Japanese children were forcibly evacuated and moved to internment camps during WWII. Photo courtesy of FlickR.com/FredMikeRudy

In the spring of 1942, hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans were removed from their homes and forced into internment camps. Among those who faced this injustice, many were students who had to leave their studies.

The Nisei Diploma Project is a collaborative effort of all the current CSU campuses that had Japanese-American students who were removed and forced into internment camps during World War II. While Cal State Fullerton was not open at the time, six other CSU campuses were – Fresno, Pomona, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and San Luis Obispo.

Through the project, those removed and forced into internment camps will receive Honorary Bachelor of Humane Letters degrees.

According to the project’s Web site, the CSU system hopes to at least ease the pain of the incarceration the students faced, and welcome the students back into the CSU.

When Beverly DiDomenico heard about the project, she was overjoyed. Both of her parents were removed from their studies and placed in internment camps during the spring of 1942 and neither were able to complete their education later. “I know if the war hadn’t happened they would have finished school,” DiDomenico said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill calling for this project last summer. According to Colleen Bentley, who has been working on the project, the six campuses included began planning their ceremonies soon after and figuring out how to locate the students.

Unfortunately, many of the students who were removed from their studies are now deceased.

“Should we have done it years ago? Of course,” said Bentley. “It’s late, but it’s still a worthwhile program we put together.”

The internment of Japanese Americans began shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. It was during that time that approximately 110,000 Japanese-Americans on the United States West Coast were interned – all under the justification of ‘national security’.

“It was an injustice upon people,” Bentley said.

DiDomenico’s parents were each placed in different camps – her mother, Ellen Kuyama-Matsumoto, in Poston War Relocation Center, and her father, Shigeki Matsumoto, in Gila River War Relocation Center.

“When I was young, my relatives would get together and talk about camp – I didn’t know what they were talking about. I didn’t find out about the relocation camp until I was taking American history in high school,” DiDomenico said.

Her mother, now 88, didn’t tell DiDomenico much about the internment. “She really wouldn’t talk about it (when I asked),” DiDomenico said. “It was the worst time of her life.”

Joy Sato’s parents were both interned in 1942 as well. “They said that they felt safe there. They were all together.”

Having heard about the Nisei Diploma project, Sato says she feels very happy for her parents. “It would have meant more to my father, because he studied very hard and then the war broke out and he had to stop.” Though Sato’s father did attend a Quaker college in Philadelphia for some time later, he had to leave in order to tend to his family’s farm back west. “He continued his education, teaching himself.”

Her mother, Mariko Sato, and her father, Jyuichi Sato, both attended what is now San Diego State University at the time of the relocation.

Sato and DiDomenico both found out about the project through letters from their parents’ schools. Their parents are among the approximately 250 other Japanese-American students that the CSU campuses are trying to find, though Bentley is quick to point out that this is not an exact number.

“It’s as close as they can get,” she said, adding that it’s believed that, statewide, as many as 2,500 students were removed from their school during the internment. That number comes from studies done by other Japanese-American organizations.

The ceremonies for the degrees are officially in May, but the campuses are being flexible with the dates, accounting for the schedules of family members attending and the wishes of the families.

“The campuses are being incredibly thoughtful,” Bentley said.

After the devastating earthquakes that occurred in Haiti and Chile in the past month, many Southern California residents are questioning whether yesterday’s earthquake is a precursor to a larger earthquake.

“There is always that possibility in California that any earthquake can be a foreshock for something larger,” said Professor David Bowman, associate professor and chair of the department of geological sciences. “It’s been long enough since the earthquake so the odds have decreased exponentially.”

The earthquake hit at 4:04 a.m., with the epicenter located about 11.7 miles below Pico Rivera. It was felt as far south as San Diego county and west along the coast through Malibu and Ventura county.

“It looks like it was a thrust fault, so it was probably that same line that caused the Whittier earthquake back in 1987,” said Jeffrey Knott, professor of geological sciences. “It could be in the same aftershock sequence, but since it’s 23 years later, I’m pretty sure it’s not related to Whittier.”

The fault is believed to be associated with the Puente Hills line, according to the U.S. Geological Survey Web site.

“It is unquestionably true California has the potential for a large earthquake,” Bowman said. “We have several faults, like the San Andreas fault, and it’s been a long time since they’ve had a big earthquake. From that perspective we are defintely overdue.”

Although, California is considered to be one of the most prepared places in the world for a large earthquake, it would still be beneficial to retrofit older structures and bridges, said Bowman.

“I didn’t think it was anything major because I was too far away to really feel the jolt,” said Steven Hoang, a biochemistry major. “I have emergency supplies at home, but school-wise, I don’t really know if there is any protocol we are supposed to follow.”

There are steps that residents of Southern California should take to prepare themselves for the inevitable “big one,” such as storing an earthquake kit, snacks, water, medication and even a spare set of shoes in your car, and there should be enough to survive three to seven days after, Bowman said.

“We participate in the ShakeOut drills every October, but I think 100 percent of the people are not prepared,” Knott said.

The Great California ShakeOut is an annual earthquake drill that allows organizations across California to practice and prepare for the actual event. There were more than 6.9 million participants in 2009 and the next one is scheduled for Oct. 21 at 10:21 a.m.

“Earthquakes happen all the time in California,” Bowman said. “But these small earthquakes are a wake-up call for Californians to remember that we live in earthquake country and we do need to be more prepared.”

Winning contestants Alex Leyte, 18 (left), and Chad Renegar, 19 (right), won this semester's iPod Kiss-a-thon in 50 minutes competing against 10 other teams Tuesday in front of the Titan Bookstore. Photo by Lauren Mccann/Daily Titan Staff Writer

Why kiss a funny little leprechaun or spend a lifetime looking for the end of the rainbow for a pot o’ gold, when you could have spent less than an hour smooching on a paper plate with a fellow Cal State Fullerton student for an iPod.

