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No draft, no problem?

In July 1968, Fresno resident Jesse Fabela was drafted. Five months later he shipped out to Vietnam.

Fabela arrived in Long Bien as part of a replacement battalion, joining the United States Army’s 199th Light Infantry Brigade.

“After two weeks of jungle training, they sent me off to my company out in the field,” Fabela said from behind the desk at the Legion of Valor Museum in Fresno where he volunteers.

Thirty years later, Brian Turner, who teaches advanced poetry at Fresno State, enlisted in the United States Army. He served for seven years as a buck sergeant, deploying to Iraq in December 2003 as part of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

Turner, the author of “Here, Bullet,” a book of poems based on his experience in Iraq, said in an e-mail that he enlisted for many reasons, some private.

“I came from a military background (nearly joined the Marines twice when I was younger),” Turner said in the e-mail. “I was newly married and wanted to set up my family; I knew the cut-off for age was looming and I might not be able to join later.”

The two soldiers fought in two wars, almost four decades apart. Although the wars have been compared for their guerilla-style fighting and insurgencies, the one factor that differentiates the wars is the draft.

The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 established the draft and the Selective Service System, a federal agency to oversee the process. After World War II, the draft was used to fill vacancies in the military during peacetime and to provide troops in emergencies from 1948 until its end in 1973, according to the Selective Service Web site. During the Vietnam conflict, 1,857,304 men were drafted.

The United States military became an all-volunteer force in 1973. Army Lt. Col. Michael Busteed, an ROTC professor of military science at Fresno State, said the advantage of a voluntary force is the individuals have chosen to serve.

“If it’s a pure voluntary force, you get a higher quality force; you have individuals that are motivated to serve,” Busteed said. “In a draft force, the potential is for people to be serving that do not want to be there so you would have problems with discipline within the force.”

Even with the extended conflict in Iraq, Busteed said the military is currently meeting recruiting goals.

“There’s still plenty of Americans who take pride in the nation and are still stepping forward to serve their country,” Busteed said. “You especially see that during a conflict, people that respond to the call and are still more than willing to serve.”

According to an Oct. 10 news release on the Department of Defense Web site, all branches of the military met or exceeded their active duty recruiting goals for the October 2006 through September 2007 fiscal year. The Army, which had 80,407 recruits, achieved 101 percent of its active-duty recruiting goal.

The growing Army ROTC program at Fresno State, with about 120 members, including a detachment at Fresno City College, is one example of how Americans in the Valley are responding to the call, Busteed said.

Busteed said the Army ROTC provides students the same opportunity as someone who attends West Point. Students receive a commission as a second lieutenant, a degree and an opportunity for leadership training.

“Whatever they’re going to do, even if they do not continue to serve in the military, they’re going to see that’s going to transition quite well to the civilian side,” Busteed said. “Corporate America is going to select people who take the initiative, people who have been put into positions of responsibility, are proven leaders and have and live by the set of values that the Army has.”

Dennis Driggers, a lecturer in the department of political science, agrees with Busteed that a volunteer force eliminates dissent in the forces. Driggers, who was part of the new volunteer military force after Vietnam, said some draftees didn’t mind the experience, developing camaraderie, while others were quick to exit once their deployment ended.

“With a volunteer force, you can’t complain anymore,” Driggers said. “You signed up. You read the contract You went voluntarily.”

Both Driggers and Busteed agree that the United States can continue the war in Iraq without a draft.

“Our national policy is one whereby we can use a few professional military members to fight the war without causing pain to the general population,” Driggers said.

Fabela, the 59-year-old Vietnam veteran, disagrees, believing the war would end in six months if there was a draft.

“It’s easy for a politician to send somebody else’s son or daughter to war, but to send their own is a whole different ballgame,” Fabela said.

Although Fabela would like to see every young man serve in the military and every young woman if she wants to, he doesn’t see that happening soon.

“You’ve seen that T-shirt that says freedom is not free,” Fabela said. “Well it is free for some people. It’s free because I and veterans like myself provide it to them for free. They do not serve so that’s kind of a misnomer, that freedom is not free. I like to say that veterans provide the populace, who don’t serve, their freedom for free. It only costs us.”

