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Boring classes are good for you

The first day of class is a boring, repetitive orientation. Every class has them – don’t cheat, don’t miss class, study for your tests.

A lot of classes themselves are boring, repetitive routines – show up, try to take notes and not to sleep during the lecture. Then you leave after an hour –or two or three – just to come back the next period and do the same.

We’ve all had our share of tiring, repetitive orientations. Sometimes, they’re job training in various degrees of useless.

Imagine my glee when I heard I had a week full of it for my student-teaching.

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VIDEO: What is Chick-fil-A?

The Collegian asked students what they think “Chick-fil-A” is.

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VIDEO: Welcome Week

Welcome Week is intended to help students learn about services available on campus.

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Fresno State football: Week 1 preview

Fresno State Bulldogs vs. Sacramento State Hornets

Gameday: Saturday 7 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium

Radio: KMJ 580 AM and ESPN Deportes 1600 AM

Pre-game Show: ESPN 1430 AM

Bulldogs Three Keys to Victory:

1)Forget about last season - water under the bridge. The ‘Dogs need to focus on the task at hand: beating Sacramento State.

2)Tom Brandstater needs to establish the Bulldogs passing game. With an experienced offensive line protecting him, Brandstater needs to get his young receivers and tight end Bear Pascoe involved in the offense early.

3)Do not play down to the Division I-AA level. The Bulldogs are a Division I-A team and need to play like that. That doesn’t mean be overconfident, instead play high-quality football for four quarters.

In The Hornets’ Nest…

2006 Record: 4-7, 4-4 Big Sky (5th)
Head Coach: Marshall Sperbeck (1st Season)
Offense: Multiple
Defense: 4-3
Key Returners: S Brent Webber, WR Torrell Baker, LB Cyrus Mulitalo
Series Record: Fresno State leads 1-0
Last Meeting: 1972 - Fresno State won 24-7 in Sacramento

Position Matchups

Quarterbacks: Fresno State
Running Backs: Fresno State
Offensive Line: Fresno State
Receivers: Sac State
Defensive Lineman: Fresno State
Linebackers: Fresno State
Defensive Backs: Sac State
Special Teams: Fresno State

Breakdown: Bulldogs

Fresno State is coming off of one of its most disappointing seasons in recent memory. Pat Hill’s squad would like nothing better than to start their 2007 campaign by beating their sister school from up north. The Bulldogs will need to rely on their strengths and avoid showing their weakness if they hope to begin their season with a victory.

Strengths:

• Four of the five starters from last season’s offensive line are returning to protect quarterback Tom Brandstater and open holes in the running game. The line has a combined 69 starts between all five starters. The unit was the best in the WAC last season, only allowing 14 sacks. Outland/Remington trophy candidate Ryan Wendell anchors this experienced line at center. Left guard Cole Popovich is poised for a breakout season. If he stays healthy he is solid as a rock.

• Bear Pascoe is very versatile at the tight end position. The former high school quarterback can run, catch, block and is an excellent asset on special teams. Pascoe will likely be Brandstater’s best friend this season as he gives the quarterback excellent protection and is a nice insurance policy on short third down conversions. If new offensive coordinator Jim McElwain can involve Pascoe in the offense then it could be a long night for the Hornets.

• Last season was deplorable for the Bulldogs special teams unit. One bright spot, however, was senior kicker Clint Stitser. He hit 11 of 16 field goals last season, second in the conference. The strongest kicker in Fresno State history, Stitser is a Lou Groza award candidate and provides the Bulldogs with a rock in the kicking game.

Weaknesses:

• Losing wide receiver Chastin West was a big blow to the offense. The go-to-guy will now be sophomore Marlon Moore, who only caught four balls last season. The lack of experience in the receiving corps and an experienced Hornet secondary could slow the passing game.

• The secondary unit was inconsistent at best last season and deplorable at worst. Former cornerback Marcus McCauley was a huge letdown in 2006. Stepping into his place is senior Damon Jenkins. He will try and be a solid anchor at cornerback. Jenkins had all three of the Bulldogs’ interceptions last season to go along with 32 tackles.

• The Bulldogs special teams unit allowed 15.8 yards per punt return and 22.3 yards per kickoff return last season. This statistic will need to be vastly improved if the Bulldogs hope to contend.

