Monday December 2, 2019
The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton
Volume 106 Issue 43
Cal State Fullerton sued Pretrial
after student’s death
delayed to January Chris Chuyen Vo is facing a murder charge for the stabbing of Steven Chan. NOAH BIESIADA Asst. Editor
ELIZA GREEN / DAILY TITAN
The parents are suing the school and her sorority Chi Sigma Kappa for negligence and wrongful death.
The 19-year-old died of alcohol poisoning in March following a sorority event. JESSICA BENDA Editor
After a 19-year-old Cal State Fullerton student died from alcohol poisoning in March, her parents are suing the school and her sorority Chi Sigma Phi for negligence and wrongful death. Bea Castro had been rushing the sorority for months, a process that required heavy alcohol consumption. She attended an initiation on March 16, where she was forced to consume large amounts of alcohol on and off campus.
She died a day later after being found unresponsive at a private home in Garden Grove, and was pronounced dead from “acute ethanol intoxication.” The family is also seeking financial damages from the owner of the Garden Grove home where Castro was found, according to the OC Register. Chi Sigma Phi was a multicultural sorority, but is no longer on campus or recognized by CSUF, said Ellen Treanor, associate vice president of strategic communications. CSUF will be waiting for its lawyer to review the documents, according to Treanor. Less than a week after her death, a candlelight vigil was held
for Castro at the Becker Amphitheater at Cal State Fullerton. At the vigil, Castro’s sorority sister Vivian Ly shared how difficult it was to cope with her death. “She was the one who made me whole. There’s a part of me missing now,” Ly said. “I hope she’s doing well up there, and I will see her soon.” Genesis Aguilar, one of Castro’s high school friends, also attended the vigil and spoke on her grief. “In my head she’s still here. To see her face, to see her name said, rest in peace and that she’s dead, its hitting home and it hurts,” said Aguilar. Fourteen fraternities at San Diego State were suspended in
November after the death of 19-year-old Dylan Hernandez. Following a fraternity event, Hernandez fell from his bunk bed and was hospitalized, where he died from accidental blunt force trauma to the head. It is unclear whether alcohol was involved, according to CNN. In January, an 18-year-old UC Irvine student and fraternity member Noah Domingo died of alcohol poisoning, resulting in the indefinite closure of UCI’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter. “We are so sorry for the grief suffered by the parents,” Treanor said. Baylee Maust contributed to this article.
Chris Chuyen Vo, the CSUF employee arrested on the charge of murdering former administrator Steven Chan, delayed his pretrial to January 10. Vo is charged with the murder of Chan, as well as special circumstance charges that could make him eligible for the death penalty if he is convicted on those counts. He has plead not guilty to all counts. Vo was arrested at his home in Huntington Beach, just two days after the murder of Chan that occurred in the College Park parking lot in August. Vo is represented by the law firm of Corrigan Welbourne Stokke, and was represented at his pretrial by Thomas Welbourne, a partner at the firm. Margaret Chan, Steven Chan’s widow, was present at the pre-trial as well as the arraignment on Oct. 4.
Titans fall From a dependent refugee to a in Titan religious freedom advocate Classic Women’s basketball lost to Delaware and Montana in the inaugural tournament. KASON CLARK Editor
A missed buzzer-beater capped off the weekend for Cal State Fullerton women’s basketball as they dropped both games in the inaugural Titan Classic hosted by Fullerton. The Titans suffered a narrow defeat to Montana, 7169, Saturday night after losing to Delaware, 72-55, the night before. After falling behind early against Montana, the Titan offense was fueled by a hot fourth-quarter start to get them back into the game. The Grizzlies held on to the win as CSUF junior guard Raina Perez, who is 12th in the country in points per game, missed the potential game-tying shot in the final seconds of the game. The teams went back-andforth at the beginning of the game as the Titans took the lead six minutes into the first quarter. SEE WINLESS 9
Tenzin Dorjee is a Cal State Fullerton professor who practices what he teaches. KIM PHAM Editor
“The one thing is to be respectful and open-minded about social-cultural diversity,” the human communications professor, Tenzin Dorjee tells his classes. From being a Tibetan refugee to being respected professor and religious freedom advocate, Dorjee has taken on every obstacle he has encountered to spread more compassion and knowledge to his students, international leaders and anyone willing to lend an ear. “I’m called professor, but what I know is very little, and there’s much more to be learned,” Dorjee said. Dorjee’s story is valuable not just because of the immense changes he has endured, but also from how he has continued to harbor a kind heart and positive outlook throughout his life, regardless of the circumstances. Born in Tibet, his parents fled with him to India when China had invaded, resulting in his status as a refugee. After mostly receiving a Tibetan education, it took him 10 years to complete all of his studies when he came to America. “I had no family members, nobody here and I was not young. But I was stubborn, and I pursued my dream, so now I’m a professor,” Dorjee said.
KIM PHAM / DAILY TITAN
Tenzin Dorjee teaches intercultural communication at CSUF with a focus
Before coming to America, Dorjee worked as a Tibetan translator in India, which was where he was first exposed to the professional value of good communication. While he initially wanted to go into the medical field, a lack of resources prevented him from doing so. However, that missed opportunity led him to his true calling in the field of communication, where his past experiences built him into the compassionate educator and
The search for CSU’s next chancellor is underway
WHAT’S INSIDE? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @THEDAILYTITAN
The Board of Trustees Special Committee hosted the fourth of six forums to hear from the public at Cal Poly Pomona.
News
2
person that he is today. “Don’t regret the things you couldn’t do, be happy and rejoice in what you could do,” Dorjee said. Despite being faced with limitations for what he could do in his career, Dorjee has always been open to experiences that he can learn and enrich from. This prompted him to consider several options within the realm of communications before settling on his final career course.
“I came here and thought, ‘Maybe I’ll become a journalist,’ but then I learned that I don’t like an everyday deadline hanging over my head,” Dorjee said. Dorjee realized that communication had been an integral part of his life and his work with translation services. At the same time, his past as a refugee and beliefs as a Buddhist made him fall in love with intercultural communication and similar studies. “That has shaped my perceptions, how I see the world, how I manage relationships and how I develop compassion, motivation and kindness to make contributions to the local community and global community,” Dorjee said. Dorjee began his educational career in the U.S. at Santa Monica Community College. After transferring and graduating from Long Beach State, he continued his education at the UC Santa Barbara for his doctorate in intercultural communication. Dorjee has never taken a break since graduating. Today he teaches four classes while also doing research with graduate students, he volunteers at a Buddhist temple on Sundays and holds the position as chair of the U.S. Commission for Religious Freedom. “I tell myself, ‘You can’t do everything,’ it’s a good excuse,” Dorjee said, as he works at the university for six days a week while balancing community work. SEE HUMAN 7
Hymen testing offers no health benefits Rapper T.I.’s controversial comments about monitoring his daughter’s virginity provokes the importance of sex education.
Opinion
10
VISIT US AT: DAILYTITAN.COM