing narratives from Eleni’s life in Constantinople in the early 1910s and events from Angie’s life in the U.S. in 2023.

The play spotlights Greek culture, from the music to the costume design to a scene where Charis shows Angie and Tina how to read tea leaves. To represent Eleni’s life as a young girl, the women

wear long, shift-style dresses with long sleeves and head coverings. Angie, her mother and Tina wear contemporary clothing to show when the story takes place in the present day.

The play does feature some sensitive topics, such as sexual assault, incest and abortion. One of the best scenes in the play showed Eleni killing her mother’s rapist, along with a fight between Angie and Tina over the latter’s submission to her boyfriend’s coercive and controlling behavior.

The scene is impressively directed, with drums complementing the high-stress scenarios the characters are in. The juxtaposition of Angie and Tina’s argument with Eleni’s actions confronts the issue of gendered violence, showing

where this trauma begins, how it is perpetuated through generations and how people attempt to break the cycle.

The reference to Zalongo in the play’s title comes from a legend about the Dance of Zalongo.

In the early 1800s, the Ottoman Empire invaded the Souli in Epirus. To escape death and slavery, more than 50 women danced, sang and then committed mass suicide by throwing themselves and their children off the mountain of Zalongo. This was seen as an act of rebellion of the Greek people against their Ottoman oppressors.

In a similar fashion, the play asserts the choices these Greek women made is an act of respect for their roots as cultural descendants of the

women of Zalongo and keeps with the themes of women’s resilience.

The lack of significant male characters was an important artistic touch. To highlight that this is a women-centered narrative, only a couple of men are named, like Eleni’s uncle Basilio and Angie’s lover, Jimmy the Greek.

Overall, the characters in the play declare that silence doesn’t protect the innocent, it protects the guilty. The play is a moving testament to women’s resilience, both in the past and present and highlights the importance of speaking up to violence instead of staying silent.

The play will continue to run on weekends until March 12.

Review: Scream VI slashes up expectations

LUIS LEMUS Sta Writer

Slash and gore director Tyler Gillett is no stranger to the Scream franchise. He is a horror movie veteran, with a directorial career spanning nearly a decade.

While familiar face Neve Campbell, who played Sidney Prescott, is gone, having died in the previous film, Courteney Cox reprises her role as newscaster Gail Weathers, as well as Jenna Ortega as Tara Carpenter.

“Scream VI” takes place in New York City during Halloween, so viewers are left guessing what that entails. Wild parties that tend to occur during the holiday makes for a gorey and entertaining time. The setting gives Ghostface a new opportunity in a new city, terrorizing it with the relentlessness the iconic character is known for.

One key scene where the setting allows the film to shine is in “the subway scene”, where most of the subway car is filled with people dressed in Ghostface costumes, while the real Ghostface remains hidden in the crowd, waiting for the opportunity to strike.

This movie is a good slasher, despite the head-scratching moments created when the main characters make typical nonsensical choices, but it’s expected, coming from the type of horror movie it is.

Melissa Barrera delivers a solid performance as Sam Carpenter, as does Ortega, in her role as Sam’s sister Tara.

Because the film is part of a larger series, watching Scream I through V before watching “Scream VI” is highly recommended. This is one set of movies that you can’t just jump in and out of watching. To fully understand what is going on and for the most enjoyable viewing experience, it is best to follow the series from part one onward as opposed to just hopping right in.

While that may sound tedious, the movie is definitely worth watching. The carrying on of the legacy of Wes Craven, the casting and the directing as well as the setting, New York during Halloween, was a wise choice since it was much bigger than the previous city of Woodsboro. The bigger setting gave the directors more space to get creative with the story.

Whether you have been following the franchise or are simply a fan of the genre, “Scream VI,” is sure

to draw you in. The amazing performances, the larger scale, and the

Steven Lim motivates students to pursue their creative passions.

BORLEN CHONG / DAILY TITAN

gorey, fun elements of a slasher film make for an enjoyable movie-going experience. Go and watch this movie as soon as you can.