• The loss of nose tackle Jason Shirley hurts the defense on the line, but senior defensive end Tyler Clutts should be able to pick up the slack.

Breakdown: Hornets

Coach Marshall Sperbeck is entering his first season at the helm of the Hornets who are returning 13 starters from a year ago. He is looking to turn the program around after a fifth place showing in the Big Sky Conference and sixth consecutive losing season. This is the Hornets first ever trip to Bulldog Stadium. The only previous meeting between the Hornets and Bulldogs was in 1972 at Sacramento. The Bulldogs won that game 24-7. Bragging rights will be on the line for the premier football program in the valley.

Strengths:

• The Hornets return three starters on their defensive line from last year’s squad. “The defensive line is one of the strengths of our team,” Sperbeck said. “It’s a group of players that can lead and make a difference on the team.”

• Sperbeck’s secondary is solid with four returning starters. Safeties Brent Webber and Brett Shelton anchor the defensive backs and have combined to start in 62 games during their collegiate careers. Facing an inexperienced Bulldog receiving corps will play to the Hornets’ advantage.

• Wide receiver is the deepest position on the team for the Hornets. Four players are returning who have started for Sac State. Junior wide receiver Torrell Baker who played running back last season is the leading returning rusher and receiver from last season. Look for Sperbeck to utilize Baker in multiple formations.

Weaknesses:

• Red-shirt freshman Jason Smith gets the nod at quarterback for the Hornets. His lack of experience has Bulldogs’ defensive end Tyler Clutts and the rest of the defense licking their chops.

• Another glaring question mark for the Hornets is at running back. Five players are listed on the depth chart and not one has started at running back for Sac State. Fresno City College transfer Travon Jones will start Saturday for the Hornets.

• The offensive line has only three returning letterman from a year ago. Only two started.

Gameday events

Look for the promotions and special events at Saturday’s Fresno State football game. Among them:

•The California Air National Guard 144th Fighter Wing Squadron will perform a flyover at Bulldog Stadium just prior to kickoff.

•15,000 David Carr Cheer Cards will be distributed.

•500 David Carr T-shirts will be given to kids under 14 at Bulldog Boulevard.

•Bulldog Boulevard will be located in the Red Lot near the east gate of Bulldog Stadium at Cedar and Barstow avenues and will open four hours before game time.

•Newly made-over mascot Timeout will make his appearance in Bulldog Stadium approximately 20 minutes before kickoff.

•KMJ Radio station will give away 30,000 Bulldog window decals during the game.

•David Carr’s jersey will be retired during halftime ceremonies.

•7,500 free Fresno State football schedule magnets will be given away at the exit.

REDZONE gives prizes, gifts for membership

The sea of red is back and bigger than ever.

Active since 2005, REDZONE is the official student booster club.

Fresno State students Stephen Trembley, John Migliazo, Brent Hansen and Luke Moritz founded the organization.

“Our goal is to improve the experience at Fresno State athletic events and increase student attendance and participation at these games through a special cheering section,” Trembley said. “We had around 900 members last year and have an estimated 1,300 members this year with hopes to surpass the 1,500 mark.”

REDZONE president Mackee Mason works closely with the athletic department to implement different aspects of the group.

Memberships can be purchased at the REDZONE table near where football tickets are sold or on Saturday, Sept. 1 at Bulldog Stadium.

REDZONE membership is included in the price of student season tickets for $10.

“Becoming a member does not require having an interest in sports, is inexpensive and comes with a REDZONE T-shirt when you join,” Trembley said. “In addition, it is a good way of meeting new people.”

REDZONE rewards students who attend football games with rewards such as a $300 gift certificate to the Kennel Bookstore, a gift certificate to University Chicken and a chance to win $10,000 toward tuition at halftime.

Last year, selected fans won a trip to see the Bulldogs play San Jose State.

This year, the REDZONE is working on a trip to the Nevada State game.

“Regardless whether you win anything or not, being in the student section is a reward in its own,” Mason said. “It brings everyone together and I love how you could just turn around and high-five someone you’ve never met before while supporting the team.”

In the future, the founders want every student to be a member and have a designated REDZONE section for every sport.

“We’re happy with how far we have come and know some of our goals are realistically down the road,” Trembley said.

