2019-10-22

The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton

Tuesday October 22, 2019

Volume 106 Issue 28

Black students say CSUF isn’t as diverse as university claims

NOAH BIESIADA / DAILY TITAN

Bethany Whittaker, president of the Black Student Union, (right), speaks with a member of Phi Sigma Kappa after town hall meeting in the TSU.

Kicking off SWANA week

Orange County is a hub for human trafficking

Student organizations advocate for recognition and resource center on campus.

WENDY CHAVEZ ARIANNA BURNS Staff Writers

JESSICA RAZO Asst. Editor

MEL RYBALTOWSKI / DAILY TITAN

A panelist of experts discuss modern slavery and its presence in the county.

The United Nations’ Orange County Chapter hosted annual gala.

MELISA RYBALTOWSKI Asst. Editor

The United Nations Orange County chapter hosted its 74th-anniversary gala on Saturday to discuss the local crisis of human trafficking, awarding the efforts of those who they say have made an impact and climatizing those who seek to make a change.

Human trafficking, recognized by the United Nations as modern slavery, is defined as the act of trafficking by means of threat, use of force, deception or coercion for the purpose of exploitation.

In order to better understand the process of human trafficking, Paul Chang, regional anti-human trafficking coordinator

at the U.S. Department of Labor, asked members of the audience to draw a diagram. He then proceeded to explain the three stages human trafficking victims go through as part of a supply and demand chain.

Stage one is recruitment. There are seven known methods traffickers use in order to recruit victims. Of these methods, falsely advertised job opportunities account for the highest number of persons trafficked globally, approximating 43%, according to A21, who are self-declared abolitionists of the 21st century.

Other methods of recruitment include being deceived or sold by family or friends, being incited by lovers, promised immigration, rescue or abduction.

A report published by the U.S. Department of State in June indicated that a large number of child sex trafficking survivors in the U.S. were at one point a part of the foster care system.

The vulnerabilities developed

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SEE CHANGE

Cal State Fullerton student organizations: Students for Justice in Palestine, Lebanese Social Club, Iranian Student Association and the Asian Pacific American Resource Center launched their second “SWANA Week” celebration in Hetebrink AB on Monday in an effort to represent Southwest Asian North African culture on campus.

The group aims to bring together the Titan community of multicultural students from different countries and build solidarity from similar racial discrimination and experiences that they have faced in the United States.

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They represent the countries of Iran, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Palestine, Somalia, Armenia and Kurdistan. The organization also includes many communities and ethnic minority groups without nationhood and whose borders have been or are currently being disputed.

“SWANA” is an acronym word for the Southwest Asian and North African region that takes the place of terms like Middle Eastern, Near Eastern and Arab World, according to SWANA Alliance.

To make sure people were paying attention, the speakers gave an online quiz to audience members to see how much information they retained from the discussion.

Arabian food including manakeesh, from the Little Arabia District in Anaheim, was given out as a way for audience members to get a taste of the culture before the student panel began.

in children coming from broken SEE CULTURE 5 homes exposes them to higher risks of trafficking, said Linh Tran, administrator of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force.

Stage two is transitory, during which victims are conditioned to carry out the functions for which they have been trafficked. The conditions under which victims are conditioned may go undetected and appear normalized, Tran said.

“People living in crowded housing conditions, paying $15 a night for housing, going to ARIANNA BURNS / DAILY TITAN apply for political asylum, and (From left to right) Students Hanin Shariff, Seleena Mukbel, Joshua Fatahi and then going to seek work at em- Dina Bdaiwi made up the student panel at the SWANA week kick off event. ployment agencies, all in the same geographic area,” Chang Editorial: On absence said. “If you Google that area, of inclusivity at CSUF I can tell you you’ll probably The racial slur printed on the see how much of all of the logistics in stage two that enable fraternity flyer illustrates the (human trafficking).” university’s lack of representation SEE CRIME

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WHAT’S INSIDE?

for the black community.

Opinion

3

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2 News

TUESDAY OCTOBER 22, 2019

Student emails may switch to Outlook

The Division of Information and Technology will decide by the end of October.

DIANA TRAN Staff Writer

The Division of Information Technology at Cal State Fullerton will decide whether to switch student emails from Google’s G Suite to Office 365 by Microsoft by the end of October.

Amir Dabirian, vice president of IT for CSUF, says this move will help students be prepared after graduation because a majority of businesses use Microsoft’s Outlook instead of Google’s Gmail.

He added that another advantage of Outlook is its superior distribution lists. Gmail takes longer to communicate with the student body because emails must be done one at a time.

With Outlook, distribution lists can be made to easily communicate with students all at once or to specific groups of

students based on their major or club.

CSUF has been using Google’s apps through a program called G Suite since 2008. Just a few years ago, the school has also been using Office 365 by Microsoft.

Faculty and staff migrated to Microsoft’s Office 365 email in 2016, and students might be following migrating as well. If the switch to Outlook happens, students will stop receiving emails through Google but will still have access to previous emails on the account. Student email addresses will still end with @ csu.fullerton.edu.

Incoming students will be given an email account already connected to Outlook.

