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Exercise Fair to help students shape up their lives

From eating too many cheese puffs while watching “American Idol�? to not getting enough exercise, those who want to learn about why they aren’t in tip-top shape can get information about fun ways to work out at today’s Exercise Fair.

Wellness Services has organized a student-peer educator group, “Wellness Ambassadors.�? Its goal is to provide knowledge about the issues that make people unhealthy. These ambassadors will provide information on how to improve lifestyles at the Exercise Fair today from 2-6 p.m. at the Student Recreation Center.

According to Cherie Pettitt, a Fresno State health educator, two goals should be accomplished by attending the Wellness Exercise Fair.

“One: awareness about the main health issues that are seen on campus, and two: awareness about the different activities that can be considered exercise. Exercise does not have to just include the word ‘treadmill,’�? Pettitt said.

Members of the campus community who signed up to participate in the Exercise Fair will each receive a water bottle upon arrival. The participants will also be included in drawings where incentives will be given to positively reinforce healthy lifestyles.

Visitors of the fair will have the opportunity to win yoga sets, pedometers and other prizes as they proceed to stick to the Wellness Challenge.

“The Exercise Fair is the first of four big WA events that will be hosted this spring. There is also a Nutrition Fair, a Community Fair and a Stress Less Day coming up,�? Wellness Ambassador Coordinator Tara Powers-Mead said.

According to Wellness Services, there are six categories that contribute to a person’s entire wellness, including emotional, intellectual, occupational, physical, spiritual and social wellness.

The Wellness Challenge began Feb. 14 and will end April 25. Those interested in the Challenge will choose 10 WellChoices that may include physical activity, healthy eating, self-nurturing and more. The participants can then track their progress online while choosing three activities to attend on the Wellness Services activity calendar, and later can be entered into the grand prize drawing to receive a seven-day cruise to Mexico.

Students surveyed on college experience

Fresno State is distributing a National Survey of Student Engagement to a random selection of first-year and senior college students.

A letter is distributed by mail and students are asked to answer questions pertaining to their life experiences with things happening at and around Fresno State.

The survey is conducted to gather information on how colleges and universities are perceived by students.

Fresno State has been a participant of NSSE since 2001. More than 1,000 four-year colleges and universities recognize and participate in the survey; 600 are participating this spring.

The survey provides a way for Fresno State to get ideas about how to help students make the college experience more enjoyable.

According to Dr. Paul M. Oliaro, Dean of Student Affairs, the survey is a benchmark to measure how often students participate with campus functions. It also measures student satisfaction or frustration.

Some of the questions on the survey ask students how they spend their time and what they have gained from classes. They are also asked to assess the quality of the interaction between faculty and students.

Dennis Nef, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, said the last survey in 2005 gave the university insight into life as a college student. It was found that more students spent time at a job, commuting or taking care of dependants than focusing on schoolwork and socializing.

According to NSSE, Fresno State wants to know if course work is challenging enough, if learning has been made active and collaborative, if the college is enriching the experiences for students and if the campus provides support of the student environment.

As a result of first-year student responses in 2002, Oliaro said the Mentoring Institute at Fresno State was developed to increase first-year student engagement with faculty and staff under the guidance of a mentor.

The survey provides a way to understand the gripes and frustrations as well as compliments and satisfactions from students that would normally never be heard.

The result of NSSE is primarily to help Fresno State learn about the interactions between students and the institution; however, it serves other purposes as well.

From the 600 schools participating this spring, the students asked to participate will be put into categories so that the nation can collect data on how to make institutions and administration more appealing.

According to a NSSE Web site, statistics will also be available to determine how opinions change from freshman to senior year, how male and female students’ opinions compare and contrast and how college students cope in different cities across the nation.

A raw takeover of the SMC

Juan Villa / The Collegian
WWE Raw superstar Randy Orton, left, takes a hard hit from John Cena at the WWE Raw event at the Save Mart Center Monday night.

