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.

Cathy Housman directing, attendes to build a human tree in order to understand how a tree functions. Photo by Ally Bordas/For the Daily Titan

Cal State Fullerton hosted its own early Arbor Day event in the Arboretum March 14.

The event was hosted by Cathy Housman and volunteers. When Housman, a Fullerton native, discovered that CSUF’s Arboretum needed someone to direct an Arbor Day event, she stepped right up and volunteered herself.

“Trees have taken care of us for so long, now it is time to take care of them,” Housman said.

The event started with a brief orientation about what to expect for the next two hours and the history of Arbor Day. During the event, everyone participated in seven activities: “guess that tree,” “build that tree,” “camera game,” “meet a tree,” “silent walk through the Trail of Beauty,” “draw a tree” and a reading of the children’s book, “The Giving Tree.” For the meet a tree game, everyone was split into pairs. One teammate was blindfolded and the other teammate would lead their partner to any tree in the surrounding area. Once the team reached a tree, the person blindfolded would have to feel and/or hug the tree in order to try and get a sense of what it might look like. Their teammate would then lead them back to the starting line. The individual took the blindfold off and had to go search for their tree based on what they felt during their time blinded.

Jane Saunders, an attendee at the event and founder of See Jane Explore, which focuses on customizing events for families to attend in their local area, found her tree based on what the outside of the tree felt like. She said the experience was “surreal.” Not only did you have to trust your partner to lead you in the right direction, you got to experience nature in a whole new way.”

The Trail of Beauty was the last activity. Housman asked all of the attendees to silently make their way down a shaded path that had quotes hanging from the trees. Each of these quotes was about nature, the importance of preserving it and the beauty of what lies around us.

At the end of the event, attendees sat and discussed the activities and how they felt about the importance of Arbor Day.

“When it comes down to it, nature is important to the quality of life. I strongly believe in the preservation of nature,” said Sandy Marshall, an avid member of Save Coyote Hills, a group working to preserve natural space and habitats from becoming urbanized.

On the way out of the Arboretum, each of the attendees was given literature about how to get involved, how to conserve nature and basic information about the importance of Arbor Day.

A group of about 20 Cal State Fullerton students gather weekly for Candela Salsa, a salsa dance class led by senior Sean Nandayapa, the Candela Salsa president. Nandayapa started the salsa group four semesters ago and has brought the Cuban dance to CSUF students.

“I decided to start this group because of my experience in salsa. I started dancing in a club at Pasadena City College in 2003, and when I found out that there was no salsa club at CSUF, I figured that there should be one,” said Nandayapa, a 24-year-old kinesiology major.

Candela Salsa is open to all students, and no experience is needed.

Paola Gaona, an 18-year-old Spanish major and the Candela Salsa female instructor, said that beginners are welcome and that dance group instructors are more than willing to teach beginners even the most basics steps.

The group incorporates partner dancing along with solo dancing, and is working hard to perfect its routines and individual dance moves.

The fee to join the class is $25 per semester, or $3 a day for non-members. It is recommended to wear comfortable, loose clothing to practice, along with salsa heals, jazz shoes or sneakers.

The class is not just limited to teaching students the art of salsa dancing, but also embodies other aspects, such as the history of the Spanish dance and the different types of salsa dancing, including Bachata.

“We learn everything about salsa,” Nandayapa said.

Estella Maldonado, a 27-year-old kinesiology major, is a new member of the group who had never danced salsa before.

The CSUF senior said that she has learned the dance better in the one month she has been in the class, and has met new people along the way.

Maria Resendiz, a 24-year old math major, recently decided to check out the dance class because she wanted to increase her dancing techniques, and thought that the class would be a good experience.

“It was a good exercise. It was fun,” Resendiz said.

The Candela Salsa group has many performances and events coming up in April and May.

One of their events is a beginner’s salsa workshop on April 23 from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. in the Titan Student Union, Pavillion A. The event will include a live performance by the Latin Beat Dancers, the more experienced salsa group on campus, and the Cal State Long Beach salsa group. Other salsa groups from UCLA, Cal Tech LA, Cal State LA and Pasadena City College have also been invited to perform at the event.

A DJ and live salsa band are scheduled to play as well. The event is open to the public and admission is $5.

The Candela Salsa team will also be performing at CSULB on April 24, and has been invited to perform at the College Salsa Congress in Pasadena in May.

