President Barack Obama will seek another term in the 2012 election, running against one of the following candidates. Rick Santorum won the Iowa primary, Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary and Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary. With several primaries to go, the GOP nomination could go to anyone. The following is an overview of the candidates on several key issues. All information has been retrieved directly from the candidates’ websites unless otherwise indicated. Mitt Romney- “Keeping America… Read more

For 29-year-old Ahmad Alromeadheen, the sky is not the limit.  Originally from Kuwait, Ahmad moved to the U.S. six years ago on scholarship to pursue a degree in astronomy. After choosing California as his destination, Ahmad had to decide where to study. “I heard CSUN was the most diverse school in California, so I thought, ‘Why not?’” he said. Although he has a great passion for astronomy, Ahmad changed his major to mechanical engineering after moving to the States.  Last… Read more

Gas prices have been consistently rising over the past year and as of Jan. 12, the cost of one gallon of regular unleaded gas cost $3.734, according to AAA’s Weekend Gas Watch. This price is up only one cent from the previous week, but up 15 cents from last month. According to the Daily Fuel Gauge Report by AAA, regular unleaded gas was averaging $3.357 per gallon one year ago. This means in one year, gas prices have risen nearly… Read more

Improvements to the Matadome and Redwood Hall,  which began the summer of 2011, are the first of many projects that are changing the face of the university’s athletic events, which are scheduled to be finished by the end of the spring semester. Among the first of renovations was the Matadome, which had a $40,000 aesthetic overhaul that included an upgraded center scoreboard with a new audio system and enhanced graphics. The funding came out of the Campus Quality Fee, and… Read more

CSUN’s police department formatted their daily crime logs last month to now list the smell of marijuana. Incidents involving marijuana use have always been reported, but now federal law dictates the smell of marijuana must be reported as well, said Christina Villalobos, community relations officer  for the CSUN police department. “The change happened because we have to meet federal requirements through the Clery Act,” Villalobos said. “We’re in compliance.” The Clery Act is a federal law that reports crimes that… Read more

Correction: The SRC facility including the Rec pool is 138,000 square ft., the building is 118,000 square ft. and the Rec pool is an additional 20,000 square ft. The actual cost of the SRC is $62,354,790 (University Advancement rounded to $62.3 million.) After 24 months of construction, CSUN’s Student Recreation Center (SRC) will be celebrating its grand opening Thursday, Jan. 26 at the USU. The event, which is open to all students, faculty and staff, will feature live disc jockey’s, arcade games, go carts,… Read more

Governor Brown’s 2012-2013 state budget proposal, issued earlier this month, requires higher grade point averages (GPA) for Cal Grant recipients, but there will be no change to this year’s $2 billion in support to the California State University, with the provision that voters pass his tax initiative in November. If the initiative, which would raise income tax for Californians who earn more than $250,000 annually and increase sales tax by half a cent, is turned down, the CSU will suffer… Read more

The CSUN Botanic Garden kicked off its CSUN-Al Gardening Series Saturday morning at Chaparral Hall with a workshop about rose pruning.Steve Gerischer, who presented the event, has been growing roses for many years and is the owner of Larkspur Garden Design and is president of the California Horticulture Society. “Roses are tough customers,” Gerischer said. “The one thing that’s hard to get across to people is that they think they need a lot and really don’t. I have (some) rose bushes… Read more

A commission to oversee higher education in California may be created after the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) reported on Jan. 6 that CSU and public universities are making ill-advised decisions, subjecting students to frustrating enrollment processes and using state resources for self-interests. No oversight commission currently exists since Governor Jerry Brown vetoed approximately $2 million worth of funding to the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) in the fall. The CPEC was responsible for regulating program and budgetary requests, along with… Read more