Sponsored by CSUF Titan Shops, the iPod Kiss-a-thon took place in front of the Titan Bookstore at 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 16, for the chance for one team of two CSUF students to win two iPod’s valued at $199 each.

The 4th annual iPod Kiss-a-thon began with an “e-mail blast” to students who were signed up to receive e-mails from Titan Shops, telling them the date, time and location of the event and encouraging students to sign up and participate. The event takes place twice a year. During spring semester, it is for the chance to win an iPod and the fall semester it’s for a MacBook.

Winning contestant Alex Leyte, 18, a psychology major, was in the Titan Bookstore when his interest was peaked by a flier promoting the event for a free iPod. “I needed an upgrade from my nano,” Leyte said.

Monday evening, before the event, Leyte “Facebooked” his fellow Phi Kappa TAU fraternity brother, Chad Renegar, 19, a biology and business management major, and asked him to be his partner in the Kiss-a-thon.

It didn’t take much coercing for Renegar to agree to participate. “We came to win and we did,” Leyte said.

Before the event began, there was an initial sign-up where students had to show a valid Titan I.D. card and sign an Activity Waiver.

Angie Dulay, Titan Tech manager and Michael Khalil, Apple Inc.’s senior campus representative for CSUF ran the event.

“This semester we were going to limit 20 teams to compete in the event starting at 11 a.m. By 11:30, only 11 teams had signed up. We wanted to get it up and running so we started the event,” Dulay said.

The Kiss-a-thon’s 11 teams were composed of co-ed teams, male-only and female-only.

“For a Tuesday it seems pretty quiet. Midterms probably had a bit to do with it. There are pretty long lines for scantrons inside,” Dulay said.

The last two competing teams were male-only. In the past, female-only and co-ed teams dominated the competition.

Last year’s winner, Brandon Octavio, 21, lasted an hour and a half before he claimed his prize. This year, Octavio participated in the Kiss-a-thon for only 30 minutes when his focus was lost during a
“Simon Says” segment.

Khalil, who gave instruction on poses and different angles for contestants to move, pushed the students to their limit in the hot Spring sun. Within the last few minutes, Khalil made the contestants continuously kneel down on opposite knees, leaving the two lasting teams sweaty and tired. The deciding moment came when Khalil made the four contestants balance on one foot with one hand in the air, pushing the winning team, Leyte and Renegar to conquer over the other team, in 50 minutes total time.

“In the very beginning when we had to jump up without hand contact or holding the plate was probably the hardest part of the competition,” Renegar said.

With sun, embarrassment and sweat aside, Leyte, who claimed an 8G iPod Touch, and Renegar, who chose a black 8G iPod nano plus a $50 iTunes gift card, both with a $199 value, were excited to be this semester’s iPod Kiss-a-thon’s winners.

Republican party gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman. Photo courtesy of MCT

Republican party gubernatorial candidates Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman debated Monday at the Samueli Theater at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

“It gives people an idea what the candidates are about and what they are saying,” said Dr. Gregory Brown, an assistant professor of criminal justice.

Whitman and Poizner tackled spending restructuring, higher education expenditures and immigration reform.

“The governor will have an impact on our education or state deficit,” said philosophy major Nick Heartmann.

Poizner said he wanted to invest more into higher education by creating more jobs and bring back vocational programs to high schools to decrease drop out rates.

Additionally, Whitman said she wanted to reform the spending problem and re-invest into the University of California and Cal State University systems.

“The UC system, the CSU system and the community college system is the gem of California,” Whitman said.

Whitman also talked of cutting spending on administration and overhead, devoting the funds to the local schools. Her agenda included making schools more transparent and providing a letter grade for parents to identify the condition and qualities of the local schools.

“We need someone that is for change and for the people of California,” Brown said. “Students need an education.”

The two candidates also debated the immigration situation that has long been a hot-button issue among Californians.

On Whitman’s list of items are plans to instill a more strict and thorough version of E-Verify to hold employers accountable for illegal immigrant hiring practices. She said that she also plans on taking initiative towards sanctuary cities and boosting spending on border patrol and equipment.

“Let me be clear, I am a hundred percent against amnesty. No exception,” Whitman said.

Poizner vows to take a more “radical approach” and cut off the taxpayer-funded programs that help illegal immigrants. By doing so, he plans to eliminate the incentive for illegal immigrants to come to California.

Republican party gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner. Photo courtesy of MCT

He also criticized Whitman’s approach. Her approach, Poinzer said, is already in effect through the current state leadership and has brought forth no solution.

Both candidates have established their campaign on reaching out to those who have been victimized through job loss and the current disastrous economic situation. They also appealed to voters by regulating California government spending and generating private sector jobs.

“You are only as good as the people you work for,” said Whitman, referring to how government works. “You have to have the right people on your agenda”.

Poizner elaborated on his more “radical” agenda for California.

“I want to change the state of California by implementing some bold and sweeping reforms,” Poizner said.

These candidates face the daunting task of winning a state that is more than two-thirds of registered voters are democrats.

The Irvine campus is currently holding a food drive to support the participants of the Families Forward program, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to empowering families that have fallen into financial instability.

“I feel that it is our responsibility to take care of (people),” said Reneir Cruz, 26, a senior advertising major taking classes at the Irvine campus. “Just put ourselves in their shoes, meaning, if we were in their shoes, we’d want someone to take care of us.”

Food drives are a small portion of what Families Forward does to facilitate self-sufficiency in families. The organization has supported housing programs called “transitional homes,” back to school-assistance, career-coaching and life-skills counseling, all geared toward re-establishing families into their community.

