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Six Ounce Gloves brings tour home

It’s the sound of youth rebellion. It’s a loud scream to a society that doesn’t answer its cries. It has survived decades and it shows no signs of slowing down.
It’s rock and roll — and local metal drummer Darren Badorine does his best to rock Fresno.

Former Fresno State student Badorine, along with vocalist Mitch Gordon, guitarist Chad Brummer and bass player Mike Bass, are members of local metal band Six Ounce Gloves.

The band has a strong fan base. They sell-out most of their shows and they’ve played with some of metal’s top bands.

Six Ounce Gloves has shared the stage with bands such as Papa Roach, Chevelle and Korn. “Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would have played with some of these bands; I grew up on Korn,�? Badorine said.

Six Ounce Gloves’ success is due to their dedicated fans.

“I’ve seen some people that had our band as a tattoo, it’s a trip,�? Badorine said.
Chris Bangerter, co-host of “Sound Pollution,�? a local radio podcast which can be heard on iTunes, said, “Six Ounce Gloves is the biggest and best rock band in Fresno, they have tons of fans, they sell-out venues, and they bring a lot of energy to the sage.�?
Bangerter has interviewed most local bands in Fresno, as well as the top current metal bands in the nation such as Power Man 5000, Inflames and As I Lay Dying. “Six Ounce Gloves will put Fresno on the map,�? Bangerter said.

“Six Ounce Gloves will play anytime anywhere,�? Badorine said.

This promise, however, hit a speed bump a year ago when they were unable to play at Fresno State during lunch.

Badorine gave up on playing at his former school after repeatedly requesting to play and never getting a call back. “It’s kind of a beef I have, but I would love to play at Fresno State,�? Badorine said.

Badorine attended Fresno State for three years, where he majored in music and business. He had to quit school two years ago because he started touring with his band. Badorine was a member of the Fresno State Marching Band Drumline and Bulldog Beat.
“Drumline overall helped me as a drummer,�? Badorine said.

Badorine started playing drums 13 years ago after being impressed with the drummer of Whiteheart, a Christian metal hair band. “My dad took me to the show and I loved the drummer, right away I knew I wanted to play drums,�? Badorine said.

Badorine soon took up lessons and started playing shows for his classmates.

Andy McCaskill, an old hometown friend of Badorine, remembers watching Badorine play drums.

“In the 5th grade, he invited the whole class to his house for a little session, it was awesome,�? McCaskill said.

Six Ounce Gloves is currently signed to the New York label Rock Ridge.

“The record label is somewhere between having nothing and making it big,�? Badorine said. “Our current record, ‘It’s About Time’ can be found all around the country at places like Best Buy.�?

Six Ounce Gloves will play in Fresno on April 27th and 28th at the Fresno Tattoo Expo. For more information visit www.myspace.com/centralvalleytattoo.com.

Day tripping to honor César Chávez’s legacy

For the past 10 years, Dr. Sudarshan Kapoor has been taking his students on a field trip.

The trip happens on March 30, when campus is closed to observe César Chávez Day, which is fitting because the field trip is in Chávez’s honor.

While most Fresno State students took the day off, about 40 students in Kapoor’s class boarded a bus and traveled to the La Paz Memorial site in Keene in Kern County’s Tehachapi Mountains, 30 miles east of Bakersfield.

“Not many younger generations are aware of what [Chávez] did for the uplifting for the workers,�? said Kapoor, the founder of the Peace and Conflict Studies Program at Fresno State, and community activist. “He’s an honorary person who can bring such a change. His organizing skills that he used to organize the farm workers.�?

Chávez was born in Arizona; in 1970 he moved to Keene with his family. The field trip was free but students could make a donation to the La Paz Memorial site.

Fresno State student MayLee Vang said she learned a lot about Chávez.

“It was a pretty good experience,�? Vang said. “We learned about his life story and what his missions were.�?

Unlike a traditional field trip, students got hands-on experience.

The students were broken up into two groups and did some yard work, took out weeds and worked around the garden at the memorial site, Kapoor said.

“We helped with landscape around the César Chávez Memorial,�? Vang said. “Cleaning took a lot of effort.�?

Marisela Lara also got to experience what farm workers went through.

“It was a real privilege,�? said Lara, who made her second trip to the memorial. “The farm workers worked for many hours. It was a real learning experience. It makes you more appreciative for the things that he did.�?

Vang and Lara both agreed that what they learned at the memorial site will live with them forever and that they will share stories with their families and friends.

“I came home and told my family what I learned and how I learned to be more appreciative of Chávez’s hard work,�? Vang said.

