Tuesday December 4, 2018 The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton Volume 104 Issue 41 Ordinance may affect homeless shelters Municipal code will require shelters St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church has to go through an application process become one of four known churches tak- before housing individuals. ing part of an interfaith-based community doubling as temporary emergency home- less shelters in Fullerton. Richard Dou- DIANE ORTIZ bledee, deacon of St. Philip Benizi, said News Editor the city is facing a homeless crisis and shouldn’t be responsible for following The last reading of and final vote on an ordinances. ordinance requiring that emergency home- “Maybe the obvious is too obvious for less shelters go through an application us. We are in an emergency situation,” process to house unsheltered individuals Doubledee said. “I actually view any ordi- is scheduled for Tuesday’s Fullerton City nances right now in the new proposals as a Council meeting. This is the third time restriction on our right as a Christian com- the ordinance has been brought to the city munity to perform our obligation. We don’t council. turn people away because we’ve got a law Joan Wolff, senior planner for the city of that says they can’t be here.” Fullerton, said in addition to adding an ap- Doubledee said that while Fullerton has plication process, new requirements will created solutions to improve the long-term be enforced at the shelters, such as sup- homeless problem, the city hasn’t provided portive services for up to 12 people. The enough solutions for the short-term dilem- code would require shelters to be with- ma, stating that the ordinance is “wonder- in a habitable structure with access to re- ful,” but would’ve been more useful 10 years strooms and subject to the provision of on- ago. He said at the moment, it’s restrictive. site management and security. Rev. Jay Williams of OC United, a DIANE ORTIZ / DAILY TITAN As of January, 1,147 homeless individ- collection of citizens, nonprofits and St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church is one of four known emergency homeless shelters in Fullerton. uals were housed in transitional housing, churches, said he is aware that the is- 1,774 were sleeping in emergency shelters, sue is complicated and was willing to 2,546 were living in permanent supportive reaching a homelessness crisis. Orange was to provide a framework for emergen- go along with the ordinance, but en- housing, 687 were in rapid re-housing and County cities are working collaboratively cy shelters at religious institutions to clari- couraged the council to consider testing 66 were in other types of permanent hous- and individually to find locations for emer- fy expectations, and would help shelters in the ordinance on a trial basis to see if it ing, according to the 2018 Orange County gency shelters and permanent supportive the long run. aides in relieving the problem. Housing Inventory Count. housing,” Wolff said. Some emergency shelter leaders “The state, region and county are Wolff said the purpose of the ordinance disagreed. SEE HOMELESSNESS 2 Former inmate becomes a Titan CSUF wins sports cup The Titans won their first Big West Conference Commisioner’s Cup with low athletic funding. JESSE LIMA Staff Writer Cal State Fullerton won the Big West Commissioner’s Cup during the 2017-18 school year for the first time in school history, while owning one of the lowest funding budgets in the entire conference. Despite its recent success, Cal State Fullerton athletics has not lost its under- dog identity, said Steve DiTolla, senior associate director. “If you were to look at the overall budget in the Big West conference alone, we are eighth out of nine (teams) and we finished first in the Commissioner’s Cup. We are still David vs. Goliath, except we are doing it in everything, not just base- ball,” DiTolla said. DiTolla started on campus in 1985 and served as the associate athletics di- rector/business affairs (CFO) until 1992, with a small interim role as the athletic ALEC CALVILLO / DAILY TITAN director in 1991. Joseph Cruz obtained two associate degrees while incarcerated and was released in May with a 3.7 GPA. He returned for his second tenure during the summer of 2001, and now serves as the senior associate athletic di- Joseph Cruz was in prison for of eight CSU campuses to do so. “I wanted to stay in school. School rector within the department, handling 23 years, and spent his time He joined this semester when he was kept me out of trouble and a lot of the the day-to-day activity of the athletics working toward a degree. told it was expanding to more colleges. stuff