“That’s why we have to make that decision by the end of October. For all of our students to be in (Outlook) for Fall 2020, we’ve got to make sure that our application pool for 2020 are switched,” said Dabirian.

Associated Students, Inc. Board of Directors Chair, Lorren Baker, is supportive of the

change to Outlook. Baker uses Outlook for student government correspondence, and she saids it would be very helpful for students by setting them up for the professional world.

“I’ve taken an Outlook class in community college because I knew that it was really important in any industry that you go in.

It’s just a standard to be able to use Outlook,” said Baker.

Maria-Angelica Hernandez, public relations major, uses Outlook where she works, but says Gmail is more reliable.

“I find it frustrating a lot of the time because I feel like (Outlook) is less secure. You know how you would get spam email from random companies impersonating other people? We get a lot of that stuff,” Hernandez said.

Megan Layel Gilbert, a senior pursuing technical production in theater, is also partial to Gmail.

“This is my fourth school, so I’ve had one school that had their own private email system, one school that did Outlook, and two schools that have had done

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DIANA TRAN / DAILY TITAN

Gmail, and Gmail is by far the best,” Gilbert said. “It’s just so much easier to use. Outlook was a pain, and the app is terrible.”

Criminal justice major Brenda Quezada, had an Outlook email in her last semester of high school but didn’t know how to use it because there was no guidance.

Training will be available for

students next semester to help students transition to the new system, coupled video tutorials and 24/7 help desks, according to Dabirian.

“We want to say that we take these things very seriously,” Dabirian said. “We’re hoping that this would be a smooth transition for students and benefit all of us.

Crime: Most victims face sexual exploitation CONTINUED FROM

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Stage three is work. 80% of human trafficking victims are brought into Orange County due to more favorable business opportunities, yielding a higher profit. Traffickers can make more revenue selling a young woman in Orange County than they would in Riverside County or San Bernardino County, Tran said.

“I would say an average of how much you can sell a girl here would range between $800 to about $1000 a night,” Tran said. “That would be about eight to 10 different customers that they would have to solicit that night.”

When addressing human trafficking, individuals usually refer to the two most common forms: labor trafficking and sex trafficking.

The majority of human trafficking victims in Orange County are victims of sexual exploitation; within the sex trafficking victim demographics, the majority of victims are American girls, Tran said.

While the Orange County Task Force is a service provider for victims, they rely heavily on community partnerships to assist in rehabilitation after rescue.

A global report issued by the U.N.’s Office on Drugs and Crime disclosed that sexual

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exploitation is in fact the leading cause for human trafficking, and estimates that approximately 79% of trafficking cases fall under that category. Meanwhile, labor trafficking accounts for 18%.

While the estimates of victims trafficked within the U.S. remain uncertain, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Orange County Task Force has assisted over a thousand victims from 42 different countries in its 15 years of service.

Human trafficking experts shared their knowledge on the current landscape of Orange County and how it looks

regarding the issue, as well as what can be done to better the current situation. ”We ask our community partners to provide the long-term comprehensive services that (victims) need because we know that they can’t return back home,” Tran said. “If they had a home, they probably would not have been trafficked to begin with.”

The money sign is a figurative representation of the money man, Chang said. These individuals orchestrate the events of human trafficking.

“There is demand everywhere when it comes to prostitution and sex trafficking,” Tran said.

“No city is immune, no county is

immune, no state is immune.”

According to the UN, every country is affected by human trafficking.

When discussing the actions individuals can take in order to combat sex trafficking, Derek Marsh, co-founder of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, said the most efficient response is to shift the conversation and talk about how society views sex.

“If you teach your boys and men that women are objects, then they’re gonna go out there and think sex is OK,” Marsh said. “Teach your men to treat people as human beings and not as a transaction.”

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Opinion 3

TUESDAY OCTOBER 22, 2019 For a campus that prides itself as being diverse and tolerant, all it took was an offensive flyer made by a now former Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity member to show that Cal State Fullerton isn’t as representative or inclusive as its leaders would like to think.

Both university and student leaders have poorly handled this situation. Instead of addressing the issue and enforcing a standard of action, they became merely reacting figureheads with empty words and sentiments.

As expected in the information age, it all began with a post.

Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity posted an apology via Instagram on Oct. 15 regarding an earlier post that had a flyer that used the N-word in a watermark at the bottom of the image.

Upon finding out about the flyer, the fraternity stated that the member who created the offensive post was unanimously voted out of the fraternity, and they reported the incident to Fraternity & Sorority Life on campus.

It should be upon no disregard that the actions made by the former fraternity member are despicable and ignorant. There is no justification to such behavior and no other valid reaction other than condoning the action and holding the individual accountable.

The fraternity issued an apology online and in another statement said that they promised to “be transparent with our actions.” However, despite multiple attempts by Daily Titan reporters, the fraternity members have not allowed for any transparency or comments.

Not only do the fraternity’s actions deserve of reprimand by the university’s administration, but the act brings attention to a much larger issue at play — the lack of representation and inclusivity for African American students.

The Black Student Union reacted to the post on Oct. 18 with a statement via Instagram, which brought an honest perspective about the campus to the public.