For Robert Flores, the organization hits close to home. For a short time his family was a participant in the Families Forward programs.

“I’ve always given back to the organization because I believe strongly in their cause,” Flores said.

It was Flores who approached Families Forward in 2002 in search of a way to give back and ended up organizing the bi-annual food drives that go straight to what is called the “Food Pantry.”

“They serve a lot of families, and in order to keep their food bank full, they rely heavily on donations,” Flores said.

The Food Pantry is entirely dependent on what they receive from individuals and businesses to serve more than 150 families a week, he said. The Irvine campus donates approximately two to three boxes per drive but hopes to collect as many as 10, and with three weeks left to donate, there is still more time to accomplish that goal, Flores said.

“This food helps them to cover other monthly costs and regain financial stability,” he said.

Many of the families assisted by the program are homeless or near homelessness. Job loss, divorce and medical emergencies are among the top reasons why people end up out of their homes and into the streets, according to the Families Forward Web site. Mental illness and drug abuse account for only a small fraction of the homeless population.

“We live in a wonderfully rich country and it’s surprising that we do have homeless people or people that are really in need,” said Stephen Messina, 52, junior, finance major on the Irvine campus. “Somehow I just feel like it’s something that doesn’t need to be or something that should be really easily curable. We don’t see too many homeless people in Irvine. We’re just not really affected.”

Homelessness has become stereotyped, said Vanessa Gonzalez, 24, a graduate student enrolled in the Master’s of Business program at the Irvine campus.

“Sadly, I mean you wanna help them out and you wanna give them money, but there’s this stereotype that they’re just gonna take the money and use it for something else,” Gonzalez said.

Cruz agreed. “(Sometimes) I felt that it was just something they were doing on the side, I felt like just from their attire I could tell that they weren’t homeless. Most of the time I give the benefit of the doubt … and do my best to share as much compassion as possible.”

Though students are willing to help, many don’t know about the program or its cause, not even Gonzalez.

“If there’s enough information out there about what the food drive is for and whose gonna receive the items for the food drive, then they can know and feel that they’re gonna help out a good cause,” Gonzalez said. “But there has to be that information out there.”

Flores urges students to help any way they can and to commit to community service. Families Forward’s goal is to protect the innocent victims of circumstance, mainly the children of struggling families.

“Some people assume because the Irvine campus is in the city of Irvine … that there isn’t a need for services like Families Forward or food drives,” Flores said. “That belief is completely false. I hope students gain an awareness about their community and leave with the passion to continue their good efforts. Community service shouldn’t be a one day or one week event. It should be a lifetime plan and commitment.”

Although donating food seems like a small act and that not much can come out of it, the experience gives students a way to be a good person and do what’s right, Messina said.

“I think you can take away probably nothing much more than a great feeling of helping, doing something constructive or positive in the world,” Messina said. “You can walk away feeling like you did something good, like you made a difference in your small way.”

There are 26 transitional homes that the Food Pantry provides for. According to its annual report, 44 families were served last year and 83 of those family members were children.

At this time, the Food Pantry is looking for dried and canned foods, such as canned fruits, canned chicken and beef, boxed juice, canned or dried soup, rice and pasta. Donations can be made at the Irvine campus in Room IRVC-101 until March 26.

Image by Christa Connelly/Daily Titan Photo Editor

Eamonn Daniel Higgins, 46, a resident of Laguna Niguel, was arrested last week on charges of operating a ring of illegal test-takers who allegedly assisted international students in retaining their student visas by taking their proficiency exams and attending their classes.

For the last eight years, prosecutors said Higgins aided mostly Middle Eastern students by taking or directing his associates to take math and English proficiency exams. Higgins then helped them hold on to those visas by taking college courses, passing finals and writing term papers in their names. According to court reports, the investigation began when officers in Daly City in Northern California discovered several fake driver’s licenses in a lost wallet. Each license had the same photograph of Higgins’ nephew but with different names.

Higgins surrendered to authorities March 8, pleading not guilty to conspiracy to commit visa fraud. If convicted, he faces up to five years in federal prison.

The F1 student visa is a non-immigrant visa which allows foreign students to enter into the U.S. to attend a full course of study at colleges, universities and other institutions with language training programs. Although it is unclear if there is a specific proficiency exam that international students need to take in order to qualify for an F-1 visa, many institutions, including Cal State Fullerton, require all applicants whose native language is not English to present scores for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) prior to admittance.

According to CSUF’s international students’ webpage, Students who do not meet the minimum TOEFL scores or wish to improve their English skills may enroll in the American Language Program (ALP), an intensive English program that is designed to prepare international students for study in a U.S. college or university.

Monica Snow, lecturer and coordinator at the ALP at CSUF said that there are stringent measures taken at the center to ensure that cheating or impersonating does not occur in any form while students take any placement or proficiency tests. All international students who walk in to take any tests are required to present their I.D.s, after which their faces are matched to the picture on the card. While taking the tests, students have to leave their I.D.s on their desks while proctors circulate the room. Faces are again matched to I.D.s when students turn in their tests once they are finished, Snow said.

“With the measures we have in place here, it could be very difficult for students to do that. I have been here 23 years and I haven’t had one incident yet,” Snow said. Snow added that there are around 250 international students at CSUF who are enrolled in the ALP. The administrators and staff for the most part know the majority of the students as they interact with them on a daily basis.

The University Testing Center at CSUF, located in University hall, offers several tests, such as the English Placement Test (EPT), Entry Level Mathematics (ELM) test and the Examination in Writing Proficiency (EWP), all of which are required for admission to the university, placement in classes and graduation.