that was going on in prison. It be- department. “Education became a main focal point came my escape,” Cruz said. “The NCAA doesn’t give us very for me. I tried to get these guys to under- Through the college education system much money ... the small amount that ALEC CALVILLO stand that education is what was gonna in prison, Cruz was only allowed to earn they give us, that would be considered Staff Writer help them in life. Not just hanging out an associate degree. It was there that he self-generated revenue. They give us with the homies and being on the yard,” earned two associate degrees, one in so- a check for being a Division I program Joseph Cruz hit rock bottom when he Cruz said. ciology and another in social and behav- that is based on the number of sports we was incarcerated at the age of 18 and was After he was released on May 17, ioral science. sponsor, which is 15,” DiTolla said. sentenced with 30 years to life. But while Cruz wasted no time enrolling in college. While taking classes, he and his The funds that the athletics depart- he was incarcerated, he rediscovered his While incarcerated, he obtained around friends would use the same competitive ment obtains equals about 17.5 million passion for education and developed a 120 units and had a 3.7 GPA. nature instilled in prison to do well in dollars, DiTolla said. love for mentoring younger inmates. Cruz always had an affinity for educa- school. He said about 43 percent of that mon- Cruz is one of the newest scholars in tion. With his advanced learning skills, “It became a competition with us. We ey comes from the state of California, Cal State Fullerton’s Project Rebound, a he was able to pass junior high in one were competing with our grades, we were and the rest is made up of six different philanthropically-funded program that year, but he later struggled to stay fo- competing with classes we were taking,” income sources. helps guide formerly incarcerated stu- cused in high school. It wasn’t until he Cruz said. dents through higher education. CSUF was incarcerated that his ambition for SEE GROWTH 8 adopted the program in 2016 and is one school and learning returned. SEE STRENGTH 4 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @THEDAILYTITAN VISIT US AT: DAILYTITAN.COM 2 News TUESDAY DECEMBER 4, 2018 Alumna explores language development Professor Gomez-Najarro’s Grecel Mares said Gomez-Na- involvement in East L.A. jarro taught her the importance influenced her teaching. of being flexible and paying at- tention to who’s in the class- room, because not every child NATALIE MEDEIROS Staff Writer learns the same way. Gomez-Najarro said her in- volvement in the East Los An- In the chambers of the Hazel geles community, where she Miller Croy Reading Center at grew up, and her interest in the Cal State Fullerton, students in complexity of learning is what a language development course sparked her desire to become an for diverse children engage in educator. hands-on activities like board She transferred from Pepper- games, in an effort to develop dine University to CSUF, where instructional skills with Joyce she completed a teaching cre- Gomez-Najarro, College of Ed- dential program, and received ucation assistant professor and her bachelor’s from UCLA. former CSUF student. She participated in BruinCorps “I certainly want to be a while at UCLA, a program that strong teacher, someone who’s teaches the foundational ele- supporting my students and de- ments of reading. veloping equity-oriented liter- Through each phase of higher acy specialists and educators, education, Gomez-Najarro said and I think another reason that she had a love and fascination I was really drawn to Cal State with the science and process of Fullerton is their commitment reading. to working in communities,” “My favorite classes were al- NATALIE MEDEIROS / DAILY TITAN Gomez-Najarro said. ways literacy and assessments, Joyce Gomez-Najarro, assistant professor and former CSUF student, engages in hands-on activities with her students. Gomez-Najarro joined the de- so the fact that now I’m in a pro- partment of literacy and read- gram that completely is com- is the first in her family to pur- “I’m interested in what as- her teaching career with the ing as a tenure-track professor mitted to and all about litera- sue a college education. sessment tools are out there and university. this semester. She is the first in cy and assessment it’s just like “It is a hybrid class, but out of you know their validity. I’m also “The first thing I’m really her family to receive a master’s ‘Oh, I’m home,’” Gomez-Najar- all the classes that I am taking really interested in what shapes looking forward to is just learn- degree.