Gaona encourages students to join the dance group and said that it is an awesome way to meet new friends and get involved on campus.

“This club is a great way to establish new skills with people in the same age range, making salsa much more enjoyable. It is a great way to learn the dance,” Nadayapa said.

“It is the highest federal honor that is bestowed to all colleges and universities in recognition of the level of involvement of the campuses in the community,” said Kathleen Costello, assistant director of the Center for Internships and Community Engagement (CICE) on campus.

Costello specified that the Corporation for National and Community Service takes into consideration the institution’s involvement within the community and says it is a combined effort from students, faculty and staff.

Costello said 1.3 million hours of community service were calculated for 2008-09 school year. That’s up approximately 40 percent from the previous academic year.

According to Costello, the hours were documented through course-related services, which include internship classes, field work, practicum and externships, to name a few.

Many majors on campus, including education, communications and sociology, require internships and volunteer work.

“Cal State Fullerton’s Jumpstart program leads the nation in children’s learning outcomes because it is embedded in the Child and Adolescent Studies Department,” said the CICE 2009 community engagement report. “Jumpstart has a positive impact on young children and their families, future teachers, educators and local schools.”

The service learning and community involvement performed in 2007-2008 made the university recipient of the “Honor Roll with Distinction,” awarded to over 700 institutions nationwide last week. This is the third consecutive year CSUF made it to the “Honor Roll” list. For 2008-2009, however, the campus community involvement didn’t make “Honor Roll with Distinction,” but did make “Honor Roll.”

“Being named to the ‘Honor Roll with Distinction,’ just puts us in a smaller group,” Costello said. He also said that there’s not much of a difference whether the school is named to the “Honor Roll,” or “Honor Roll with Distinction,” as long as it is recognized.

Costello said the vast majority of students work an average of 30 hours a week and aside from that, they’re able to put in additional volunteering hours.

CSUF is among the fourteen Cal States awarded for offering service learning courses and taking what’s learned inside the classroom to put it to practice and benefit the people in the surrounding areas.

“I think it’s good to show that even though we don’t have all the money we need to do a lot of stuff, the students still volunteer within the community,” said Sheena Scypion, senior and accounting major at CSUF.

Over 18,000 students were documented to do formal and informal community service, Costello said. “The one characterization of service is that it needs to benefit people off campus,” reiterating that although student involvement and service with the different clubs and organizations is important, it does not qualify as community service.

Only six Cal States were in the “Honor Roll with Distinction,” list which includes this campus, Dominguez Hills and San Bernardino among others. Long Beach, Los Angles and Pomona were among the other eight campuses who received “Honor Roll.”

“The fact that this is the third year that we’ve gotten that award, it really signifies that community engagement is integrated into everything the campus does,” Costello said. “Is not just a feel good kind of thing … it really is a value.”

“I’ve done extensive hours of community service,” said John Urban, music performance major at CSUF. But he admits that he has not been active in the community lately.

According to Urban, it’s a great idea to be involved outside of campus. “It helps get things done that might not necessarily get done in the community.” As for students, “it gives them valuable work experience, and valuable leadership experience and whatever type of experience they need for the real world.”

Costello emphasized the importance of being active within the community, and said students really appreciate the experiences acquired through this system, which is the bridge to their future careers.

“It is a way of taking the university out to the community, and bringing the community in to the University,” Costello said.

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.

Thousands of people marched from Pershing Square to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles. Photo by Christine Amarantus/Daily Titan Staff Writer

“No cuts! No fees! Education should be free!” Hundreds chant as other protesters’ cries of “Save our schools!” and “¡Obama, escucha! ¡Estamos en la lucha! (Obama, listen! We are in the fight!)” blend into the overall demand for political action, favoring education.

Megaphones and cardboard signs conquered the day as the scent of burning sage wafted through the air and thousands hit the streets of downtown Los Angeles, uniting against the increasing tuition and budget cuts to public education, as part of the statewide “Day of Action” on March 4.

“We are out here with thousands and thousands of our closest friends … to rally for public education,” said Cal State Fullerton political science professor Dr. Shelly Arsneault. “We’re going to march to the governor’s office … and we are going to let it be known that we are tired of budget cuts and we want education to be made a priority.”

Arsneault and a bus filled to capacity with CSUF students and faculty members came to LA to join the march from Pershing Square to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office on Spring Street.

