California State University, Northridge

Volume 50 • Number 124 Since 1957

July 7-11, 2008 http://sundial.csun.edu

sundial.csun.edu A financially independent student newspaper

Student hospitalized after shot

in neck along lindley avenue
MoNiCa DUeSter that dropped off the assailants apartment and was there the
traveled northbound. night of the shooting.

A
StAFF REPoRtER
20-year-old computer
engineering student
is in serious condition
after he was shot in the neck on
Lindley Avenue on June 29.
Police said that two masked
men approached Francisco
Javier Magallanes on the
driver’s side of his vehicle
and shot him while he tried to
drive away at 10:15 p.m.
Magallanes managed to
drive a couple of car lengths
before crashing into several
parked vehicles in front of
the townhome Apartments
on Lindley Avenue, between
Devonshire and Kingsbury
Avenues, police said.
Detective John Doerbecker
of the Devonshire Community
Police Station said witnesses
saw the two men run south-
courtesy of MIguEL goNzALEz bound on Lindley Avenue
Caroline ramirez and francisco Magallanes at BgN fraternity formal in fall ’07. while a dark-colored SUV
Witnesses have also
stated that they saw the two
men jump the fence into the
Granada Hills High School.
Doerbecker is in the process
of obtaining the high school’s
security camera footage.
Los Angeles Police Depart-
ment Sgt. Barbara Riggs said
witnesses assisted Magallanes
until the police arrived.
“He (Magallanes) was able
to give statements to a couple
of witnesses and police offi-
cers before being rushed to
Northridge Hospital,” Riggs
said.
Friends said Magallanes,
who is a member of the Beta
Gamma Nu fraternity, was
leaving his apartment to spend
the night at his girlfriend’s
place less than a mile away.
Miguel Gonzalez, frater-
nity founder and friend, said
he was staying at Magallanes’
“I was devastated when
I heard the news,” Gonzalez
said. “He is a good kid and
didn’t deserve this.”
Edwin Cavajal, a CSUN
alumnus and BGN fraternity
member, was with Magallanes
earlier that day on Sunday at
the Dodgers v. Angels game.
“We had fun like we nor-
mally do, and I’ve never
known him to get mixed up
with the wrong crowd,” Cava-
jal said. “He comes from a
great, hard-working family
from the Coachella Valley,
and it is more than a shock to
hear this type of news regard-
ing one of my brothers.”
Cavajal said he always
thought the Granada Hills
High School area was a safe
place, but that it proves crime
can occur anywhere.
See shot, page 2

Family, friends remember obama, McCain

attempt to sway
victims of June 7 car crash Latino voters in
MoNiCa DUeSter to pursue his singing career and
Washington, DC
was in the process of obtaining aloNSo Yáñez

F
StAFF REPoRtER
his U.S. residency.

amily members and friends
of the two men who died
after a CSUN student sus-
pected of drunk driving collided
into the back of their car while
stopped at a red light, are keep-
ing their memories alive through
social networking Web sites and
blogs.
Farzad Etesamifar, 25, of Iran
and his cousin, Sepehr Kesha-
varz, 23, of Reseda died in the
early morning hours of June 7 at
the intersection of Ventura Bou-
levard and Densmore Avenue in
Encino.
According to Rosa Aldama,
her nephew, Etesamifar was liv-
ing in Iran and visiting Los Ange-
les with his parents to attend his
aunt’s graduation from USC Phar-
macy School.
Etesamifar ’s father had
returned to Iran three days prior
to the accident and Etesamifar
and his mother were scheduled
to leave for Iran the day after the
accident.
Aldama said, Keshavarz had
moved to Reseda two years prior
In an email from Arash Mousa-
vi, a CSUN alumnus who is first
cousins to both men, wrote, “His
(Keshavarz) life revolved around
music.”
According to Mousavi, Kesha-
varz was talented with playing the
piano and guitar that without hav-
ing any formal training he could
watch and listen to someone else
play and be able to duplicate the
exact tones.
Family members say he was
making an album scheduled to be
completed by next year.
“their lives were cut short,”
said Aldama. “My heart has bro-
ken into pieces and I don’t know
how I am going to go on.”
Many of Etesamifar’s close
friends stay in contact with each
other through Yahoo!360, a social
networking Web site. With blogs,
photos, lists, recommendations,
and many other features they can
post comments, pictures and sto-
ries.
Amin Ghoncheh, from Iran,
who is a close friend of Etesami-
far, wanted his life to be remem-
Sepehr Keshavarz, 23, and farzad Etesamifar, 25, stand in the
backyard of their family’s home in reseda. This photo was taken
on June 6, one day before they were killed in a car accident.
bered and shared. Ghoncheh,
along with several other close
friends of Etesamifar set up a
blog called “Remember him in
Happiness,” where people can
post a tribute.
Payam Hossaini, an It devel-
oper from Iran, met Etesamifar in
college at the Aptech Institute, an
It training school. His Yahoo!360
blog entry for Etesamifar is called
“Rest in Peace.”
Hossaini writes via email that
there were four of them that were
very close in college; Etesami-
far, Farhad Saeedi Nejad, Shahin
courtesy of ArASh MouSAVI
Motevali and himself.
“He (Etesamifar) was always
so relaxed,” said Hossaini via
email.
“I remember one night we all
four were studying for an exam
and although there was a lack of
time, he seemed so cool,” Hos-
saini said.
Etesamifar’s older sister Fari-
ma set up a Facebook account a
few days after the death of the
two cousins, said family mem-
bers. It is a place where family
See Victims, page 2
S
SPECIAL to tHE SUNDIAL
ens. Barack obama and
John McCain, who are run-
ning for the U.S. presiden-
cy, spoke at the National Asso-
ciation of Latino Elected officials
(NALEo) conference on June 28
in Washington, D.C.
In an effort to increase their
popularity with Latino voters,
they discussed issues such as
education, health care, housing,
immigration and the Iraq War.
McCain was the first candi-
date to address the 700 people in
attendance by saying that increas-
ing taxes would have a negative
effect on small businesses.
“It’s a terrible mistake to raise
taxes during an economic down-
turn,” McCain said. “Increasing
taxes for Americans impedes our
growth, discourages innovation
and makes us less competitive.”
“our current business tax rate
is the second highest in the world,
and increasing it will postpone our
See speech, page 2

INdEx fEATurES A&E LATEST

wEAThEr
Photo Essay 6&7 Dropout student pursues acting Fanboy fed up with campy superhero
Features 10 toward “Guitar Hero” stardom movies helped Batman begin again Log on to
Classifieds 11
Arts & Entertainment 12 sundial.csun.edu
SEE pAgE 10 SEE pAgE 12
2 • summer sundial • csuN • July 7-11, 2008

speech ceed with a temporary worker

Continued from page 1
recovery from this downturn
and will make us increasingly
less competitive in the world
economy,” McCain said.
McCain continued by talk-
ing about the energy crisis and
said that his “Lexington Proj-
ect” would address the issue
efficiently.
the project proposes an
increase in domestic produc-
tion of oil meant to end the
nation’s dependence on for-
eign producers and solve price
speculation. It also plans to
construct 45 nuclear plants by
2030 and develop alternative
energy programs such as coal,
solar and wind industries.
When McCain began to talk
about the contributions of Lati-
nos in the U.S., the war and his
imprisonment, two demonstra-
program that is verifiable and
truly temporary,” McCain said.
“We must also understand that
there are 12 million people
that are here illegally and that
they’re God’s children.”
the Republican Party pres-
idential candidate also talked
about his health care proj-
ect, which includes a $5,000
refundable tax credit for every
family to travel across state
lines to secure the health insur-
ance policy they want. McCain
said that the problem is not the
quality of medical care, but its
affordability.
He also talked about
the education system and
explained that there are seg-
ments of the population that do
not receive a good quality edu-
cation because the system is
based on income and property
taxes. He said he would renew
the No Child Left Behind Act
working properly for eight
years and that McCain does not
offer real change. After that, he
asked for the help of Latinos to
make a difference in the lives
of ordinary Americans.
“Latinos embody the best of
the American dream,” obama
said before adding that the
government should not vacil-
late to implement immigration
reform and provide 12 million
undocumented immigrants a
path to citizenship.
“We need to reconcile our
values and reconcile our prin-
ciples as a nation of immigrants
and a nation of laws, and we
can do something more. We
can tear down the barriers that
keep the American dream out
of reach for so many Ameri-
cans,” obama said.
“But I can’t do it on my
own. I have to have your help,”
obama said. “In this election,
it’s come down to how many courtesy of LINdSAy rodrIguEz

tors from Codepink, a women-
initiated grassroots peace and
social justice movement, inter-
rupted him. the demonstrators
forced him to end his speech
abruptly by yelling, “He
doesn’t represent Arizona. We
want a peace candidate, (and)
your silence is consent.”
After the demonstrators
where escorted out of the hotel
by security agents, McCain
answered questions from leg-
islators.
“(Immigration) will be my
priority, yesterday, today and
tomorrow,” McCain responded
to a question about immigra-
tion reform.
“We have to secure our
borders, but we also must pro-
if he were elected president.
After McCain said, “it’s
very fragile what we have
won” in regard to the Iraq War,
a man with press credentials
stood up and screamed at jour-
nalists, “there are one million
Iraqis dead! Report that!” the
remark motivated McCain to
conclude his participation in
the conference.
Before obama started to
speak, NALEo’s executive
director, Arturo Vargas, said
the demonstrators had no con-
nections with NALEo and that
their behavior did not reflect
the organization’s values.
obama started his speech
by emphasizing that the fed-
eral government has not been
Latinos turn out to vote.”
After saying “si se puede”
– this means “yes we can” in
Spanish – and getting a stand-
ing ovation from the audience,
obama summarized his pro-
posals in various areas when
an audience member asked
him about the housing crisis
and its correlation to unem-
ployment.
obama said that if he were
elected president, not only
would he invest in the devel-
opment of infrastructure at a
national level to create more
jobs, but also in research for
renewable energy sources. He
also said he would provide
universal health care and make
community college free, in
Sen. Barack obama talks to Latino voters in washington, dC on June 28.
addition to giving a $4,000
tuition credit to students to
help them finish their educa-
tion.
When asked about the cri-
sis in the health care system,
obama said that by the end of
his first term as president there
would not be a single American
without medical insurance.
He added that African
Americans and Latinos suf-
fer terrible disparities in
terms of access to medical
services and that the federal
government needs to step up
to that challenge because it is
placing the burden on local
governments.
“We’ve got to build a coali-
tion in this election for change,
and the Hispanic communi-
ty has to be at the heart of
that coalition,” obama said.
“We’re going to have members
of Congress accountable, and
we’re going to hold me, as
president, accountable to actu-
ally deliver.”
obama said it is necessary
to fix the educational system to
better prepare students. If the
government does not address
the issue, the national econo-
my would be affected in the
future, he said.
He proposed to increase
teachers’ salaries and not
renew the No Child Left
Behind Act because he consid-
ers it an annual exam that is
not an accurate way of assess-
ing the academic performance
of student.
though obama assured he
would bring American troops
back from Iraq 16 months
after he is elected president,
he said it is necessary to redi-
rect some of those resources
to Afghanistan.
“We also got to talk to the
regional players, including our
enemies,” obama said. “Iran,
Syria, we have got to be in
direct talks with them, talking
about stabilizing (Iraq), and we
need to apply both carrots and
sticks to those countries so that
they’re more cooperative.”