“Black students feel unsafe on and around campus due to the hostile environment and constant dismissal of our humanity,” said Black Student Union president, Bethany Whittaker, in the statement. “As a campus that prides itself on caring about diversity, it lacks the competence to put diversity into action in regard to its Black students.”

The club also noted that Associated Students, Inc. and President Fram Virjee did not contact the club after the incident occurred.

In a time of need, leaders are meant to stand by hurt individuals. However, our university did not immediately acknowledge African American students until they echoed their obvious distrust of the unsafe environment on campus.

Despite being informed about the incident at the beginning of the week, Virjee waited until Saturday to address the campus community about the offensive flyer via a newsletter.

“As a Titan, lifelong advocate of social justice and a member of Phi Sigma Kappa for nearly four decades, I am both shocked and heartbroken by this cowardly and hateful action,” Virjee wrote in the email.

Virjee failed to deliver an appropriate timely response to such a blatantly problematic act and even more glaringly, did not stand by African American students in their time of need.

According to the president’s office, Virjee states in a letter that “Cal State Fullerton is consistently ranked among the top public university in the nation for both its strength of diversity and academic excellence.”

In boasting such a statement, Virjee has managed to quantify diversity. Rather than look to the community and truly advocate for improvements, he has engaged in absolutism; making it appear to incoming and current students that inclusivity is a given, despite the exclusion that many groups feel across campus.

He has painted a vision of sophistication and grandeur, but if he managed to take off his rose-tinted glasses he would recognize the true issues that students face. As a result of Virjee’s negligence, African American students have taken it upon themselves to address how they feel, filling the void that the CSUF president failed to address.

Black Student Union members sent an email to Virjee, demanding that changes be made both on the CSUF campus and the institution as a whole. In their email, the club attached a press release with a total of 12 demands, ranging from diversity training to funding of a “Black Student Success Initiative” Plan.

The union demanded that Virjee provide a written response to the demands by Oct. 25 at noon, according to the press release.

This letter should not be viewed as an ultimatum or an unjustifiably forceful act. Members are demanding institutional changes that should have already been put in place by those in charge.

Whittaker said that the club is asking for the bare minimum because there needs to be change in order to address the lack of institutional infrastructure in place for black students, faculty and staff.

“That’s the least the university can do to appease the situation as well as care about the black community on campus,” said Whittaker. “If you can’t follow through with the bare minimum, then that speaks to the campus and that speaks to your care for black people on this campus.”

Moments after sending the press release, Titan Student Union Pavillion B became a swarm of activity once the Black Student Union began the BSU Town Hall with Phi Sigma Kappa standing on one side, and the Black Student Union, President Virjee, and Associated Students President Aaron Aguilar and Vice President Mansi Kalra standing on the other side.

During the two hours, Black Student Union advocates and students unleashed passionately driven sentiments on their struggles and realities. The town hall served as an open forum, where students asked questions and members brought to light just how poorly the African American student experience was represented by the campus.

Though student leaders Aguilar and Kalra were present during the town hall, they were left practically speechless — more likely due to their inability to lead when faced with criticism. As a result, they now face the repercussions that brutally reveal their errors.

Virjee publicly stated that he was open to talk with any student, regardless of the time. However, when a Daily Titan reporter went to speak with Virjee after the town hall, he declined to comment.

There are no words to dismiss this circumstance.

EDITORIAL

Offensive flyer demonstrates the lack of inclusivity and representation at Cal State Fullerton.

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Virjee failed to deliver an appropriate timely response to such a blatantly problematic act and even more glaringly, did not stand by African American students in their time of need.

EDITORIAL

Virjee also stated that diversity training has already been implemented on campus, but he would like to have everyone on the campus take part in it. However, Whittaker said that the current diversity training was insufficient.

“I think today was the perfect display of the failure of diversity training. Diversity training is something that we do to appease situations like this and obviously, it has not been working,” Whittaker said.

It’s disappointing that university and student leaders often promote ideas of diversity and inclusion considering these ideals do not translate into actual practice. Though students have resource centers available to them, this is not sufficient.

Not every minority group has a resource center, and students have to go beyond these centers to engage in everyday school life.

For any students who do not feel represented on campus, recognize that this behavior upon leaders should not be tolerated. Diversity and inclusivity are words that carry a weight and purpose, and successful leaders must recognize that.

Student leaders of the CSUF campus need to represent all voices and be a part of the diversity that the campus continuously advertise.

“We cannot use diversity, equity and inclusion as a gimmick. There needs to be actual action and change behind that,” Whittaker said. “Words mean nothing without action.”

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FOR THE RECORD It is Daily Titan policy to correct factual errors printed in the publication. Corrections will be published on the subsequent issue after an error is discovered and will appear on page 3. Errors on the Opinion page will be corrected on that page.

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4 News

TUESDAY OCTOBER 22, 2019

BRANDON PHO / DAILY TITAN

Gregory Chris Brown, CSUF president of the California Faculty Association, served as one of the loudest voices for black faculty at yesterday’s town hall meeting.

BRANDON PHO / DAILY TITAN

ASI President, Aaron Aguilar, responded to student representation concerns.