“We have an economy in the toilet,” Arsneault continued. “We need to improve the economy, and you can’t do that with an uneducated work force.”

CSUF sociology major Adelyna Miranda commented on her reasons for joining the protest.

“We want better education … we’re paying way more and we’re getting less … and they kept raising our tuition,” she said. “They’re cutting back hours. They’re cutting back teachers … When we graduate it’s going to be really hard for us to find a job. It’s affecting us. It’s going to affect the future.”

Miranda further commented on the students who barricaded themselves into the Humanities building on March 3.

“They had their heart in the right place,” she said. “They’re fighting for a cause, the same reason we’re here today.”

Radio-TV-film major Elizabeth Martinez said the budget cuts have really hit home.

“It’s more expensive for me to go to school, and it’s just kind of hard to pay for school now,” she said. “Sometimes I feel like I’m not going to be able to finish.”

“I just feel like we have to do something about it, and this is the way to do it,” Martinez said of the protest.

The half-mile march to the governor’s office forced the closures of Hill, 4th and Spring streets. Upon reaching the Ronald Reagan State Building, protest organizers ended the scheduled protest with a poetry slam and statements from local teachers. Students and employees from Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal Poly Pomona and LA City College had joined in the protest.

Sal Castro, an education activist who inspired the massive 1968 East LA walkouts, attended the rally. Castro, who is now the director of LA Unified School District’s Chicano Youth Leadership Conferences Inc., said the protest was “beautiful” and would have been more effective in Sacramento.

“What has to happen now is we have to start organizing to repeal Prop 13,” he said. “We have to also repeal the Bush tax cuts, because there’s a complete imbalance in the economy. The poor and middle class are getting poorer and the very few rich are getting richer.”

California Proposition 13 was an amendment placed on the state’s constitution in 1978, which capped property tax in California. With many owners paying much lower rates than what their property is worth activists, like Castro, argue that this cuts down on money going toward education.

“Indeed, Proposition 13 marked a dramatic turning point in funding for K–12 public education in California,” reported Jennifer Sloan McCombs and Stephen J. Carroll for the Rand Corporation. “Revenues and expenditures per pupil had grown fairly rapidly both in California and nationwide until the early 1980s. But California fell well behind the nation by the late 1980s.”

Prop 13, Castro said, was a “culprit” behind such action as the student occupation of CSUF’s Humanities building.

“This is reminiscent of what happened during the Vietnam War,” Castro said. “I understand the frustration of the students, but … I wish the protest had been in Sacramento two years ago.”

Protests surged across all institutions, hundreds rallied at CSUF, University of California Irvine and University of California Riverside. At UCR hundreds walked across campus and took to the streets where police accompanied them.

Meanwhile, in the San Fernando Valley, five Cal State Northridge students were arrested with associate professor of sociology and American Indian studies Karren Baird-Olson, 73, suffering a broken arm during a protest at Reseda Boulevard and Prairie Street, the Daily Sundial reported.

Baird-Olson was standing with students who had formed a human chain and was allegedly thrown to the ground when police rushed the crowd, the Daily News reported.

The winter Olympics have come and gone and the 2012 London games are up next. CSUF alumnus Nick Arciniaga trains for the 2012 Olympics in London.

People gather for the demonstration featuring the benefits of native botany. Photo by Ashley Luu/Daily Titan Staff Writer

Guest lecturers provided a multimedia presentation at Cal State Fullerton’s Arboretum Pavilion classroom on Friday, focusing on the contemporary uses of plants and how native communities utilized them for medicinal, edible and spiritual properties.

The “Edible, Medicinal, Material, Ceremonial: Contemporary Ethno botany of Southern California” lecture was hosted by the Arboretum and the Department of Anthropology, and funded by the Faculty Development Center. Deborah Small, an artist, photographer and professor of Visual and Performing Arts at California State University San Marcos, and Rose Ramirez, a California Indian basket-weaver of Chumash descent, photographer and board member of the non-profit American Indian Channel, were the guest speakers.

Anthropology professor Dr. Brenda Bowser came up with the idea by developing a service-learning component in her own class and a site to practice archaeology. She collaborated with the Fullerton arboretum to create the concept of having a California Indian plant uses program where students serve the community by educating others about the relevance of archaeology and how people continue to use plants they have used in the past, Ami Becker, education manager said.