Turner, the Iraq War veteran, said in his e-mail that the United States might have to turn to a draft if it cannot fill enough uniforms to defend the country.

“I think having a volunteer military creates better cohesion within military units,” Turner said.

Turner said that the question of how to make sure all Americans experience the effects of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan goes beyond a draft or military service. He said he tries to “instill a connection” through poetry and literature.

“It’s incredibly hard to fathom war taking place — right now — if you’ve never heard a 500-pound bomb explode in your neighborhood, when there are no roadside bombs blowing up the local grocery store, when [jets] don’t fly overhead each night as we sleep,” Turner said.

Although serving one’s country is admirable, Turner said, not everyone would elect to “pick up a weapon” and join the “warrior class.”

“I think it’s wrong to basically draft people into that warrior class,” Turner said. “There are many alternatives to military service, which are still great ways to serve our country and local communities. Become a teacher. Help people to transition from ‘homeless’ to ‘home-owner.’ The list goes on and on.”

Skylar Bautista, a political science major who said he comes from a long line of military family, said the draft is definitely one way to make everyone feel the effects of the war.

“I don’t necessarily think the only way we’re going to win is if everyone feels the effects of the war,” Bautista said. “A lot of people don’t understand [politics] or don’t care, but if we enact the draft everyone cares, whether or not that’s good or bad.”

Bautista, 21, believes everyone should serve their government in some way, whether in the military or the State Department or a federal agency. He said he wouldn’t be distressed if he had to face the draft.

“I was actually planning on serving my country in my lifetime, so being drafted would, I guess, just be putting me in that situation maybe before I wanted to but it wouldn’t matter,” Bautista said. “In fact, I’d probably volunteer if I found out that I was going to be drafted. I’d probably volunteer and try to become an officer.”

Fresno State Football Week 14 Preview

Fresno State Bulldogs (7-4, 5-2 WAC) at New Mexico State Aggies (4-8, 1-6 WAC)

Game Day: Tonight, 5 p.m., at Aggie Memorial Stadium
Television: ESPN2 (Comcast Channel 33)
Radio: KMJ-AM 580 and KGST-AM 1600 (ESPN Deportes)

Bulldogs’ Three Keys to Victory:
1) Shoot down the air raid! If the Bulldogs can put the pressure on Holbrook and stifle the passing game, then the road to victory will be easy.
2) Air it out Tommy! Brandstater needs to take advantage of a poor Aggie pass defense. He and Marlon Moore should look to have an encore performance.
3) Don’t look too far ahead. While it is really exciting to be back in a bowl game, Fresno State needs to focus on beating New Mexico State. An 8-4 record looks a heck of a lot better than 7-5. If Fresno State plays “Bulldog football,” then this game should be over early.

In the land of enchantment…
Wins Against: Southeastern Louisiana 35-14, Texas-El Paso 29-24, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 20-17 and Idaho 45-31
Losses to: New Mexico 44-34, Auburn 55-20, Boise State 58-0, Louisiana Tech 22-21, Hawaii 50-13, Nevada 40-38, San Jose State 51-17 and Utah State 35-17
2006 Record: 4-8, 2-6 WAC (7th)
Head Coach: Hal Mumme (Third Season)
Offense: Air raid
Defense: 3-4
Key Players: H-Back Derek DuBois, WR A.J. Harris, LB Dante Floyd
Series Record: Fresno State leads 13-0
Last Meeting: 2006 – Fresno State won 23-18 in Fresno

Position Match-ups
When Fresno State Runs: Fresno State
Harding has shown the capability to fill the void left by Mathews and Miller.

When New Mexico State Runs: Fresno State
Aggies’ running game is in the bottom third of the conference statistically.

When Fresno State Passes: Fresno State
The Aggies have the second-worst pass defense in the conference and Brandstater is on fire.

When New Mexico State Passes: New Mexico State
The air raid offense is a hard thing to stop, but Fresno State should be able to contain it.

When Fresno State Kicks: Fresno State
Clint Stitser and Kyle Zimmerman need to keep the ball away from DuBois on the kicking teams.