REDZONE is an annual membership so students who were members last year have to renew their membership this year.

The organization plans on working towards four-year or even lifetime memberships.

Freshman Jessica Lewis, a REDZONE member,will attend a football game for the first time this season.

“I’ve never been to a game in my life but decided to join because I have heard the student section is a great experience,” she said.

Students can join the REDZONE experience Sept. 1 at Bulldog Stadium.

Technomania

A FEW MONTHS AGO, I needed to take care of a work-related issue. I’d been e-mailing the woman I was dealing with about the issue, and she’d been sending me responses every few seconds.

I needed some documents, so I decided to walk over to her office, and pick them up in person. After all, I reasoned, it would give me a chance to personally thank my helper — and it was a beautiful, early summer day.

Walking would feel good, and would get me away from the computer for a bit.

Imagine how I felt when, upon arriving at her office, my head was nearly bitten off for not asking for the documents through e-mail.

“I’m very busy dealing with all these templates,” the woman I had wanted to thank practically shouted, pointing to a computer screen with about seven programs open. “You should just ask through e-mail. I don’t have time for this!”

While I didn’t enjoy being chewed out, I left her office feeling sorry not only for myself, but the woman as well. I felt very sad.

We were both victims of the ever-widening net of modern technology that seems to be reaching further and further into every aspect of daily life. And the ultimate casualty? Human interaction and civility.

It’s not enough that we have cell phones, iPods, laptops, wi-fi Internet access and Blackberries that keep every minute of our lives scheduled, ready to review with a few touches of the fingertips.

In June, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone. This miracle device, which children as young as seven (who I taught in an arts enrichment program this summer), are now saving up over $600 for the ultimate whiz-bang bells-and-whistles toy everyone’s been waiting for.

According to wikipedia.com, “iPhone’s functions include those of a camera phone and a multimedia player, in addition to text messaging and visual voice mail. It also offers Internet services including e-mail, web browsing, and local Wi-Fi connectivity. User input is accomplished via a multi-touch screen with virtual keyboard and buttons.”

Whew! That’s a mouthful.

Imagine, with the iPhone, you will never worry about having left your iPod at home, or about being away from a computer screen to check your e-mail, making it that much easier to help the folks back in the office complete a work project — even from the beaches of Maui when you’re on your honeymoon while your wife reconsiders whether she really married the right person.

Unfortunately, this really happened to my best friend on her honeymoon.

In the past twenty years, there has been a global explosion of personal use technology. It started with the Internet, which really got going when I was in high school, about fifteen years ago. At the time, I had a long distance boyfriend I’d met at debate camp. We’d been writing letters (the kind you sent through the mail, with postage that still cost 29 cents).

Within a few short years, they would become the last handwritten, signed, sealed and delivered love letters I’d ever receive. Twelve years down the road, when my future husband would write me his own love letters, they came in the form of hundreds of e-mails, often typed on the sly at work. I think we might have saved them on a disk, but I have no idea where that disk is now.

Anyhow, seeing typed words flicker on a computer screen is not nearly as romantic as holding in your hand, the yellowed love letters my grandmother still has 65 years after they were mailed by my grandfather from the European theater of World War II. I don’t know if my own future grandchildren will have as many written words beyond a few birthday or Valentine cards to preserve our own love story.

Beyond love letters, another casualty of the personal technology boom seems to be people’s attention spans.

Educational studies have shown that the rise in children’s exposure to the internet, cell phones and that old bad guy, television, have been linked with lower levels of concentration in school.

I’ll believe it, having spent the summer teaching the first generation born after the Internet and cell-phone boom this past summer. All too often, the kids in my performing arts and creative writing classes would get antsy and stop listening to their peers after a mere two minutes. It seems too many kids today are not interested in activities unless they involved making their viewpoints paramount, and featured lots of high-tech instant gratification.

Think about it.

iPods started with the premise that you should be able to take “your” favorite tunes anywhere, and only have to listen to those songs you really love.

But how many really great, quirky songs are we missing out on truly loving because the iPod has destroyed the concept of an album in favor of catchy singles that can be downloaded?

And how many times have you groaned when your cell phone rang in the middle of a really great moment with someone you love, but you feel required to take the call?