“It’s exploring peoples’ connection to the plant world through archaeology. That’s why when she (Bowser) brought that idea, we were thrilled to facilitate that,” Becker said.

Bowser said she developed the activities by partnering with Becker and worked with students to write grant proposals involving topics, such as reconstructing ancient plant uses and the life waves of people in Southern California.

“It’s an ethical principle of contemporary archaeology to develop outreach and good relationships with members of descendant communities and to develop educational programs,” Bowser said.

The multimedia presentation displayed photographs and footage of native people utilizing plants to make smoothies, lemonade or healthy meals, basket weaving, as well as gathering plants in their natural landscape.

“I appreciated seeing how different plants are processed because I haven’t seen someone use the yucca parts and process them. It was good to see that in action and made it real as opposed to academic,” Becker said.

Catherine Pineda, a freshman taking Bowser’s Anthropology 103 class, talked about the misconception of how people view plants and what she has learned from the lecture.

“Most people think plants are just plants. They don’t see that you can use them for medicinal purposes or decoration. They (speakers) talked about how important it is to take care of plants so I’ll do that more now,” Pineda said.

Ramirez said that due to the increase in the development of homes and other buildings, the health of our air, environment and emotional health are affected.

“I daily watch the destruction of our landscape, our natural environment, and it’s painful. I know my ancestors saw the same thing, maybe thousands of years ago. When I see it destroyed, it hurts a lot,” Ramirez said.

Becker said that by educating people about the importance of how plants are utilized by native people and their cultures, it connects you to other people, thereby shaping you as a person.

“We want people to understand that native usage of plants are alive and well, native people are alive and well, and archaeology is one way to understand traditional plant uses,” Bowser said.

The next class will be “Archaeology Day at the Arboretum” for children on April 25. For more information, visit www.fullertonarboretum.org.

A full class of modern language students, one of the recent departments faceing cuts, await their instructor's lecture on the third floor of the humanities building. Photo by Nick Marley/Daily Titan Photo Editor

Students and professors alike rallied in front of the humanities building at Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, Feb. 24 in an effort to raise awareness about classes — in particular, foreign language — that are being cut from the school.

The programs that are in danger of being discontinued are master’s and bachelor’s degrees in French; master’s, bachelor’s and minors in German; and a minor in Portuguese. If these programs are done away with, majors such as International business in French, German, and Portuguese will have to be canceled as well.

This serves as a major problem for students such as Brianna Zarlinga, who hopes to be able to graduate next spring as an International business major with an emphasis and minor in German.

“I plan on finishing my studies abroad in Germany because it is the only way to get the courses that I need in order to graduate with my major,” Zarlinga said.

Many students will be facing the same problem in terms of getting the necessary classes they need in order to graduate if these courses are cut.

Grad student Judy Nguyen, who came out in support of the Department of Modern Languages and Literature, feels for the students who will be affected if these programs are discontinued.

“I sympathize with the people who are majoring in these subjects because if they cancel the classes they won’t be able to graduate, and they are who will suffer the most,” Nguyen said.

Dr. Janet Eyring, the Chair of the Department of Modern Languages, also spoke at the rally about the misfortune of these classes being cut.

“We cannot let it happen and we must not let it happen”, said Eyring, “We are the target right now. When are we going to say no, stop, that’s enough?”

French Professor Helene Domon sees the discontinuance of these programs as a “tragedy for the CSUs.”

“We are mainly fighting the discontinuance of degrees, and over the past 10 years there have been over 100 graduates in French,” Domon said.

Zarlinga argued that if the course catalog would list 101 classes in these language classes, maybe more students would sign up.

“As a student, if you are interested in taking or beginning a language course and you go to the course catalog, the only courses you see offered are either the second beginning course or intermediate courses, not the first beginning course, which is what you need. ”

Zarlinga pleaded, “Let us prove ourselves, that there is interest.”

A number of students and professors expressed their opinions through words during the rally, but there were also students who expressed their views in other ways. The Association of Chinese Students took to the stage in a colorful performance where two dragons came out from the crowd to the beat of a drum and other students and supporters contributed by putting on an Arabic dance.

Andrew Delos Reyes, a Latin American studies major, took to the stage with his guitar and sang a song in Portuguese.

“Without Portuguese,” Delos Reyes said, “there will just be Spanish.”