Victims shot they say it could potentially make

Continued from page 1 Continued from page 1 the situation worse.
“He (Magallanes) already has
and friends can come together Doerbecker said they have no a high chance of being paralyzed
to share their thoughts about the leads and are unable to speak with because of where the bullet struck,”
two, said Aldama. Magallanes because he is in a medi- said Gonzalez, so they are just tak-
“there are pictures of them cally induced unconscious-state. ing it day-by-day.
both as adults and as children,” Neighbors say he was going to Riggs said the motive is unclear,
said their aunt who would like to school, working, and that he is an as nothing was stolen from the vic-
remain anonymous. overall good guy. tim, he is not associated with any
“Ever since childhood, those Magallanes is in the intensive gangs and it did not seem to be a
two boys have been the best of care unit at Northridge Hospital case of road-rage.
friends and I am just glad they Medical Center. His family and girl- “By all accounts, it is very ran-
are together in Heaven,” their friend have been by his side since dom,” Riggs said.
aunt said. the first night, Gonzalez said. When asked if she thought the
In an email from Mousavi, he “the bullet is lodged in his case was solvable, Riggs said she is
writes, he will always remember neck,” said Gonzalez, who is in not worried that it will not be solved
Keshavarz by the way he would direct contact with his parents and because people will start talking and
end every sentence in Farsi with who has visited the hospital several that will eventually produce leads
“Mesle Gorg” which means “Like times. that will crack the case.
a Wolf.” Gonzalez said that the doctors Anyone with information is asked
“this was the way he viewed are debating if they should remove to call the Devonshire Community
life, like a wolf, he had to go after the bullet from his vertebrae because Police Station at (818) 832-0633.
anything that he wanted and work

Kicking, not screaming ...

hard at getting there,” Mousavi courtesy of fArIMA ETESAMIfAr

writes.
Etesamifar and Keshavarz
were buried in Los Angeles at
Rose Hills Cemetery, said family
members.
Etesamifar’s father Ali from
Iran writes in an email, “Farzad
was a joyful person a lovely son,
a brother, and a true friend. Far-
zad gave us so much and never
expected anything in return. He
is honest, responsible and trust-
worthy. Sepehr touched every-
one with his music and soulful
singing. His warm voice, poetic
songs and his joyful melodies
shall never be forgotten by those
who heard them.”
Ali Etesamifar went on to write,
“Farzad and Sepehr were not only
Sepehr Keshavarz, 23, and farzad Etesamifar, 25, hang out at a
family reunion two weeks prior to their deaths in a car crash.
cousins but the best of friends.
they grew up together and were
ultimately taken together.”
Keshavarz is survived by his
mother. He is an only child and
his father passed away 17 years
ago, said Aldama.
According to Mousavi’s email,
Keshavarz’s mother was denied
a visa to be able to see her only
son’s funeral from the American
Consulate in turkey.
Keshavarz’s mother was previ-
ously denied a visa to attend her
cousin’s graduation a few weeks
prior.
“We are now worried that she
(Keshavarz’s mother) will not
be allowed to come to the trial,
whenever it gets scheduled,” said
an aunt who would like to remain
nameless.
the July 3 arraignment for
CSUN student Sean Martin Mish-
lof was rescheduled for July 28.
Mishlof has been charged with
two counts each of second-degree
murder and gross vehicular man-
slaughter while intoxicated in the
Encino car crash.
If convicted of all charges,
Mishlof faces 30 years to life,
said District Attorney Spokesper- dESSIrAEE ELEBy / Staff reporter
son Sandi Gibbons. Sunny day campers play a game of soccer at the Sierra Quad
Mishlof remains in jail on a $2 on campus on July 1.
million bond.
 Summer Sundial • CSUN • July 7-11, 2008 • 3

news
Graduates evoke the
dy section, is a scene from last
year’s MacArthur Park incident
where police beat peaceful pro-

struggle of Chicanos
testers. Next to it is a mother
with her child on her back reach-
ing over a fence, which repre-
sents Mexico’s U.S. border. The
Salena Barcenas East Los Streetscapers is a end of the mural portrays the
public art studio that creates and May Day March, a tradition that

T
Staff Reporter
he mixing of colors to
form shapes and imag-
es that evoke emotions
and feelings can leave a lasting
impression.
The new mural at the Chi-
cano/a House on North Univer-
sity Drive “captures the perspec-
tive of the oppression (Chicanos
have had to face over) time,”
said artist Wenceslao Quiroz.
Day and Quiroz and Raudel
De La Riva started the mural
last July in Highland Park on
Avenue 57 at its temporary site.
The three friends started the
process after Day and De La
Riva took a public art class with
Professor Kim Abeles last year.
After taking this class the three
came up with the idea for doing
the mural.
“The original idea to do a
mural was mine, but I could
not have done it without Wen
and Donald,” De La Riva said.
“With them being in the class,
we had a better foundation.”
“We all hung out together.
We came up with a concept, put
our thoughts in process and for
a couple of weeks presented the
idea to the Chicano Department
and the community,” Quiroz
said. “I always wanted to pursue
public arts and Raudel with East
Los Streetscapers got experience
working in public arts.”
installs 2-D and 3-D pieces of
artwork.
Before the three artists could
start painting the mural, they had
to complete their paperwork and
make a proposal for approval.
“They liked it,” Quiroz said.
“It went before a committee.
The art and Chicano depart-
ment and M.E.Ch.A. formed the
committee directed by Professor
Yreina Cervantes,” who teaches
a painting class at the Chicano
House.
“Murals are considered art-
work,” said Tom Brown, execu-
tive director of Physical Plant
Management. “Artwork ends up
getting a life of its own. Any
artwork the school (receives, we
need to) make sure to make
them portable, that way the art-
ists can salvage them.”
The mural is composed of
nine 4 feet by 8 feet pieces of
plywood that are screwed to the
west side of the annex located
behind Chicana/o House.
“We (Quiroz and Day) were
working for a non-profit organi-
zation, and they set up a wall,”
Day said. “It was becoming a
part of the community, but it had
to come down and it did.”
After they removed the
mural from its temporary site
at Arts C.O.L.A., a non-profit
organization in Highland Park,
it was kept at the house of Day’s
A mural by CSUN graduates Wenceslao Quiroz, Donald Day and Rauldel De La
Riva goes up with the help of parent Tony Day near the Chicano House on Sun-
day, April 6.
parents until April, when they
attached it to the annex.
“We worked there so we
were able to work on it every-
day,” Day said.
Day and Quiroz were art
instructors in not the best of
areas. With gang proliferation
and fear that their hard work
might be disfigured by local
teens, the artists decided to
involve the kids.
“I saw it as a good oppor-
tunity, and as a kid I remember
helping paint a mural,” Quiroz
said. “They did a lot of the
background, the floor where
it’s mostly brown. It was fairly
simple stuff but they got a kick
out of it,” Quiroz said.
The kids ranged from fifth
graders to 16-year-olds. By let-
ting them help, Day and Quiroz
gave them a sense of ownership
and pride. The kids tagged their
names on the back of the mural.
“I told them, that is your sig-
nature. I’m not going to remove
it,” Quiroz said.
The mural was designed
south to north, moving from
right to left, and every section is
distinguished by a main color.
The south takes place in
South Mexico and Central
America, and historically moves
left. The right of the mural starts
with the pyramids of the south
and “Avenue of the Dead.” At
the bottom right is an altar for
“Day of the Dead.”
The artists plan to paint por-
mildred martin / photo editor
traits on the altar of people who
have died from cancer, such as
professor Lorenzo Flores of the
Department of Chicana/o Stud-
ies, who was a “very good pro-
fessor,” Quiroz said.
Moving left is the first mis-
sion in California, Mission San
Diego de Alcalá, with slaves in
chains. The center of the mural
is a triangle and features a fam-
ily. It reflects agriculture and
provides an interpretation of the
working class. The top center of
the mural is a unique version of
the Aztec calendar. With each
section having its own story and
color, the calendar is also broken
down by time and color and cor-
responds with each section.
Moving left, to the burgun-
started in 2006 in which people
across the country march for
immigration reform. Los Ange-
les City Hall stands proud in
the background with a crowd
of people in front. The bottom
left of the mural is a white face
with the colors of the American
flag sweeping across it, which
represents “freedom and a better
future,” Quiroz said.
“What this mural is trying to
show is (what is and what was)
directly affecting our people,”
Quiroz said. “We wanted to
counteract the opposite end of
the wall that represents freedom
and life, and also pay our respect
to past ancestors.”
“It’s not that important what
it means to me, but what it means
to the public,” De La Riva said.
“It’s just a historical mural with
present day context. Ultimately,
it revolves around struggle.”
The artists wanted “to give
the Chicano community a sense
of who they are and where they
come from, to make them more
conscious of their roots,” De La
Riva said.
“The biggest thing is, as long
as it invokes people to think, as
long as it makes them think,”
Day said. “It has been a labor
of love for us. What is more
important than the actual piece
is being able to communicate the
meaning behind it.”

New paved walkway complements Chicano House mural

Salena Barcenas Avenue, north of the new Science V executive director of PPM. “It’s a lot to Tom Brown. We could not have if it is not considered a permanent
building, Physical Plant Management cleaner now, safer. It looks very good done it without him.” building.

