Vol. 87 Issue 8 February 18, 2010 Long Beach to hold comic convention Saturday The Long Beach convention center will host a comic expo Feb. 20, which will feature over 50 entertainment and comic book professionals. THURSDAY NEWS, Page 3 Insensitive to show Olympic luge athlete’s death? OPINION, Page 4 Titan hockey forward heavy hitter on the ice SPORTS, Page 8 The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton Fullerton bank robbed Coffee shop BY DONALD C. STEFANOVICH The note demanded cash and and has a tattoo on the left side Daily Titan News Editor claimed the suspect had a gun, of his neck and another intricate AND JULIANA CAMPBELL according to police. tattoo on his left calf. survives amidst Daily Titan Staff Writer The suspect, described as Employees of nearby busi- [email protected] a Caucasian male in his early nesses claimed not to have seen 30s and approximately 5 feet 6 anything unusual. Wachovia The Wachovia Bank, located inches tall with a medium build, Bank officials refused to com- Fullerton bars at 1901 N. Euclid in Fullerton, thanked the teller after receiving ment. was robbed by an unidentified an undisclosed amount of mon- Police are asking for the pub- male Wednesday. ey, Goodrich said. lic’s help in identifying the sus- According to Fullerton Po- He walked out the north pect. lice Sgt. Andrew Goodrich, door of the bank and was last Anyone with information the suspect entered the bank seen running north through the about the incident is asked to PHOTO COURTESY FULLERTON POLICE DEPARTMENT and handed a note to the teller parking lot. call Detective Jose Arana at the Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying this man who was and instructed the teller to stay The suspect was wearing Fullerton Police Department, caught on surveillance cameras while robbing the bank. calm. glasses at the time of the robbery 714-738-3396. Construction to revamp arboretum main entrance BY CAROLINA VELAZQUEZ years ago. Dyment said that all For The Daily Titan the money was donated by dif- PHOTO BY JENNIFER KARMARKAR/Daily Titan Staff Writer [email protected] ferent arboretum supporters and Max Bloom’s Café Noir in Fullerton showcases local talent the total cost of the new entrance Wednesday through Saturday nights. Construction is currently was about “$200,000 or so.” underway at the Cal State Ful- This new entrance is designed BY JENNIFER KARMARKAR lerton Arboretum in an effort to to widen the space more and will Daily Titan Staff Writer improve the main entrance. The allow an open view of the water- [email protected] goal of the project is to attract fall. new visitors to the Arboretum. An abundance of lights will If you haven’t made it to Max Bloom’s Café Noir yet, The new main entrance will also be added, a feature that there are now two great reasons to go: 89 cent coffee and the be at the same location as the wasn’t present before. These lights free Fullerton Acoustic Showcase, both of which drew an original. Despite the minor reno- will be able to provide a brightly appreciative crowd to the cozy, 1940s-themed coffeehouse vation, the arboretum is to con- lit entry walkway after dark. No near downtown Fullerton Feb. 10. tinue on with its normal hours, longer will the arboretum have About three dozen music and coffee aficionados of all to hassle with visible extension ages jammed the tiny space one block off Harbor Boule- as this new entrance is expected vard for the first of two planned showcases. The next one is to further expand the appearance cords, an issue they have dealt with before. scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. of the entry way. Max Bloom’s owner Kevin Carter said he is testing the This is the first time, since the Plants will continue to be dis- waters to see how many people were interested in coming arboretum opened in 1976, that played throughout the main en- to events like this. the main entrance is undergoing trance. Most of these plants will “Our objective is to try and channel as much art through renovation. be more drought tolerant, which here as possible,” Carter said, “and to give people a forum to Construction started Jan. 18, will allow them to compliment do stuff that they don’t normally have other places.” and Arboretum Director Grego- the adjacent landscape of the en- Last week’s showcase featured three homegrown acts, ry Dyment said that the remod- try way. each playing a 45 minute set. A number of visitors, joggers First to perform was 25-year-old Jesse MacLeod, a sing- eling is scheduled to continue for er/songwriter whose heartfelt, blues-infused ballads capti- another two months. and tours will be affected by the remodeling of the main entrance. vated the