Unity was shown between the students, professors, and people in the crowd that came out to support the rally by chanting all together, “We are family. French, German, and Portuguese.”

Since the creation of dormitories, there have been RAs. I can’t tell you when the first RA was selected, but I have to believe it was a rough beginning. Before the invention of the RA, people were living freely in on-campus housing before that guy – let’s call him “Joe” – was hired and governed by one or two adults.

These people were perfectly capable of planning activities for students, but didn’t have much time to make sure the residents were following all the rules. So they hired “Joe” to do the dirty work, like planning activities, and midnight patrolling and performing check-ins and check-outs. Most activities were fine, even enjoyable, but the one activity that made the future of RA-ing despicable was breaking up parties.

And that’s the reason I’m here to defend my fellow RAs. I want to let my fellow Titans know that we’re not bad people, we’re just doing our jobs.

First of all, we don’t just break up parties. Hell, I haven’t met one RA that likes going into a suite to see people doing who knows what. It’s part of our job, like it’s part of a Starbucks employee’s job to take out the trash. Nobody likes doing it, but you have to so nobody complains about the smell in the store.

If I look at this from a resident’s perspective, I could see why they would hate us. We’re breaking up a perfectly good party, duh! The problem with this view is that most parties we break up consist of underage people consuming alcohol. Yes, this is college, and yes, everyone drinks. Whatever, I get it.

But if a person is under 21, it is illegal for them to purchase, consume or possess alcohol. So they have to pour their precious alcohol down the drain, ask their friends to leave and meet with my supervisor because they broke the rules and the law. They signed a housing contract when they moved into the dorms, and they knew what they were getting into once they brought the bottles into the suite.

The real part of the RAs job is somehow forgotten amidst the alcohol pouring. We plan six programs that are made to fit the interests of students – residents and non-residents alike – and we always have free food at such programs.

We are in charge of 35-48 people, which each of us know at least by name and face. We are extremely knowledgeable about the Cal State Fullerton campus and could refer a person to any sort of facility depending on what they need. We don’t officially work 40 hours a week, but I can personally say I spend most of my free time on this job.

What I’m trying to say is that we are not “narcs,” “party poopers” or “wanna-be cops.”

We are students, we are friends and we are here for whoever needs us. I looked up famous RA’s online, and was shocked to see whom I found. Adam Sandler, Wesley Snipes, Chyna (the WWE wrestler) and Donald Glover were all RAs, as well as Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates and Katie Couric, just to name a few.

I know the majority of students commute and don’t live in our halls, so as an official plea to every commuter – stop partying in the dorms! I know it doesn’t affect you personally, but would you want your friends to lose their home because you brought alcohol over?

I know that some people will still see me as the bitch who made them lose their sacred booze, but I hope that they at least understand why I do it.

I don’t hate you, I don’t hate the world and I definitely don’t want to be a police officer. I just want to do my job.

Sometimes it seems as if people leave their common sense at the door, or they have so much on their minds that they don’t process what they’re doing. To help explain my gym etiquette issues, I have comprised my top five annoyances at the gym:

Not wiping down machines after use – These are the same type of people who don’t clean their table at fast food restaurants. These germ-spreading meatheads like to claim their territory using perspiration and foul odors. Next time you see a slimy pattern of a butterfly on a seat, find another machine (and if, for whatever reason, you find yourself at this type of meathead’s residence — do not use the bathroom.)

Nakedness – This always seems to happen to me in the morning. There is nothing worse than making your way into the locker room to drop off your stuff, only to turn a quick corner and find yourself face-to-face with a middle-aged man in his birthday suit. The weirder thing is, they usually start talking to me as if it’s completely normal to talk to another man without pants. I walk slowly and carefully entering the locker room now, but I speed up on my way out with my eyes locked on the exit.

Cell phones – Now I do this one myself, but to a very small degree. I will use my phone to listen to music and to shoot an occasional text. However, the people (mostly girls) who hang out at the machines and carry out a full conversation need to stop. You’re wasting your time at a place you don’t want to be, talking to someone else. You’re also wasting my time now that I have to wait for you. You may as well do this elsewhere.

Walking on treadmills – Unlike my other gym peeves, this one is open to debate. Why is it when I walk into the gym and scan the aisles of treadmills, over 80 percent of them always seem to be at walking speed? I know you are at the gym and using the equipment for exercise, but come on. Why not just take a nice walk around campus or at the arboretum? Did you even know we had one? Next time, take a stroll around there; it’s on the border of campus and it will take you about 15 minutes to walk there anyway.

