Math Department Faculty Divided Over Textbook
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Thursday October 21, 2015 The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton Volume 98 Issue 28 FB.COM/THEDAILYTITAN WWW.DAILY TITAN.COM INSTAGRAM & TWITTER @THEDAILYTITAN Math department faculty Photos aim to divided over textbook inspire 1991 Spring 2014 courage Alain Bourget Goode’s book uses book of his LGBTQ students is published. own choosing. He highlighted for being gets reprimanded & suspended from fearless in athletics Linear Algebra. 1984 DARLENE CASAS Daily Titan Policy decision settles on common Jeff Sheng introduced his photography series of textbook for LGBTQ student athletes, all Math 250B named the “Fearless Proj- sections. ect,” to CSUF on Wednesday night at the Titan Gym. Alain Bourget Sheng’s cover photos depict Administrative a different person from a dif- voices concerns. hearing is ferent sport, but each athlete Committee tells him shares one thing: the cour- to continue using scheduled. age to embrace their identi- ties. The CSUF organizations Goode’s book. that planned this event cele- Oct. 23, 2015 brated student athletes’ brav- ery to show that each student, 2013 whether LGBTQ or not, will be welcomed in the CSUF NATALIE GOLDSTEIN / DAILY TITAN community. Math professor Alain Bourget broke department tradition when he introduced a new textbook for the Math 250B course, calling decades of practice into question. The series took 13 years to complete and includes ath- Department department for using a differ- Alain ended up using when my text became avail- The math department letes from high schools and ent book than one that was ad- Strang’s book that semester able (around 1989), we adopt- held a vote on March 7, colleges throughout the Unit- disagreements opted by the department. anyway, telling Annin that, to ed it by unanimous consent so 2014 regarding the issue. ed States and Canada. Sheng In October 2013, Alain put his knowledge, the department no formal motion was neces- Goode’s book was over- shared his story to the crowd result in hearing in a request to use “Introduc- had not officially adopted a sary,” Goode said in an email whelmingly accepted, about coming out and con- tion to Linear Algebra” by Gil- textbook for Math 250B. obtained by the Daily Titan. Glesser said. He also said sequently quitting tennis. SPENCER CUSTODIO bert Strang, Ph.D., as the text- The textbook currently Associate math professor that, to the best of his mem- He described how he was Daily Titan book for his Math 250B class assigned to the course, the Adam Glesser, Ph.D., said ory, the only three who vot- inspired by the athletes he for the Spring 2014 semester, third edition of “Differential that since Alain kept insisting ed against it were associate photographed because they according to emails obtained Equations and Linear Alge- there was no policy requiring professors Tyler McMil- accomplished something he Associate math professor by the Daily Titan. Math 250B bra,” is written by Stephen that all sections of the course len, Ph.D., Gülhan Bourget, was unable to do. Alain Bourget, Ph.D, is slated Coordinator Scott Annin, Goode, Ph.D., mathematics use the same book, the math Ph.D. and Alain. Gülhan Although Sheng ended his to have an administrative hear- Ph.D., told Alain that he would department chair, with An- department felt it was time to and Alain are married. athletic career, his transition ing Friday about a reprimand like all sections of the course nin listed as co-author. officially adopt Goode’s book to photography came natural- he received from the math to use the same text. “My recollection is that for the course. SEE MATH 3 ly. He said photography and tennis were both hobbies that took his mind off his sexual orientation. “There was something about hitting a tennis ball and Racing team on track for competition taking pictures that trans- lates from one to another,” Titan Baja looks breaks down. Sheng said. “You are looking “‘Breaks down’ is putting through a viewfinder similar to surpass it nicely,” said Joseph Pia- to searching a tennis ball.” expectations cenza, Ph.D., faculty advi- His most memorable ex- sor for the Titan Baja team perience was when he was and assistant professor of photographing a pair of HAYLEY M. SLYE mechanical engineering at fraternal twins who were Daily Titan CSUF. both gay, and their moth- In the middle of the main er quickly approached him. event, the master cylinder of To his surprise, she told At a Baja SAE (Society the Baja car locked up. The Sheng she was really glad of Automotive Engineers) team