Lorrie Harnach, coordinator at the testing center, said that students who take any tests are required to present a valid form of I.D., such as a driver’s license or passport. Seating is sometimes assigned and proctors should be able to move freely among examinees in order to effectively monitor testing. After tests are taken, I.D.s and faces are matched again and names are compared to the ones on the answer sheets. Student signatures on answer sheets are also matched with the one on the student’s I.D.

Although no such incident has occurred at the center to her knowledge, Harnach said that the possibility of students cheating or impersonating others cannot be ruled out. “If a student presented what appeared to be a valid form of I.D. where the picture matched the person, we would not have any way of knowing if it was fraudulent or not,” she said.

LayTuan Tan, director of International Education and Exchange at CSUF, said that all international students at CSUF are part of the Exchange Visitor Program that is regulated and operated by the U.S. Department of State. Tan said that at CSUF, all students with foreign visas are required to maintain continuous enrollment, and have to report within ten days of a change in address or within 21 days of dropping a class.

According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Web site, Congress mandated a fee-based system to better keep track of international students and exchange visitors in the United States. To accomplish this task, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) established the Student Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) under ICE. The Student Exchange and Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is the database that allows SEVP to track international students, exchange visitors and their dependents to ensure that they are in the United States for the purposes they stated.

“This is bad news for the international education field,” Tan said of the visa fraud incident. “The Majority of our scholars are serious, bona fide students who come here for the quality of education that the U.S. provides. These things do happen, but they give our international students a bad name,” Tan said.

Although Tan said that the implications of this incident could be huge and highly complicated, she added it was unfortunate that most media organizations were alluding to hints of possible terrorist ties within the fraud ring. “Just because these students are from the Middle East, they say they might be terrorists. You cannot say that, it is stereotyping,” Tan said.

Pacific Coast Homes to reduce development of West Coyote Hills. Water and energy-conservation were cited as reasons for the proposed cutback in addition to public opposition. Photo by Christa Connelly/Daily Titan Photo Editor

Representatives from Pacific Coast Homes (PCH) presented their efforts to meet regulatory and public demands in their proposed West Coyote Hills housing development program during the Fullerton Planning Commission’s special meeting on the evening of March 10.

The meeting was the first of the two-part hearing, which will conclude with public opponents’ arguments against the project March 18.

Public concerns were focused on water shortage, greenhouse gas emissions, contamination by oil wells, traffic conditions and environmental impacts on federally-protected species in the area.

Joan Wolff, planning consultant for Fullerton, said some air quality and greenhouse gas impacts are unavoidable with any new project and need to be weighed with the benefits of any given project.

Major changes made to the existing master plan of the housing project included a reduction of planned homes, planned water and energy-conservation measures, and the involvement of a third party to manage funding and maintenance of the planned preservation of selected natural land.

PCH collaborated with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service about 20 years ago to protect the California Gnatcatcher, a federally-protected bird species found in the West Coyote Hills area, said Jim Pugliese, PCH project manager.

Measures taken by PCH to preserve the natural state of the area included the removal of an entire planned neighborhood so that no homes were visible from the Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve.

Deborah Rogers, director of conservation science at the Center for Natural Lands Management, represented the non-profit organization’s interest in managing the nature-preserve that PCH plans to include into its housing project. PCH plans on managing the preserved land through endowments.

“We believe that conservation has to be perpetual if it’s going to be effective,” Rogers said. “There’s no point investing in 10 years of conservation only to have those species go extinct, or those lands degraded”

PCH has actively responded to feedback by the Parks and Management Commission, the Energy Resource and Management Committee and the Traffic and Circulation Commission.

While the Parks and Management Commission and the Traffic and Circulation Commission approved of the planned development, the Energy and Resource Management Committee noted that PCH needed to take further measures to conserve water and energy.

Members of both the public and the Planning Commission voiced issues that were not resolved by regulation alone.

Douglas Chaffee, vice chairman of the Fullerton Planning Commission, had concerns about the availability of low-cost housing for those employed to complete the project.

The public also had concerns about whether PCHs measures were purely to meet regulatory standards, or to genuinely reply to the public’s demands.

“I would say our sustainability program, as it stands today, exceeds current law,” Pugliese said.

The Friends of Coyote Hills, an organization opposed to the housing project, will appear before the Planning Commission March 18; the Planning Commission will then make its recommendation to the Fullerton City Council for a final decision on whether or not to allow the housing project to move forward.

The entire hearing is available at:

Fullerton.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=215

(Left) Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-47) and (Right) Fullerton City Council member Sharon Quirk-Silva at their campaign kickoff. Photo by Jennifer Karmarkar/Daily Titan Staff Writer

The chance to meet and greet Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-47) and Fullerton Mayor Pro Tem Pam Keller brought around 100 people to a campaign kickoff in the Maple neighborhood of Fullerton March 13.

Both candidates used the opportunity to talk about the issues facing residents, register new voters and canvas the 3-square-block neighborhood just east of Harbor Boulevard.

Sanchez has served the 47th Congressional District for seven terms. Keller was elected to the city council for her first four-year term in 2006. Both are up for re-election in November.

Fullerton City Council member Sharon Quirk-Silva attended to lend support to both candidates, saying that it was exciting to hold the event in the Maple neighborhood.

“It’s a very established neighborhood with longtime residents and that’s the way these campaigns are won,” she said. She added that Sanchez likes to make sure that the residents are involved and that they have a voice.

Susie Dittmar, 47, lives in the Maple neighborhood and attended the event with her sister, Jill.

“I’m very civic minded and I’ve never been on a walk with either Sharon (Quirk-Silva) or Pam Keller so this was a good opportunity,” she said. “I’m hoping to ask Pam about the recent gang activity and trimming some hedges along the public sidewalks.”