BRANDON PHO / DAILY TITAN

President Framroze Virjee (right) and vice president Harry Le Grande (left) were pressed by student questions at Monday’s town hall.

Change: Black Student Union calls out Virjee Community uses town hall meeting as a platform to share personal experiences.

NOAH BIESIADA HOSAM ELATTAR BRANDON PHO Editors

Cal State Fullerton President Fram Virjee has until Friday to respond to a list of demands from the campus’ Black Student Union — which include a $500,000 increase to scholarship and program funding — following a fraternity’s use of the N-word on social media.

The incident by the fraternity Phi Sigma Kappa prompted the student union to host a campus town hall and years of black students’ frustration with how the university treated them were unleashed Monday.

Members of Phi Sigma Kappa —- which posted the N-word on its Instagram when a member put it on a flyer for a philanthropy event as a joke —- stood emotionless on one side of the room while black student advocates confronted them.

Students also directed their anger at Virjee, Harry Le Grande, the vice president of Student Affairs and Aaron Aguilar, the Associated Students, Inc. president, describing a culture of complacency and accusing them of being slow to react.

“For such a hateful act to have occurred with such little remorse shows the culture and climate of the university,” said Bethany Whittaker, president of BSU in a statement on Instagram on Friday. “As a campus that prides itself on caring about diversity, it lacks the competence to put diversity into action in regard to its black students.”

Phi Sigma Kappa also sent representatives to the town hall meeting, including Jacob Robles, the fraternity’s president, who made a statement and answered questions from students.

“We immediately went to the school as soon as I found out this happened. I told them we are ready to take any repercussions, any punishments and fully cooperate, and I’m just deeply, deeply sorry from the bottom of my heart VISIT US AT: DAILYTITAN.COM

that this came from my organization,” Robles said.

University Student Life and Leadership officials in a few words described the next steps for leveling penalties on the fraternity, leaving black student advocates confused as to what exactly the consequences will be.

Two of the discussed penalties were a complete dissolution of the fraternity at CSUF, while others advocated their suspension, arguing that disbanding the fraternity would just force other Greek organizations to take their racism further from public view.

Vincent Vigil, associate vice president of Student Affairs, announced that his department will look into establishing an official bias protocol going forward.

“This is a new system that we’re seeing in different universities, in which if there’s any sort of bias incident that happens we have a process in place,” Vigil said. “It’s something that’s not good for our campus. This town hall should not be planned by students, it should be planned by administration.”

By the end of the town hall meeting, BSU had an extensive list of demands, including the hiring of two full-time African American counselors in Counseling and Psychological services, an increase in black faculty recruitment, and several pledges from the university and Virjee for future action and support.

Students made it clear in their request that none of the funds should come from the student affairs division, and that any additional funds should come from the president’s office and other departments.

Members of BSU declined to comment on what actions they would take if their demands are not met.

Opinions were split between faculty members over whether or not the BSU’s demands could be met.

Le Grande said that some of BSU’s requests would have to be reviewed by the department.

“We need to take time and be smart about it. This isn’t the end of a conversation, it’s the beginning of one,” Le Grande said.

On the other side, Academic Senate Vice Chair Alexandro Gradilla, said their demands were

perfectly in line after hearing from black students at the event.

“The fact that many (black students) are on the verge of just leaving, tells me that this campus has a lot to do,” Gradilla said. “In light of what was shared today, it’s the least the university can do.”

One by one, African American students addressed the students, faculty, alumni and administration representatives, and Virjee in the packed pavilion to express their concerns with the racial climate on campus.

“As a black man, we face so many challenges on so many levels, and I don’t think that other cultures or communities really understand what it is that we face: the frustration, the anger, the fear, the trauma that we deal with every day,” said Artist Knox, a sociology major and Project Rebound member.

Knox said he was attracted to come to CSUF this semester because he heard of its cultural diversity. He was disappointed by the reality of what it is like being a black student at the university.

“I was shocked because on paper Cal State Fullerton looks like a metropolis. It looks like an oasis, but I come here and it’s the same thing,” Knox said.

Knox went on to talk about the obstacles he had to overcome to get to CSUF. “I navigated through the streets. My father was on crack.

My brother sold crack,” Knox said. “Friends died. Brothers getting killed. Cousins and uncles were falling by the waist side, and I make it to this place. I make it here. And I am called the (N-word). How does that feel?”

Taylor Thornton, a graduate student, said she has been on campus since 2012, and was not surprised that this incident happened.

“We know the climate of this campus, we know how often things happen and how often things are underspoken or kind of just shoved under a rug,” Thornton said.

Deven Dickens, fourth-year political science major, discussed his own experience being the only African American student in his class.

“You hear things from your English teacher such as, ‘Did you

BRANDON PHO / DAILY TITAN

Jacob Robles (center), president of Phi Sigma Kappa, told students what he planned to do during the town hall.

really write that paper? It’s really articulate. Can you put it in on Turnitin.com so I can check it for plagiarism?’” Dickens said.

Dickens said his experiences weren’t unique.

“It hurts to know that all you share that with me, but I feel so powerful knowing that we’re getting through it together, and that’s what I’m happy about today,” Dickens said.