T
Staff Reporter
ake a walk down to the Chicano
House and glance around.
Notice that instead of stand-
ing on dirt, there is a nice paved walk-
way between the house and the annex
that was completed last May. Instead
of a yellow brick road, there are faded
red pavers joining the house and the
annex, making a patio-like setting for
events.
Last year, while planning on remod-
eling the old pond located off Lindley
officials tried to salvage the pavers to
give them to the Department of Chi-
cana/o at CSUN for the house. When
they tried to remove the pavers, PPM
found they were cemented in and were
unsalvageable.
So PPM went shopping for new
pavers for the renovation of the Orange
Grove located off Nordhoff Street.
They found a supplier and got a good
deal, so the extra pavers were used for
the Chicano House.
“It was just dirt,” said Tom Brown,
with the mural. The houses are not
really funded by the state, so we need
to be innovative,” Brown said.
Brown is referring to the mural
on the annex where three CSUN art
graduates are working.
“It was a lot to us. We got the space
between the annex paved. That really
creates a patio space for events,” said
Pardo, a Chicana/o studies professor.
“There we were in the sand pile, we
thought ‘Oh it would be easy.’ Then we
thought ‘Oh no.’ So we are so grateful
“We really do what we can,” Pardo
said. “It has been ongoing for a while.
“All those small houses are really
as is. Little by little, like somebody’s
house, you fix things when you get
money. As much as we can, we try
to create a cultural space for events
and Chicano studies,” Pardo said. “We
understand that we are low on the
university’s priority list, so we are
happy with what we get.”
Some might wonder why small
renovations are made on the house
“It’s always been a temporary site.
When the house was given to us, it
was never considered permanent,” said
David Rodriguez, chair of the Depart-
ment of Chicana/o Studies at CSUN.
Rodriguez also clarified that the
campus does not intend to tear it down
for its Envision 2035 plan. He said
they “would be opposed to that.”
“It’s really a center of activity,” said
Yreina Cervantes a Chicana/o studies
professor who teaches an art class in
the Chicano house.

Campus has no plans to rebuild women’s center

Tina Helwajian of Academic Affairs Harry Hellenbrand Studies Department to relocate to their
said there was no chance of renovat- building, and they will allow us to use

C
STAFF REPORTER
ampus employees say that
the Women’s Research and
Resource Center on the corner
of Plummer Street and Darby Avenue,
which caught fire in December 2007,
will not be rebuilt.
Richard Spaniardi, risk manager for
the Environmental Health and Safety
Office, said, “The building was worth
a couple of hundred thousand dollars,
and the damage was so extensive that to
repair it would have been unfeasible.”
Elizabeth A. Say, dean of the Col-
ing the center because it would require
the campus to make several repairs to
restore it to building code standards.
Spaniardi said the burned building
has not been demolished yet because of
the expense.
Stephanie Montes, assistant director
of the Women’s Research and Resource
Center, said its members discussed
fundraising options to raise the money
needed to rebuild.
But fundraising will not help,
because the center is not part of the
Envision 2035 for CSUN, she said.
their space.”
Though she is grateful for the
department’s help, Montes said she is
disappointed that the temporary loca-
tion does not have adequate space for
the large events and classes that were
held at the center.
“We’re trying our hardest to have
our voices heard,” Montes said.
Spaniardi said there was a blackout
the same night as the fire, but fire mar-
shals couldn’t connect the two incidents
as anything more than a coincidence.
“The cause of the fire seems to
mildred martin / photo editor

This is what the Women’s Research and Resource Center looks

lege of Humanities, said the fire caused
more than $150,000 in damages.
“It was fully destroyed,” Say said.
“The cost of rebuilding it doesn’t make
sense, so we will have to relocate it
somewhere else.”
CSUN Provost and Vice President
Hellenbrand said the campus plans
to turn the location on which the center
is located into academic buildings or
living quarters for students and faculty
by 2035.
Montes said, “On a temporary basis,
we were offered by the Asian American
have been triggered by rags in a broom
closet that spontaneously combusted,”
Spaniardi said.
Say said the center was used
for self-defense classes, substance
abuse programs and safe sex practice
classes, among other resources for
like since the fire that occurred during the Fall ’07 semester.
women at CSUN and the surround- provided educational programs and a
ing community. referral service to community resources
Say said the center offered access to such as local practitioners, as well as
support groups for self-esteem, health agencies and organizations that special-
and feminist spirituality. The center also ized in counseling and legal aid.
4 • Summer Sundial • CSUN • July 7-11, 2008

news
More students study, work in lesser traveled world locales
Denise Vastola very positive feedback. Students wrote Schwarz, who studied and traveled degree in ancient history. She worked mation and opportunities for working
a report and completed a survey. Eigh- abroad, is referring to the Senator Paul part time in the same department she abroad. Individuals who have studied,

I
Staff Reporter
nstead of going to Mexico, 18 stu-
dents have chosen to spend their
next spring break in a less traveled
foreign land further to the East.
Thanks to a $165,000 grant from the
U.S. Department of Education, busi-
ness majors have a new option in the
international business program, with an
emphasis on global logistics. They can
travel to China, and they have.
Part of the two-year grant is ear-
marked for the new option, which is a
joint program between the Systems and
Operations Management Department
and the Marketing Department, said Ali
Behnezhad, professor of systems and
operations management.
Behnezhad is co-director of the grant
with Rafi Efrat, professor of accounting
and information systems.
“China is a major economic force,”
Behnezhad said. “The students toured
a General Motors plant in China and
a major port to get a feel for logistics
operations for international trade.”
Behnezhad said students’ response
to the chance of traveling to China was
overwhelming.
“We received over 200 applica-
tions,” Behnezhad said. “Selecting was
a tough task because the majority of
students were well-qualified. Through
screening and interviews, we selected
the 18 who went on the trip. We got
teen of 18 rated the trip excellent and
very beneficial.”
The number of Americans studying
and working abroad is at an all-time
high, numerous experts and a recently
published annual report by the Institute
of International Education indicate.
The Open Doors 2007 survey
released in November 2007 shows that
the number of American students study-
ing abroad is at a record level, up 8.5
percent to a total of 223,534 for the
2005-06 academic year compared to the
previous year.
The Open Doors survey, funded by
the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau
of Educational and Cultural Affairs,
revealed that not only are more students
studying abroad, but they are also study-
ing in non-traditional destinations such
as Asia (up 26 percent), Latin America
(up 14 percent), Africa (up 19 percent)
and the Middle East (up 31 percent).
Sherry Schwarz, editor and pub-
lisher of Vermont-based Transitions
Abroad, an online resource for living,
working and studying abroad, said the
federal government passed a bill that
will help the U.S. become globally
competitive.
“The Senate recognizes the need for
students to have a foreign language and
spend time in non-traditional destina-
tions, such as Latin America, Asia and
Africa,” said Schwarz.
Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of
2007, named after the late U.S. senator
from Illinois. The legislation passed the
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Commit-
tee in February 2008.
This legislation creates a national
program that will establish study abroad
as the norm, not the exception, for
undergraduate students, the Internation-
al Association of Educator’s Web site
indicates. The hope is that one million
students each year will spend part of
their undergraduate studies abroad.
Schwarz said the first step in work-
ing overseas is the ability to add to one’s
resume the foreign cultural experienc-
es and language skills obtained when
studying abroad.
Juliet Aylmer, study abroad and
national student exchange advisor, not
only has first-hand experience in study-
ing overseas, but she also knows how
to guide students through the process of
researching, preparing for and applying
to the Cal State University (CSU) Inter-
national Programs.
In her position for the last 11 months,
Aylmer came to CSUN by way of
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, with
husband Robert Taylor. Aylmer is origi-
nally from the U.K.
“Students don’t know what they are
missing,” said Aylmer, who first came
to the U.S. as a study abroad student
in 2004 while working on a master’s
now runs at CSUN.
“They are missing a life-changing
opportunity,” said Aylmer of students
who have not studied abroad. “I came
here as a mature student. I had no idea
I would end up working here three
years later. All the students who have
gone abroad say it has exceeded their
expectations.”
The number of CSUN students
studying abroad fluctuates year-to-year.
During the 2003-2004 school year,
67 CSUN students studied abroad.
While the number decreased to 44 stu-
dents for 2006-07 academic year, it
increased to 51 students last year.
Aylmer’s goal is to increase the
number of students studying abroad to
help American students better prepare
to work in a global economy.
The CSU International Programs
offer eligible students the opportunity
to study in one of 18 countries for one
academic year.
There are valuable benefits of study-
ing abroad through the CSU Interna-
tional Programs.
Aylmer said that if students were
eligible for financial aid at CSUN, they
would still get it if they study abroad
through this program.
CSUN students pay CSUN tuition,
even if the overseas university costs
more.
The Web is teeming with infor-
lived, worked and traveled extensively
in foreign countries write much of the
material.
Jean-Marc Hachey, author of “The
BIG Guide to Living and Working
Overseas” ($53.95), works at Toronto-
based workingoverseas.com.
Hachey was employed overseas for
the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees, World University Service,
Canadian Crossroads International and
the German Volunteer Service.
Hachey has presented seminars
about opportunities abroad to students
since 1990, and he is a columnist for
transitionsabroad.com.
“With today’s global economy,
there are more international jobs than
ever before,” Hachey said. “Many are
overseas, but the largest growth is for
those based in the U.S. in today’s new
world of work. Employers are requiring
employees to have global experience
even if they never set foot outside their
U.S. hometown.”
Recently re-launched with the latest
features, workingoverseas.com offers
much free information, including “Jean-
Marc’s Quick Tips” in video format, as
well as a generous sampling of informa-
tion from Hachey’s book.
CSU International Programs offer
eligible students the opportunity to
study at one of 18 countries. Go to csun.
edu/international/abroad.

