Filling Up Fast: Cal State Northridge announced...

Filling Up Fast: Cal State Northridge announced Friday that it will close admissions to new freshmen for the fall 1998 semester on Nov. 30, the earliest closing date in recent history. No new applications for lower division transfers will be accepted after that date, either, because of enrollment increases. California’s improving economy coupled with the “baby boom echo,” in which the children of baby boomers are reaching college age, are boosting enrollments statewide.

* ROCKY ROAD: Teenagers such as Nazila Zedgh, above, of Taft High School say a new law restricting teen driving is unfair. B1

* MURDERER SENTENCED: Rickey Smith Jr. was sentenced to life without parole for the slaying of his friend’s parents during a home-invasion robbery in Chatsworth. B1

* CSUN FOOTBALL: Norman Clarke, above, doesn’t need a pep talk to get motivated for Cal State Northridge’s game tonight against Weber State--he has his own reasons from his days as a Wildcat. C10

* SEEKING CONVERTS: The Valley Beth Shalom congregation of Encino has bucked Judaism’s traditional distaste for proselytizing by actively seeking converts to the Jewish faith. B9