Live rock ‘n’ roll and the smell of pizza filled the afternoon air as the crowd gathered in the front yard of homeowner Vicki Calhoun. Sanchez arrived a little after 2 p.m. and spoke to the crowd for about 10 minutes.

Education was foremost in the mind of many attendees, and Sanchez focused on what she was doing to help repair California’s troubled school system.

“Orange County alone got about $178 million dollars to keep the schools open but we’re not out of the woods yet,” Sanchez told supporters. “Speaker Nancy Pelosi, being a Californian, understands that our schools are in trouble here in California. And we’re doing everything that we possibly can to work on getting more money into the system because we know that 92 percent of all our kids go to public schools.”

Sanchez added that she was working toward passing legislation that would improve the student loan program and increase Pell Grants, “so that Cal State Fullerton will have more money for students, teachers and programs.”

That idea resonated with Fullerton resident Rose Matthews, 54, who recently earned her master’s degree in education at CSUF.

“When she was talking about the Pell Grants and that they’re increasing them to Cal State Fullerton, that’s so important,” she said. “I know it was so tough for me to go to college and it’s even harder now with tuitions rising and rising to uncontrollable rates.”

After the speech, Sanchez addressed concerns about the nearly $6 million dollar budget shortfall facing the city of Fullerton.

“The reality is (Fullerton) has been a really well-run city. I know that as the city makes their cuts they’re going to try to eliminate those things that least affect people,” she said. “They have come to me to ask for more money for the Boys and Girls Club, more money for the Seniors Program, more money for police and fire protection as well as infrastructure projects like the train crossings. I’m going to work as hard as I can to bring back money here to Fullerton.”

Later, Sanchez, Keller and about 30 campaign volunteers canvassed the neighborhood to meet homeowners and pass out information about the candidates.

Members of different Native American tribes dance during Grand Entry at Cal State Long Beach's 40th Annual Pow Wow on Saturday, March 13. Photo by Christine Amarantus/Daily Titan Staff Writer

Eagle feathers floated in the spring-like breeze while a vivid assortment of brightly-colored ribbons, furs, beads and shawls whirled in the air, making up the clothing of a sea of energetically dancing Native Americans. Representing many different tribes from all over the United States, they participated in inter-tribal dances and competitions at Cal State Long Beach’s 40th Annual Pow Wow, March 13-14. The free event allowed people of all cultures to celebrate Native American heritage by observing the dances, indulging in some fry bread or hearing a story passed down through generations of Chumash, a tribe native to Southern California.

Southern straight dancer Kelly Yackytooahnipah was among the many who came to take part in the pow-wow, decked out in traditional clothing with a porcupine headdress and an otter tail extending down his back. He said he has been coming to CSULB’s pow-wow since 1970.

“It’s in my blood. I’m Comanche,” he said. “It’s what I do. It’s what I am. I’ve been dancing since I was able to walk. I dance at pow-wows all over the United States.”

Yackytooahnipah addressed his dual-identity; a balancing act between modern society and embracing his culture’s traditions.

“I walk the thin line of being Native American and living in society here in Orange County,” he said. “I grew up here in Orange County, I’ve worked for Toyota for 21 years … and on my off time I come to the pow-wows and dance and be who I am.”

Cal State Fullerton students from the Inter-Tribal Student Council (ITSC) came to CSULB’s pow-wow to promote their own happening in a couple weeks.

ITSC President Anna Tiger, 19, said CSUF’s pow-wow, like CSULB’s, will have inter-tribal dancing so everyone from different backgrounds can get involved.

“There will all different categories of dances there. You’ll see different regions, different regalias … It’s like a melting pot of Native American tribes,” she said.

Tiger, whose heritage is comprised of Navajo, Choctaw and Creek, said CSUF’s pow-wow has been going on for around 20 years, but due to a budget problem it was not held in 2009.

CSUF criminal justice major Jamie Gordon said CSUF’s will be the first pow-wow in Orange County since the Southern California Indian Center moved its pow-wow to Los Angeles.

“We’re very happy to have (our pow-wow) back on,” she said. “Last year we couldn’t have it due to the funding situation. So this year, we’re able to put it on for one day. Definitely looking forward to it. I’ve been to that one before I started to going to (CSUF).”

Gordon, who is Navajo, explained that pow-wows are important for exposing others to Native American culture.

“There’s over 500 tribes, a lot of them are gone. We’re still trying to keep our blood flowing,” Gordon said. “Not that many people hear a lot about who we are and people think of us as one group, one language, one culture, but there’s so many different tribes and cultures and languages. Unfortunately some of them have been lost.”

The U.S. Census Bureau had booths throughout CSULB’s pow-wow encouraging Native Americans to fill out their forms and send them in.

“The American Indian population utilizes a lot of services and different methods of outreach for our community … Our community lost a lot of services that are derived from census figures,” said Eric Sanchez, a Tribal & Urban Indian Partnership Specialist working in the Native American community within LA and Orange County. “It’s important that we get an accurate count of the American Indian population, so that we can continue to have our non-profit organizations, our churches, our businesses.”

Sanchez said pow-wows are not only great for people to learn about Native Americans, but for coming together.

“It’s always been a chance for friends and family members to come together and socialize, have a good time, eat some fry bread, dance around the pow-wow circle. It’s a great event,” he said.

CSUF’s pow-wow will be happening Saturday, March 27 from 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. on the Engineering and Computer Sciences lawn. Parking and admission are free. For more information, call (657) 278-3603.

Graphic courtesy of MCT

Univision Communications Inc. launched a three-year national educational initiative to create a college-bound culture Jan. 23.