Speed racers was more than $50,000, which did

not include $20,000 of donated car-

finish in 10th
bon fiber, adhesive and the mold use
for building the race car, Powell said.
Mass-producing the race car would cost
about $22,000, he said.
Dessiraee Eleby Next year’s team will have addi-
tional competition data collected from

T
Staff Reporter
he CSUN Formula-SAE ranked
12 out of 80 overall at the 2008
Formula SAE West Competition
in Fontana from June 25-28.
Project Manager Matt Powell, a
20-year-old junior business major,
said the driving events are the team’s
specialty.
The team’s fastest finish was sixth
place in the acceleration race.
Though the racing team did not
beat previous records, it placed in the
competition‘s top 10 percent.
CSUN Formula-SAE highest clock
speed was 88 mph, but the race car’s top
speed is higher, Powell said. The reason
for a lower clock speed is because the
race’s course focuses on handling, not
speed, he said.
The secret to increasing the speed is
lowering the gears by making the back
sprocket larger than the front sprocket,
Courtesy of CSUN Formula SAE Team
Powell said. car’s suspension, and a team member
“Part of the testing is breaking crashed the Formula One-style race
everything you can before competing car into a fence while practicing at a
so nothing breaks down during compe- Bakersfield raceway park before the
tition,” Powell said. competition, he said.
CSUN Formula-SAE broke the race The cost to build the prototype
the newly purchased acquisition system
purchased.
The data acquisition will be useful
for next year’s team to improve their
strategies, Powell said.
Twenty-four-year-old Rick Pasuc,
a mechanical engineer said he volun-
teered for CSUN Formula SAE, and he
will be an official team member for the
Fall 2008 semester, when he can receive
additional hands-on experience.
“It is a very good place to learn your
strong and weak points before going to
a job,” Pasuc said. “I just want to learn
a lot more than what it is like in the
actual field. This is closer to what you
can actually do.”

Motorists rethink driving habits as gas prices soar higher at the pumps
Theresa Wray decline in the number of vehicle miles Smaller car sales increased to 57 per- Brickman who lives in Burbank. “I lon. The 250cc sells for approximately
traveled on U.S. roads as compared cent during the same period, indicating work in Glendale, so I can take the side $5,000 and gets close to 80 miles per

A
Staff Reporter
Los Feliz resident walks to the
nearby post office four blocks
away from her home instead of
driving to keep from paying the con-
tinually increasing cost of gas.
“I’m walking around my neighbor-
hood a lot more now,” Jennifer Abbott
said. “I actually get to stop and talk to
my neighbors while they walk their
dogs. It’s fun and relaxing.”
In April 2008, Americans drove 1.4
billion fewer highway miles than a
year earlier. Greenhouse gas emissions
fell by approximately 9 million metric
tons during the same period, the U.S.
Department of Transportation’s Web
site shows.
In March 2008, the Federal High-
way Administration’s “Traffic Volume
Trends” report indicated a 4.3 percent
with March 2007.
Ashwani Vasishth, an assistant
professor of urban studies and plan-
ning, said that if gas prices continue
to increase, commuting costs would
become a critical factor in where people
choose to live and work.
“It is forcing us to re-evaluate our
transportation choices,” Vasishth said.
“Our commuting times are changing.
The way we live our lives is chang-
ing.”
“Smaller is better” is the new Amer-
ican motto as the SUV-era comes to
an end.
With much reluctance, many con-
sumers across the nation are trading in
their gas-guzzlers for more fuel-effi-
cient cars and scooters.
SUV sales were down 38 percent in
May 2008 compared to sales in 2007.
that more Americans are seeking fuel-
efficient vehicles, the Department of
Transportation Web site show. Automo-
bile and scooter dealerships are trying
to keep up with consumers’ demand for
cheaper alternatives.
American Honda Motor Company
has a waiting list for new Honda Civ-
ics that run on natural gas, said Kathy
Paulsen, who is an online customer sup-
port specialist at the company.
“It runs on the gas you cook with,
and it only costs $1.99 a gallon,”
Paulsen said. “You can go 200 miles
on a tank of natural gas. You also get a
$75 federal and state tax rebate.”
While some commuters downsized
their vehicles, others have given them
up altogether.
“I just drive around town on my
scooter without any hassle,” said Amy
streets. I feel like I’m doing my part to
help the environment right now and at
the same time, I’m saving money.”
The 150cc scooter is most com-
monly used for city driving, but it is
illegal to drive them on freeways, said
Ed Romero, who is a scooter mechanic
at Scooter World in Glendale.
The 150cc refers to the number of
centric centimeters in the piston that
pushes the engine. The scooters with
larger pistons have more power.
“If you want a scooter for driving
on the freeways, you’ll need a 250cc,”
Romero said. “Either way, you’ll be
spending at least 40 percent of what you
use in a typical small economy car that
only gets 30 miles per gallon.”
The average cost for the 150cc
scooter is $1,500. It has a 1.2-gallon
tank and gets 70 to 80 miles per gal-
gallon.
Scooter sales typically increase in
the summer, but this year “it is really
high,” Romero said.
“If the price of gas continues to go
up, I’m sure our sales will continue
to go up,” Romero said. “There are a
lot more people considering buying
a scooter now who probably never
thought of it before.”
Nancy Kurland, assistant profes-
sor in the Department of Manage-
ment, referred to the current change
in people’s lifestyles as a “cultural
transformation.”
“People throughout the world are
having to transform how they inter-
act with their environment,” Kurland
said. “There is a consensus that we’re
in this together. There is nowhere else
to go, and it’s forcing us to change.”
 Summer Sundial • CSUN • July 7-11, 2008 • 5

news
Bookstore to offer textbook rentals to students this Fall
Denise Vastola amount of money students spend book for three years, needless commitment. commit to three years.” Follett,” Evans said.
on books, and if you take a look updates that cost students money The classes are MATH 92 “We were happy to do our Berger said the test-run

S
Staff Reporter
tudents will be able to go
to the Matador Bookstore
and rent select textbooks
during the coming Fall semes-
ter when the campus test-runs
a new program meant to offset
increasing tuition fees.
With annual textbook costs
for a full-time student ranging
from $800 to $1,000, textbook
rentals could save students
about two-thirds of that price,
said Harry Hellenbrand, provost
and vice president of academic
affairs.
“When you observe the
at the number of students who
sell back their books, it makes
sense to try this,” Hellenbrand
said.
“Fees are going up. Transpor-
tation costs are going up. These
are things we can’t control,”
Hellenbrand said. “We have to
look for ways to defray costs.”
Hellenbrand says everyone,
including professors, must be
flexible because the college
must charge higher fees to offset
the shortfall in funding from the
state.
Because professors must
commit to using the same text-
will be avoided, Hellenbrand
said.
Matador Bookstore Director
Amy Berger said five professors
signed up for the test-run of the
Rent-a-Text program. The full
list of textbooks for the test-run
will be finalized within the next
few weeks.
Professors Michael Neubau-
er (Developmental Mathemat-
ics), Ivor Weiner (Special Edu-
cation), Ashley Skylar (Special
Education), Meiqin Wang (Art)
and Dianne Philibosian (Recre-
ation and Tourism Management)
have signed on for the three-year
and 93: Developmental Math I
and II, SPED 504MM: Teach-
ing Diverse Learners with Mild/
Moderate, ART 114: World Art
and RTM 278/278OL: Recre-
ation & Leisure in Contempo-
rary Society.
Michael Neubauer, director
of the Developmental Math Pro-
gram, says about 2,400 CSUN
students take the two math
courses each year, which are
taught by 25 instructors in more
than 50 sections.
“All the work is done by the
bookstore,” Neubauer said. “All
we have to do to participate is
part to help lower costs for stu-
dents,” Neubauer said.
University Corporation
Administrative Services Manag-
er Rick Evans said the goal was
to offer three to five textbook
titles for the test with the Mata-
dor Bookstore, which is run by
Follett College Stores, Inc.
“Although there is a lot of
interest from professors to par-
ticipate, this is a manageable
size with which to work out the
details. A 65 percent discount
is fantastic. We’re excited to be
one of the first in the country to
be participating in the test with
would have more than one mea-
sure of success.
Each book needs to be rented
during several academic terms
to break even.
“There are many factors for
measuring success including
financials, sell-through or pro-
gram participation, faculty and
staff buy-in, and anecdotal feed-
back and comments from stu-
dents,” Berger’s e-mail response
shows. “We’re the school’s part-
ner in education, and we’ll con-
tinue to test new ways to encour-
age all students to have and use
their course materials.”

Friends tell of treasure trove of cheap books in ‘hidden’ wing of library

Libby Johnson been a Friend of the Oviatt Library for open five days a week from 10 a.m. to 2 book sales more often so as to grant stu- At 81, Levy enjoys interacting with
four years. p.m. Books are donated to its collection dents, faculty, staff, and the community students, though he said not many come

A
Staff Reporter
frail voice with, bright blue eyes
says students can “pick and
choose” information that they
may not be aware exists on campus.
Though they may not find a treasure
trove of gold and ancient artifacts left
behind in a secret room by the Found-
ing Fathers, students may be able to
buy a book about their revolutionary
exploits at a bargain.
Penelope Freedman likes to be
referred to as “Penny,” and she has
Friends of the Oviatt Library are
volunteers for the non-profit organiza-
tion, and they are dedicated to providing
and enhancing the community to the
lost, isolated love for books. It is their
nominal fee that provides more books
to check out, funds annual exhibits, and
other commodities of which staff and
students rarely take advantage.
There are books for purchase at 75
percent or more off wholesale prices.
The Friends Bookstore is located on
the first floor of the west wing, and it is
every year, and many are kept in the
basement that have not seen the light of
day in a while.
“You have to have a love for books
when you work here,” Freedman says
while looking around the dimly lit
wing.
The wing was built into the library
several years ago to provide extra
income while at the same time helping
to find old books new homes.
On Feb. 26, 1999, the Friends Board
of Directors voted to conduct smaller
better access to bargains, a newsletter
by Hai-Ling Tang, who provides Web
services for the library, shows.
Past president and current co-chair
of the bookstore, Fred Levy, “wanted
to do something with his time,” so he
decided to go to CSUN as an assistant
professor. But he was “let go” due to
budgetary constraints.
He volunteered for the library circa
1999-2000. A couple of years ago, Levy
resigned his position as president and is
now a member of the board.
because the Friends Bookstore is “hid-
den.”
“Staff, facility, and students do come
by but I would just like to see more
students,” Levy said.
With his background as a physicist
engineer, he has a personal collection of
books of fiction and philosophy, but he
enjoys non-fiction the most. The benefit
of being retired, yet involved with the
library, leaves Levy the focus in life
he enjoys as well as meeting all kinds
of people.