Tatiana Marie Tate, a jazz and commercial studies major, called out members of the fraternity who were present at the town hall meeting for other insensitive comments following the flyer.

“Members of your fraternity are in my classroom, I have to sit next to them every day. When I found out about that flyer, I confronted one of your members, and he told me it was none of my business,” Tate said.

Multiple students made it clear that the time for emails, apologies and discussion was over.

“As a black man, I’m crying out, and my black sisters, they’re crying out,” Knox said. “We cannot take the punishment and the hate, the prejudice, the frustration, the isolation, putting us in the corner; the limiting us financially, educationally, we can’t take it anymore.”

Dickens said there needs to be action that will actually serve black students.

“We don’t just need to be posters on the wall for diversity because as we all know, it’s not that diverse. There’s black, white, nonblack and white passing, those are

the four groups,” Dickens said.

At the beginning of the meeting, members of BSU asked nonblack audience members to give up their seats at the front of the room so that black students could come face-to-face with university and student government officials as they asked them questions.

Non-black audience members did so without protest, shuffling to the back of the room while TSU staff removed one of the pavilion’s walls to accommodate the sea of heads in order to expand it into one large meeting room.

Halfway into the forum, some students pointed out what they saw as dismissive behavior by the fraternity’s president, claiming to have seen him smiling. He later refuted the claims, saying that he was merely nervous.

Tensions remained high throughout most of the forum, with spirits lifting only when BSU members laid out their set of demands to cheers and clapping from the crowd, particularly when students urged the university to reinvigorate its ethnic studies program. “(The university and student government officials) did what they’re expected of,” said Fitu Malepeai, a fourth-year biochemistry major who also runs track for CSUF. “They fielded questions on the floor, but some people were redirecting.”

He added, “you can’t always say something concrete, but if you don’t know the answers, say that.”

“I would rather have it straightforward,” he said.

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Lifestyle 5

TUESDAY OCTOBER 22, 2019

Get your frights on at local haunted spots

Hunt for ghosts and learn about the legends at the following scary places.

OLIVIA HAWKINS DANIEL VENEGAS Staff Writers

For candy fanatics and fans of horror, October is the month for ghouls and freights. While binging horror movies and going to theme parks for a good scare can be fun, nothing beats the feeling of visiting a real-life locale rumored to be haunted.

Between the sprawling neighborhoods of Orange County and Los Angeles County, there is no shortage of places said to be home to residents of the ghostly persuasion. For those interested in some good old-fashioned haunting, here are a few places to visit that are allegedly haunted by ghosts.

Plummer Auditorium - Fullerton Built in 1930, this Fullerton High School building was modeled in the Spanish fantasy past motif and has the honor of being designated a historic location. But like many historic locations, it is said to be the home of an unwanted phantasm.

Legend has it, Plummer Auditorium is haunted by the ghost of whom the building is named after, Louis E. Plummer. He was a former superintendent of the high school for 22 years, with his tenure leading up to the U.S. involvement in World War II who was also a nativist who joined the Fullerton Klu Klux Klan in the 1920s.

Plummer is said to be the reason lights flicker in and around the building on random occasions.

He also allegedly made an appearance as a spinning head to one of

DANIEL VENEGAS / DAILY TITAN

Ghosts and their presence can be felt during visits at the Woekle-Stoffel House in Anaheim.

the workers in the auditorium.

The Stoffel House - Anaheim The second place on the list is also a short drive from CSUF. Known to locals as the Stoffel House, or the The Woelke-Stoffel House, it is a picturesque representation of a haunted house.

It is also available for tours by appointment.

Built in 1894, the Stoffel House is a Victorian-style home that looks like it was pulled straight out of a stereotypical horror film, and is said to be haunted by the ghost of the first caretaker.

Visitors over the years have claimed to feel a strange presence following them around the house. Female visitors have also claimed to be especially attuned to ghost’s advances, as some of them have felt his presence brush

up against them.

Regardless of gender, the caretaker’s ghost is also known to occasionally mess with visitors climbing the stairs of the house. Many visitors have slipped, some have even fallen on the stairs, with many attributing it to an unknown force.

The caretaker and other ghosts make their presence known to people walking past the house with some visitors claiming to have seen a figure staring out the window of the second floor.

Yost Theater - Santa Ana The Yost Theater is a historical, albeit contentious, hallmark of the city of Santa Ana. Opened in 1912, the theater was a hub that hosted everything from silent films to musical acts.

Like many haunted areas, this

place has also served as an unintended final destination. In 1927, Ernest Ball, a prominent musician who liked to perform at the Yost Theater, died backstage.

According to the popular Travel Channel show “Ghost Adventures,” the next door hotel also had a person drown in the basement athletic club pool.

Recently, several employees have reported seeing a figure matching the description of Ball skulking around the facility. Another strange phenomena involves security at the venue who heard a little girl calling out for her father in a sweet tone, followed by a deeper, more sinister voice. Between these supernatural events, visitors should have no trouble getting their fix of heebie-jeebies.

Colorado Street Bridge

The Colorado Street Bridge was constructed in 1913 by the J.A.L. Waddell firm of Kansas City, Missouri and is now one of Pasadena’s most well-known landmarks.