Artificial intelligence: creative friend or foe?

the creative economy, but its effects are complex and ongoing.”

Recently, Google revealed that its artificial intelligence, MusicLM, can generate a song through a simple text prompt. As AI art grows in popularity, we must preserve the value human-made art brings.

With the increasing popularity of the new art form in recent years, consumers will start to rely on AI for cheap, high-quality art rather than commissioned art from human artists. Competitions have even started perpetuating AI art’s popularity, like when Jason M. Allen won first place in the fine arts competition at the 2022 Colorado State Fair.

Allen’s digital artwork that won first place was made through a combination of words that AI then interpreted into art. Instead of being used to enhance a piece of art or an idea, the generator created art without the artistic talent human art requires.

Consumers need to challenge AI-created work by valuing human artists more. Instead of relying on a generator, people need to continue commissioning artists, which changes the narrative from “AI replaces artists” to “AI supplements artists.”

As AI proves itself to be more and more capable of creating artistic work, competition in the field isn’t just limited to personal skill and other artists anymore. It has created an exceptionally high bar that can produce similar works of art at cheaper and faster rates than almost anyone.

In an email to the Daily Titan, Catherine Atwong, a marketing professor, said, “AI is also leading to new challenges in the creative economy, such as copyright protection, job displacement and ethical considerations. Overall, AI is shaping the future of

Sites such as images.AI and NightCafe provide the tools to create an image simply by typing a few words into its text prompt. These generators sift through the internet and mash work from previous artists to “create” an image.

Some believe this is just another technological move in history.

Dustin Abnet, associate professor of American studies and author of “American Robot: A Cultural History,” said we are seeing history repeat itself as AI is added to the artist’s toolbox, the same way Photoshop and the camera were.

“When we're speaking about creativity, in particular, we tend to forget that the workers who were displaced by physical machines in the 19th and early 20th century, they were creative too,” Abnet said.

Not everyone possesses a natural artistic talent, and that’s why AI can be an incredible tool for anyone who wants to experience the joy of being an artist.

AI can provide templates for artists and specialists to improve upon, allowing artistic minds to build upon something that is not limited to creativity.

AI is a lucrative industry and can open many doors for creators, but we must remember that the human essence makes art valuable.

Art instructor Betsy Hall said her recent work aligns with awareness of the planet and staying connected to our bodies. She explained how AI art is efficient, but there is a richness in the artistic process that is lost.

“I usually make artwork deliberately by hand. I usually make my work with the deliberate possibility of making a mistake or wrecking something. It's a practice of basically accepting my humanity rather than trying to deny it,” Hall said.

As much of a risk as it is to the art community, AI art can be an opportunity for artists to sharpen and expand their skills by using it in their work. Computer science professor Christopher Ryu said artists could maximize AI by interacting with it and becoming better artists.

“That’s the reality. Writing something, creating something that can be interesting to humans, is not a difficult task. Especially using AI,”

Ryu said.

People need to challenge the rapidly growing field of AI and appreciate human artists and their work.

How we perceive art is changing along with consumer expectations and demands.

The growing market for AI will only displace human creators if we do not challenge the industry and continue to support human artistry.

CSUF parking payment plan, stop hiding!

In 2020, Cal State Fullerton spent $38.8 million to make the Eastside North parking structure larger. Due to this expense, CSUF raised the parking permit price from $285 a semester to $334 in July 2020.

While the demand for additional parking was met, students were faced with a $49 permit increase. To some that may not seem like a lot, having to pay that entire price up front can be hard for those struggling financially.

College students have to worry about many financial necessities such as tuition, housing, food security and much more. For a CSU campus that was created mainly for commuters, the $334 price tag for a parking permit is just the icing on the cake.

Parking and Transportation at CSUF should consider offering, or at least properly promoting, a feasible parking permit payment plan that is easily accessible and widely known to students.

There currently is an option to enroll in a payment plan, according to Melanie Bates, the communications and project specialist for parking and transportation.