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6 • Summer Sundial • CSUN • July 7-11, 2008 Summer Sundial • CSUN • July 7-11, 2008 • 7

Recent CSUN art graduates Wenceslao Quiroz, Raudel De La Riva, and Donald Day are
2 1 1.Highland
Leila Mills, two-years-old, cools off from the heat with the help of the fountain located in the Hollywood and
center on Monday, June 16. Mother Perla Mills said this is he first time here and that she is glad her
putting the finishing touches on a mural they have been working on since last year. The portable daughter is having fun.(Photo by Mildred Martin)
mural is comprised of nine pieces and is attached to the west side of the annex, which is a few feet 2. Real fox scarves donated by Catherine Mulholland, granddaughter of William Mulholland, who brought water
behind the Chicano House on North Univeristy Drive. The artists designed the mural to be histori- to the San Fernando Valley. (Photo by Dessiraee Eleby)
cally accurate depicting the struggles Chicanos have faced over time.
The mural works from right to left and moves from the south starting in South Mexico, 3. Guy Sousa celebrates his racing victory with fellow drivers at the Autoclub Speedway in Fontana on June 22.
Central America and moves north ending in present day downtown Los Angeles. The mural fea- (Photo by David Moll)
tures the Aztec calendar at the top center. The mural is divided into sections, and each section has 4.Mimi Jensen, provider for a Tan for All Seasons, poses with a custmer who seeks Jensens advise on how to
a prodominent color and tells its own story. The calendar is also divided by time and coresponds eliminate tan lines. ( Photo by Denise Vastola)
with each section.
The mural creates a beautiful backdrop to the pavers that were added to the Chicano House 5. Elsa Lara, a migrant from Guatemala who sells cell phone cases on the corner of Whilshire and Vermont, posses
in May and creates a patio-like setting for events that the department and M.E.Ch.A. holds at the for the camera. Lara says she is saving enough money to go to El Salvador. (Photo by Mildred Martin)
house.
2 3 4
1

5 6 7

4 5

8
8 9 10

1. Day (left) and De La Riva (right)

6
work on the mural one sunny afternoon.
7 6. Bruce Cohen (left) and Gabriel Catone (right) rejoice after
L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, their friend, officiated
2. The Department of Chicano/a
their wedding. The cceremony wa possible because of the
Studies alloted $3,500 for paint and 11 state Supreme Court's majority decision on May 15 to strike
supplies with the full cost totaling
down a statewide ban on same-sex marriage. (Photo by Tina
$4,000 and the artists covering the rest.
Helwajian)
3. A part of the mural shows a farmer
7. Ten-year-old Chris kicks soceer ball at Sunny Day
working in the fields.
Camp on July 1. (Photo By Dessiraee Eleby)
4. Day works on adding detail to the
8. The new attraction in City Walk is the ultimate indoor
white face that represents freedom and a
skydiving experience. Matt Abshire, an iFly instructor,
better future.
shows off some moves to spectators. (Photo by Mildred Martin)
5. De La Riva adds detail to the "Day
9. International intensive language students from Taiwan bring their own shade to CSUN, where the temperature broke
of the Dead" decorations.
the century mark for the first time in June. Proud to share American nick-names, Amalia, 22 (left) and Pinky, 22 (right)
6. The artists work on the mural cover up to protect their skin from intense during mid-day sun at the USU's Plaza del Sol. (Photo by Denise Vastola)
that is scheduled to be completed by
10. A trolly takes visitors on a tour guide of The Americana, and outdoor shopping community in Glendale. (Photo by
September 1.
Tina Helwajian)
7. (From left to right) Day, De La
11. Alvin talks to a friend as his dance team friends Skip (in red) and Michael (in white) dance to the rhythm of Francisco Agua-
Riva, and Quiroz continue to ad detail
bella in Wine and Jazz 3rd night at the Hollywood and Highland Center on Tuesday June 17. The Wine and Jazz event will take
to the mural.
place every Tuesday at the Hollywood and Highland Center until August 26 from 7p.m.- 9 p.m. (Photo by Mildred Martin)
8 • Summer Sundial • CSUN • July 7-11, 2008

news
Web classes jump in anytime.
“Students ... do their assign-

offerings, popularity
ments” and hear very quickly
from Weber, who responds to
her students’ discussion posts on
a weekly basis. “Students have
told me that they have more
Dessiraee Eleby online classes will be offered. interaction with me than in face-
CSUN has steadily increased to-face classes,” Weber said.

I
Staff Reporter
t is 7:25 p.m. on a Tuesday
night and Patrick Beck is
preparing to do homework
for Humanities 101 before his
online chat session is scheduled
to begin at eight.
The chat feature that profes-
sor Nancy Taylor uses reminds
Beck of AOL Instant Messenger
(AIM). The chat room forum
has all of Beck’s classmates on
the right side of his laptop screen
and the current conversation on
the left side of the screen. The
chat, tonight’s discussion on art
during the Dada period, will last
for an hour and a half before
the class is dismissed and the
students leave their virtual class-
room to return to their lives.
Beck, like many other col-
lege students, is choosing to take
online courses since 1998 when Cummings says that though
it offered 10. WebCT costs about $40,000, it
“There has been exponen- is also used in traditional face-
tial growth,” said Randal Cum- to-face classes and the servers,
mings, CSUN director of online support and staff are tied to other
instruction. parts of the academic technol-
Fully online classes evolved ogy budgets.
from hybrid classes, where Online classes offer several
instructors would meet with stu- trade-offs for campuses and stu-
dents once a week and then host dents, as they do not require
the next class session on the classrooms and students are not
Web. Initially, it was necessary required to sit through traffic.
to recruit instructors, but now Beck, similar to other online
the field is more market-driven, students, enjoyed the ease of tak-
Cummings said. ing a class online as well as not
Professors see how easy meeting in the classroom.
online classes are through “I would have killed myself
workshops and observing other if I had to take humanities or
professors, and more profes- Asian American studies in an
sors want to teach online as the actual classroom,” said Beck,
classes quickly fill up. who prefers being in his apart-
“The whole university has ment with the smelly cat odor
moved to the paradigm of than in a CSUN classroom.
COURTESY OF ELENA BUETLER

classes online and universities
are meeting the demand.
Cal State Northridge, like
many other universities, is
expanding its online course
selection to meet the student
demand to the point where
online students may soon be
replacing the traditional in-class
college student.
CSUN offered more than 300
Web courses during the 2007-08
academic year, and the campus
plans to increase these courses to
400 for this coming year.
For the Fall semester, 145
knowledge on demand,” said
Cummings. With Learning
Management System (LMS)
such as WebCT, more of the
class content is on the Web.
Because of its ease of use,
functionality and affordabil-
ity, CSUN faculty use WebCT.
Though WebCT is a vessel of
content, professors may choose
to use Web pages, Elluminate
and other resources as well to
teach their online classes.
“Students are our clients and
products, so we must satisfy
their needs,” Cummings said.
A young woman sits at home working on her laptop for an online class.
A student can find syllabus,
lecture notes, PowerPoint pre-
sentations, study guides, addi-
tional readings, discussion posts
and links to videos online.
“Handouts are a thing of the
past,” Cummings said.
Elizabeth Weber, CSUN
professor of communication dis-
orders and sciences, who only
comes to campus to pick up her
mail, said, “Everything except
the textbook is online. All the
interactions with students are by
telephone and online through e-
mail, discussion posts and chats
sessions.”
Students in Weber’s classes
have full text lectures and week-
ly discussion posts, which does
not require a specific meeting
time for her classes.
Text chats are also available
in which students can chat with
Weber in live time. Weber is
also using Skyte, a program that
can be downloaded and allows
for live video chat with four
people, which provides them
the opportunity for face-to-face
learning.
Weber said she has taught
classes for about 10 years and
that it is very doable for stu-
dents, though they have to be
organized, motivated and have
good comprehension skills to
do well. The instructor has to
be expertly organized and flex-
ible because when everything
is online, explanations must be
clear, Weber said. ming before the test. Without
Assignments are scheduled
by the week, but within that
week students can do their work
Beck, who takes two online
classes, said his humanities class
was more interactive with the
professor while his Asian Amer-
ican studies professors assigned
a lot of reading that he could not
keep up with. The only interac-
tions that Beck had with his pro-
fessor was through discussion
posts, and his professor would
respond one week later.
“It came down to me cram-
having a teacher teach the class,
I wasn’t really motivated,” Beck
said.

Deans, professors grow green curriculum for budding eco-jobs

Theresa Wray tor of Transition and Employ- was created to research and If approved, the program Students interested in com- these courses and develop a
ment Services in the Career develop the new curriculum. will provide a graduate certifi- peting for green jobs earn specialization,” Vasishth said.

D
Staff Reporter
eans and professors are
in the process of creat-
ing a green curriculum
that would bring together exist-
ing sustainability courses under
one program, making it easier
for students to eventually com-
pete in today’s eco-friendly job
market.
“Green is everywhere. It is
no longer just a trend,” said
Patricia Gaynor, assistant direc-
Center.
“We get employers from
architecture firms, waste man-
agement, engineering and other
businesses,” Gaynor said. “All
of them are looking for students
who know what it means to be
green.”
Ashwani Vasishth, assistant
professor of urban studies and
planning, initiated CSUN’s
Greening Project.
A Core Green Committee
The committee participants
include Stella Theodoulou, the
dean in the College of Social
and Behavioral Sciences, Wil-
liam Jennings, the dean in the
College of Business and Eco-
nomics. Deone Zell and Nancy
Kurland, assistant professors
in the Department of Manage-
ment, also comprise the com-
mittee. Diane Stephens, director
of academic resources at CSUN
facilitates the project.
cate through Extended Learn-
ing that would include courses
in carbon market management,
green business practices, green
manufacturing, engineering and
ecological planning.
An interdisciplinary gradu-
ate degree program would also
be established to provide a gen-
eral education concentration in
sustainability by pulling togeth-
er existing courses from various
departments.
degrees in environmental sci-
ences. But in today’s job mar-
ket, the need for green skills has
expanded beyond the science
curriculum. Students have to
hunt through the CSUN catalog
to find classes in areas of urban
planning, interior design and
business management to get a
complete education in sustain-
ability.
“We are trying to make it
easier for the student to select
“This is a participatory process.
We’re asking faculty, staff and
students for input.”
The committee sent a sur-
vey to departments across
campus in an effort to assess
existing courses that may fit
into the sustainability program.
The 75 respondents indicated
a wide-range of interests in the
program. Among them were
See green, page 9