When New Mexico State Kicks: Fresno State
A.J. Jefferson is out with an injury, but Clifton Smith will be itching to take one into the end zone.

Breakdown: Bulldogs

Last weekend’s victory was a big statement for the Fresno State program. The Bulldogs denied a BCS conference team the right to play in a bowl game. For the seniors, it was their final game at Bulldog Stadium, but they all know that there is still a lot to play for.

Last season the Bulldogs barely edged out the Aggies 23-18 at Bulldog Stadium. You can bet Fresno State will be looking to make a statement tonight in Las Cruces.

A bowl berth has already been clinched, but this final regular-season game is a must-win for Fresno State. If the Bulldogs can end the season with an 8-4 record, then they will have taken a step forward in the right direction this season.

Offense:

• What can you say about Tom Brandstater? Last week he was absolutely on fire. Brandstater was 23 of 29 passing for 313 yards and two scores. He also rushed for a score. He might have to do it again tonight if the game turns into a shootout.

• Sophomore running back Anthony Harding was the savior for the running game last weekend. He ran for 115 yards and a touchdown. With Ryan Mathews still recovering from an ankle injury and Lonyae Miller banged up with a bruised quadriceps muscle, Harding will need to be the catalyst for the ground game against the Aggies. Senior Clifton Smith saw limited action Saturday due to a hip injury, but will play tonight.

• The receiving corps has started to come into its own in the last couple of games. Sophomore Marlon Moore had nine catches for 134 yards last week and two scores. Seyi Ajirotutu had five grabs of his own to go with 76 yards. With Bear Pascoe still nursing an ankle injury, reserve tight end Isaac Kinter will need to continue his excellent play.

Defense:

• The Fresno State secondary will be faced with the task of stopping New Mexico State’s offense, which is the second-best passing offense in the conference. The Aggies have passed for 3,992 yards this season, averaging 332.7 yards passing per game.

• The secondary will be without reserve safety Lorne Bell, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury Saturday.

• The key for the Bulldogs defense will be putting the pressure on New Mexico State quarterback Chase Holbrook. The Aggies have allowed 27 sacks this season. If Fresno State can take away the passing game, it will turn into a blowout for the Bulldogs.

Breakdown: Aggies

New Mexico State thought they had a shot at getting to a bowl game this season, but that dream faded fast in the month of November. The Aggies have lost their last four games and find themselves at the bottom tier of the conference standings. Fresno State ended its seven-game losing streak last season with a win over the Aggies, and New Mexico State would like nothing more than to return the favor.

Coach Hal Mumme’s air raid offense has turned more into a crop-duster, as of late. With the Bulldogs coming into town, the Aggies are looking for an upset and the opportunity to end the season on a high note.

Offense:

• New Mexico State’s air raid offense is anchored by junior quarterback Chase Holbrook. He ranks eighth in the NCAA in total offense, averaging 321.9 yards per game. This season he has passed for 3,543 yards, 25 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.

• Holbrook’s favorite target, All-WAC wide receiver Chris Williams, suffered a broken collarbone and is out for the season. Stepping in nicely has been junior A.J. Harris. He owns the school record with 183 career receptions. This season he has totaled 73 catches for 525 yards and two scores.

• H-back Derek DuBois is a versatile target for Holbrook in the air raid offense. He has 55 catches for 708 yards and three touchdowns.

Defense:

• Linebacker Dante Floyd leads the Aggies with 115 total tackles this season. He also has 12 tackles for a loss and four sacks, which also leads the team.

• Freshman defensive back Davon House has been stalwart in the New Mexico State secondary. He has returned four interceptions for 171 yards and broken up five passes.

Who’s really No. 1 in college football?

The Bowl Championship Series computer thinks Missouri is the best college football team in the country. So, too, do a group of pollsters who are charged with the weekly task of rating teams.

Down on the Las Vegas Strip, though, the Tigers aren’t even rated the best team in their next game, against No. 9 Oklahoma.

For decades, people who follow college football have tried to figure out surefire ways to crown legitimate national champions, with varying degrees of success.

In recent years the BCS has taken over with a system that forgoes a playoff in favor of computers and polls.