Students like Mia Ramos, a

third-year kinesiology major, must be made aware that the option was available in the first place. She said if the school were to publicize this option, it would better incentivize students to purchase the permit using the payment plan, which in turn would increase the overall number of sales made from parking permits.

Compared to other CSU campuses, CSUF’s list of alternative on-campus parking permits is next to none. CSUF only publicly advertises the semester-long permit, a $10 daily permit or the $4 an hour ParkMobile sections.

CSUF ranks fourth among CSUs for most expensive parking permits,

with San Francisco State being the most expensive, charging $500 per semester, and California Maritime Academy charging the least, semester permits being $81.

While San Francisco State doesn’t offer a payment plan, they do offer different on-campus parking options. For students who will only be on campus Tuesday and Thursdays, they can pay for a $320 permit. If a student has to be on campus Monday, Wednesday and Friday, they can pay $480 for a permit.

Just 20 miles from CSUF, Long Beach State students are offered the option to purchase a semester-long permit for $250, a year-long permit for $500 or a permit that is valid throughout a month for $55.

Fresno State is one of the few CSU campuses that publically advertises a payment plan, even though their semester-long permits are only $93 and academic year permits are $186.

Ramos said the semester-long permit being $334 is too expensive for most students to pay outright.

“For a school that strives and promotes themselves as an establishment that aims to be accessible to low-income students, I just kind of see an irony in the sense that the parking permits are priced that high,” Ramos said.

There needs to be a clear mention of a payment plan on the CSUF Parking and Transportation Services webpage. Instead, the department is promoting its off-site parking permit, which costs $100 and allows students to park at the local Fullerton Free church on Bastanchury and Brea Blvd. It’s only available Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., which is not very helpful if a student has a class past 7 p.m. or classes on Fridays.

According to a report by Best Colleges, other resources such as textbooks, transportation and personal care contribute to the overall cost of college. While a payment plan would not lower the parking permit cost, it would allow students to budget their finances toward several priorities. At the end of the day, students will still pay the total amount for a permit, just in separate intervals.

Paying an outrageous price for a parking permit valid for a semester only piles onto students' already existing financial stress. More than 15,000 student commuter parking permits were purchased in the fall semester of 2022. If students rely so heavily on parking permits, they deserve to know that CSUF offers a permit payment plan. The option exists, but it needs to be better advertised to the student body.

SIMON MERCADER

Sta Writer

MAHEALANI WU Sta Writer

CSUF doesn't advertise that they o er payment plans for parking permits. SIMON MERCADER / DAILY TITAN

With the uptick of AI-created art, people cannot forget the importance of human-made art.

MAHEALANI WU / DAILY TITAN

Aaron Frison

Van Eekhout Evanier Johnson

Deragon Rollins

GeraldsRueggers

Rugg

Hughes Lee Phillips

ShanerJimenez King

Robbins Leialoha Cook

Yang

Quinones Chen

Wolfman

Adams

Russell

Water polo drowns in conference debut

In their first conference matches of the season, Cal State Fullerton women’s water polo lost handily No. 6 UC Irvine Anteaters, 17-3, on Sunday and to No. 7 Long Beach State Sharks, 15-1, on Friday.

Junior Mikka Von Scherr believes that the Titans’ performance over the weekend leaves room for improvement.

“I think that we could just work on just getting down the pool, working a little harder,

doing those extra strokes,” Von Scherr said.

Against the Anteaters, the Titans continued to struggle offensively, only scoring 3 goals.

The Anteaters quickly grabbed a 3-0 lead over the Titans in the first period. In response, CSUF’s Kieran Scout Bates scored a goal, which made the score 3-1. At the end of the first quarter, the Anteaters were ahead 5-1.

In the second period, the Titans could not score on any of their six attempts, five of which did not find the goal and one that was saved by the goalkeeper.