Nursing majors accelerate to learn needed skills

Theresa Wray The program is specifically the second group of students entering
designed for students who have a the program since its inception in

A
Staff Reporter
student dons a red medical
uniform, wears a stethoscope
around her neck and hauls a
suitcase packed with heavy medical
books to her class in Jacaradan Hall.
There, Maya Barovich joins 17
other students in CSUN’s new accel-
erated nursing program.
“The program is intense. I only got
two hours of sleep last night,” said
Barovich, who spends seven days a
week juggling in-class lectures and
clinical work. “I have to do my read-
ing on the weekends and evenings.”
The accelerated bachelors of sci-
ence degree in nursing, called the
A-BSN, is a 15-month program that
accepts a maximum of 18 students
during the summer and fall semes-
ters.
non-nursing degree, but wish to pur-
sue a nursing career. The A-BSN
allows students to meet the degree
requirements necessary to sit for the
national examination to receive nurs-
ing licenses.
The 56-unit, four-semester cur-
riculum consists of lecture classes,
clinical lab work at CSUN and field-
work at hospitals throughout the San
Fernando Valley. Students learn fun-
damentals, such as how to admin-
ister injections and take blood pres-
sure. Once they complete their lab
fundamentals, they are sent to local
hospitals where they are assigned to
patients and work directly with the
nursing staff.
Barovich, who graduated in 2004
as a cinema and television arts major,
returned to CSUN this summer to join
June 2007.
“I still enjoy and use the artistic
aspect of the CTVA program, but
I really like the nursing program,”
Barovich said. “At the end of the day,
I wasn’t really interested in the people
obsessed with Britney Spears. I want-
ed to do something more rewarding.”
The first class of nursing students,
which began last summer, will gradu-
ate on Aug. 19. Most of the graduat-
ing students have job offers.
“We don’t really have to do a
whole lot to help our students get
jobs,” said Wendy Taylor, assistant
professor in the Department of Health A nurse uses a stethoscope to measure an infant’s heart rate.
Sciences at CSUN. “Recruiters come tered nurses in the workforce. The ment demand for registered nurses is
to us looking for qualified students.” Department of Labor’s recent report expected to grow faster than all other
The accelerated nursing program shows that nursing is one of the larg- occupations through 2016.
began last year in response to the est health care occupations, filling 2.5
nationwide demand for more regis- million jobs in 2006. The employ- See nursing, page 9

A look back at BSU’s
fight for equal access
to college 50 years ago
Susannah Reynolds
B
Staff Reporter
lack Student Union
members took over the
top floor of the admin-
istration building, holding 30
people hostage. They demanded
that football coaches be fired
and that there be no cutbacks
to the Education Opportunity
Program.
“Confusion. That is the
main impression that must
have been with anyone who
roamed the darkened halls of
the administration building…”
wrote Frank del Olmo, a Daily
Sundial staff reporter, who was
inside the building when the
takeover by the BSU occurred
on Nov. 4, 1968.
The takeover of the build-
ing almost forty years ago was
followed by months of protests
and rallies that lead San Fer-
nando Valley State College, now
known as CSUN, to start the
Pan-African Studies and the
Chicana/o Studies departments.
An article in the Sundial on
Oct. 31, 1968 states that the
BSU wanted freshman football
coach Don Markham fired after
getting into a shoving match
with George Boswell, one of
the team’s African American
players. The article shows that
the incident took place two
weeks after the football team
lost a game to Cal Poly San
Luis Obispo.
A meeting was schedule
for Oct. 31 between the ath-
letic officials and the students
to discuss how the latter felt that
the coach was “dehumanizing
black people.” The meeting was
rescheduled due to a miscom-
munication between the BSU
and the athletic department, and
it was rescheduled for the fol-
lowing Monday on Nov. 4.
green
Continued from page 8
faculty members from the art,
economics, health sciences,
marketing and geography
departments.
The committee will be add-
ing green courses from these
departments, and many more,
to their database as they con-
tinue to develop the new cur-
riculum.
The budget for this program
has not yet been established,
but there are already concerns
that the sustainability curricu-
lum will take students away
from other programs.
“It’s a turf war. It’s all about
enrollment. Departments’ bud-
gets are based on their enroll-
ment numbers,” Vasishth said.
“But we’re not taking students
away from them. The courses
will stay in the various depart-
ments. We’re just reorganizing
the courses to make it easier
for students to select a green
concentration.”
That day was also the start of
a two-day rally because of the
U.S. presidential election that
week. Students for a Democratic
Society held the rally, said Marc
Cooper, who was a freshman at
Valley State at the time.
“The campus became one of
the most politically active cam-
puses,” Cooper said. “It was up
there with Berkeley.”
Cooper, who was at the SDS
rally, said they heard about what
the BSU was doing while it
was going on, and they all went
to the administration building
to support them. By the time
they got there, BSU members
already took over first floor, so
the SDS took over the second
floor, he said.
Valley State at the time
did not have a large popula-
tion of minority students. In
1968, about 80 African Ameri-
cans and fewer Latinos were
enrolled as students, Cooper
said. He said the BSU had
recently started at the time of
the takeover.
The takeover of the building
lasted about four hours, because
the BSU students got the col-
lege president, Paul Blomgren,
to sign a paper agreeing to their
demands. The BSU students
then left the building without
being arrested. Part of the agree-
ment on the list of demands was
that none of the BSU students
would be arrested or kicked
out of school because of their
actions.
The very next day, Blomgren
took back the agreement he
signed because he felt as though
he was forced into signing the
papers, an article written in the
Sundial by Ralph Sanders on
Nov. 5, 1968 shows. Arrest war-
rants were also issued for charg-
es that ranged from kidnapping
to minor misdemeanors.
Steven Graves, assistant
professor of geography, said, “I
think it’s a good idea. We don’t
have anything like it yet.”
“But I’m a little concerned
that it might take away from
geography and sort of ghettoize
the green stuff,” Graves said.
“There is always that political
element, but in the long run,
I don’t think it will hurt us.
Geography has always been
concerned with complex envi-
ronmental systems.”
The Geography Depart-
ment at CSUN teaches students
how to create digital mapping
that allows businesses to make
decisions about where to put
their waste materials. The maps
also provide information on
soil, wind direction and surface
waters.
“There are so many areas
that constitute green,” Graves
said. “I think we’re behind the
curve right now compared to
other campuses like Cal State
University, Chico. We’re here
in smog city where we really
Graduate Class President Richard Dixon is led away by policemen on Thursday,
January 9, 1969 after speaking at the Open Forum during an “illegal assembly.”
LAPD officers are called to campus in 1968 when members of the Black Student
Union take more than 30 staff and administrators hostage.
“This is a community that
wasn’t used to seeing so many
minority students,” said Everto
Ruiz, a Chicana/o studies pro-
fessor at CSUN and former Val-
ley State student. In 1968, Ruiz
said the San Fernando Valley
was the second-largest commu-
nity of residents with Mexican
ancestry.
Pacoima had a large African
American population, said Bob
Baker, former managing editor
for the Sundial in 1968. Baker
said it is “hard to look back
and think about all the racial
problems.”
Arrest warrants were issued
for some of the BSU students.
need a green curriculum.”
Other courses that may be
added to the sustainability pro-
gram fall under the Depart-
ment of Management. These
courses provide students with
an understanding of corporate
responsibility and green manu-
facturing.
The department also has
courses that help students
examine a corporation’s carbon
footprint, which requires exec-
utives to analyze recycling and
energy consumption practices
to find more efficient ways to
conserve.
“We’ve reached the tipping
point,” Nancy Kurland said.
“We’re at the point where we
have to do something now. I
think that’s part of what’s driv-
ing peoples’ interest in this.”
Program development
began this summer and will
continue throughout the year.
Students who wish to
participate may contact Ash-
wani Vasishth via e-mail at
vasishth@csun.edu.
COURTEsY OF UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
A few days later, those involved
turned themselves in.
On Nov. 8, 23 students
were arraigned at the Van Nuys
Courthouse on charges such as
conspiracy, kidnapping, bur-
glary, robbery, assault and false
imprisonment, an article written
by Sue Brandt for the Sun-
dial shows. Bail for some of
the students ranged from $1,000
to $2,500. Faculty and students
joined together to try and raise
money for the bail, and rallies
were put together a few days
later in support of the BSU.
A Dec. 20, 1968 Sundial
article shows that the Educa-
tional Policies Committee voted
nursing
Continued from page 8
The American Association
of Colleges of Nursing Web
site shows that the shortage of
nurses in the workforce is the
result of the shortage of faculty
and clinical sites available to
train students.
The A-BSN program has
five full-time instructors, one
additional instructor borrowed
from the Gerontology program
and many part-time instruc-
tors, said Taylor.
Budget constraints have
also prevented nursing pro-
grams from meeting the
demand for qualified students.
Nursing programs require lab-
oratory equipment and simu-
lated hospital units, making
the curriculum more expensive
than other programs.
CSUN’s accelerated pro-
gram is one of the few pro-
grams that are likely to survive
the recent state budget cuts.
The University allocated near-
ly $300,000 for a new nursing
skills lab.
Summer Sundial • CSUN • July 7-11, 2008 • 9
news
FROM SUNDIAL ARCHIVES
to start the Afro-American and
Mexican-American Studies
study programs.
Ruiz said that the following
year he was hired to help coun-
sel minority students along with
BSU member Jerome Walker. A
year and a half later, Ruiz said
he was teaching in what is now
the Department of Chicano/a
Studies.
Jan. 9, 1969 would be a day
during which the largest number
of arrests occurred, 275, which
included not only students, but
faculty as well. Acting President
of Valley State Delmar T. Oviatt,
after whom the campus library
was eventually named, declared
“The money for the new lab
was allocated before the bud-
get crisis,” said Brian Malec,
chair of The Department of
Health Sciences. “Of course,
we cannot guarantee anything
in this world, but considering
the high demand for nursing,
we assume we will not experi-
ence any budget cuts.”
The new skills lab, which
is under construction, will
include hospital beds, moni-
toring equipment and life-size,
simulated mannequins that
mimic real-life critical situa-
tions in hospitals.
“The mannequin actually
screams if you give the injec-
tion wrong and hurt it,” said
Shan Chin, another student
who entered the program this
summer after graduating as a
business major at Cal State
Fresno in 2000.
Students also learn leader-
ship training and work with
the head nurse to learn budget-
ing skills and how to manage
the workforce.
“It’s an intense program,
and students need to be avail-
the rally being held at the open
forum on campus “an unlawful
assembly,” an article written by
Ron Chappell, staff reporter for
the Sundial, shows.
Police arrested people they
believed to be in charge as they
spoke at the podium.
The campus was in a “state
of emergency” and everything
was to be shut down, the article
shows. The peaceful rally was
in support of a BSU rally that
took place two days earlier, dur-
ing 14 people were arrested and
two were injured, a Jan. 9, 1968
Sundial article written by Chap-
pell shows.
Ruiz said it was after this
rally that things on campus
started to change. He said he
participated in these rallies to
change things. “A change has
taken place,” Ruiz said. “It’s a
different Valley.”
Baker said he was think-
ing when all this was going on.
“This is great,” Baker said. “This
is amazing, news at it’s best.”
“We had the sensation that
we were part of something,”
Cooper said. Copper said he
wishes students today had the
same kind of experience. If he
could, Cooper said he would do
it all over again.
By the middle of Febru-
ary 1969, the BSU and the
United-Mexican American
Students came to an agreement
with administration. One of the
agreements was that the Afro-
American and Mexican-Amer-
ican study programs allowed
the student organizations to
be involved in the develop-
ment process. They also got
the college to agree to recruit
African American and Chicano
counselors for the Counseling
Center.
In the end, students served
time in prison and some were
dismissed from the college.
“There were things we could
have done better, (but) it was
also hostile times,” Cooper said.
“This stuff was not a picnic.
These were times where people
were putting their freedoms on
the line. (It was) not mild or
moderate. It was radical.”
able seven days a week,” Tay-
lor said.
The cost for the program,
including tuition, materials and
supplies can be close to $5,000
per semester, Chin said.
“We can’t work,” Chin
said. “There’s no time.”
CSUN partners with sever-
al local hospitals including the
Northridge Hospital Medical
Center, Providence St. Joseph
Medical Center in Burbank
and Kaiser Permanente, which
send notices of available schol-
arships, said Taylor.
Additional scholarship
opportunities may be found at
the ChooseNursing Web site,
which is coordinated through
the Coalition for Nursing
Careers in California. Their
scholarship and financial aid
information may be found at
http://www.choosenursing.
com/paying/calfinaid.html.
“The nursing shortage
is not just in California. It’s
a global shortage. Hospitals
need qualified students, and
our program is meeting that
demand,” Taylor said.
10 • Summer Sundial • CSUN • July 7-11, 2008

