Tuesday September 25, 2018

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Tuesday September 25, 2018

The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton

CSU mental health bill vetoed

Volume 104 Issue 12

Preparing college students for danger CSUF emergency management coordinator outlines safety protocol. WILLIAM ROBBINS Staff Writer

ANDRE SALAZAR / DAILY TITAN

The student health center at Cal State Fullerton offers counseling and psychological services to students on campus.

California legislation calls for an increase in campus therapists in CSUs. ANDRE SALAZAR Staff Writer

Cal State Fullerton does not have enough therapists to service the needs of all its students, said Kristi Kanel, human services department chair, during a recent Academic Senate meeting. “I believe it’s related to mental health, emotional and physical health.” “We’re all thinking we want students to graduate; that’s

student success.” “Well, then if that’s what you want, give them the psychosocial skills they need to do that as well, other than advising them on which (general education) course to take,” Kanel said. SB-968, a bill that was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Sept. 23, would require California State University schools to have one full-time mental health counselor for every 1,500 students. The veto is currently being considered by the Senate, according to the bill’s history. Based on CSUF’s latest enrollment number, which is 39,343 students as of spring

2018, Kanel said she estimates that 26 therapists would be needed to satisfy that ratio. “The state legislature feels that is what would meet the (students’) needs,” Kanel said when speaking about the bill’s 1-to-1,500 ratio. Kevin Thomas, the Counseling and Psychological Services interim clinical coordinator, said there are 22 therapists currently on staff. This number includes interns who are still in the CSUF training program. Thomas said the bill would require schools to have a specific number of therapists and other mental health specialists, but shouldn’t be universally applied

due to different utilization rates in different-sized campuses. He said historically, smaller schools tend to have a higher rate of usage for counseling, and larger schools tend to have a lower-usage rate. Thomas said he is unsure if a ratio of 1-to-1,500 would be the right fit for CSUF. “I think every campus is very different and unique.” “There are good starting points for a conversation around it, but I don’t know what our actual number (of therapists) would be to say that we are adequately, fully staffed,” Thomas said. SEE CAPS

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DJs mix at Bowling Bash in TSU Titan Radio held its first oncampus event at the Titan Student Union Bowl & Billiards. MATTISON CANO Staff Writer

Titan Radio celebrated with over 80 DJs at its first event of the semester, Titan Radio Bowling Night at the Titan Bowl & Billiards in the Titan Student Union on Sept. 18. The event seamlessly kicked off the start of the new semester for Titan Radio as the night featured bowling, introductions of the new DJs and ticket giveaways for live shows based in Southern California. “We are an online-only radio station here on campus. We are the school’s official radio station. We have about 80 student DJs, some are also faculty. If you’re involved at Cal State Fullerton, you’re allowed to have a show,” said Matt Sylvester, general manager of Titan Radio. Titan Radio caters to all students on campus as they provide 90 stations from a myriad of genres including, but not limited to, hip-hop, talk shows and blues. The station airs every day, except for Sundays. It is the source of music for campus events like Comm Week, Earth Week, Discoverfest and Student Orientation, according to the Titan Radio website. Each station is completely student run, providing the opportunity for DJ and radio experience as well as a creative outlet. “Everyone’s show is their baby so it’s cool to listen to see how people get creative with it,” said Abbie Briley, communications and campus outreach intern at Titan Radio. Briley said Titan Radio is

RILEY MCDOUGALL / DAILY TITAN

Students watch bowling participants at Titan Radio Bowl & Billiards.

like a family that gives students an outlet of expression unique to their tastes. Julia Santana, DJ for her hiphop show “Jules And Gems,” found Titan Radio at Discoverfest and has been participating for almost a year and a half. She plays hip-hop, rhythm and blues, and some Spanish; Santana also focuses on discussing different themes and topics in hip-hop as well. “Last semester I had the women in hip-hop show, so I just talked about different women in hip-hop and how they paved the way,” Santana said. Titan Radio used Titan Radio Bowling Night as a mixer

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and an opportunity to give away concert tickets to three live shows: Superorganism, SG Lewis and Flamingosis. Titan Radio give away tickets on air, Instagram and at other events on the Titan Walk. If students missed the Titan Radio Bowling Night but are interested in the organization, students still have an opportunity this semester to attend Titan Radio’s most popular music event. “Our really big event is called (No Stress Fest), we have it every semester. We are coming up on our 5th one this fall that will be in December in the TSU. We are going to have some

live acts, DJs, giveaways, free food, you know the whole nine yards,” Sylvester said. No Stress Fest is a free event offered to both CSUF and nonCSUF students at the end of every semester. As the title suggests, guests will have the opportunity to destress and enjoy the amenities that Titan Radio offers. “My favorite part is that it’s really provided a community,” Sylvester said. “We just create a community, a physical space … It’s really nice that people have a place and people to come to on campus when they drive an hour or are working two jobs.”

September is National Preparedness Month at Cal State Fullerton, which encompasses everything from fire, earthquake, hurricane and active shooter situations, according to the CSUF website. In 2018 alone, there have been at least 62 firearm-related incidents on several school campuses across the nation, according to the Everytown for Gun Safety organization. Sue Fisher, the emergency management coordinator at CSUF for the past nine years, expresses the difficulty of integrating that training into regular student schedules. “It’s not necessarily that [teachers] don’t care or that they don’t want to go over it. Their focus and the reason that they’re hired is to teach students,” Fisher said. Fisher’s role is to make sure the university has an emergency operations plan and to detail all the circumstances that the campus would respond to in the event of an emergency. But Fisher said she finds it hard to pass the knowledge on to students, especially when it comes to active-shooter situations. “I am quite sure that everyone on campus values the importance of preparedness and that they want to make sure everyone’s safe,” Fisher said. “I think the whole concept of safety, security and all these awareness things are really important. But again if you look at all the things faculty are taxed with providing, they’ve only got those 16 weeks.” Fisher said there is a template that faculty are not required to use, but can. The template outlines what faculty should include when talking about active shooters with students, Fisher said. “It’s a full page of emergency procedures, which I think is fantastic. I don’t know, however, if that is ever covered when a faculty member goes through the syllabus. They’re thinking of the academics part of it,” she said. Erica Espino, recent CSUF business administration graduate, said she was unaware of the current Shelter In Place student protocol that the CSU system stresses. The protocol highlights the safety procedures to take during dangerous situations such as when a person has a weapon, according to the CSUF website. In the event of an active-shooter situation where Titans cannot escape, it’s recommended by CSUF Campus Emergency Preparedness that students and faculty remain calm and organize as quickly as possible. The website tells the campus community to first lock and barricade the door then turn off the lights and hide from the door’s line of sight. If the shooter does enter the classroom, students must be ready to engage and disorient the attacker with thrown objects, while a small number of individuals rush to overwhelm and disarm the shooter. SEE GUN

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