Its huge arches and bright lamp posts lining either side of the bridge can be seen from the 134 Freeway. Since its construction, the bridge has racked up a dark history.

Tragedy at the bridge started before it was fully constructed.

Allegedly, one of the workers fell from the side of the bridge landing in wet concrete. The concrete dried and the worker’s body is said to be encased inside the bridge to this day. Sadly that is not the only tragedy that has taken place at the Colorado Street Bridge, which soon after caught the name The Suicide Bridge.

There have been over 154 suicides at the bridge since its construction, according to Pasadena News Now. The first documented suicide occurred on Nov. 16, 1919. During the Great Depression many others tragically took their lives there as well.

One of the bridge’s most famous tragedies is that of 22-year-old Myrtle Ward and her 3-year-old daughter, Jean, on May 1, 1937.

After being thrown off the bridge by her mother, Jean survived as trees and branches lessened the impact, while Myrtle was not so lucky as she joined her daughter with a jump shortly after. She passed away a couple hours later in the hospital.

With the tragic loss of many souls, some are said to still remain. People frequently see a man with wire-rimmed glasses and a vanishing woman in a white robe looking as if she is about to jump.

Many have even chased after the woman trying to stop her thinking she was a real person.

Raising awareness for adults with autism

The Center for Autism hosted Spooktacular Social for caregivers and patients.

ANGEL RAMIREZ Staff Writer

Games were played and laughs were shared at the “Spooktacular Social for Adults with Autism and Their Caregivers” in the Titan Student Union Underground on Sunday, Oct. 20. The social was hosted by the CSUF Center for Autism and the Student Council for Exceptional Children.

“We support a free day of fun for adults with autism and their families,” said Erica Howell, a special education professor.

The event included food, drinks and games, with bowling, pool and board games offered for guests. Music echoed through the TSU Underground’s speakers while people danced and sang along.

Guests had the opportunity to enter a raffle and win prizes like an ActivePDF sponsored gift basket, which included premium tickets to see the Anaheim Ducks face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 6, 2020 and other Ducks merchandise, such as a scarf and autographed equipment.

Another prize included a VIP studio tour of Nickelodeon in Burbank, California for the winner and five guests. LEGO “Batman” and LEGO “Star Wars” toy sets, clothing and a cake were also among the prizes

that attendees could win in the raffle.

“It’s also notable because a lot of times our adults with autism don’t receive services, don’t have opportunities in the community and so, this is a unique event in that it’s held on a college campus and we use college students as peers for the day so they’re paired with our adults with autism and host them, all these different events that they’re doing in the TSU,” Howell said.

Bonnie Gillman, founder and executive director for the Grandparent Autism Network and executive director for co-sponsored program Family Autism Network, was also present to show support.

“We support grandparents in helping them understand what autism is and how they can best help their families, and that information comes mostly from other grandparents who have been there and done different things with their family members,” Gillman said about the purpose of Grandparent Autism Network.

Being a grandparent herself, Gillman wanted to do something to help educate other grandparents about autism and address many of the questions that she had when she first started learning about the condition.

“I knew I had to get up to speed learning about terminology,” Gillman said. “I didn’t want to have to ask the parents who lived it every day and I wanted to educate myself and there was nothing online. In 2006, autism was barely visible online ...

I realize that my best resources would be other grandparents and that’s why I started the organization.”

Gillman talked about the college support of Grandparent Autism Network and Family Autism Network.

“It’s a collaboration. We helped start this group of socials, but Cal State Fullerton has been with us since the inception. This is our seventh year. They were providing student hosts and support from the first year we did it, from the very first event,” Gillman said.

Gillman said Grandparent Autism Network and Family Autism Network have among 10 different colleges represented, including University of La Verne, Cal State Long Beach, Fullerton College and Santa Ana College. She put an emphasis on getting certain majors involved.

“This year, I specifically wanted to get criminal justice students and nursing students involved so that they would understand the communication issues that impact our autistic population,” Gillman said.

Committee members from the CSUF Center for Autism felt that this event gave them the opportunity to better learn how to work with people diagnosed with autism.

“I absolutely love it. It’s a lot of crazy and madness as it’s happening but over the years, we’ve gotten a lot better at just having everything locked in so it’s going a lot smoother and it’s just great to see how much the guests love it and how much the caregivers

Culture: SWANA defined

1 Gina Waneis, a graduate assistant of student organizations from the Division of Student Affairs, mentioned how people can become an ally of the group by doing research on topics related to the group’s communities and identities.

Waneis first learned about the group when she was in high school. At Cal State Fullerton, Waneis said that she did not see much inclusivity or a noticeable CONTINUED FROM

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community on campus that represented her cultural background.

This, in turn, gave her an incentive to get involved.

“When I came to Cal State Fullerton as a grad student, I didn’t really find my community as easily (because) we didn’t have a resource center. And so then, I started just meeting different folks and organizations. And that’s how we started a planning committee and started this thing up for the second year.” said Waneis.

Dina Bdaiwi, social justice educator lead from the Asian Pacific American Resource Center and panel member, wanted to participate in the discussion after learning about the event last year.