Fun and games - 4/27/2007

Puzzle solutions for Friday April 27th
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Times, they are a’changin’ - 40 years late

IT’S 2000 FREAKING 7 — almost 90 years since women got the right to vote and more than 40 years since the civil rights movement.

Yet a high school in Turner County, Ga. just held its first integrated prom. To clarify that antiquated term: integrated means black students and white students interacting and sharing a singular event. In previous years, two private dances were held — one for white students and one for black students.

What’s still more baffling is that one of the students who was interviewed by CNN said the students who weren’t attending the first mixed races prom were either working or not allowed to go by their parents. Apparently, according to the student, some of the parents of white students did not want their children mixing with (derogatory word deleted) students.

Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream in 1963 — apparently it took a high school in Georgia
44 years to wake up.

While students of all races sharing the same watered-down punch are definitely a step in the right direction, it’s approaching the half-century mark of “No duh.�?

After prom comes graduation and having achieved an integrated prom through a student vote and the support of a new principal, these students can look forward to college life and eventually employment. And that’s when the female students will face discrimination of another kind.

A new study found that women in their first year out of college make about 80 percent of what their male counterparts were making.

However, 10 years into their career, women would only be make about 69 percent of what men do.

The study took into account hours worked, what the jobs were and the presence of children. The study looked at the fact that women traditionally study for careers in lower paying jobs, such as teaching and health, while men can be found in abundance in things like engineering and math.

Still, in the field of education, female teachers can expect to make only 95 percent of what male teachers do.

There are laws against all of this.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that segregation was unconstitutional. Discrimination based on race, color, religion and national origin was prohibited when President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Supreme Court upheld integration in schools again in 1971.

Women’s right to vote was added to the U.S. Constitution in 1920. John F. Kennedy established a commission on the status of women in 1961 to look for areas in need of improvement. Title VII of the same 1964 Civil Rights Act also prohibited discrimination based on sex and the idea of equal employment opportunities was brought to light. And finally, it should be noted that in 1964 the Equal Pay Act made it illegal to pay women less for the same job because of their sex.

So, it’s 2007 and all of this legislation was passed in the last 30 to 40 years. You’d think people might have heard of it by now.

How was it that by, say 1980, no one in Turner County, Ga. said, “Hmm, it’s 1980, civil rights were enacted more than 15 years ago, maybe our kids should share a prom.�?
If anything, it would be more cost effective. Why rent two banquet halls, when one big one will do?

Why haven’t more women who are making less money than their equally qualified male counterparts stepped forward and said, “Wow, I am tired of making $40,000 a year when Jim down the hall is making almost $50,000 for the exact same work. If I had $10,000 more each year, I could take a nice cruise.�?

Overall, what is surprising to me is that apparently these discrepancies weren’t upsetting anyone enough in the last 30 or so years to make them do something about it. Why don’t people take a stand more often?

People, particularly Americans, are complacent. We don’t mind making less. We protest what we don’t like on the appropriate anniversary. We celebrate Martin Luther King’s accomplishments each year on the day of his birth, yet as we approach the 40th anniversary of his death a high school just had it’s first integrated prom.
Wake up.

Notice what is going on around you. Stop being complacent.

It’s about time.

Court makes bad decision on partial-birth abortions

ONE THING I knew I never wanted to write was an opinion piece about was abortion. It’s a topic that I think very few really enjoy discussing.

Yet, I decided to write about the one topic I wanted to avoid because of a decision last week by the United States Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court, in a split 5-4 decision, upheld a ban on partial-birth, or late-term, abortions. The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act was signed into law by President Bush in 2003, but was blocked by three lower courts from taking effect. The decision now allows the law to proceed.

I found this decision to be a terrible blow to women’s health because of one key problem: the Supreme Court’s decision makes no exception for the life of the mother.
It is the first time since the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion that the high court has approved an abortion restriction without creating an exception for the health of the mother.

Just seven years ago, the Supreme Court stopped a similar piece of legislation from becoming law in Nebraska because it said that it was unconstitutional.
It was deemed unconstitutional because it lacked an exception for the health of the mother.

So, has the constitution changed a lot in the last seven years? No, but the Court has. One key difference is that Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, popularly considered to be “the swing vote,�? has left and was replaced by Samuel Alito.
That one vote was the difference that conservatives needed to get this approved.
This has now become a federal law, which means that it applies to every state in the nation, including California.

In other words, a woman who is told that she will die if she gives birth to her baby will not be able to terminate the pregnancy for medical reasons. Normally, such birth defects and health concerns over a developing fetus aren’t even known by doctors or the mother until after the first trimester.