How many times have you snapped a photo with the same cell phone’s camera, but the picture that lingers in your mind is just that, a moment never photographed, but unforgettable?
I’m scared that iPods will lead us all to live in what their name implies: a personal, cocoon-like pod existence, where we’re ostensibly plugged in to everything and everyone, but have lost the human ability to truly relate to or have empathy for one another.

Technology can be great. I love my laptop and appreciate e-mail’s contributions to helping me stay connected to work and friends.

But I don’t check that e-mail everyday anymore. And sometimes, I go several days at a time with my cell phone turned off.

This drives some people insane, because for some strange reason, they feel entitled to be able to reach me anytime, anywhere, always.

But they are not. I feel better off for turning off the techno-leashes like my cell phone or T.V., tuning out and simply being for a while.

Interestingly enough, these actions make me feel more like spending time with my fellow humans.

I may even feel compelled to walk over and see you, face to face. I just hope you’ll be happy to see me, once I get there.

Jasmine Marshall Armstrong is a graduate student at Fresno State getting her master of fine arts degree in creative writing.

Fun and Games - 08/31/07

Fun and games for Friday, August 31st.
Off the Mark
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Women without restraint

Jill Fields, Ph.D., knows her undergarments.

More specifically, she gives her historical and sociological take on women’s intimate apparel.

Author of the recently published “An Intimate Affair: Women, Lingerie, and Sexuality,” Fields hoped to provoke readers with the history behind an often-overlooked everyday necessity, lingerie.

With an eyebrow-raising title, the book garnered positive feedback for its take on the evolving history of women over the decades.

The Washington Post called it “a rich and nuanced understanding” about how clothes can change the “historical context of women’s lives just as much as they shape the actual contours of women’s bodies.”

Though Fields isn’t the first to write about how women view themselves, her book sets out to define the historical significance of the clothing women wear underneath it all every day.
“ [I provided] information of a lesser known topic to bring about new ways of thinking,” Fields said.

Fields, an associate history professor at California State University, Fresno, specializing in modern U.S. and Women’s History, has spent the past few years researching and writing her book.

She started her research as a graduate student at the University of Southern California, using glamour as her dissertation topic and thesis for her doctorate.

Though she loved every minute of her research, the writing portion sometimes proved difficult.

“Graduate students use big words and I tried weeding them out,” Fields said, expressing her desire to captivate as many readers as possible.

As she became further engrossed in the topic, she developed a sense of just how important every aspect of lingerie history is, even the topics that seemed mundane at first.

In her process of writing a historical view of glamour, she decided to focus on intimate apparel. To Fields it was the quest to present this most interesting subject.

“Fashion is important, along with why women dress the way they do,” Fields said, explaining that the relationship between one’s body and how their clothing shapes their identity.

To fully capture moments in history, Fields knew that illustrations would be crucial to draw readers in. Illustrations included in the book include advertisements for bras during influential movements in American history, including the civil rights movement. For example, one advertisement made a reference to all women being “made” equal thanks to a Maidenform bra.

Other inserts include pictures of restricting corsets, women who defined a moment in time and still photos of popular movie scenes. But coming to these selections was no small task.
“I had over 400 slides and only chose 75 for the book,” Fields said.

Since the completion and publication of “An Intimate Affair,” Fields is working on editing a volume on feminist art in Fresno and researching her second book on the Jewish female body in U.S. pop culture.

Field’s main goal in all of her works is to change “the ideas of femininity expressed through the body.”

Who: Jill Fields, Ph.D., author of “An Intimate Affair: Women, Lingerie and Sexuality”

What: Book signing

When: Saturday, Sept. 29, 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Where: Barnes & Noble near River Park

New music prof accepts call to rebuild orchestra

Fresno State’s music department added a new face during the summer—a master cellist, soloist, chamber musician and conductor who the department hopes will revive the long-defunct campus symphony orchestra.

Thomas Loewenheim, Ph.D., a native of both Germany and Israel who most recently taught at Indiana University in Bloomington, brings a wealth of experience as the newest instructor of string instruments.

Strings are perhaps the most crucial part of a symphony orchestra, and according to music professor Thomas Hiebert, the strings section at Fresno State has been deficient for some time.

Enter Loewenheim, who was hired, in part, to build up the orchestra.

Loewenheim came to Fresno State because he found it to have “fantastic facilities, fantastic faculty and a strong will to have an orchestra.”