Mirrors – Some people absolutely despise looking at themselves in the mirror, so they go to the gym to attempt to change that. But why is it that when they are at the gym, they can’t stop staring at themselves? Some may say they are just watching their form to make sure they are doing things correctly. I just think it is leaning on the side of narcissism.

Clubs, Organizations, Fraternities and Sororities show off their booths and try to recruit members for the Spring 2010 semester

Daily Titan Staff Writer

For the first time in my Cal State Fullerton educational career, my Titan Degree Audit will be missing a familiar two-word phrase I strive so hard to earn each semester: “dean’s list.”

It happens to the best of us. During a particularly hard semester, we may fall behind, but what makes this loss such a painful one is that I’m missing out on my distinguished academic placement because my “B” is missing its well-earned plus sign.

In an unnamed online course I’m currently taking as my “easy elective,” I’ve not only learned to value the experience on-campus classes bring, but also the magnitude of our school’s plus/minus grading system.

What I don’t value or even remotely support is the ambiguity surrounding the policy.

Despite the university decision to weigh grades and GPAs according to the plus/minus scale, professors can choose to omit the nifty symbols based on a subjective like or dislike basis.

The plus/minus system was “officially” adopted by university administration in spring 2005, according to the CSUF Admissions and Records Web site.

What this message sends to students is that the faculty of CSUF is not in unity with the administration of CSUF on the grading policy and academic worth of students’ work and that the lack of clarity on an issue so integral to education is acceptable.

The pluses and minuses aren’t for decoration; the system provides for the truest possible GPA, and while the school would most accurately call my standing 88 percent in said class a “B+,” my professor decided it’s going to be a plain old “B.” This means the class is only worth 3.0 of the 3.3 points I rightfully earned, a .3 difference that fell in favor of mediocrity.

What the numbers show are not only lost grade points, but an utter disregard of student effort and achievement. For example, although I almost earned an “A” in the class, I will be getting the same grade as someone who barely squeaked out of the C-range with an 80 percent for the semester.

While it is a relatively new adoption by the university, five years is more than enough time for professors to adapt and revamp their grading scales to use the correct, university-prescribed, grading symbols.

I think the CSUF policy should be more defined and have a uniform, enforced policy.

Professors should realize that although they can choose to grade using either scale, students have no choice in the matter and GPAs reflect the grading scale of the university, not the imaginary, arbitrary and oversimplified scales of some professors.

By Jeremiah Magan

Daily Titan Opinion Editor

I don’t understand the students who torture themselves over their GPA. Unless they plan on going to graduate school, their GPA doesn’t really matter beyond a C average after college.

That’s not to say that students should be lazy and not put as much effort as they can into their education; but at some point, most students have to realize that they cannot achieve a perfect 4.0, have some semblance of a social life and maintain their sanity.

Going to school shouldn’t be about the grades; it should be about the learning process.

As long as I can demonstrate that I have learned the material and can utilize the skills I have been taught, then what else do I need?

But there are those who only care, and are even obsessed, about their GPA.

To those people, every little grade point matters. I hate those people. They annoy the living crap out of me.

To students like this, nothing is more important than proving how much better they are than their peers.

The university made a clear-cut decision in 2005 to grade every student on a plus/minus grading system, but like many things Cal State Fullerton administrators “decide,” it has become less of a rule and more of a suggestion.

It is official university policy that students should not skateboard on campus, but I have never seen anyone receive a ticket, citation or any other form of punishment for breaking this rule.

I have never had a university police officer chase me down as I roll down Titan Walk.

How a professor grades their students should be left up to the individual professor to decide. How many students can honestly say that they have visited the school’s Web site to review the university’s grading policy?

I would venture to guess not very many.

So how can anyone be surprised or upset when they walk into a new class and the grading policy for that professor is different from a professor they had before?

Students are more than likely unaware that there is supposed to be an university-wide grading policy, so how can they be upset at the end of the semester when they realize that their 89 percent will only get them a 3.0 for the class and not a 3.3.

Students have every opportunity to know how they will be graded when they begin a course. If they actually care about their GPA, then they should try harder to get the grade they want within the system their professor uses.

It really is that simple; no one is responsible for a students’ grade other than themselves.