Revised surveillance policy awaits OK

From eating too many cheese puffs while watching “American Idol�? to not getting enough exercise, those who want to learn about why they aren’t in tip-top shape can get information about fun ways to work out at today’s Exercise Fair.

Wellness Services has organized a student-peer educator group, “Wellness Ambassadors.�? Its goal is to provide knowledge about the issues that make people unhealthy. These ambassadors will provide information on how to improve lifestyles at the Exercise Fair today from 2-6 p.m. at the Student Recreation Center.

According to Cherie Pettitt, a Fresno State health educator, two goals should be accomplished by attending the Wellness Exercise Fair.

“One: awareness about the main health issues that are seen on campus, and two: awareness about the different activities that can be considered exercise. Exercise does not have to just include the word ‘treadmill,’�? Pettitt said.

Members of the campus community who signed up to participate in the Exercise Fair will each receive a water bottle upon arrival. The participants will also be included in drawings where incentives will be given to positively reinforce healthy lifestyles.

Visitors of the fair will have the opportunity to win yoga sets, pedometers and other prizes as they proceed to stick to the Wellness Challenge.

“The Exercise Fair is the first of four big WA events that will be hosted this spring. There is also a Nutrition Fair, a Community Fair and a Stress Less Day coming up,�? Wellness Ambassador Coordinator Tara Powers-Mead said.

According to Wellness Services, there are six categories that contribute to a person’s entire wellness, including emotional, intellectual, occupational, physical, spiritual and social wellness.

The Wellness Challenge began Feb. 14 and will end April 25. Those interested in the Challenge will choose 10 WellChoices that may include physical activity, healthy eating, self-nurturing and more. The participants can then track their progress online while choosing three activities to attend on the Wellness Services activity calendar, and later can be entered into the grand prize drawing to receive a seven-day cruise to Mexico.

Campus team bowls for knowledge

Winning money on shows like “Jeopardy!,�? “Win Ben Stein’s Money�? and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire�? has been a mini-career for Fresno State alumnus Ron Trigueiro.

Before he started basking in the game show limelight, he was a member of the Fresno State College Bowl team in 1980, when it was the national champion. “We are the most obscure school to ever win the national championship,�? Trigueiro said.

Trigueiro believes it was his College Bowl experience that gave him the skills to face the likes of Regis Philbin and Alex Trebek on syndicated television.

“Regis was very nice and you could tell that he wanted his contestants to win,�? Trigueiro said. “Trebek is much more formal. Regis is a lot more fun.�?

An interesting fact about “Jeopardy!�? is that the show makes you sign a waiver stating that if your episode doesn’t air, then you won’t get paid. In Trigueiro’s case, he received his money about 7 months after his shows taped, he said.

“On the other hand, I got my money three days after “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire�? aired, which was about 12 days after taping,�? Trigueiro said.

Recounting his experience on “Win Ben Stein’s Money,�? he laughed about being called “a strange little man�? on national television by then co-host Jimmy Kimmel.

Personal anecdotes aside, the fact remains that he cleaned up a tidy sum after appearing on these shows. As a four-day “Jeopardy!�? champion in 1988, he won $50,000. His stint on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire�? earned him another $125,000. Perhaps it is unsurprising then that he is planning to try out for “Wheel of Fortune�? when they hold open auditions at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore on Trigueiro’s birthday weekend of March 10 and 11.

When he’s not auditioning for game shows, Trigueiro can often be found at his day job, where he acquires new materials for the Fresno County library. But he also enjoys passing the torch of trivia to the next generation, at his alma mater Fresno State.

For the past 20 years, he has been a moderator for the College Bowl and he is Fresno State’s College Bowl Coach.

Fresno State’s team was founded in 1977 and has been to the national championships twice, in 1980 and 1982. The team of eight competes in region 15, which includes all of California, Nevada and Hawaii, in an academic decathlon.

“It is a chance for students to socialize and show off their knowledge while acquiring new knowledge,�? Trigueiro said.