Following three goals from the Anteaters, the Titans scored their second goal from Zaretskiy,

with an assist from Jacqueline Naito. In a backand-forth game, the Anteaters responded with two goals of their own from Nioka Thomas and another from Michaela Strickland.

The Titans were unable to cut into the deficit after they attempted 6 shots but could not convert any in the fourth period. On the other hand, the Anteaters scored 5 goals throughout the quarter, and the score ended 17-3.

In their match against Long Beach State, the Titans failed to dominate the pool as the Sharks gained a quick 5-0 lead in the first period following three goals by Elisa Portillo, one by Rachael Kowalchick and the other by Hailey Multz

Baseball wins series against Pepperdine

with an assist from Grace Cuozzo.

After three periods, the Titans were down 12-0, but they made a final push to start the fourth period.

The Titans scored their only goal of the match after freshman Gabrielle Zaretskiy scored a penalty goal with 3:41 remaining in the fourth period.

Titans coach Kyle Witt is not worried about the upcoming games, and he is looking forward to developing the team’s culture in its inaugural season.

The Titans return to play at No. 15 UC San Diego on Friday at 5 p.m. for their third conference game.

Hits: wins backed by pitching

This season, Sutherlin leads the Big West conference in ERA with 1.27 and strikeouts with 87.

Following two losses against Boston University and Baylor on Wednesday, star center fielder Megan Delgadillo injured her ankle against the Bears and has yet to return to the lineup.

This season, Delgadillo leads the team in batting average with .353, so the Titans’ lackluster offense has had to find production from other players.

In Delgadillo’s absence, center fielder Antuanett Dean entered the leadoff spot in the lineup in the two games over the weekend after mostly being a reserve during non-conference play.

Dean’s speed, ability to steal bases and batting average influenced Ford’s decision to place her in the leadoff spot.

After losing the opening game of a weekend series against Pepperdine, Cal State Fullerton baseball team turned the series around, sweeping Sunday's doubleheader to secure the series win.

Following a competitive match on Saturday that saw the Titans lose 6-5, the Titans returned Sunday to win 10-8 in 12 innings. Following this, the Titans closed out the weekend beating the Waves 5-1 in seven innings.

In the Titans’ two victories, they relied heavily on their relief pitching as both wins were earned after the initial starter had already exited the game.

Titans pitcher Peyton Jones earned his first win of the season entering the second game on Sunday in relief. In the fourth inning, the Titans

were up 2-1 when Jones entered the game. Through four innings of work, Jones prevented the Waves from getting any hits and struck out six batters.

In the first game of Sunday's doubleheader, the Titans had allowed eight runs to get through in the first nine innings. This was before junior Jojo Ingrassia entered the game and steadied the ship.

Ingrassia, similarly to Jones, earned his first win as a Titan, pitching the final three innings while striking out five and allowing no runs.

This was Ingrassia’s second appearance of the weekend after initially pitching in relief during Saturday's match and allowing no runs and striking out two over 1.1 innings.

In addition to efficient relief pitching, the Titans’ offense was complementary throughout the weekend including having three hitters bat above .400.

Leading the Titans in offense was second

baseman Maddox Latta. Latta had a batting average of .500, batting 6-of-12 and scoring twice. Following this series, Latta led his team in hits with 17 on the season.

The Titans’ next top hitter was third baseman Zach Lew. Lew hit .545 over the weekend on 6-of-11 hitting as well as scoring twice.

Rounding out the Titans top offensive performers was designated hitter Brendan Bobo. Bobo hit his third home run of the season while also hitting three RBIs in the second game on Sunday. However, despite leading the team in RBIs and home runs, Bobo continues to be mediocre at the plate with a .211 batting average as well as leading his team in strikeouts with 18. Bobo is currently fourth in the Big West in strikeouts.

After this series, the Titans now have an overall record of 6-7 as they head into their final pre-conference match.

The Titans will return home Wednesday to host Arizona at 6 p.m. at Goodwin Field.

This weekend, Dean batted 2-6, scored twice and stole three bases overall. Against South Dakota, her two stolen bases resulted in the Titans’ first run after an error by South Dakota catcher Mikalyn Emanuelli.