Dean of Students Kandy Mink Salas celebrated her 20 years at Cal State Fullerton in July. For the past two decades, Mink Salas has held several positions involved with student services. Her dedication to students at CSUF earned her recognition at the annual region-six conference of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.

In an office still decorated with congratulatory banners from her staff, the dean listed previous job titles beginning with her budding Titan career as an activities coordinator in 1989. When she started that position at CSUF, she occupied the same office she does today in the Titan Student Union, Room 235.

Other positions Mink Salas has held on campus include associate director of Student Life and acting associate vice president for Student Affairs.

“I identified Kandy’s skills and talents from very early on and asked her to be my assistant before she went on to assume greater responsibilities,” said Dr. Robert L. Palmer, vice president for Student Affairs.

As her supervisor, Palmer said, “She’s great. Kandy is extremely, extremely intelligent. When you combine her knowledge with such a strong commitment to students, that is a great combo for anyone working in student affairs.”

Mink Salas oversees associate deans from each of the eight academic colleges on campus, sits on the Associated Students Inc. Board of Directors as a voting member and is responsible for a multitude of student services: Student Life (clubs and organizations), Judicial Affairs, New Student Programs, Leadership and Multicultural Development (Greek Life) and Honors and Scholars Support Services.

On Nov. 3, Mink Salas was recognized for her occupational achievements at NASPA’s 2009 regional conference in San Jose. She accepted a plaque that named her the year’s Sandra Kuchler Excellence in Mentoring award recipient.

The late Sandra Kuchler, dean of students at Cal State San Marcos, was also honored by a group of colleagues after her battle against cancer ended in 1998. The award was founded through NASPA, a professional association for those involved in college life.
One woman Kuchler made a deep impact on was Lea Jargin, her former assistant at Cal State San Marcos and the current assistant to Palmer.

“With the award, I wanted to honor the role Sandy played in my life. She is the reason that I got into the profession. Five months after she suggested it to me, I was in grad school,” Jargin said.

It was that kind of motivational attitude and mentoring that led Jargin to show her appreciation by nominating Kuchler for the memorial award.

Though she helped establish the regional award, Jargin had never entered a nomination for a recipient until this year, when she served as the principle nominator for Mink Salas’ award as well.

“To honor Kandy is just so natural. She and Sandy have so much in common. They are both strong student advocates who are committed to the profession and want to better their educational institutions,” Jargin said.

Jargin was able to attend the conference along with a handful of colleagues and graduate students.

“Some graduate students from our new Student Affairs master’s program were able to be there, and it was nice to have the new generation see one of our foundational leaders be honored,” Jargin said.

As the leader of the nomination, Jargin gathered supporting letters of nomination from three other CSUF colleagues.

One letter came from Associate Dean Juanita Razo. Razo met Mink Salas 12 years ago when she was a graduate student. In her two-page letter, Razo detailed how Mink Salas mentored others throughout her professional career, beginning in college and continuing today. Razo now has an office just a few doors down from the woman who inspired her.

Always striving to help young adults become successful, Mink Salas is valued by students for her wise guidance.

Joseph Lopez, executive vice president of ASI said Mink Salas, “has always been a great source for good advice.”

“Kandy is very helpful. (ASI President) Juli (Santos) and I can go to her for advice on anything,” Lopez said. “We’ve had a lot of challenging issues to face this year, and she’s always let us drop in on her.”

Mink Salas says that helping student leaders is simply a part of her job that she is happy to do.

“My job is to work for Cal State Fullerton students and the main part of that is making sure they are successful when they get here,” Mink Salas said.

The best advice Mink Salas has to offer students is this: “Make sure to, every so often, find a quiet, peaceful time to have an honest conversation with yourself about your goals and dreams. Be clear and focused on what those are. As you get older, you realize time is precious. Be passionate about everything you do instead of just doing something because it’s the easier path or what someone else wants of you.”

In response to the 32 lives claimed by the H1N1 influenza pandemic in Orange County alone, Cal State Fullerton ordered 10,000 “swine flu” shots for the Student Health and Counseling Center. The immunizations will be provided to students, free of charge, at a shot clinic on campus in conjunction with the nursing department.

100 of the 10,000 immunizations arrived last week and were administered to those on the “top tier” of campus priority, said Mary Hermann, director of Health, Education and Promotion.