news
Former student jams with
Aerosmith for video game
TINA HELWAJIAN student and Jennings’ girl- and move their mouth,” Hub-
friend Kate Hubbell. “He bell said.

A
STAFF REPORTER
erosmith walked
into the Neversoft
Entertainment studio
in Woodland Hills to record
their motion-capture session
of Guitar Hero.
Before Steven Tyler began
his session, he had one ques-
tion: “Where’s Adam Jen-
nings?”
Tyler wanted to know who
this guy was, so the studio
called Jennings in, and he got
to watch Aerosmith do their
session.
But who is Adam Jen-
nings?
Jennings is the 24-year-
old front man for the wildly
popular video game series
“Guitar Hero: Aerosmith,”
which was released on June
29. Jennings attended CSUN
for one year in fall 2001 as a
theater major. He soon real-
ized that college was not for
him, so he chose to pursue
something else.
“I left school because col-
lege was fun, but I didn’t like
the classes part,” Jennings
said. He took some time off
and moved to San Francisco.
About a year later, he decided
to come back to Los Angeles
and pursue an acting career.
When Jennings returned
to Los Angeles, he got in
touch with an old friend from
CSUN.
left, and we didn’t talk for a
couple of years. Then one day
I saw him on instant messen-
ger, so I sent him a message
and we’ve been together ever
since.”
Within a year, Jennings
got an agent and booked
some voiceover work. One
day, his agency sent him to an
audition during which he was
asked if he ever considered
working as a motion-capture
actor. Jennings liked the idea
and decided to give it a shot.
Coincidentally, Jennings
skateboarded since he was a
kid, so he felt right at home
when one of his first jobs
was for a series of Tony
Hawk video games includ-
ing “American Wasteland,”
“Project 8” and “Proving
Ground.”
In no time, Neversoft
declared that Jennings would
be the only actor to do motion-
capture for the company in
seven different languages
including English, Spanish,
Swedish and German.
“They asked me to lip
sync and I could do it per-
fectly, so they booked me,”
Jennings said.
Hubbell said that when
Jennings gets a new song
assignment for “Guitar Hero,”
he logs on to YouTube and
studies the band members’
moves.
“I act out the men, women
and kids for all of the games,”
said Jennings, who is excit-
ed about the fourth “Guitar
Hero” release called “Guitar
Hero: World Tour.”
“The new game includes
guitar, bass and vocals and
it’s coming out in the end
of summer in late August or
September,” Jennings said.
“I’m also working on a few
top secret things that I can’t
talk about.”
Mark Savage is a 45-year-
old staffer for the San Fran-
cisco Chronicle and he was
assigned to take photos of
Jennings during one of his
sessions.
“We had a great time,”
Savage said. “I hadn’t met
him before then. We got along
great. He’s a great guy.”
Hubbell said Jennings is
“a very hard worker. He is
an actor first. His passion for
acting is amazing.”
When Jennings is not
hard at work for Neversoft
Entertainment, he is wait-
ing tables at Café Bizou on
Ventura Boulevard. Jennings
said the video game develop-
ment company pays him well
but that he enjoys the typical
actor’s job of waiting tables.
When asked about his
future in motion capture, Jen-
nings said, “The industry is
using a lot of motion capture courtesy of mark savage

“We were in the same “He will sit there for hours for films, and this is where I Adam Jennings, 24, was a CSUN student in 2001, before he pursued acting.
group of friends, but I didn’t and study how they blink want to go with my career. lar right now, so I’m set.” school and get a degree, but out to build a career in motion
know him well,” said CSUN their eyes, cock their heads Video games are really popu- “I would love to finish in the mean time I’m setting capture,” Jennings said.

Stand-up comic presidents in the past such as first

lady Laura Bush and Hillary Clin-
have read in order to get prizes.
One thing that the library has

assists libraries
ton said Sally Reed, the executive
director for FOLUSA.
Reed said the organization
enjoys having Poundstone as
Susannah Reynolds spokesperson and that she is wel-
come to have it for as long as she
done for Poundstone and her chil-
dren is to turn them on to books
on tapes.
She said they spend so much
time in the car that they have
come in really handy. Another

T
Staff Reporter
wo people sitting at a
table, one teaching the
other to read. This sight
gave comedian Paula Poundstone
goose bumps and made her love
for public libraries even stronger.
Poundstone has partnered with
Friends of the Library U.S.A. to
be their spokesperson to help raise
money for libraries across the coun-
try.
“I always thought libraries
were funded by taxes, which they
are, but they are still not com-
pletely funded,” Poundstone said.
Poundstone will be perform-
ing two dates in the Los Angeles
area, July 11 at the Canyon Club
for the Friends of The Agoura
Hills Public Library and July 12
at the Wadsworth Theatre for the
Friends of the Westwood Public
Library.
FOL for each branch will be
at the shows to sell her book,
“There’s Nothing In This Book
That I Meant to Say.” All pro-
ceeds from the book sales will go
back to each library.
Poundstone joined up with
FOLUSA after performing at one
of their conventions. She said
she contacted them to see how to
likes.
The purpose for FOLUSA is
to add the “icing on the cake” for
libraries Reed said.
FOLUSA has more than 3,000
groups all across the U.S., accord-
ing to their Web site. Each group
helps its local library with addi-
tional funding that it might need
Reed said.
Suzanne Gray, the western area
manager for 12 branch libraries,
said that what the local FOL for
the Westwood Library does is
to help provide funding for pro-
grams.
Gray said it is the difference
between having one program
for the year or several programs
throughout the year.
Last year Westwood’s FOL
helped fund programs such as
Reptile Family, Personal Finance,
Ballroom dancing. They also
helped to purchase new books
courtesy of Debbie keller and a color copier for the library,
Paula Poundstone is the first spokesperson for Friends of the said Reed.
Libray U.S.A. Poundstone said she and her
three children, ranging from
help, and that’s how she became of the last places of real com- ages 10 to 17, are regulars at
their spokesperson. munity.” the library. Her kids have been
Poundstone said she thought Poundstone is the first spokes- involved in their local branch’s
what they were doing was great person for FOLUSA, though the summer reading programs where
and that her libraries are “one organization has had honorary they keep track of the books they
thing is how helpful the librar-
ians are.
When she has asked them for
books for her children she said
they always point her in the right
direction.
Poundstone said she always
remembers the library being a
part of her life, but there is one
book with which she had a long
connection.
When she was in junior high
she was going to write a report
about Geronimo so she checked
out a book on him at the library.
Poundstone said that for some
reason she did not end up writing
the report and the book somehow
got put on a shelf and was forgot-
ten.
One day a bill showed up at
her house and her father saw it
and came pounding on the door
waving the $14 bill around telling
her to look at it. Poundstone said
the only thing she could think was
“how can I look at it if he keeps
waving it around?”
Poundstone may have a prob-
lem getting library books back on
time, but she said she thinks her
partnership with FOLUSA is nice
and she’s happy to gain awareness
for the organization.
 Summer Sundial • CSUN • July 7-11, 2008 • 11

