"Now, look into my eyes..."

Close to 400 students gathered at the Parkside dining hall on Wednesday nights to see, the self-proclaimed World’s Greatest Hypnotist Dave Hill.

Before the show started Hill made sure to play his own introduction, including a list of credentials, in order to prove his credibility.

The audience eagerly raised their hands to be part of the hypnosis comedy show, however only 20 were selected.

The show began with Hill claiming that he is the world’s fastest hypnotist and made a volunteer, Luis, fall asleep almost instantaneously. Luis, was found be very susceptible to hypnosis and soon become the star of the show.

The other 16 students were hypnotized in the show were made to perform ridiculous acts such as slapping their rear end like a Congo drum or were made to believe that they were riding a horse.

Some students, who were selected to be hypnotized at the beginning of the show, were not hypnotized and asked to leave the stage.

Freshman Natalie Pacheco was not able to get hypnotized.

“I was focusing really hard but I just didn’t believe the things he was saying. My eyes were closed but I could feel they wanted to open. I was waiting for the moment to go blank but it never happened. I didn’t know how it was supposed to feel, so I was confused.”

Hill responded saying that some students aren’t able to get hypnotized because they cannot focus or concentrate or they might be curious to see what the other students are being made to do.

Others were skeptical that the students were really hypnotized.

“I heard that people that wanted to ‘help out’ with the show should go early before the show started so I thought that it might be a scheme,” said Elisse Garcia, a freshman.

Hill has been a hypnotist for 25 years and studied under another hypnotist Gil Boyne. He decided to join the profession when he saw a hypnotist show when he was 24 years old. This was Hill’s second time visiting CSULB residents.

Paying for the dorms: A lot of work and a bit of luck

(To the left, Beams working at the Renaissance fair)

There are very few residents at CSULB who can pay the staggering price of over $10,000 to live in the dorms. However, two residents, Mikey Fesser and Ashley Beams are managing to do so, in very different ways.

Beams, a sophomore has learned to earn her own living from an early age.

“I’ve worked odds jobs since I was 12. I’ve worked at the renaissance fair and I also sew costumes and prom dresses. If I wanted something I had to provide it for myself. “

In addition to her sewing jobs, Beams also worked 30 hours a week at Sports Chalet to help pay for her board. Beams says she came to live in the dorms on the false pretense that her father would help her pay, but he didn’t live up to his promise. Now Beams is worried she won’t be able to make her payments.

“I was promised by my dad that he would help pays. It was either dorms or commute. My moms not willing to help, she only pays some part of the tuition. I came here based on false promises form my dad and took that leap of faith and got screwed” Beams said.

Fesser on the other hand, had a stroke of luck both with his life and, paying for the dorms. In 2002, Fesser went to carnival and rode a ride called “The Zipper”. The Zipper contains metal cages that passengers sit in while being pulled by a cable. While Fesser and his brother were about to get out of their cage, the ride started up again, leaving the cage open and with both passengers not constrained by seatbelts. Both Fesser and his brother dropped 10-12 feet. As a result, Fesser won a settlement and receives $17,000 every four years starting on his 18th birthday.

There are not many college students who can say they are truly independent from their parents. Yet, both Fesser and Beams despite their extreme circumstances, now have that bragging right.

Dorms no more

( To the right: Blankenship's old dorm room)

Tiffany Blankenship, a freshman, doesn’t come home to the Los Alamitos dorms anymore. Blankenship, in addition to about 70 other students this school year, had to move out mid-year from the dorms according to Carol Roberts-Corb, the head of the Housing Department.

The struggle to meet the over $10,000 cost of living in the dorms weighed down on Blankenship’s family to a point where they could no longer pay. Blankenship was forced to move out in February. She is now living in Beverley Plaza Apartments and commutes to school.

“I believe the amount that you pay [for the dorms] is not economically equivalent to the services you receive. When you can go out within a mile of school and get your own apartment at much less of a cost and have a nicer place to live, there's no point in living on campus” Blankenship said.

Sophomore Michelle Zetomer no longer has a roommate due to high prices. Her roommate, Ann Monahan, was an out of state student. Monahan was unable to afford housing in addition to the increase of fees for out of state fees (an additional $372 for each credit taken).

Monahan ended up moving out at the end of last semester back home to Washington. She is currently not enrolled at any university this semester.

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Out of Tapatios? No problem, the dining hall is around the corner

Watson's borrowed pumpkins(above)
The items Illingworth used to further enhance his dorm(left).

College students have long been notorious for making the most out of a dollar and the dorm residents are certainly no exception.

Students have learned to stealthily borrow a few things from the dining hall to further furnish their dorm rooms. Take it from Zac Illingworth, a freshman mechanical engineering major whose 6’10" frame is hard not to notice.

“It was extremely easy. The card sliding employees don't get paid nearly enough to care, and the manager is rarely on the floor. In general, the easiest place to hide something is in the open. Because I'm so tall people suspecting theft rarely look to me because I'm such a target they think I could never get away with it" said Illingworth.

Illingworth and suitemates keep the non-perishable objects such as tableware (two knives, one cup, a salt and pepper shaker) in their common room and plan to keep them until broken.

Most residents will admit to putting food in a paper coffee cup to save for later. Some students such as William Watson, a sophomore and marine biology major, have learned to get creative. Watson managed to carry off a pumpkin that was being used for decoration.

Watson ended up making the pumpkin a jack-o-lantern for Halloween and using it to decorate the outside patio area of the International House.

Not all students believe that “borrowing” items from the dining hall is always acceptable. Freshman Natalie Pacheco said, “I believe taking food out of dining hall is acceptable, but when it comes to plates and silverware, its just going to cost next years residents even more to replace those items.”

CSULB residents rush to reapply for housing

CSULB housing residents, who previously did not have to worry about housing availability, now will have to scurry to reapply by Feb. 26 before the housing application is available to new students.

The sparsely inhabited dorms this year will soon be bombarded by freshman with the new freshman residential requirement. All incoming freshman for Fall 2010 will be required to live on campus unless 21 years old, living at home with a parent, married, or having a medical disability. New students will first have to be accepted to the university, apply for housing, before they can submit an exemption request.

The dorms can hold a maximum of 2,538 students; 1,930 residents currently on on campus this year according to the director of Housing and Residential Life, Carol Roberts-Corb.

According to the Housing Web site Residents who have been living on campus since 2008 will pay between a range of $7,600 to $8,000 depending on the meal plan. However returning 2009 residents will pay the same fee as new incoming student: between $10,050 to $10,450. All resident are required to purchase a meal plan in addition with the housing fee.

Roberts-Corb said, "We have guaranteed to our current residents that the room portion of their total room and meal cost will not increase for as long as they continuously live in Housing. Nor will we be increasing the room cost for incoming residents for 2010-2011."

Residents only have a two week period to apply before the new student's application will be available online. The application for new students will be available March 1.