Make no mistake about it; these are not women who are using abortion as a form of birth control. These are women who might have been overjoyed to be pregnant and are later absolutely devastated to learn that having the baby is not a viable option and could kill them.

The Supreme Court’s message to these women is: You have no options, so good luck. They don’t care if the baby is going to be born with horrible birth defects that can never be fixed or if it’s going to die shortly after birth, they don’t care if the mother is killed or forced to undergo kidney transplants or other major procedures after the birth.

If you are a woman, five of the members of the Supreme Court do not care about you, and they won’t care about your disfigured or disabled child either.

I find this to be appalling. Let me just get this out of the way now: I am against abortion personally.

Politically, I am pro-choice because I still think that women should have the right to make this decision for themselves. I think that abortion is wrong in most instances except for those in which the pregnancy occurred as a result of rape or incest, or if the woman’s life is in danger.

Rape or incest cases are known immediately, so women in those circumstances can chose to terminate their pregnancies in the first trimester and those early abortions are still legal.

However, if a woman’s life is endangered by her pregnancy, it is often not known until much later. In those situations, the options for the woman are to have the baby, and risk the life of her baby and of herself, or to have a late-term abortion.

Yes, late-term abortions are horrific. I couldn’t stomach detailing that information for you here, but it is out there for those who want to learn about it. Because of its gruesome details, women don’t choose to have late-term abortions on a whim.

In other words, women haven’t been going around being pregnant for eight months and then just deciding because they are divorcing their husbands to have late-term abortions. It’s not like that.

Women have the procedure if they are told that the children that they are carrying are seriously deformed and/or pose a life-threatening situation to them. Now, the procedure is no longer available.

The consequences of this ban will be far-reaching, and it will raise serious questions.
When women die because of this split decision by the Supreme Court, what recourse will their families have? Who will pay for the countless medical procedures and lifelong institutionalizations that thousands of these severely deformed children will face?

Unfortunately, we may soon find out the answers to those questions.

Virginia Tech memorial addresses campus safety

Fresno State Police Chief David Huerta addressed concerns about campus safety during the Virginia Tech Memorial held in the Free Speech Area Monday morning.

Huerta said work is already under way to establish an emergency cell phone system that would provide instant contact between campus authorities and the university community during a crisis.

“The problem is communication,�? Huerta said. “We have to have a system that can quickly alert students of any impending danger and steer them away from it.�?

Huerta said state officials — in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy where a student shot 32 people and then himself — are working on legislation that would create a cell phone emergency broadcast system for all California college campuses.

Lt. Governor John Garamendi discussed the proposal in a press release and news conference, also held Monday.

“The technology is available to offer the highest level of protection for our students,�? Garamendi said. “This system would save lives should a Virginia Tech situation occur at one of our California campuses.�?

Garamendi said in his statement that he has spoken with executives in the cellular industry about the system and has received assurances that they would help investigate and develop the warning program. State legislators and the Office of Emergency Services have also been contacted to begin developing the protocol and scope of the program.

Garamendi will also coordinate his proposal with ongoing efforts in the Legislature. The State Senate Committee on Education has announced that it will hold a hearing in the coming weeks to discuss campus safety issues.

This new cell phone emergency broadcast system would work much like the ones used for television and radio, except instead of a special sound, a text message would be sent to students who put their phone numbers in their school’s database.

Huerta said efforts are currently under way to set up registration for current students to input their own cell phone number into Fresno State’s planned emergency system database.

“Current students don’t need to worry,�? Huerta said. “We will seek you, either by e-mail or designated sign-up areas that will eventually be set up around campus.�?

Huerta said that future students enrolling and planning to attend Fresno State will have their emergency contact info automatically put into the database.

Huerta strongly suggests students keep their contact information current and to report anything suspicious.

“We are a community,�? Huerta said, “which means we have to work together to keep the lines of communication open.�?

From the office of the president

If it weren’t for the President’s Gallery that’s right outside his office, it seems hard to believe that the main office in the Thomas Administration building belongs to Dr. John Welty. Simply decorated, the office doesn’t have the ambience of someone as prominent as Welty, who has served as campus president for almost 16 years.

Throughout his tenure, the campus community has sung its praises, as it has seen the creation of the Smittcamp Family Honors College and the Save Mart Center.

But the campus has also been the subject of much scrutiny, with scandals including the misappropriation of funds to the athletic program. Strong criticism has been hurled at Welty and the university’s administration, with its most recent criticisms as a result of the Campus Pointe development plan.

While some members of the campus community and the region have made their opinions known to Welty, what is Welty’s response to it all?