“I remember this event happening last year, and I remember wanting to get involved because I saw some things that were really awesome, but I also saw some areas for improvement. And so, I applied to work in APARC, which is the Asian Pacific American

ANGEL RAMIREZ / DAILY TITAN

Caregivers bowled and mingled in the TSU Underground on Sunday.

ANGEL RAMIREZ / DAILY TITAN

Students at the Spooktacular Social played an interactive game in the TSU.

appreciate that we’re doing it,” said Malia Kasai, a CSUF Center for Autism committee member.

The event not only embraced community, but it also raised awareness about autism.

“I think it’s wonderful. I wasn’t really involved my first couple of years, but I feel like this really opened my eyes that the community does a lot for them, and I really wanted to spread the word and I was able to,” said Kathy

Diaz, a CSUF Center for Autism committee member.

This social shed a positive light on the care and kindness of the CSUF Center for Autism on campus.

“This event is amazing. The people are amazing,” said Sarah Preston, a CSUF Center for Autism staff member . “The people, honestly, they just bring the biggest smiles to our faces. They’re so happy to be here.”

Resource Center.” said Bdaiwi.

The collective group’s goal is to open a resource center for the community. The idea of a resource center has been in talks and Associated Students, Inc. has been funding them. However, even with the master plan allowing new buildings to be built, the opening of a center for the group will not happen for another couple of years.

“It’s the first step, but we definitely need a resource center. We definitely need more attention and more publicity. We need faculty and staff to step in as well. It’s not just students’ you know, job to be their own advocates, but we need

the support from all avenues,” Waneis said.

Conversation about additional education classes was also something Joshua Fatahi, president of the Students for Justice in Palestine organization, brought up saying that there is enough content to make a class educating students about the group’s culture.

The rest of the week will celebrate Southwest Asian North African culture with the following events: “SWANA sweets” on Tuesday,“Riding the Hyphen: Being Afghan-American” on Wednesday, diaspora tabling on Thursday and lastly, “Dabke Night” on Friday.

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6 Lifestyle

TUESDAY OCTOBER 22, 2019

Celebrating sanctuary for immigrant communities Peaceful protests of national immigration law took place in Garden Grove.

DANIEL STEELE Staff Writer

Immigrant and human rights organizations VietRISE and National Day Labor Organizing Network hosted a free community festival to celebrate sanctuary for immigrant communities in Orange County.

Held within the Atlantis Play Center in Garden Grove on Oct. 20, the festival was both a celebration of immigrants, and a protest of national immigration law and efforts by local authorities to detain undocumented immigrants in face of California’s sanctuary law.

The law, named SB 54, allows law enforcement to deviate from federal immigration authorities.

“We come from many different places, we’re a diverse community,” said Salvador Sarmiento, a national campaign coordinator for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. “We don’t just tolerate that, we celebrate it and we’re going to defend that.”

Local music artists and poets performed on stage over the grassy field between trees and walkways. Weapons of Mass Creation, a hip-hop band from Anaheim, sang songs on immigration and police brutality.

Scott Keltic Knot greeted the crowd in Gaelic and rapped about abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Do Nguyen Mai, a Vietnamese American poet and activist from Santa Clarita, read heartfelt poems from her book “Battlefield Blooming.”

Son del Centro and Los Jornaleros del Norte played guitars and stomped their feet as people visited art stations and workshops that lined the walkways around the park. Among the activities included were a photo booth, a screen-printing station to paint graphics on a T-shirt and a craft table to make paper lanterns.

DANIEL STEELE / DAILY TITAN

VietRISE and National Day Labor Organizing Network hosted a festival at Atlantis Play Center in Garden Grove.

Tracy La, executive director of VietRISE, said Latinx and Vietnamese communities have lived in Orange County for decades.

“But there are not a lot of spaces where they actually get to learn from each other and to celebrate together, and that’s what this is for,” she said.

Sarmiento, said the festival was a message from communities all around Orange County, including Fullerton, to disown the actions by city leaders who voted to support a federal suit against California’s sanctuary status.

Bo Thai, a clothing designer and undocumented immigrant, sold custom designed T-shirts from his company, which shares his name.

Dressed in a grey-tweed suit splotched with multicolored paint, he said he had to find a way to make money from his passion because of the difficulty finding official work as undocumented. He said he had to act rather than just wait, and hope for federal change to make his life easier.

“Sometimes I got to make my own moves before that whole thing can work out,” Thai said.

Thai said he also gives talks on entrepreneurship, surrounding healing and identity to

DANIEL STEELE / DAILY TITAN

Orange County advocates enjoyed entertainment from local artists.

undocumented immigrants as an ambassador for Immigrants Rising.

“This is how I kind of blend activism, art and my own hustling together,” he said.

Many human and immigrant rights activist organizations were there to spread awareness for their causes during the festival, including Asian Americans Advancing Justice.

Vy Le, a Cal State Fullerton graduate and community advocate for Asian Americans Advancing Justice, said the

organization offers free services for undocumented immigrants and to “continue support for the Dreamers.”

“We do realize that the immigration system kind of sucks so that’s what we’re here for,” she said. “We’re here to help them navigate the system.”