Loewenheim said he had high hopes for one day conducting a university orchestra that would rival any other in the state or even the nation, but for now, the orchestra is being built from scratch.

“Hopefully people will come here because it’s the best education they can get and it’s affordable,” Loewenheim said.

Still in the process of moving in, Loewenheim’s office walls are completely bare. But prominently displayed in the room is a grand piano, although Loewenheim admits he doesn’t play it.

“The cello’s hard enough,” Loewenheim said. “It’s better for me to focus on this one instrument.”

When he conducts an orchestra, however, Loewenheim finds it necessary to focus on everything and everyone, including the audience. The aim, he said, is “to get a fantastic product of everyone doing what they’re supposed to do.”
He imagines the orchestra as a model of society, with everyone responsible for their own actions—first for their own section, then to the larger group, then to everyone in the room. Loewenheim also sees it as an opportunity to build relationships, express goodwill and build a spiritual foundation for those involved.

“Instead of blowing up others, why can’t we just believe what we want and accept others?” he said. “With the orchestra, we bring people together and learn how to work together.”

Born in Hamburg, Germany, Loewenheim moved to Israel with his family when he was very young. His musical training started early, but the cello was particularly stressed.

“It was my mom’s idea,” Loewenheim said. “She plays cello and decided I was going to play cello.”

A fan of all string instruments, Loewenheim said he liked the cello because of its wide range in pitch and because “it’s the closest instrument to the human voice.”

Lately, another of Loewenheim’s interests has been research, particularly in rediscovering pieces of music repertoire from past eras, such as forgotten concerti, chamber music and unaccompanied cello work.

“I’m the Indiana Jones of music libraries,” Loewenheim said.

Yet his heart still lies with the orchestra, in which he has starred as a cellist, soloist and conductor, among other roles over the years.

He said, “When you combine that many types of instruments harmoniously, you just don’t hear a sound like that anywhere else.”

Orchestra Info:

Auditions for University Orchestra to be held next
week in the Old Music Building for all instrument sections.

Interested individuals
should contact Thomas Loewenheim
for more information.

What is ASI?

While many students are crashing classes and begging instructors to add them to their roll sheets, a few have been checking out classes they don’t plan to add.

That’s because they’re just stopping by to introduce themselves.

They’re students who want to tell the story of what it’s like to be involved in the campus community and inform their peers about what Fresno State has to offer. And they only need a few minutes to tell students what Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) can do for them.

For incoming freshmen, or apathetic students who may not know, ASI, formally Associated Students, is Fresno State’s student government, which includes senators who represent each of the colleges or schools on campus.

“We basically bit the bullet,” ASI President J.P. Moncayo said of this semester’s tedious new method of reaching out to the student body.

Now in his second term, Moncayo said ASI realized it has to be more aggressive about communicating its message to students by outlining what they do for the campus.

Going from classroom to classroom is “the hardest way” to spread the ASI word, yet it’s a “very strong way for us to get the word out on top issues,” Moncayo said.

The visits offer information about ASI funding that’s available to campus clubs and organizations, low-cost health insurance and the phone number for the campus police department.

These start-of-the-semester presentations will continue to hit classrooms, Moncayo said, “until we exhaust it.”

So far, ASI officers have presented themselves to 800 students in this manner. They plan to increase that number to at least 2000 students over the next two weeks.

But ASI doesn’t intend to have the student body at hello. The group plans to use classroom presentations proactively to educate students on hot topics such as a possible increase in parking fees that may eventually require a student vote. From there, ASI will inform students what options they have when it comes time to vote.

“We’re gonna get our hands really dirty,” Moncayo said.

Erica Dement, ASI’s communications director, said some of the new ways they plan to increase student involvement is through Bulldog Squad, a new campus spirit group she anticipates will launch in early October.

While Dement discussed ways students can improve their campus experience by applying for positions in ASI and the Bulldog squad, she said students who aren’t members of any campus organizations can still see ASI’s impact on the campus community through scholarships they fund, the library laptop program and the Pick-a-Prof service, which allows students to rate and review professors.

She also hopes ASI’s office will be a welcoming one for the student body.

According to Moncayo, students can turn to ASI if they come across issues such as problems with professors.