had to tear it apart and that he was doing this proj- race, cars rumble around a rebuild it on the spot. Yet the ect because he was making track. They bump into each car, named “Cronus” after the the world a safer place for other and fall over. Their Titan in Greek mythology, her children. suspensions rip loose, made it across the finish line. “In an ideal world (sex- their breaks stick and their Cronus finished the race ual orientation in athletics) wheels come off or end up with 11 laps while many wouldn’t be an issue any- sideways. The cars start the schools didn’t have more than where,” Sheng said. “We race in multiple different 10, and some higher-ranked have such few percentage of colors, but end up in just cars broke down and didn’t that in professional sports, one: dirt. finish. Christopher Gutier- and even in high school and Cal State Fullerton’s Baja rez, a mechanical engineering college sport and it would SAE team will compete major on the Titan Baja team, be great if they just were for the second consecutive said that the 2015 team defied YUNUEN BONAPARTE / DAILY TITAN who they are.” year in 2016. After not par- the odds. Jonathan Nash, a mechanical engineering major at Cal State Fullerton, adjusts a tire on Cronus, the Joy Hoffman, Ed.D., Di- ticipating for eight years, “A lot of teams didn’t ex- car Titan Baja team built for the Baja SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) 2015 competition. rector of Diversity Initiatives the team came back in 2015 pect us to do that good. I and Resource Centers, said and placed 56th overall at guess for most teams you Coming off of its 2015 suc- that built Cronus, this new car, the name and the Sheng was strategic in de- a competition in Oregon. wait one or two years or cess, the team didn’t waste any year’s team is consider- experience of making it signing the eight covers of his If that sounds unimpres- two or three years to be time preparing for 2016. ing naming the new car will be the only thing the book, with each one repre- sive, consider that other able to have a fully func- “A lot of teams take the “Zeus,” the son of Cro- team can take from the senting a color in the rainbow teams told them not to be tional car, but we were able summer off. We didn’t,” Guti- nus. Since the team is not 2015 Baja car. of the LGBTQ flag. surprised if they don’t fin- to do it in one,” Gutierrez errez said. allowed to use any part of ish the race or if their car said. As a tribute to the team the previous car in their SEE CAR 5 SEE LGBTQ 8 New parking rule enforced at local parks Student heading to world championships Men’s soccer gives up late goals in defeat Students who CSUF student Titans gave up leave their cars continues to their top spot in parked for more fight his way to the Big West in a than two hours the top of the 2-1 loss to CSUN; at nearby Chap- no-gi jiu-jitsu Fullerton now man and Acacia world after sits in third place Parks may face winning gold at in the Big West News 3 a new fine Features 4 nationals in N.Y. Sports 8 Conference FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @THEDAILYTITAN VISIT US AT: DAILYTITAN.COM PAGE 2 OCTOBER 22, 2015 THURSDAY NEWS Doctors debate new DTBRIEFS Biden bows out of pres- ‘right to die’ law idential race Doctors invited to U.S. Vice Presi- explain both sides of dent Joe Biden bowed recently-passed law out of the presidential race Wednesday with a speech at the White GRAHAM MCTAGUE House Rose Garden, Daily Titan according to CNN. His family is going through The Osher Lifelong Learn- a period of grieving af- ing Institute (OLLI) hosted a ter his son’s death, panel of experts Wednesday Biden said, which was at the Elks Club Lodge in Ful- a contributing factor in lerton to address the recently his decision. passed physician-assisted sui- Biden would have follow us GRAHAM MCTAGUE / DAILY TITAN cide law in California. faced significant chal- The event, held as part of Members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute learn about lenges by running a po- the Health and Wellness Med- California’s recently-passed “right to die” law. litical campaign late af- @theDailyTitan ical Lecture series put on by ter Hillary Clinton and OLLI, opened with an intro- determine that the patient is largest nonprofit organization Bernie Sanders had duction on the law by Dan suffering from a terminal dis- working to expand patients’ gained the lead in the Lawton, attorney and George- ease and the patient must re- choices when reaching the end Democratic presidential FOR THE RECORD town University School of quest the use of lethal drugs of their lives.