Le said Asian Americans Advancing Justice works closely with CSUF’s Asian American studies department to get students to intern for the organization. It will be tabling the next two weeks on campus to offer its

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Putting your money where your mouth is moves your agenda forward today.

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services to Titans as well.

In a corner of the park, American Civil Liberties Union held a table for reading material on one’s civil rights if questioned by immigration authorities or other enforcement agencies.

Next to the American Civil Liberties Union was Chispa, which advocates for economic justice and housing security for communities in Orange County. Bulmaro Vicente, a member of the Open Society Foundations, said community members can voice issues affecting them through its blog and through a column on immigration on OC Weekly’s website.

Vicente’s work is research on police records and conduct to push for more accountability for the Santa Ana police. He said he grew up in Santa Ana and looked into how policing “affects the daily reality of communities.”

“I feel like it’s important for our communities to know this public information, because we want to know if our officers are doing their jobs and doing it with the best intentions,” he said.

Although many organizations directed their work to specific communities, such as Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Jewish Coalition of Refugees and Korean Resource Center, they all have expanded their focus to any immigrants needing resources.

This same look into other immigrant communities sprouted between VietRISE and National Day Laborer Organizing Networkwhen they decided to work together for the last couple of years after advocating for immigrants in city council meetings. “(National Day Laborer Organizing Network) has a history of doing creative celebrations with creative actions,” La said.

She said working with National Day Laborer Organizing Network was a natural fit for where they wanted to go when VietRISE began. Now the organization has a festival full of artists, business owners and other activists to join in on their mission for immigrant civil rights.

ally today.

It might be necessary to take a calculated risk in order to shake up a routine that’s grown inefficient. Too much caution may be tied to fear of failure and encourages procrastination.

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7

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8 Sports

TUESDAY OCTOBER 22, 2019

Former Titans set to face off for the chance to become World Series champions Kurt Suzuki and Chris Devenski will represent Cal State Fullerton in the 2019 Fall Classic.

ARNULFO GONZALEZ Editor

MATT BROWN / CSF ATHLETICS

MATT BROWN / CSF ATHLETICS

MATT BROWN / CSF ATHLETICS

Kurt Suzuki (left) and Chris Devenski (right) during their time with CSUF baseball.

Cal State Fullerton baseball will be represented in the 2019 World Series as Kurt Suzuki from the Washington Nationals and Chris Devenski of the Houston Astros will face off.

This season marks the first time that the Nationals have made the World Series, as well as Suzuki.

The former Titan collected two pieces of silverware in his last season with CSUF as he won the Johnny Bench Award, given to the nation’s best collegiate catcher. Suzuki also won the 2004 College World Series against the University of Texas where he hit a game-winning two-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning to win, 3-2.

Suzuki last played for the Titans in 2004, where he led the team in multiple offensive categories. He led the team in average as he hit .413 and the second best average was Felipe Garcia’s .353 average.

He also led the team in hits, home runs and RBIs. Suzuki had 104 hits, 10 more hits than the second best player. The former Titan also ran away with the lead for home runs as he hit 16 while the next best player collected seven.

Suzuki was a force offensively for CSUF as he collected 87 RBIs, almost 28 more than the second best player, Danny Dorn.

He was not just an offensive juggernaut by attacking the opposing pitchers, but Suzuki showed great plate discipline earning 49 walks, 23 more than the second place player, Dorn.

Along with being an offensive catalyst, Suzuki was one of three members from the 2004 team who played and started all 69 games along with P.J. Pilittere and Ronnie Prettyman.

Devenski was drafted in 2011 by the Chicago White Sox after his success in college that year.

The right-handed pitcher

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had a 4.98 earned run average during his final season in Fullerton, ranking near the bottom of the pack for the Titan pitching staff.

Devenski appeared in 15 games, collecting a 2-0 record and two saves that season. He pitched in 21.2 innings during the season and did not allow a home run against the 88 batters he faced. During the 2011 season, Devenski walked eight batters while striking out 26.

Suzuki has been in the MLB since the 2007 season where he debuted for the Oakland Athletics. He has played for four different teams during his professional career.

His 2019 season was productive as Suzuki hit 17 home runs, two short of his career high in 2017. He also collected 63 RBIs during this past season and was walked 20 times. Suzuki only struck out 36 times during the entire season, which was one short of his career high in 2013.

The former Titan has made the postseason three times: 2012, 2018 and 2019. Suzuki collected one hit this postseason and struck out eight times in 20 at-bats.

Devenski has been in the league for four seasons and 2019 has been one of the years he’s struggled the most with a 4.83

earned run average and a 2-3 record. He pitched 69 i nnings and allowed 39 runs. The 13 home runs he gave up this regular season were the most he has ever allowed. However, Devenski was able to strike out 72 batters this season.

He has not pitched in the postseason since the 2017 season where he pitched eight innings and allowed eight runs on nine hits. Devenski also allowed two home runs and struck out eight in that postseason.

The first pitch for the World Series is scheduled for Tuesday at 5:08 p.m. in Houston, Texas at Minute Maid Park.

MATT BROWN / CSF ATHLETICS

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