In an exclusive one-on-one interview with The Collegian, Welty discusses the university’s reputation, Campus Pointe and the criticism it has been receiving, his way of interacting with students and his response to those who say it’s time for him to step down as university president.

G: How long do you plan to serve as campus president?

W: Well, I don’t have any set date. It’ll probably be several more years.

G: Is this your final stop in your career path or do you have other endeavors?

W: Well, I think it’ll certainly be my last stop as president. What I do after presidency, I don’t know at this point. But I plan to basically finish out my career here.

G: What do you think is the reputation of Fresno State in reference to other universities? How do you think we compare to them, such as Berkeley or other CSUs? How is Fresno State perceived by them?

W: The Carnegie Foundation has recently identified us as one of the 76 engaged universities in the country. And so, I think we have gained national prominence in terms of a comprehensive regional university that is committed to engaging students in their education and engaging with the region in which we’re located. I think in the coming years we will, as I’ve said many times, be one of the top 10 comprehensive engaged universities in the United States.

G: When you say “engaged,�? can you elaborate on that?

W: Essentially what I mean is that the university has encouraged students to get engaged in their learning through community service, service-learning, research, internships, etc. and we have as a university community, we have attempted to link the resources of this university with the region and that has played out through our work with the regional jobs initiative, the Governor’s partnership for the San Joaquin Valley through a number of centers and institutes that we’ve established such as the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Central Valley Health Policy Institute.

G: What are some of your goals for yourself and for the Fresno State community?

W: I think the primary goals are laid out in our most recent plan for excellence. In brief, to continue to improve the university’s academic program as we serve a very diverse student population. And secondly, to continue to work to engage the university in this region and to be part of the transformation of this area into what we call the new California. It’s essentially the university’s strategic plan.

G: Is Campus Pointe a big part of this?

W: It’s certainly part of the total plan… it’s a significant part, but there are lots of other much more important things in terms of growth of our academic programs, the expansion and improvement of graduate education, and as I said, the continued improvement of the undergraduate experience for students.

G: Can you describe Campus Pointe and why it’s so important to you?

W: Campus Pointe really is a project that will provide both financial benefit to the university as well as a number of programs that will serve the university, and specifically, the revenue generated from Campus Pointe will help to retire part of the debt service on the Save Mart Center and to provide funding for the College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology. And then in terms of services it will provide a hotel conference center which will allow us to do a lot more academic and executive conferences on the campus. It also will provide housing for students, faculty, staff and senior housing. The senior housing will certainly allow a place for students in gerontology to work with senior individuals. In addition, the theater and other commercial facilities, not all of which are identified at this point, will provide accessible services for students on the campus — for example, a grocery store.

G: How do you respond to critics who say that university officials are only out for the business aspect of the university and they’re not trying to build on the academic foundation?

W: I think Campus Pointe will provide key services for students, faculty and staff. And as I said, it will also provide some opportunities for internships for students that serve our academic programs and allow us to look at, for example, a new program in hospitality management and some of those things. But the more important things that are really happening on the campus are the new library and a number of the new doctoral programs we’re adding. Certainly the Smittcamp Family Honors College, the Downing Planetarium, the additional facilities we’re building on the campus are far more important than the Campus Pointe project, but it is necessary to have quality facilities that students can use while they’re here and it’s part of the whole university experience.

G: How do you interact with the average student and how do you communicate with students in the Fresno State community? We usually tend to go to the vice president because we see him as more accessible.

W: He certainly does work at trying to be accessible. I meet, along with Dr. Oliaro, with the President’s Student Leadership group about once a month, and that’s one way that I interact with student leaders. I certainly attend a number of student functions and activities, like tonight I’m going to the Hispanic Business Association dinner and also the Construction Management dinner, so I attend a number of those. And certainly students are free to come in and see me, although realistically with my calendar, it’s hard to do that. The other way I do communicate to a lot of students is through e-mail, and any time I get an e-mail I answer that e-mail from students, so that’s one way that I regularly… And of course then I do the weekly “Reflections,�? which I think some students read… probably boring reading it.

G: How many students do you think e-mail you on average? Do you get a lot?

W: Not a lot. I would say on an average week, maybe 10 to 15. Now if there’s obviously some issue that everybody hands out my e-mail address, then maybe more than that.

G: Do students receive the “Reflections�? e-mail?

W: Well, they go out on e-mail. They don’t go to every student. So anyone that accesses infomail can certainly, and through Fresno State News you can access them as well.

G: Would you ever consider sending “Reflections�? or something more relevant to students through e-mail?

W: We could do that, and occasionally I have done the message to students through e-mail. Our experience has been that a lot of students don’t read that, so rather than… I’m sensitive to not clogging up everybody’s e-mail system.