In the tournament this weekend, second baseman Alexa Neil led the team in RBI with two, including a double against South Dakota that scored left fielder Bailey Wallace in the fifth inning.

Despite CSUF’s offense leaving eight runners on base in two games, the team’s pitching has stepped up.

Additionally, pitchers Haley Rainey and Raci Miranda pitched an inning apiece in Sunday’s win against South Dakota, with Miranda earning her first save of the season.

After the two wins, the Titans are fourth in the Big West standings with an overall record of 13-11.

The Titans will begin conference play against UC Davis on Friday for the first of a three-game series. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.

Goalkeeper Haden Skye Bates had 15 saves combined in the two losses over the weekend.

GABRIELA PEREZ ORTA / DAILY TITAN Freshman Gabrielle Zaretskiy was the Titans' leading scoring two goals total.

GABRIELLE PEREZ ORTA / DAILY TITAN

GOTTIE CHAVEZ Editor

GABRIELA PEREZ ORTA Sta Writer

First baseman Caden Connor hit .231 while hitting one RBI and scoring one run in the Titans' series win against Pepperdine.

KEVIN BOWDEN / DAILY TITAN

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ARIES You may feel like charging ahead full steam, but remember to take a moment to smell the roses (or at least appreciate the aroma of your coffee). Your energy and enthusiasm will be infectious, so spread it around generously.

TAURUS Your stubbornness may be your greatest asset this week, as you stand firm in your convictions and refuse to be swayed by naysayers. Just don't forget to take breaks and stretch those bull muscles every now and then.

GEMINI Your wit and charm will be on full display this week, making you the life of the party (even if the party is just you and your cat). Embrace your inner social butterfly and flit from conversation to conversation, spreading joy and laughter wherever you go.

CANCER Your emotional sensitivity may be heightened this week, so don't be afraid to lean into your feelings and share them with those you trust. Just be careful not to retreat too far into your shell and miss out on the opportunities that come your way.

LEO Your natural confidence and flair will be in full swing this week, making you a shining star in both your personal and professional spheres. Just be mindful of your tendency to hog the spotlight and remember to share the love with your fellow lions.

VIRGO Your attention to detail and analytical mind will be your greatest assets this week, as you tackle complex tasks with ease and precision. Just be careful not to get bogged down in the minutiae and lose sight of the big picture.

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1. Which of these EU countries does not use the euro as its currency?

a.) Poland

b.) Denmark

c.) Sweden

d.) All of the above

2. Where is recognized as the location of the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth?

a.) Mitribah, Kuwait

b.) Death Valley, California

c.) Yuma, Arizona

d.) Key West, Florida

WRITTEN by Zayn Garcia

LIBRA Your charming diplomacy and social graces will be on full display this week, making you a sought-after companion and collaborator. Just be mindful of your tendency to be indecisive and remember to make bold moves when the situation calls for it.

SCORPIO Your intense passion and magnetism will be impossible to ignore this week, drawing admirers and potential partners like moths to a flame. Just be careful not to let your intensity tip over into jealousy or possessiveness.

SAGITTARIUS Your adventurous spirit and love of exploration will be at the forefront this week, as you seek out new experiences and horizons. Just be careful not to get too caught up in the thrill of the chase and remember to stay grounded in reality.

CAPRICORN Your hardworking and disciplined nature will serve you well this week, as you tackle your to-do lists with gusto and efficiency. Just be mindful of your tendency to be a bit of a workholic and remember to take breaks and prioritize self care.

AQUARIUS Your innovative and quirky approach to life will be on full display this week, as you come up with novel solutions to problems and challenge the status quo. Just be careful not to be too eccentric for your own good and remember to ground your ideas in practicality.

PISCES Your dreamy and intuitive nature will be at the forefront this week, as you tap into your creativity and spiritual side. Just be careful not to get too lost in your own head and remember to stay connected with the tangible world around you.