Tuesday December 4, 2018
The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton
Volume 104 Issue 41
Ordinance may affect homeless shelters Municipal code will require shelters to go through an application process before housing individuals. DIANE ORTIZ News Editor
The last reading of and final vote on an ordinance requiring that emergency homeless shelters go through an application process to house unsheltered individuals is scheduled for Tuesday’s Fullerton City Council meeting. This is the third time the ordinance has been brought to the city council. Joan Wolff, senior planner for the city of Fullerton, said in addition to adding an application process, new requirements will be enforced at the shelters, such as supportive services for up to 12 people. The code would require shelters to be within a habitable structure with access to restrooms and subject to the provision of onsite management and security. As of January, 1,147 homeless individuals were housed in transitional housing, 1,774 were sleeping in emergency shelters, 2,546 were living in permanent supportive housing, 687 were in rapid re-housing and 66 were in other types of permanent housing, according to the 2018 Orange County Housing Inventory Count. “The state, region and county are
DIANE ORTIZ / DAILY TITAN
St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church is one of four known emergency homeless shelters in Fullerton.
reaching a homelessness crisis. Orange County cities are working collaboratively and individually to find locations for emergency shelters and permanent supportive housing,” Wolff said. Wolff said the purpose of the ordinance
was to provide a framework for emergency shelters at religious institutions to clarify expectations, and would help shelters in the long run. Some emergency shelter leaders disagreed.
St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church has become one of four known churches taking part of an interfaith-based community doubling as temporary emergency homeless shelters in Fullerton. Richard Doubledee, deacon of St. Philip Benizi, said the city is facing a homeless crisis and shouldn’t be responsible for following ordinances. “Maybe the obvious is too obvious for us. We are in an emergency situation,” Doubledee said. “I actually view any ordinances right now in the new proposals as a restriction on our right as a Christian community to perform our obligation. We don’t turn people away because we’ve got a law that says they can’t be here.” Doubledee said that while Fullerton has created solutions to improve the long-term homeless problem, the city hasn’t provided enough solutions for the short-term dilemma, stating that the ordinance is “wonderful,” but would’ve been more useful 10 years ago. He said at the moment, it’s restrictive. Rev. Jay Williams of OC United, a collection of citizens, nonprofits and churches, said he is aware that the issue is complicated and was willing to go along with the ordinance, but encouraged the council to consider testing the ordinance on a trial basis to see if it aides in relieving the problem. SEE HOMELESSNESS
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Former inmate becomes a Titan CSUF wins
sports cup
The Titans won their first Big West Conference Commisioner’s Cup with low athletic funding. JESSE LIMA Staff Writer
ALEC CALVILLO / DAILY TITAN
Joseph Cruz obtained two associate degrees while incarcerated and was released in May with a 3.7 GPA.
Joseph Cruz was in prison for 23 years, and spent his time working toward a degree. ALEC CALVILLO Staff Writer
Joseph Cruz hit rock bottom when he was incarcerated at the age of 18 and was sentenced with 30 years to life. But while he was incarcerated, he rediscovered his passion for education and developed a love for mentoring younger inmates. Cruz is one of the newest scholars in Cal State Fullerton’s Project Rebound, a philanthropically-funded program that helps guide formerly incarcerated students through higher education. CSUF adopted the program in 2016 and is one FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @THEDAILYTITAN
of eight CSU campuses to do so. He joined this semester when he was told it was expanding to more colleges. “Education became a main focal point for me. I tried to get these guys to understand that education is what was gonna help them in life. Not just hanging out with the homies and being on the yard,” Cruz said. After he was released on May 17, Cruz wasted no time enrolling in college. While incarcerated, he obtained around 120 units and had a 3.7 GPA. Cruz always had an affinity for education. With his advanced learning skills, he was able to pass junior high in one year, but he later struggled to stay focused in high school. It wasn’t until he was incarcerated that his ambition for school and learning returned.
“I wanted to stay in school. School kept me out of trouble and a lot of the stuff that was going on in prison. It became my escape,” Cruz said. Through the college education system in prison, Cruz was only allowed to earn an associate degree. It was there that he earned two associate degrees, one in sociology and another in social and behavioral science. While taking classes, he and his friends would use the same competitive nature instilled in prison to do well in school. “It became a competition with us. We were competing with our grades, we were competing with classes we were taking,” Cruz said. SEE STRENGTH
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Cal State Fullerton won the Big West Commissioner’s Cup during the 2017-18 school year for the first time in school history, while owning one of the lowest funding budgets in the entire conference. Despite its recent success, Cal State Fullerton athletics has not lost its underdog identity, said Steve DiTolla, senior associate director. “If you were to look at the overall budget in the Big West conference alone, we are eighth out of nine (teams) and we finished first in the Commissioner’s Cup. We are still David vs. Goliath, except we are doing it in everything, not just baseball,” DiTolla said. DiTolla started on campus in 1985 and served as the associate athletics director/business affairs (CFO) until 1992, with a small interim role as the athletic director in 1991. He returned for his second tenure during the summer of 2001, and now serves as the senior associate athletic director within the department, handling the day-to-day activity of the athletics department. “The NCAA doesn’t give us very much money ... the small amount that they give us, that would be considered self-generated revenue. They give us a check for being a Division I program that is based on the number of sports we sponsor, which is 15,” DiTolla said. The funds that the athletics department obtains equals about 17.5 million dollars, DiTolla said. He said about 43 percent of that money comes from the state of California, and the rest is made up of six different income sources. SEE GROWTH
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