“We had to vaccinate our entire medical personnel first. If we all get sick, there would be no one here to treat students,” Hermann said.

CSUF police were the next highest priority because, “We need our first responders,” Hermann said.

Because of the national shortage of the vaccine, only 1 percent of the order placed by CSUF was filled.

Hermann said the SHCC hopes to receive another shipment from Orange County within weeks and said a shot clinic could be arranged in days.

“If the shots arrived on a Tuesday, we could possibly be ready to immunize students by Thursday,” Hermann said.

The date of delivery and the size of the boxes received will determine when the free clinic will take place and how many students can be served.

“We’re only able to give based on what we receive, so we will accommodate the CDC’s (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommended priority population first,” Hermann said.

The first group the director named was students with underlying health problems. She said these were pre-existing conditions that have the potential to complicate the H1N1 flu and included asthma, diabetes and other chronic illnesses.

Student-parents are another high-need group. Caretakers of children under 6 months old or younger and pregnant women are at high risk for contracting H1N1, according to CDC.

“If you’ve seen on the news, a lot of the ones dying from this flu are young children, so it’s important our little guys don’t get it,” Hermann said.

Lastly, she said first-priority immunizations will be given to all students living on campus because of the heightened risk living in close quarters with so many others.

After those who fall in one of the higher-risk categories are inoculated, the remaining supply of H1N1 vaccines will be made available to any student on campus.

The immunizations will be provided with no fee, courtesy of the federal government, and administered free by students enrolled in the nursing department at CSUF, according to Hermann.

“Student nurses will administer the vaccines, but an MD (medical doctor) will be there supervising and students receiving the vaccines will know that another student is giving them the shot and they will sign a waiver,” Hermann said.

Hermann said the SHCC did not want to shut its doors to students for more days than the furloughs already demanded. If the shot clinic were to be provided by health center staff in the facility, no other appointments could be accommodated. Instead, the clinic will likely be held in the Titan Student Union Pavilions.

“This is a collaboration that will help everyone involved,” Hermann said.

Department of Nursing Chair Cindy Greenberg wants students to know that “individuals who are administering the vaccines are familiar with the procedures and have done this before.”

“This isn’t an experiment; this isn’t the first time the students are giving vaccines,” Greenberg said of the student nurses who will participate in the on-campus clinic.

Greenberg said students can trust the immunizations from fellow students like any other shot.

“We have students who help with immunization clinics for the seasonal flu every year and 21 who are going to a flu clinic today,” Greenberg said.

Hermann urges students to seek inoculation to prevent illness while the seasonal flu “truly is seasonal and has a clear window between the months of November and February,” she said. “H1N1 threw everyone for a loop,” when it hit the United States in April and continued through the summer season.

“I personally won’t be taking any free swine flu shot due to the fact that it is a new vaccine which has not been studied well enough. I met someone who got the shot and ended up in the hospital with bronchitis. Maybe she just had a weak immune system, but I’d rather just not take any shots,” said Grace Lopez, 22, a sociology major.

Hermann insists that the strain is much like the seasonal one and said the immunizations are made the same, with a deactivated virus.

“The virus is deactivated, so you cannot get sick from it like many people think … The deactivated virus allows the immune system to recognize it and create the antibodies against it,” Hermann said to those hesitant to get the shot.

Other students are accepting the shot like any other.

“I’m not really scared of the swine flu, but I got the normal shot last year. Sure I’d take the shot if it were free. It’s just an extra precaution this year,” said Linda Nguyen, 25, an Asian American Studies major.

According to Hermann and the CDC, 99 percent of flu cases in the U.S. are of the H1N1 virus.

Hermann said they have just quit testing due to the overwhelming probability.

Because both the symptoms and treatment of the flu, of the seasonal or swine variety, are nearly identical, Hermann suggests that students implement the usual home remedies and not visit their doctor.

“If you have a healthy immune system like most people, it will fight this flu like any other. We’re telling students, for the first time, don’t go to school. We’re pleading with them to not go to class where they will just get others sick,” Hermann said.

She said the same principle applies at the health center.

“Don’t go to your doctor unless you have some underlying problem that needs attention,” Hermann said.

The only treatment is rest, clear fluids and over-the-counter fever reducers.

“Do not return to school until your fever has been gone for a full 24 hours. If you were sick for seven days, you should be out of school for eight,” Hermann said.