The campaign, Es El Momento (The Moment is Now), is a multi-million dollar partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education, as well as educators, civic and community leaders from around the country. The campaign, aimed at improving academic achievement among K-12 Hispanic students, has a specific focus on high school graduation, college readiness and completion and engaging Hispanic parents in these efforts.

“I think this type of effort is very helpful because of the influence that Univision has on the Latino household,” said Adriana Badillo, director of the Talent Search Program on campus.

Badillo works with the Talent Search Program to offer academic and financial advising, tutoring and cultural enrichment activities to low-income and first-generation college students. She said that is was scary to think that the access to education is not available to all students.

“It’s not a trend, it’s an educational crisis that Latinos are facing,” Badillo said. She also said the campaign was a really good effort to get information out to the community, especially because Univision has the resources needed to raise awareness and address the educational crisis.

The Spanish-language campaign was launched across all Univision platforms – television, radio, online and mobile – as well as national and local news outlets. Univision news anchor Jorge Ramos will be the campaign’s primary spokesperson.

“I think it’s a beautiful thing that Univision has started,” said Jose Torres, a 22-year-old Cal State Fullerton business major, “but I doubt they really have the heart for it.”

Torres said he thinks the education struggle is a trendy topic, especially in the Latino community.

“I think it’s a political scheme because education is a sensation right now and it’s an easy way to up your ratings,” Torres added.

According to Es El Momento, research shows that the high school graduation rate for hispanic students is 55 percent, compared to 69 percent for their non-Hispanic peers. Additionally, only 20 percent of Hispanic students graduate high school ready to succeed in a four-year college.

Es El Momento focuses on cultivating a strong culture of college aspiration and academic achievement among U.S. Hispanic community. The campaign outreach not only targets Hispanic students but also their parents, caretakers and the greater community.

“It’s interesting that the Hispanic market is a hidden population,” said Karia Salazar, 19, who studies communications and Chicano(a) studies. “But it’s a very powerful market.”

According to an Es El Momento fact sheet, Hispanic parents in the U.S. are faced with two barriers, which the campaign seeks to dispel. Because many parents lack the knowledge, experience, and tools necessary to help their children succeed academically, the campaign seeks to bring awareness of the academic requirements needed for college.

“This campaign has sparked discussion in my family about the education officials and how we shouldn’t trust them 100 percent, because a lot of people think they know what is best for us,” Salazar said. “But ultimately, parents should have a say on what the outcome of the education of their children should be.”

Es El Momento also wants to prepare parents financially. They may not be aware that, regardless of their economic situation, there are options available to support their child’s higher education.

In addition to partnerships with local grassroots and community efforts, the initiative has also included an online and mobile Web site, Eselmomento.com. Hispanics will be able to find educational tools and resources through the site, which features a Q&A section, a glossary of educational terms, an interactive message board and general information about scholarships and financial aid. Mobile text alerts also provide visitors of the site with educational tips.

Under the new state law, that went into effect January 25, inmates are able to reduce their sentence by as much as half, replacing the one-third possible under previous guidelines.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation last year declaring severe overcrowding in California prisons, which posed a health and safety risk for the workers and inmates.

The ruling presented a way of implementing prison population reduction without affecting public safety by adopting a combination of parole reform and releasing low risk prisoners with short-term sentences and good time credits.

Despite growing concerns regarding inmates being released back into society early, some experts are reassuring students that there will be little impact on crime rates and the releases will significantly help with the California budget crisis.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown specified that inmates will start accruing good credits for positive behavior and completing other programs specifically for time served after January 25.

Overcrowded prisons and the resulting health risks were the main concern in passing the law, however due to unfortunate timing, it has become an issue of budget and public safety.

Cal State Fullerton Associate Professor of criminal justice Dr. Kevin Meehan said, “There are unconstitutional, illegal levels of healthcare. The court has tried to develop a method of reducing the problems. They need a plan for an early release.”

Addressing the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation around the time of the ruling, an expert panel projected that the early inmate release law is expected to save California between $803 and $906 million per year.

According to the California State Sheriff’s Association, 21 of the state’s 58 counties have started releasing inmates as of the first week of February.

Officials have also said the law would reduce the state prison population by 6,500 by releasing low risk offenders over the next year.

“It’s a part of a much larger, more comprehensive method of reducing prison population. It’s essentially a necessity,” Meehan said.

Meehan also pointed out that while doing anything with this large a number of people there can be one or more cases that can deviate from the norm and cause problems.

“I disagree with it (the law) because once they’re released, there’s going to be very little control over them,” said 20-year-old business major Rebecca Singer.

Public safety has become a prominent issue for the new law, resulting in a civil lawsuit recently filed by the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs. The deputies called the early releases a threat to the public and deputies. A judge denied a request for a temporary restraining order that would have prevented the early release of inmates.

In the wake of ongoing protests against fee increases and education budget cuts, Dr. Jarret Lovell, Cal State Fullerton associate professor of criminal justice, emphasized that many people are only looking at one side of the debate.

“It’s political posturing,” Lovell said. “If there are cuts to education, why not cuts to incarceration? They both are dealing with public safety.”

Campus safety and a potential rise in crime rates are some of the concerns for the student body and Fullerton community. Campus Police has said that the early inmate releases will not affect the university and that they will continue to proactively patrol the campus as usual.

Campus Police Lieutenant John Brockie said based on recidivism rates, which refers to a tendency to relapse into criminal behavior, the majority of inmates released early will commit another crime.

This is a move to encourage Californians and their children to drink healthier alternatives, like water, juice and milk, according to the senator’s press release.

Senator Florez introduced this bill to curb obesity and help the state’s deficit, which is around $6.3 billion, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

The tax is expected to affect Cal State Fullerton and its students, who are the target audience for drinks like Monster and Red Bull, according to the bill.