G: You wrote an opinion piece in The Bee talking about “The Importance of Transparency�? during the misdirected funds situation. You discussed how the community has a right to know what was going on. But not all of the students in the campus community read The Fresno Bee. Since it’s the students’ money, why didn’t you copy and paste that column and send it out in a mass e-mail or send out a message like that to the students?

W: Well, that’s a good suggestion. It was posted on fresnostatenews.com, so anybody could access it and again, we are sensitive that when I do send something out, we try to make it that it’s important enough that everyone will read it. And since it was really that particular piece, I mean, anybody that really wanted to get it could certainly get it.

G: It seemed like a big concern among students that it was an important issue, and I think students may have appreciated getting that sort of e-mail, even though it was on the Fresno State News Web site.

W: That’s a good suggestion, certainly worth our thinking about for the future.

G: Some of your critics say that it’s time for you to step down — you’ve been president for 16 years, and numerous scandals have occurred during your tenure here. What is your response to that?

W: Well, I think it’s important as you look at a 16-year period that you look at the tremendous growth of the university, and certainly much of that is a tribute to the great faculty and staff that we have here who have worked very hard. But if you look at this period, the addition of the Smittcamp Family Honors College, the large number of new facilities on campus, the strengthening of our academic programs, both at the undergraduate and graduate level, the dramatic growth and service-learning opportunities for students and community-service involvement and a number of other areas you can point to. And there have been issues and problems which have arisen, but I think each of those have been faced directly and the issues resolved, and as a result of those experiences we’ve become a much stronger university.

G: Do you feel as though the community gives the university and the administration credit for those positive things that have occurred while you’ve been here?

W: Well, I think most people recognize the tremendous strides the university has made. Obviously there’s a tendency to focus on the negative or the bad — that does often get more attention than some of the significant accomplishments that students and faculty have made. So I think it’s important to keep in perspective the growth of the university, the improved quality of the university and recognize that we gotta keep working to solve problems as they arise.

Coming Friday: Part two of an exclusive interview with Welty, where he discusses restored integrity in the athletic program, his views on how the media have treated him, reflections on his tenure — and what he’s learned from his past mistakes.

VIDEO: Campus counseling services

A Web exclusive of campus counseling services for students. Videography by Joseph Hollak.
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VIDEO: Campus Pointe

This is a Collegian Online exclusive video about the Campus Pointe controversy. Videography by Joseph Vasquez.
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Moore of a good thing

Ryan Moore’s days are filled. When the political science senior isn’t in class, he’s on the track field. When he’s not in class or preparing for a track meet, he’s lifting weights or working on his plans for law school.

With a 3.8 GPA and a full scholarship for track and field, the hurdler not only does it all, he does it all well.

Moore described himself as a “very competitive person,�? and men’s track and field assistant coach Joe Gonzales said that competitive edge, even more so than innate ability, has caused him to stand out on the field.

Gonzales has a favorite saying: “Talent is limited, but effort is unlimited.�? The coach said no one epitomizes that idea better than Moore.

“Everybody knows how hard Ryan works,�? Gonzales said. “He doesn’t glide by on natural talent. He works for it, and he deserves everything that he gets.�?

Chris Baptista, also an assistant coach for the men’s track and field team, agreed.

“Ryan is the ideal student athlete,�? he said. “The first thing that stands out about him is his dedication and work ethic. He’s a leader at practice. Also, he will do things without any hesitation and he will do everything that he is taught. I wish I had 60 people on the team like him.�?

Moore, 22, was recruited out of Redwood High School in Visalia to Fresno State by Gonzales.

“I knew he was a good athlete and a tough competitor,�? Gonzales said. “I liked his personality. I wasn’t the hurdles coach at the time, but I recruited him because no one else had.�?

Baptista said Moore’s track career at Fresno State has surpassed his high school accomplishments.

“He wasn’t heavily recruited out of high school,�? Baptista said.

“He had good marks, but he wasn’t national. He’s someone who was overlooked and undeveloped in high school, but he was able to be nurtured and developed at Fresno State.�?
Still, as one of the top eight hurdlers in the state in high school, Moore had options. As a talented basketball player, he even considered playing Division II basketball before deciding to stick with track.

While being recruited for track, Moore said he chose Fresno State over schools like Iowa State because of the people at Fresno State, and because it was close to home.

“The people at Fresno State were very friendly and accommodating,�? Moore said. “They wanted
me to be here.�?

Fresno State’s athletic history was also enticing.

“There is a lot of history here,�? Moore said. “Growing up in the Valley, I know a lot about the school’s legacy.�?