“The office is a great place to start,” Moncayo said, since ASI is “more prone to know who to contact” when complaints about instructors arise.

He also hopes the ASI office will be a “good front desk for the university and student life” so students can drop by whenever they’re looking for answers.

“The problem we have on campus is students not being aware of what’s going on,” said D.J. Clovis, ASI’s director of student involvement.

He said he hopes to alleviate the “I didn’t know what was going on” mentality by creating a calendar of events to give students advance notice of events happening on campus.

Clovis’ goal is simple: he wants everyone “to be excited to be a Fresno State student.”

ASI has a central point they hope to get across to the student body.

“Every student is a member of ASI,” said Mackee Mason, ASI’s senator of athletics.

The belief is one Moncayo hopes will push students who want to see change around campus.

“My hope,” Moncayo said, “is that people who are really angry will join ASI.”

Free music: you get what you pay for

I like free music. Who doesn’t?

My unquenchable thirst for downloadable music — legal or questionably legal — took a strange turn when a friend turned me onto the archives of the United States military bands. The Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps bands all have their own websites.

As far as I could find, our friends in the Coast Guard were left out. Please correct me if I’m wrong. I’ve been looking for a copy of their song — the catchiest of any branch — to no avail.

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Beyonce caught up in smoke

Juan Villa / The Collegian

Juan Villa / The Collegian

Juan Villa / The Collegian

Juan Villa / The Collegian

Moncayo looking forward to second term

Juan Pablo Moncayo hasn’t felt like an ordinary student in a while. The dance instructor- turned-executive has come a long way – in more ways than one.

“I went from an average student to vice president,” Moncayo said. “It was crazy.”

After winning his first election to student government, Moncayo served as vice president of Associated Students in 2005-06.

Now, in his final year at Fresno State, Moncayo begins his second consecutive term as AS president.
The double major in physics and business administration was the first international student to be elected AS president. He ran unopposed in last spring’s election.

In an interview with the Collegian just before summer break, Moncayo talked about coming to the United States from Ecuador, becoming a student advocate, and forming the outlook for AS this year.

Portillo (P): Many students on campus will be incoming freshman or transfer students, new to Fresno State. What might people not know about you?

Moncayo (M): I’m going to be a sixth-year senior. I was born in Ecuador, born and raised [there] until I was six, and then I came here to the United States for another six years before I moved back.

So, I’m kind of a product of both countries.

I have two brothers. They both live in Florida. I am really close to my family.

I’m actually pretty laid back. I love music. I love jazz and a little bit of everything. My iTunes is crazy; I have like 14 days worth of music.

I have two days of house music, two days of salsa music – just a whole bunch of different stuff.

P:What was your experience like when you came to the United States and Fresno for the first time?

M: We came and lived in Van Nuys, which is not the richest place in L.A. County, in the San Fernando Valley. … It was really interesting to grow up there for the first six years.

Then, when I was 12, my dad wanted to be a pilot. He had been training for a while when he found a job back in Ecuador that would allow him to start his pilot career.

We all moved back and I did my high school there.

From there, I came straight from Ecuador to Fresno. I came as an international student, while the rest of my family [went to] Florida. I’ve been the only one out here since 2002.

… I think the first two days were pretty scary. I’ll be honest: I was terrified, oh my God. I would be in these panics, like ‘Oh my God, what am I doing.’

… I would very nonchalantly move away from a situation, going to the bathroom to wash my face, and tell myself that it’s OK.

For two years, I remember how I thought it was so scary to walk in front of the [Free Speech Area] booths. … It was such a new environment that it takes awhile to get used to.

It’s interesting when you actually get to know half of the people in the booths.

P: What led you into student government?

M: I was a salsa instructor. I did that for a while with the Fresno State Salsa Club. It was one of the clubs I got involved with first.

I had never taught anything like that before, so I learned how to be a teacher. … I did not get involved in student government until later.

When I first came to Fresno, I didn’t know [Associated Students] existed. I didn’t realize how powerful it was. … I’m the kind of person that gets really frustrated if I can’t at least talk to the person in power. And the United States is a great place to be able to do that.

That’s how I slowly started becoming aware of how the system worked, because I had a few concerns about different things on campus. It’s funny because it’s innate and inherent in me to complain.