“Any kind of revenue that could be gained from taxing would be appropriate,” said Andrele King, a 24-year-old political science major. “And I think that should be used to compensate the decrease in the education budget. They should go as far as to make weed legal and tax that too.”

King said he would continue to drink soda and energy drinks, despite the tax.

“Just being a college student I would have to decrease (my intake) and I would still probably drink (soda), but not like I do right now,” King said.

But Amanda Rumble, a 20-year-old American studies major, doesn’t think the tax will be effective at stopping people from drinking soda, unless it’s very substantial.

“I think it depends on how much they really tax,” Rumble said. “If people are addicted to drinking soda, they will drink it anyway.”

Senator Florez said in a Feb. 17 press conference that the revenue from the tax would go into a fund to prevent obesity and would eventually lower obesity rates, which are at an all-time high.

“We have a health epidemic in California … and the health of our future generations demands we address it,” Florez said. “Diabetes, obesity and heart disease should not be the legacy we leave for our children and theirs.”

The legislation proposes taxing regular, non-diet soda and sugar-based drinks, such as energy drinks, sweet teas and sports drinks. Diet soda isn’t included because its artificial sweeteners are calorie-free, according to the bill. Water, milk and juice manufacturers will also be tax-free.

Daniela Rubin, an assistant professor of kinesiology, thinks the bill will only work with a large tax. Otherwise, she said, consumers will continue to buy soda.

“I think that with any type of specialty food, people will still consume soda. I don’t think people will go away from drinking sodas because they are a little bit more expensive,” Rubin said. “They need to be very, very expensive in order to not drink it.”

The bill said Californians consume about 172 to 175 calories per day from sweetened beverages, and 10 to 15 percent of children and young adult’s daily caloric intake is from these drinks.

Rubin thinks the tax should target soda instead of simply sugar.

“Some sodas, depending on what they’re made with, can be pretty harmful to the developing of bones. Not taxing the (diet) sodas might not be that helpful because of soda consumption,” Rubin said. “From a health perspective, it’s not just the sugar consumption, it’s the soda consumption.”

The drink manufacturer will have to pay one penny per teaspoon of sugar to California. The revenue of this tax will go into a new fund, called the Childhood Obesity Fund, according to the bill.

Then, according to Florez and his legislation, the increased revenue from the sales tax, due to the increased price of the soda, will help solve California’s budget crisis.

The California Medical Association and the Dental Health Foundation support this bill, as well as many other states and legislators.

Colorado and the city of Chicago already have similar legislature.

Photographer Kurt Weston prepares to edit a photo. Photo by Jennifer Karmarkar/Daily Titan Staff Writer

In the late ’80s, Kurt Weston was a rising star in the glittering world of high-fashion. As a photographer for an international styling company, he routinely rubbed elbows with top models and designers from Sassoon and Helene Curtis, and jetted to photo shoots in Europe at a moment’s notice.

Then in 1993, complications from AIDS forced Weston onto disability. Two years later, he was diagnosed with cytomegalovirus retinitis, an inflammation of the retina that left him blind in one eye and with limited vision in the other. Gravely ill, he thought his career as a photographer was finished.

“I really thought that was it; I was really freaked out,” Weston recalled. “The thought of not being able to continue my life’s passion was horrifying. I was in a frantic battle just to stay alive. My thoughts were focused on survival and everything else paled in comparison.”

A combination of powerful antiretroviral drugs brought his AIDS under control. Now Weston, 52, who earned his MFA from Cal State Fullerton in 2008, uses his talents to help redefine others’ perception of the nature of sight.

“When I got sick and I lost my vision I had to reinvent what I do with photography. How do I do it? What do I do?” Weston said. “Now it’s not so important to make these fashion pictures; what’s more important is how do I use what I still have left of my vision and my talent as a photographer to express things in life that have real meaning.”

Weston’s most recent body of work, “Seasons in the Prayer Garden,” is on exhibit at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton through March 28. He will speak there about his work March 9 at 1:00 p.m.

The work is comprised of garden flowers and other natural scenes that he shot locally and in the Pacific Northwest in 2009, using a Nikon Digital SLR camera and lenses of varying focal lengths. Weston digitally amplified the images to bring out certain color frequencies found in nature but not normally visible to the human eye. The result is electrifying hues of color that let the viewer see the images the way a bird or a bee might see them in nature.

Some of the photos are intentionally out of focus because that’s the way Weston sees things. “I do that to let people know that something out of focus can be beautiful too,” he explained.

Two years ago, Weston was diagnosed with a rare cancer that formed multiple tumors in his abdomen. He believes that the color frequencies he finds in nature have regenerative and healing properties that keep his cancer from spreading.

Nung Rigor, 35, of Hacienda Heights, met Weston at the exhibit opening at the Muckenthaler and was impressed with his work and his spirit.

“His optimism really emulates through his art,” Rigor said. “I love the vibrant colors and exciting shades of autumn in the Pacific Northwest. When I talked to Kurt, I found that we share something in common: we both believe in the powerful energy of nature.”

Matthew Leslie, director of exhibitions at the Muckenthaler, was instantly drawn to Weston’s work when he saw it at an annual exhibition shown at the Southern California College of Optometry opening last year.

“It was just such an interesting body of work,” Leslie said. “To me (the photos) are just unearthly. Each flower he photographs has its own personality. They’re sort of all-encompassing in a beautiful way. They’re beyond poetic beauty. They’re a strange beauty; almost a dangerous beauty in some ways.”

Leslie said most people who see the show at the Muckenthaler are surprised when they learn that Weston is legally blind.

“I think at first it’s just a puzzle,” he said. “Everyone, including myself, asks the same question: how on earth do you take these photos when you can’t see much around you? And it’s just through a collection of tools and experience that he’s able to do this.”