In fact, even in childhood Moore was an athlete. He began his career in track at just 10 years old and then in junior high school, learned how to jump hurdles.

From that point on, Moore said track has been an important part of his life. After graduation this May, there will be other challenges and changes to come.

One important challenge that lies ahead of Moore is law school.

Already admitted to several law schools, he is taking his time to decide which one is right for him.

Moore said he is currently “exploring all options,�? but he is considering going to law school in Australia. Moore is interested in doing international law once he gets his law degree.

“I really enjoy the policy aspect of the law and working with people,�? Moore said.

While he may be leaving Fresno State and its track team behind him soon, Moore is not concerned about the future success of the team.

“The track team is in good shape for at least the next couple of years,�? he said.

“The coaches are recruiting hard and it’s an exciting time for the team.�?

Bulldogs, Luethke in 5th at WAC tourney

The second day of the women’s golf WAC Championships saw both Fresno State junior Laura Luethke and her teammates slip in the standings.

After shooting a two-under par opening round score of 70, Luethke sat in first place with a three-shot lead over Nevada’s Kelly Burke and Boise State’s Lindsey Huebert.

However, Luethke’s quest for a WAC championship was derailed on the second day of competition as she shot a disappointing nine over par score of 81. Luethke’s score moved her two-day total to 151 and placed her into a three-way tie for fifth place, four shots back heading into the third round.

Fresno State’s second round troubles weren’t solely limited to Luethke.
An opening round score of 305 placed the Bulldogs’ in second place behind Hawaii.

But a 318 score on the second-day of competition dropped the team from second to sixth, 21 shots behind Idaho with only one round left to play.

Master of multicultural counseling

In the war torn jungle of Laos, a then 2-year-old, Dr. Song Lee began the flight that would take her from Vietnam to Fresno.Even though she was only a toddler at the time, Lee had to face unimaginable circumstances.
She, along with her mother and six siblings, walked through the jungle and even a dangerous border-crossing of the Mekong River, after being forced out of their home by Communist Vietnamese.

The threat of attack shadowed the family’s every move.
“My dad was a soldier at the time, so he was not with us when we were trying to escape,�? Lee said. “My mom guided us to freedom.�?

Because she was so young at the time, Lee said she remembers very little about the ordeal, but details she does recall are etched into her memory.

“I don’t remember much because I was only 2 at the time,�? Lee said. “I do remember some vivid details, such as when we were trying to escape, I was walking at night and I picked up a bark from a tree that lit up.�?

That bark seemed to represent the light at the end of the tunnel — a symbol that life was going to get better for Lee and indeed, that light became reality.

Now at the age of 32, she is an associate professor in the counseling, special education and rehabilitation department at Fresno State.

Lee, a Fresno State alumna, just received one of the nation’s highest awards in counseling. The honor, The Courtland C. Lee Multicultural Excellence Scholarship Award, is given to a graduate student in counselor education whose dedication and academic work demonstrate excellence in the theory and practice of multicultural counseling.

“It is the first time anyone has won that award in the history of the [counseling] department,�? said Dr. Charles Arokiasamy, chair of the counseling, special education and rehabilitation department. “This is a high honor for Dr. Lee and also for the program and the Kremen School of Education and Human Development. Fresno State students are learning from among the best.�?

Even with such a distinct honor under her belt, Lee said she remains humbled by the experience. “It was an honor, but I feel like it is just a stepping stone to get to the next level.�?
Lee joined the Fresno State faculty last fall after completing her doctoral degree at North Carolina State University in counselor education.

She now teaches three courses in the master’s program. Before that, she was a counselor, but Lee said although she loves counseling, teaching is her true passion.

“I love teaching,�? Lee said. “Every day is hectic, but it’s a humbling experience. [Teaching] really makes me understand human beings a little better. I enjoy students and the different ideas they bring in. When they want to learn, it amazes me. Seeing students grow is exciting. They encourage me to work harder.�?

Arokiasamy said Lee is a great addition to the staff because of the qualities she has.
“Song Lee brings all the usual gifts of a new professor — training in research and in counseling, lots of enthusiasm, interest in research and grants, and passion for teaching,�? Arokiasamy said. “What is unique is that she is probably the only Hmong speaking Ph.D in counselor education in the country.�?

Being a Hmong speaking counselor is significant in why Lee chose to teach in Fresno, which has one of the largest Hmong populations in the country.

“Fresno is not the most beautiful location, but it’s like a pot of gold for me because the Hmong community is here,�? Lee said. “That makes it easy to study and collect data. I’m more connected to this community, compared to North Carolina, because there were not as many Hmongs there as there are here.�?

