FULLERTON : Daily Titan Named No. 1 for Excellence

The Daily Titan, the student newspaper at Cal State Fullerton, recently won first place for general excellence at the California Intercollegiate Press Assn. competition.

“It’s the thing that decides which is the No. 1 student newspaper in the state,” said Titan Managing Editor Jesse Reisman, 21.

Schools in the California State University and University of California systems, as well as private universities, took part in a three-day convention held last month.

Awards in a number of categories were based on stories mailed in to the association. In addition, student reporters, editors and photographers had a chance to participate in on-the-spot competition, which tested their skills in covering a breaking news story.

The Daily Titan has been sharply criticized for running a column on March 19 that argued that the funeral for slain Garden Grove Police Officer Howard E. Dallies was a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Nearly 200 police officers and others called or wrote the paper, calling the column grossly insensitive and demanding an apology.

The editors of the Daily Titan defended the right of columnists to speak their mind and pointed out that the remarks were not the official opinion of the paper.

Milton A. Gordon, president of Cal State Fullerton, wrote an apology to Garden Grove Police Chief Stanley L. Knee, noting that the university is legally unable to censor the paper.

The Daily Titan is published four days a week during the school year. It has a staff of about 60 students, Reisman said, most of whom receive credit for their work but none of whom are paid.

Workdays can run from 7:30 a.m. to midnight, Reisman said.