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12 • Summer Sundial • CSUN • July 7-11, 2008
arts & entertainment
Wait’ll fanboys get a
load of ‘Dark Knight’
DANIEL ANTOLIN
S
EDITOR IN CHIEF
ix minutes of a highly
anticipated summer
blockbuster played before
IMAX screenings of 2007’s “I
am Legend”
The six minutes showed
thugs in clown masks robbing
a mob-owned bank. As soon
as one thug serves his role in
the heist, another thug guns him
down, and so on. Only one of
the masked men survives.
“Criminals in this city used
to believe in things. What do you
believe in, huh?” the wounded
bank manager yells as he lies on
the floor. Before he kills him, the
remaining hood reveals to the
manager the mutilated clown-
like grimace underneath the
mask and says, “I believe that
whatever doesn’t kill you makes
you ... stranger.”
This is how moviegoers will
meet the late Heath Ledger’s
interpretation of The Joker
on July 18, when “The Dark
Knight” premieres in movie the-
aters. The Batman will not chase
the criminal through a manufac-
turing plant, causing him to fall
into a vat of toxic chemicals.
Director Christopher Nolan
said in past interviews that the
critical influence for the film was
Fanboy saves Gotham
City from Hollywood
DANIEL ANTOLIN
A
EDITOR IN CHIEF
31-year-old Houston
man left a movie theater
more than 10 years ago
disillusioned. The movie had
not yet finished, but the injustice
he witnessed was too much to
bear. Batman and Robin were
wearing rubber nipples.
Bill Ramey looked at the
silver screen as Batman used
politically correct terms, carried
a credit card in his utility belt
and, if that was not enough, he
was smiling.
It was summer 1997. Direc-
tor Joel Schumacher’s “Batman
& Robin” was in movie the-
aters.
“The whole thing just
seemed off,” Ramey would later
post on the Web.
He started a Web site, a dra-
matic example that would shake
Batman moviemakers and fan-
boys alike out of apathy and
into action.
Ramey, who last week saw
a press screening of “The Dark
Knight,” the highly anticipated
sequel to “Batman Begins,”
recalls how his creation, Bat-
man on Film, and similar fan-
created Web sites, provided a
target audience a forum with
which to demand a definitive
Batman origin movie, telling
Warner Bros. Pictures every-
thing from who should be cast
in the title role to the fabric
The Joker’s first two appearanc-
es in comics and “Batman: The
Long Halloween.”
“Batman #1: Batman vs.
Joker,” which DC Comics pub-
lished in 1940, shows that the
Joker character publicly threat-
ens people who he wants to rob
or with whom he holds a grudge,
leaving the bodies of his victims
with chemically induced smil-
ing faces. What is notable about
the comic book is that he goes
through extraordinary lengths
to follow through on his death
threats, including successfully
impersonating a police officer.
“Batman #2: The Case of The
Joker’s Crime Circus,” which
DC Comics published in 1941,
also shows he has a penchant
for dressing up in costumes to
accomplish his goals.
“The Dark Knight” trailers
show that Gotham mobsters
have turned to The Joker, who
is likely killing or robbing them
to command their obedience or
garner their attention, for help to
regain control of the city. They
are also under attack by a new,
maverick district attorney, Har-
vey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), who
with help of The Batman and Lt.
James Gordon, is working to put
on trial mobster Salvatore Maro-
ni (Eric Roberts), Gotham’s new
crime honcho in the movie.
from which the costume should
be made.
Christian Bale and Kevlar, a
synthetic fiber used in protective
helmets and vests, were often
demanded. Warner Bros. Pic-
tures obliged to the former, but
decided to go with black foam
and latex for the latter.
“I think they were pay-
ing attention to what the fans
thought, who they were sug-
gesting for certain roles ... and
maybe if there was any interest
in a new Batman film,” Ramey
said.
“Batman Begins” screen-
writer David S. Goyer, Special
FX Supervisor Chris Corbould
and Executive Producer Michael
Ulsan said that they often visited
the Web site during the produc-
tion of the movie, the Batman
on Film Home Page shows.
Mark S. Reinhart, author of
the Batman Filmography, said
Batman on Film “had such a
positive impact on Warner Bros.
in terms of the direction they are
now taking their Batman film
series,” the Home Page shows
as well.
Ramey and like-minded,
albeit anonymous, agents of the
bat with access to Warner Bros.
Pictures’ movers and shakers
provided his Web audience
with the latest news about the
movie franchise, from its years
in development hell to its resur-
gence in 2005.
Fans of the Batman were
Harvey Dent (eckhart), James Gordon (Gary oldman), the Batman (Bale) meet on the GcPD rooftop.
“Batman: The Long Hallow-
een,” which was published by
DC Comics in the late ‘90s,
shows that mob kingpin Car-
mine Falcone tries to launder
his family’s money through the
Gotham City Bank. But Bruce
Wayne, who is a member of the
bank’s board of directors, pre-
vent this from happening.
With the help of Dent, The
Batman later finds the cash in a
warehouse and burns it to ashes.
What is notable about the
comic book series is that Dent
not only suggests how he would
kill a certain gangster, he is also
content when he hears someone
else did the job.
As part of the storyline for
the 13-issue comic book series,
Maroni throws acid toward the
left side of Dent’s face, horribly
scarring him. A snippet from a
“Jett” started a site that changed Batman movies.
conflicted. The movie franchise
was something sacrosanct of
which they were losing control.
“Batman ‘89 basically start-
ed the whole ‘superhero movie’
genre. It affected everything that
has come since. That’s the posi-
tive,” Ramey said. “On the other
hand, the other three Batman
films showed everyone how not
to do a comic book-based film.
‘Batman & Robin’ almost killed
the genre.”
Twenty-three-year-old inde-
pendent director Aaron Schoen-
ke said he was inspired to
become a filmmaker by the first
two movies in the series, “Bat-
movie trailer implies that The
Joker scars Dent’s face, igniting
spilled liquid on which the ill-
starred D.A. lies.
As Two-Face, he kills Maro-
ni in “Batman: The Long Hal-
loween,” and he likely kills him
in “The Dark Knight” as well.
Eckhart alluded to this dur-
ing an interview at a June 29
press junket. “If you notice who
Harvey Two-Face disposes of, it
is not random. It still has a sense
of justice to it,” Eckhart said.
Bill Ramey, who runs the
Batman on Film Web site, con-
firms that The Scarecrow (Cil-
lian Murphy), who used fear
toxin against the citizens of
Gotham in the terrorist attack
against the city in 2005’s “Bat-
man Begins,” appears at the
beginning of the movie. Ramey
said online scuttlebutt about
CoUrteSy of
CoUrteSy of Bill ramey
man” and “Batman Returns,”
directed by Tim Burton.
“The first and second Bat-
man films opened my eyes to
filmmaking and all the extraor-
dinary possibilities that the film
medium had to offer creatively,”
said Schoenke, who founded
the Calabasas-based Bat in the
Sun Productions to direct char-
acter-driven interpretations of
The Batman and his gallery of
rogues.
Schoenke’s films, such a
Patient J, which portrays the
manic romance and exploits of
the Joker and his moll, have a
loyal Web fan base.
CoUrteSy of Warner Bros. Pictures
actress Sarah Jayne Dunn’s role
in the movie is false. Harley
Quinn does not appear in the
movie.
Most trailers for “The Dark
Knight” indicate it will be an
action flick, though a scene
in which The Batman talks to
The Joker in what seems to be
an interrogation room at the
Gotham City PD looks promis-
ing. “Does it depress you, how
alone you really are? You had
plans. Look where that got ya,’”
the Joker says.
He appears determined to
prove they are similar by pushing
The Batman to kill him, to break
his one rule. This plays into The
Joker’s theory in “Batman: The
Killing Joke,” a graphic novel
which DC Comics published in
1988, that it only takes one day
of great misfortune to turn a sane
Though Schoenke said he
does not strictly adhere to comic
book source material in his fan
films.
“Don’t get me wrong, accu-
racy is very important, but it’s
not the sole reason a film is
good or bad,” Schoenke said.
Edward T. Halloran, film
literature professor at Cal
State Northridge, said Batman
became the victim of the syner-
gistic industrial model of the late
1960s and early 1970s, when
companies such as the Kinney
National Company, the owners
of which knew nothing about
filmmaking, purchased insol-
vent companies such as Warner
Brothers-Seven Arts.
Once the Ronald Reagan
administration relaxed FCC
regulations in the 1980s, they
vertically integrated their assets,
Halloran said.
“This way when a Batman
movie comes out, so will a
comic book adaptation from DC
Comics and a soundtrack from
Warner Records, both of which
are subsidiaries of one corpora-
tion,” Halloran said. “”That’s
synergy, taking a product and
exploiting it.”
How fanboys saved Gotham
City from the Hollywood
machine involved remind-
ing filmmakers about its psy-
chological and visual history,
which was defined by different
interpretations of its heroes and
rogues in comic books, televi-
sion and movies.
Ramey, who in 2004 was
invited to visit the U.K. set of
“Batman Begins,” Director
Chris Nolan’s attempt to reboot
the movie franchise, not only
documents this history on his
man into a psychopath.
Christian Bale said at the
June 29 press junket that “there
is a very fine line of what is the
quickest way to solve a problem,
much as with Batman question-
ing his own rule. What is the
quickest way to finish The Joker
and assure that no one else dies?
Well, that is to kill him. How-
ever, he is lowering himself by
doing so.”
At the same time, Bruce
Wayne, the man underneath the
mask, considers giving up his
mission to rid the city of crime,
as citizens have embraced Dent
as their protector.
What he will decide is obvi-
ous to comic book fans, but the
events that will shape his deci-
sions should prove to be riveting
to everyone who watches “The
Dark Knight.”
Web site, he provides the analy-
sis to keep its creators honest.
Four years later, Ramey
said he talked to Nolan and
“The Dark Knight” producer
Emma Thomas at last week’s
press screening about how the
movie, which he describes as
an “intense, urban crime drama
that happens to have characters
in crazy costumes,” is “badass.”
“The Dark Knight,” which
will be released in movie the-
aters July 18, will answer what
happens when Heath Ledger’s
interpretation of the Joker esca-
lates crime in Gotham City.
As to what will happen
when Web savvy people cre-
ate commercial Web sites using
Ramey’s fan site model, the
fight for online audiences seems
to be more civil.
Jim Littler, a former toy mar-
keter who created the Web site
Comicbookmovie when Holly-
wood started producing several
superhero movies in 2000, said,
“I have great relationships with
lots of fan sites. They send me
in lots of the news I post.”
“I’d say 75 percent is reli-
able and the rest is rumor from
the set, but we do our best to fer-
ret out falsehoods by checking
sources, even though we’ll still
publish ‘rumor’ if it comes from
someone whose proven reliable
in the past,” said Littler, who
calls himself a lifelong “comics
geek” and fan of movies.
Ramey, who continues
to provide comic book geeks
and movie lovers news tidbits,
reviews, history, analysis and a
few rumors too, never though a
fanboy with a computer could
help save a movie franchise, let
alone The Batman.