**The Mayan Calendar and true meaning of 2012**

CAL STATE FULLERTON- Bruce Love, an author and lecturer, spoke to students March 1 about the Mayan Calendar and the truth behind the controversial 2012.

Love concentrated most of his lecture on the Mayan long count.

“The Maya long count is what it’s all about when we talk about 2012,” Love said.

Dec. 21, 2012 will be 13.0.0.0.0, a huge transition.

“Nothing’s going to end. It’s just going to click over and start again,” Love said

Love said the Mayans had no problem crossing over the zero date and that nothing ended; it was simply the beginning of a new era. He said nothing ever ended in the Mayan calendar and the notion that anything ends goes against the Mayan time.

Love ended his lecture by saying whatever meaning 2012 has is the meaning that individuals have put on it and 2012, itself, is meaningless.

By Sabrina Park
The Daily Titan

**Achieving the inevitable**

FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY- Byron Pitts, chief national correspondent of CBS Evening News, discussed his life in a lecture last Tuesday night.

When he was younger, Pitts was told he was functionally illiterate and mentally retarded. Once he made it into college, a professor told him he was a waste of time and should drop out.

Pitts discussed how his success would have been impossible if people in his life had not “stepped out on nothing” for him. These people, both strangers and his own mother, made a difference in Pitts’s life and brought him to his current position.

Despite setbacks, Pitts graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a bachelor’s in journalism and speech communication.

Since then Pitts has had success in the reporting field. He won a national Emmy for his coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks. In total, Pitts has received four Associated Press Awards and six regional Emmy Awards.

By Nicole Migliaccio
The Fairfield Mirror

**Peace Corps offers alternative to traditional jobs after graduation**

RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE- A Peace Corps information table was set up outside the bookstore in the Student Union Thursday, Feb. 24.

Recruiter Normand Tremblay volunteered in Cameroon, Africa for the full service time of 27 months.

“My experience in Africa was absolutely profound,” Tremblay said. “All of my ideas of it were incomplete and misdirected. Yes, there is war, disease and famine, but it is a beautiful place with people who care for each other.”

About 80 percent of volunteers come out of college and the remaining 20 percent have had some work experience. There are no fees for volunteers.

“We’re looking for volunteer experience, good health and a sense of adventure,” Tremblay said of potential candidates.

By Rita Nerney
The Anchor