Lee said being connected to her Hmong roots is important for her research. “Being here is more helpful for my job. I’m able to give back to the community and provide services and study the Hmong population.

Those services include free counseling services at Stone Soup about marriage and family therapy, depression and mental health.�?

Her success makes her an excellent role model for Hmong and other Southeast Asian students, Arokiasamy said. “She brings lots of credibility and legitimacy when we do programs like working on Hmong suicide or parenting.�?

Lee said she wants to be able to provide assistance, counseling and research to not just the Hmong, but other Southeast Asians as well, such as Cambodians and Laotians. “To be able to understand them, you need more adequate data,�? Lee said.

Lee received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of California, Davis. She came back to Fresno (where she spent most of her life) to obtain her master’s in counseling with an emphasis in marriage and family therapy. She then went to North Carolina for her doctorate.

When she moved to Fresno from Minnesota in 1984, Lee spoke no English at all. She didn’t learn the language until second grade, Lee said. She faced other hardships as well.

When her family moved to Minnesota in 1981, they lived in a one bedroom apartment with seven people all under the same roof.

“My parents couldn’t speak English, so it was hard,�? Lee said, adding that her parents had to walk many blocks through the snow in order to get their children food and necessities — sometimes causing frostbite.

“I remember how hard it was for my parents,�? Lee said. “I didn’t experience the hardships because my parents experienced it for me. Seeing them struggle made me want to try harder.�?
Like many other immigrants, Lee said her parents farmed tomatoes and strawberries to bring in money. Lee and her siblings would sometimes go with their parents to help out.

Lee said being in that environment played a huge factor in her own career choices. “It was like a choice — this is the life I can go on doing or I can change it.�?

Lee decided a change was what she needed, which led her to teaching. She doesn’t plan to stop here though, with hopes to of one day becoming a full-time professor high on her list of career goals.

“Being in that experience, you learn to be humble and happy with even the tiniest things. Now I’ve experienced being able to attain so many successes, such as going to school and getting an education. When I put my mind into it, I can do it.�?

Fun and games - 4/24/07

Puzzle solutions for Wednesday April 25th

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Media Focuses disproportionately on deaths of celebrities

WHY IS IT that the death of one semi-famous individual such as Anna Nicole Smith can garner so much publicity yet only a few words are allocated to a young man who recently died in a motorcycle crash?

The first, and perhaps most obvious, factor that increases media coverage of a death is if the person who dies is famous. It seems that the deaths of well-known figures are naturally reported, often as a grand finale to the reports of their lives.

The important point to note about celebrity deaths, however, is that the cause of death does not necessarily have to be outrageous in any way. For example, Mother Theresa died simply and of natural causes; she had lived a long and full life. Nevertheless, her death was made known throughout the entire world by the news media.

Many deaths occur in this same manner every day, and they are rarely reported. Thus, if people become interesting in the public eye while they are alive, then their deaths are more likely to also be of interest to the public.

Another factor that makes a person’s death interesting and adds to its newsworthiness is if the person is relatively young when he or she dies. When a person dies at a young age, there is always a sense of lost potential, the idea that had he or she lived longer, he or she would have been able to do great things to benefit the world.

However, according to the World Health Organization, in 2005, an average of 982 people under the age of 54 die each day in the United States, and this is still too many deaths for all of them to be covered. Thus, this factor is most clearly seen when combined with another factor, such as fame; it has the ability to increase the amount of media coverage of a death that is already in the news.

Young celebrity deaths that were covered extensively by the media include those of John F. Kennedy, John Lennon and River Phoenix. These individuals were all talented and their deaths influenced the public by robbing people of their ability to enjoy the benefits of these talents in the future.

Almost all of the deaths of young people that appear in the news involve some sort of immediacy or unexpectedness. After all, one does not often hear in the news of a teenager who has died of cancer. Immediate deaths receive extensive coverage in the news because they are new information. If a person was expected to die at a certain time and in a certain way, then the death would no longer be news to the public.

One significant factor that determines the extent of media coverage post-mortem is the strangeness of the circumstances surrounding the death. It almost seems that death has to be viewed, in terms of established news values, as way out of the ordinary it to be covered. Indeed, as people in today’s society become more desensitized to violence and death in the news, the more shocking and outrageous the deaths must be in order for people to take notice.
The news media often chooses to report deaths that provide close glimpses of particular victims in order to illustrate national problems, dramatic vignettes that bring home the personal ramifications of the great public issues of the day.