There are, of course, better ways.

Here’s one: Why not just turn it over to the oddsmakers, who rate with their wallets instead of a ballot.

“We do it for a living. If we send out bad numbers we’re going to lose clients,” said Mike Seba, senior oddsmaker at Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which sets much of the Vegas line. “We have to be right.”

Being right in this case means Oklahoma is a three-point favorite against Missouri in a game the Tigers must win to get in the BCS championship. Bettors seem to be in agreement with it if the wagers so far are any indication.

But don’t stop there. Southern Cal is ranked No. 8 in the BCS and doesn’t have a shot at the national title game after two midseason losses.

Put the Trojans on a neutral field with Missouri right now, and USC would be at least a three-point favorite and possibly more to beat the No. 1 team in the country.

The same goes for once-beaten Ohio State.

“The polls are just a measuring stick for popularity,” said Jay Kornegay, who runs the sports book at the Las Vegas Hilton. “It’s like voting for prom queen.”

The polls sometimes give you great matchups, like Texas-USC two years ago.

But this year’s possible title game likely will have little outside of two awfully small media markets in Missouri and West Virginia.

But network executives say no matter the matchup, the game likely will draw roughly 30 million viewers and dominate that night’s schedule.

Fox is paying $80 million this year for four of the five BCS games, including the Jan. 7 national title game in New Orleans.

Last year, it got a premier matchup between Florida and Ohio State for its money.

Of course, everything about the championship game could change next weekend.

If Oklahoma beats Missouri and West Virginia is upset by rival Pittsburgh, the third- and fourth-place teams in the BCS standings are likely to move into the title game.

And while one is Ohio State, the other is Georgia, a team that didn’t even get into its own conference title game.

“That would probably be the nightmare scenario,” said Charles Davis, who will be in the Fox booth as an analyst for the BCS title game.

Davis believes USC is probably the best team in the country right now, but the way the BCS system is set up it is almost impossible for a team with two losses to make the title game.

That has purists screaming for a playoff system that would clearly identify the best two teams the way it is done in college basketball.

Davis said the current system works to the extent that people are at least talking about possible matchups this week.

“If someone earns their way in, what’s the downside?” he asked. “BYU won it all in 1984 and the earth did not spin off its axis.”

BYU won its championship doing the same thing Hawaii is doing this year — beating everyone else, something that has gotten Hawaii only a No. 12 ranking in the BCS.

The Cougars didn’t even play in a major bowl, winning the Holiday Bowl, but were voted in The Associated Press final poll as the top team in the country.

Hawaii is the only undefeated major college team this year but didn’t move up in the rankings because of a weak schedule.

There are four teams with just one loss, and the main criteria about where they are ranked seems to be that the earlier the loss the better the ranking.

This season’s Rose Bowl could end up being the most intriguing of the bowls, assuming USC beats UCLA this weekend and Ohio State doesn’t move into the BCS title game.

The Rose Bowl traditionally gets the highest ratings of any of the bowl games except the BCS championship game, which will be played six days later in prime time and have the entire college audience to itself.

Because of that, television sports consultant Neal Pilson said, Fox probably isn’t too worried about a matchup with two teams lacking star power.

“A game with Ohio State would probably get a better rating, but Fox isn’t in the game for a one and out,” said Pilson, who formerly headed CBS Sports. “The BCS game is approaching the Super Bowl as a stand-alone game where the matchups don’t matter as much. I don’t think Fox is too concerned. I think they’re excited by the twists and turns and drama this year.”

There certainly have been plenty.

The AP’s Projected WAC Bowl Schedule
• Dec. 22 – New Mexico Bowl at Albuquerque
New Mexico (MWC) vs. Nevada (WAC)
• Dec. 23 – Sheraton Hawaii Bowl at Honolulu
East Carolina (C-USA) vs. Fresno State (WAC)
• Dec. 31 – Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl at Boise
Maryland (ACC) vs. Boise State (WAC)
• Jan. 1 – Allstate Sugar Bowl at New Orleans
LSU (SEC) vs. Hawaii (WAC)

–Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press Writer

2008 Diamond Dogs schedule announced

The Fresno State baseball team has announced its schedule for the 2007-2008 season. The Bulldogs are the two-time defending Western Athletic Conference Champions and are looking for a three-peat in 2008.