The team captain is senior Tim Ellison, who is majoring in classical studies. Ellison has eventual plans to earn a doctoral degree and said that many of the team is exceptionally bright. All but one are in the Smittcamp Honors College, mainly because the team heavily recruits Smittcamp freshmen. The team is all male, which is something that puzzled Ellison.

“Every semester a few girls come to practice,�? Ellison said. “I don’t think we’re particularly chauvinistic. By the time we form a varsity team, the women aren’t that interested”

While there may not be a diversity of sexes, there are many differences in their majors, which is a strength of the team since the questions could be anything from popular culture, math, science or history, Ellison said.

“Our majors go across the board,” Ellison said. “The questions in the tournaments go all over the place, so having students with different areas of expertise really helps us. People just have weird information.’

Ellison said that he does a lot of reading and that many of the team are also fans of “Jeopardy!�? Just like on “Jeopardy!,” the buzzer plays a crucial role for College Bowl contestants.

“The oldest players have the most experience and don’t fear the buzzer,” Ellison said. “Freshmen are often not confident of their answer and won’t buzz in. You have to learn to put it out there and if it’s wrong, it’s wrong.”

The goal of the team is simple. “There is a small bit of pride that we get in showing off,�? Ellison said. “Plus, maybe we can beat a couple of UCs.”

All tournaments played on campus are held on the third floor of the University Student Union. Students and members of the public are welcome to attend. The team holds try-outs every fall.

Saturday, Fresno State hosted the regional tournament, which is the qualifying round for the nationals.

The team was satisfied with getting to beat one UC, UC San Diego, and finished fourth out of 10 overall in the regional tournament.

The University of Southern California won, which means that they will be one of 15 teams at the national championships. USC is also the host school for the national event this year.

Further information about the College Bowl is available to collegebowl.net.

Stories to inspire first-time college students

When Christina Leimer began her career at Fresno State in the Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning Department a year and a half ago, she did not know anyone she was working with.

As she started to introduce herself to her new co-workers she found she had one very important thing in common with quite a few people: she is a first generation college graduate.

While looking through her research, Leimer also found there was a large proportion of first generation students attending Fresno State. In fact, half of the entering students for that year’s class were the first generation.

First generation could mean that a student’s parents never went to college, or that a student’s parents never finished college.

Leimer and the faculty started talking and realized that more students and faculty had this in common than anyone had previously known. “You can’t see first generation status like you can see race or gender,�? Leimer said.

The “First Generation Stories Project,�? was born.

The project’s creators hope to collect and compile the experiences of Fresno State faculty to influence students and encourage them to continue in their education.

“It is important for students to have role models,�? Shirley Armbruster of University Communications said.

All faculty and staff are invited to submit their stories to the project.

The stories will be used to encourage students in the Mentoring Institute, the Student Success Services CSU Program and in the outreach programs to high school and junior high students.

Fresno State President Dr. John Welty put out a message via e-mail in January to all faculty and staff encouraging the contribution of stories to this project.

“I am a first-generation college student and intend to submit my story for this project,�? Welty said in his message. “I invite you to join me.�?

Armbruster and Leimer said that it is important to have a sense of community.

Leimer and Armbruster are thoughtful of the current situations of students and how hard college is. They want students to have encouragement, role models and to have a positive feeling about attending college.

Welty and his four vice presidents will all have stories submitted for this project. There is no exact plan for the outcome of the production. There are hopes for a Web site where faculty can submit their stories. Leimer and Armbruster said there have been discussions about a possible video of first generation college students sharing their stories.

There is no exact time scale, Armbruster said, as to when there will be a finished product. However, she said that the committee is hoping to have the final product ready for the fall semester.

The product will be used for students attending Fresno State in the fall as well as high school students who will be looking into colleges for the first time.

The committee members have asked that all stories be submitted by March 29, 2007. Early submissions are always welcome, Leimer and Armbruster said. Stories should be no more than 1,200 words. The story is suggested to be reader friendly and aimed at high school and college students.

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