audience. “The old entrance was begin- Aside from cov- ning to look overgrown,” Dy- However, many would say that ers of Amos Lee’s ment said. “It was only a matter they don’t seem to mind the con- “Keep it Loose, It’s really hard for of time.” struction. Keep it Tight” this type of place in PHOTO BY JUAN JIMENEZ/For the Daily Titan The idea to remodel the main and Van Morri- “ The new Arboretum entrance is an eight-week project that is expected to be completed in the first week of entrance began almost three See ARBORETUM, Page 3 son’s “Brown-Eyed this area because it’s March. Girl,” the music surrounded by about was all original. “ Sarah Goodwin, 50 different bars. 19, a Cal State Ful- Volunteers offer free tax lerton vocal per- -Casey McCann formance major, vocalist attended the event with two friends. service for students “I really enjoyed the music. I liked the feel,” she said after MacLeod finished his set. “I liked his lyrics and I liked that he was really selling the music.” BY BRENNA PHILLIPS at Cal State East Bay, the VITA pro- Goodwin discovered Max Bloom’s a week earlier and has Daily Titan Staff Writer gram was very popular, so I asked been there four times since, proclaiming the food and the [email protected] the department chair if we could coffee “amazing.” She said she planned to perform the fol- start it.” lowing night during open mike. Fullerton local Steve Macchia, 59, attended the Acous- The Volunteer Income Tax Assis- The program is offered to low- tic Showcase with his 14-year-old son, David, to watch his tance (VITA) group is offering free income households and individuals. friend’s sons perform. income-tax return preparation and To qualify, annual incomes may not “I like this place, it’s pretty laid back. I’m hoping the mu- filing on campus until March 27. exceed $40,000 for an individual-fil- sic picks up the pace a bit, though.” Macchia said, adding VITA, an IRS-certified volunteer er, $45,000 for a family of three, and that he hoped his son, a budding musician, would pick up program, was started by professor of $50,000 for a family of four. some pointers. accounting Kathleen Wright, a certi- “Most of the clients are from The second act, Yeah, Brother!, awoke the rather sleepy fied public accountant and lawyer. the Fullerton campus and are either audience with their toe-tapping, folksy sound, influenced, “I started the program when I students or staff,” said Wright. “But according to vocalist Casey McCann, by Coburn, Bob Dy- came to Cal State Fullerton four people from the community can lan and ’80s Irish punk band, The Pogues. McCann, 25, who formed the duo six years ago with years ago from Cal State East Bay,” come.” his older brother, banjo-player Max, liked the “cool vibe” said Wright. “When I arrived, Cal PHOTO BY BRENNA PHILLIPS/Daily Titan Staff Writer of Max Bloom’s. State Fullerton didn’t have one and See TAXES, Page 3 Student volunteers Mansi Shah and Gerald Yuen prepare income-tax forms for their clients at CSUF. See CAFÉ, Page 5 INDEX MULTIMEDIA News .......................... page 2,3 Opinion ......................... page 4 Sound-Off ................... page 5,6 Classifieds ..................... page 7 Post-Valentine’s Day Tet Festival Sports ........................... page 8 Ever wonder what happens Experience the 2010 Tet CONTACT US after Valentine’s Day? Find out Festival in Garden Grove Main line: (657) 278-3373 in this Daily Titan Multimedia at DailyTitan.com/ News desk: (657) 278-4415 exclusive at DailyTitan.com/ TetFestival2010 Advertising: (657) 278-4411 PostValentines 2 February 18, 2010 IN OTHER NEWS Residents talk about ban on cannabis clinics INTERNATIONAL BY JULIANA CAMPBELL Daily Titan Staff Writer Accused traffickers to be freed, attorneys say [email protected] PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Eight of the 10 Americans jailed by Haitian Santa Ana residents rallied togeth- authorities in late January, for allegedly kidnapping 33 children and trying er at City Hall Feb. 16 to discuss the to take them out of the earthquake-ravaged country, were cleared to be set ban created by the city to close med- free Wednesday by the judge in the case, according to defense attorneys for ical cannabis dispensaries to patients the Americans. in need of medical marijuana. “The judge has taken his decision and he has ordered the release of eight,” The city sent letters to Santa Ana said Aviol Fleurant, who identified himself as an attorney for the group. landlords operating cannabis dis- “The world must know that all 10 are innocent!” pensaries citing city code violations Fleurant said investigating Judge Bernard Saint-Vil decided to keep Laura for lack of a business license.