One dramatic example of this was the death of Matthew Shepard, a young man who was murdered because he was gay. In this case, the news media made Shepard into a larger-than-life worldwide symbol of the evils of homophobia. Thus, the news media focuses on just a few deaths that have the potential to arouse sympathy in people, and these sympathetic feelings then cause people to work towards solving the larger societal problems that the deaths represented.

Josef Stalin once said, “The death of a single Russian soldier is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic.�? For tragedy to be given real meaning it needs to have a context — it needs to be explained and sometimes, the best way to do that is through the personal story of those people caught up in it.

Although there are limitations on the number of deaths that can be reported, the news media does not come close to that limit. If it did, then it would not be able to offer such deep personal accounts of the lives of the deceased and their survivors.

By the way, that young motorcyclist who I mentioned in the beginning — his name was Harsimran Singh and he was 24 years old. He had arrived with his family from India only a few years ago.

Remembering the life of a ‘corporate sellout’

WHEN MY CHILDHOOD best friend Megan Pauls and I were young hipsters, trying to find our way in our newly discovered hipster world, we would spend a lot of time contemplating where all the truly cool kids hung out.

We would sit in the In-N-Out on Blackstone and Ashlan, the ultimate hangout for Fresno bands after shows, and ask ourselves, “Where are all the really rad hangouts, the places we haven’t yet discovered? Fresno is full of almost half a million people — where is everyone, I mean everyone that really mattered?

Now I’ve given up my hunt because I’m all grown up and I’ve realized something about those cool kids and myself.

Growing up is hard work, especially when you grow up into a corporate sellout. Yep, that’s right, at the ripe old age of 23 I’ve realized that I have become the complete opposite of my true self, practically evil incarnate, if you will — a corporate sellout.

This was no easy process. I didn’t wake up one morning and turn into a slimy goon. I slowly morphed as I shed bits and pieces of my former identity. Trust me, this wasn’t an easy decision, it wasn’t really a decision at all but a necessity.

The lifestyle of an indie hipster just doesn’t pay the bills. Unless of course, you’re really an indie hipster rock star — and really, an indie rock star is a contradiction in itself, and the ultimate sellout. I’m sure that the lead singer of The Shins has dealt with this identity crisis himself and to a much larger degree.

Before I delve into this new me, let me paint you a picture of my former pure, hipster self. Sarah Marie Pittman — this was a girl who worked at a cute little boutique in the Tower district and drove the coolest of the cool in vehicles — why, only a maroon, 1989 Volvo station wagon would do. She was a vegetarian of course and played only the best in indie rock on her college radio show.

And now look at me — sitting here eating my salami and pepperoni sandwich, ready to go off to a hard day at my corporate bank job (Does it get any more corporate than that? A bank, too corporate to even mention, in part because I don’t think it would see the humor in all of this).

Outside is parked my practically-2007-but-not-quite Toyota Corolla and now that I’ve given up being a disc jockey at the college station, I think I want to purchase Gwen Stefani’s new album. (She is another shining example of a corporate sellout. Gwen, why have you forsaken us and your beloved old school ska No Doubt?)

I think I knew for sure that I was no longer my indie hipster self when I discovered one of my favorite cardigans (a necessity in any hipster or granny wardrobe) had a hole in it, and I decided that this just wouldn’t do. I’m not saying that as an indie hipster I loved holes in my clothes and was a total street-urchin-punk-kid. It’s just that a hole wouldn’t have mattered that much, might have given one’s clothes some vintage flair, but now it just wouldn’t do in the world of corporate America.

Or maybe I knew for sure that I had left the indie world of cool when apartment hunting with my fiancé a month or so ago. Of course we checked out the Tower district first in our search for our new perfect home but by the end of the day we discovered that rather than move into a grittier, cooler section of Fresno we wanted something nicer for ourselves, something more North Fresno.

Actually, stop right there. I just realized that all those supposed cool kids were right under my nose, or rather right under their own roofs, relaxing in their own homes after a hard day at their corporate jobs. And they had the right idea.

Being a corporate sellout isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Is it wrong to want the nicer things in life?

Oh yeah, and that whole vegetarian thing — pizza just isn’t pizza without pepperoni. And to tell you the truth, rather than buy the new Bright Eyes CD, I think I’m going to check out the Gwen Stefani CD. Her new single is too good.

Being an indie hipster doesn’t pay the bills and I’m ready to grow up — and invest in some nicer cardigans. Well, one thing’s for sure, rather than finding me in your neighborhood Starbucks, I will be in the Tower district at my old haunt, the Revue. I must take a stand for the old indie hipster elitist in me and not darken Starbucks’ corporate doors again. Besides, there’s no time to stop there on my way to work at the bank.

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