Upcoming events in Fresno State athletics

Women’s Basketball
The Fresno State women’s basketball team hosts Harlem Globetrotter Day on Saturday at the Save Mart Center.

The Bulldogs will host Utah at 1 p.m. During halftime, members of the Harlem Globetrotters will perform and will host a post-game clinic for all ages.

Bowling
Fresno State will host the inaugural Bulldog Invitational Collegiate Bowling tournament this weekend at Cedar Lanes.

At least 12 teams will participate from California, Nevada and Arizona.

Both the Fresno State men’s and women’s programs will be participating.

The men’s program has been off to a strong start to the season with wins at the High Sierra Collegiate Classic in Reno, the West Coast Team Championships at UC Davis and the Southern California Open in Camarillo.

The tournament starts at noon on Saturday. Cedar Lanes is located at 3131 N. Cedar Ave.

Men’s Basketball
The Fresno State men’s basketball team will host Cal State Monterey Bay on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. at the Save Mart Center.

Tickets will be $2 for adults and $1 for youth (age 18 and under).

Tickets are available online and the Save Mart Center box office.

New system still being tested

As the game goes on, players on the other team should be gasping for air.

Their lungs should feel like they are on fire. Fatigue should cause them to make more turnovers and fewer shots.

For the Fresno State women’s basketball team this season, that isn’t happening.

Four games into the season, and the team is still trying to use its new system to its advantage. With a 0-4 record, the system hasn’t proved itself yet.

The new system is so unique because it is becoming the staple of how basketball is played in the Central Valley.

Go to a high school game in the greater Fresno area, and you have about a coin flip chance of seeing it. Designed by former Clovis West High School and Fresno City College men’s coach Vance Walberg, it turns on the pressure on opponents.

It takes full court pressure on the defensive side and combines it with a fast paced offense.

To get the turnovers, players try and funnel the basketball handler to a focal point on the court and try to make them pick up the dribble. After that, the defense constricts, tightening up on the player and on passing lines, hopefully creating a tie-up, an errant pass or a three-second violation.

The result: More forced turnovers, more chances to score uncontested layups and higher scoring games.

On the negative side, it takes time to get used to; if you face a team with speedy point guards with great ball control, they can sprint past the pressure. It’s also hard to play perfectly and, applied to the women’s game, there’s no 10-second violation in the backcourt.

Fresno State coach Adrian Wiggins didn’t expect there would be immediate success with the system. But with a slew of young players and a deeper bench, this is the first year the team is using the system for the entire season.

“You have to think about it a different way,” Wiggins said of the system. “You try and do the right thing every time. But in this system you only do that about 30 percent of the time, which doesn’t sound good, but in baseball, if you get a hit 30 percent of the time, you’re a Hall of Fame player.”

So far, there have been glimpses that the system will help the team be competitive. In each of the Bulldogs’ two exhibition games, the team scored more than 100 points. In the season opener against No. 13 Cal, Fresno State led for most of the game before fizzling out in the end.

The system worked well for Walberg. He was a candidate to become head coach of the Fresno State men’s team and was skipped over for Steve Cleveland instead. At Fresno City, his team averaged more than 105 points per game in each of his four seasons. It landed him a Division I job at Pepperdine University.

Ironically, the style still made its way to Fresno State, but through the women’s program.

So far, senior Tierre Wilson has liked it. She remembers Wiggins installing some aspects of it last season during the Western Athletic Conference tournament and being told how this was going to be something new that they were going to try.

“We’re just jumping into it head first,” Wilson said.

For such a high paced system, it takes endurance. A heightened level of stamina is needed, which means more running in practice and pushing the players past their physical limits.

“Coach told us we should be puking,” Wilson said. “You feel like you’re going to sometimes.”

As the Bulldogs’ season goes on, pay attention to players of opposing teams. As the clock runs down and it get deep into the second quarter, if they’re bent over, gasping for air, the system is working. And in those cases, Fresno State will probably be winning too.

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