I got involved in a group called the USU Board. It’s a group of students that oversee the Union. … Through them, I got to see how AS works. I realized how cool it was. [Associated Students is] one of the organizations with the most potential I have ever seen.

P: In the last Associated Students election, you ran unopposed. Did you feel an obligation or a sense of responsibility to run for a second term?

M: I didn’t know I was going to be unopposed until the day I was unopposed. You never know. I thought about it a lot because it was my senior year.

On one side, I felt like I really worked hard last year. But I didn’t feel like if I left at that point that I was done.

I was not comfortable with the fact that I hadn’t pushed myself to the limit and pushed a few things to the limit.

Russel [Statham] and I talked and asked ourselves, “Well if you had one more year, what would you do?” … We talked forever. But running again makes it very difficult for new people to get involved.

That’s something I really had a hard time with. The other thing is, I knew if I ran again that I could help new people and new students get involved.

I really enjoy the service part of it. I enjoy talking to students and finding out what their concerns are.

I’m a lot less about the recognition. … I like spending more time in the core of things.

P: What are some of the biggest challenges of your job as president?

M: I think in this position, your job description is so vague that you will never feel like you are doing a good job.
It sounds like a joke, but the hardest thing about it has been to make sure I still have good health. You get involved and you realize how important the position can be, but it can consume you pretty easily.

There will never be a service that we create that will provide service to everyone. This is what makes our job really fun, but also really hard. There is no typical student.

The average Fresno State student, if you actually look, gives you no data. The margins are just so wide.

The average age is 23, but we have 70-year-old students and we have high school students. It’s really all over the map.

P: How do you feel about the level of student involvement on campus?

M: If students choose not to get involved with Associated Students they should remember that they are the direct deciders.

We have a system for you to show your concern – it’s called voting. I mean, the Student Rec Center was built because 70 percent plus voted and said, “Yes, we want this built.”

You will always have students who will be angry about a decision, and you will have others that will be really happy.
Our job is to discern, “OK, what is best for students and what are most students saying?”

Until 20,000 students realize that they are important, it’ll be really hard for me to sell that to anyone else.

P: What does the new school year look like for Associated Students?

M: I’m excited because the knowledge we have is going to be enough to make this year more productive. We have an understanding of what projects are going to be achievable and at the same time what will provide the most benefit to students.

It’s going to be crazy but fun.

Finding the last parking spot

The overcrowded lots, congested aisles and little bright green envelopes sprinkled all over campus are just a few signs of a new semester at Fresno State.

Hectic traffic the first few weeks of school, students should be prepared in order to avoid parking tickets and missing classes.

“Come early,”said Amy Armstrong,University Police Department Public Information Officer, advised the 20,000 students attending classes.

“Give yourself time to park; give yourself time to walk to class.”

Parking tickets are the most common ticket given out, Armstrong said, often resulting from students being pressed for time.

“Someone will catch you,” Armstrong said.

From her experience, many students receive citations for trying to display last semester’s pass in their windows, while others choose not to purchase a pass at all, she said.

For those wishing to avoid such problems, student/visitor passes can be purchased for $68 at two locations on campus: the cashier’s window at Joyal Administration and the University Police Department office located at the University Student Union.

Students needing only short-term or temporary parking can purchase daily permits for $3 at various kiosks surrounding campus.

University Police staff are also around to hand out daily permits at the start of the semester in order to reduce congestion at the machines.

While parking problems are certainly not new on campus, some new additions are under way to combat them.

One possible solution to relieve parking congestion is the new “photovoltaic” solar-paneled structure being built in Lot V. This structure, in conjunction with Chevron, will help generate electricity for the campus, as well as provide additional parking.

“Nine hundred and sixty-three spaces will be added to Lot V,” Armstrong explained, with a portion of them reserved for staff and faculty to purchase for 24-hour per day use.
“Even with that portion taken out, there will still be more student-parking available than before the structure was built.”

Another new addition underway are the 10-hour parking meters that will be available at the north end of Lot V. While other parking meters on campus only allow a stay of two hours or less, the new meters will better accommodate those taking night classes.

While the additions to Lot V are not expected to be completed until early October, overflow parking will be available at the Save Mart Center except for when events are going on.
Until the projects are finished, following Armstrong’s tips may make your parking experience less stressful.

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