To edit his photos, Weston uses a software program called Zoom Text, which blows up the images on his screen. He also uses a small monocular devise that allows him to see with some clarity with one eye.

Although his most recent work is color, it was Weston’s black and white photographs that earned him acclaim. His “Blind Vision” series of self-portraits that chronicled his emotional journey dealing with site loss has been exhibited at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. In 2009, his work was included in the California Museum of Photography’s exhibition “Sight Unseen: International Photography by Blind Artists.”

Weston also did a series of touchable photographs for the Berkeley Art Museum, putting caulking around the outline of the image so that a blind person could touch and interact with it as they listened to an audio description.

“It was really cool because not only did blind people get to experience the work, but totally sighted people were closing their eyes and trying to experience it like a blind person.” he said.

Not content to just create art, Weston also helps other visually-impaired artists show theirs. In 2005, he co-founded Shared Visions, an annual year-long art show at the Southern California College of Optometry, across the street from CSUF.

“Kurt really helped us develop the direction for this event, which has made a difference to all the artists who have been in the exhibit,” Arlene Kaye, curator of Shared Visions said. “He has had a lot of challenges in his life and it’s very inspiring that he has overcome them in such a positive way.”

Weston’s work is on exhibit at the College of Optometry through August.

“Seasons in the Prayer Garden” runs at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center through March 28.

Cosplayers dressed as ghostbusters climb the stairs toward the Sails Pavilion at the San Diego Convention Center during Comic-Con 2008. Photo by Christine Amarantus/Daily Titan Staff Writer

Comic-Con International, host of the largest convention in the Western Hemisphere, the San Diego Comic-Con, may move this second largest convention in the world to Anaheim in 2013.

Although Comic-Con attracted over 125,000 people for 2009’s convention after capping their attendance, filling the San Diego Convention Center to capacity and selling every possible ticket, the sentiment in San Diego has been that the convention simply doesn’t generate much revenue.

“Internally, we have a pretty conservative calculation on direct attendee spending from Comic-Con because it’s a unique event and a little difficult to get our arms around,” said Mark Emch, the convention center’s vice president of finance told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Also, there is significant local attendance, and they’re not going to stay in hotels.”

The convention center’s 2010 forecast, released last January, bills the Society for Neuroscience (SNS)’s November event as their top economic gain, expecting 36,000 attendees, nearly one quarter of Comic-Con’s expected turn-out.

“This valuable group was welcomed to San Diego in 2007 when it set the record for producing the largest economic impact, $133 million, of any event held in the building to date,” the forecast reads. “This time around, the SNS is expected to surpass its own record and generate an unprecedented $163.7 million in economic impact as well as $2.3 million in tax revenue for our city when it’s most needed.”

Anaheim was among a handful of cities throwing their hat into the ring, interested in making a new home for the convention when their contract with San Diego is up in 2013. Los Angeles and Las Vegas have also been considered.

“Anaheim fitted appropriately for it. We have a large convention center, bigger than San Diego’s,” said Charles Ahlers, president of the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau. “In fact, they are running out of room in San Diego, and we have a very nice, well-priced housing package.”

Ahlers further commented on the size of San Diego’s convention center compared with Anaheim to the Associated Press.

“It’s hard to unseat a destination that has grown with an organization – we have some of those here in Anaheim,” Ahlers told the AP. “But in reality, if you are at a stagnant point in your growth and you can’t grow any further, you have to look toward the future.”

David Glanzer, Comic-Con’s director of marketing and public relations, said that Comic-Con International has put a lot of time and energy into reviewing each of the proposals submitted.

“We are really not leaning in any sort of direction right now,” Glanzer said in terms of choosing to either move the convention to another city or keep it in San Diego.

“The biggest thing is we’ve maximized our space, meaning we can’t allow any more attendees … Our income pretty much is flat, while our costs continue to increase,” Glanzer said, regarding staying in San Diego.

Many Cal State Fullerton students attend Comic-Con each summer. Entertainment arts major Caroline Knight, 18, commented on the possible move to Anaheim.

“There’s not much space to keep up with the high number of visitors in the San Diego convention, but the Comic-Con does have a long history in San Diego. Then again, Anaheim has more space and affordable hotel rooms for everyone,” Knight said. “It’s one of those things where it’s hard to decide to move the biggest annual comic-con of the year to a different area when its been traditionally held at San Diego.”

Brett Parmenter, host of Titan Radio’s “The Harbinger,” a show which concentrates on talking comics, commented on the shorter driving distance should Comic-Con move north.

“I do love San Diego and the Gaslight District and everything else in and outside of the con,” he said, “but for me, as someone who’s back-and-forth between Riverside and Fullerton, the drive and costs to go down there can put a real dent to my resources.”

Superman cosplayer poses with Jabba the Hutt statue set up at Gentle Giant's booth during San Diego Comic-Con 2008. Photo by Christine Amarantus/Daily Titan Staff Writer

Parmenter further commented on the lack of space in San Diego itself.

“There is more … breathing room in a city like Anaheim, and Orange County as a whole than that particular corner of the San Diego harbor,” he said.

Several critics have indicated that moving the convention to Anaheim would increase the likelihood of appearances from many more celebrities with more previews and insights into upcoming Hollywood releases, as Comic-Con is well-known for being one of the first public forums where Hollywood makes announcements.

“Location, location, location,” wrote Brent Lang and Dominic Patten for TheWrap.com. “Imagine how many more mega-stars would show up if they just had to take the limo for a short(er) spin on the 5.”

Comic-Con, which will be held July 22-25, has already sold out of their four-day badges as well as their Friday and Saturday-only tickets. Four-day badges had sold out by September, even after admission was raised this year from $75 to $100.