• Home
• News
  • News Briefs
• Arts & Entertainment
• Sports
• Opinion
• Multimedia
  • Video
  • Galleries
  • Interactive
• Blog

Professor suspended for alleged gun threats

The university suspended a Fresno State professor of education in late February after two students said he threatened to bring a gun to class and begin shooting. An investigation is ongoing.

Fresno State and President John D. Welty suspended professor Joe Parks after student Francisco Escutia complained to the dean of the school of education, Paul Beare. University Police contacted Escutia about his complaints.

Escutia told the University Police Department on Feb. 13 that Parks had made the comments the day before.

Escutia, in an interview with The Collegian, said he told University Police that Parks lectured in a teacher preparation class on Feb. 12 about a school shooting and allegedly said, “I wish I could bring my s— and shoot all of you.” Parks immediately said afterwards that he was kidding. Escutia said he interpreted the expletive as referring to a gun.

Escutia said that during the first couple weeks of class, Parks mentioned that he had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

“This was very alarming,” Escutia said.

According to Escutia, the fifth week of the semester was when Parks allegedly made the remarks.

According to an article in The Fresno Bee, Parks did talk in class about when he would carry a gun for protection while researching in Los Angeles.

On Feb. 15, University Police met with another student, who sided with Escutia. Pete Arguijo, 32, of Clovis said that Parks said something similar to what Escutia claimed.

“The issue that I raised, with the department of Curriculum and Instruction, was not due to fear of an imminent threat, since that is not my place to determine,” Arguijo said in an e-mail to The Collegian. “My primary concern was his statement was not in the context of any controversial lesson regarding gun violence in modern schools, nor was there any objective being discussed that day which had any remote connection to his statements.”

Escutia did not approach Parks about his concerns before going to the dean and eventually university police.

The day of the incident, Escutia, who has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Spanish, e-mailed Beare, the dean of the school of education. Escutia viewed his e-mail to Beare as a warning, not a complaint.

“I wrote [the e-mail] five minutes after I got home from that class,” Escutia told The Collegian. “All I wanted from Parks was to take it back, to say ‘I’m sorry,’ and now he’s denying it. All I wanted Beare to say to Parks was that this is unacceptable.”

Escutia said police contacted him the next day — one day before a shooter killed five students and then himself at Northern Illinois University.

University Police had received a forwarded e-mail about the incident and wanted to speak to Escutia. During the meeting with University Police, Escutia was reportedly asked if he would be willing to wear a wire, according to The Bee. But Fresno State Police Chief David Huerta reportedly vetoed the plan.

Beare refused to comment directly about Parks’ situation.

“The general process for student complaint about a faculty member is that the student should first take the complaint to the instructor and try to resolve it there,” Beare told The Collegian on Tuesday. “Next would be the department head or chair, and then the dean. There is a certain order of channels to go through. We generally like to keep it localized to the department level.”

Beare said that Parks is a great faculty member and asset to Fresno State. He also said that Escutia “is an outstanding student pursuing his masters.”

Parks has taught at Fresno State for 10 years and was promoted to full professor in 2007. In fall 2007, Parks faced student charges that he was racist and too demanding in a graduate course, according to The Bee. Beare apparently asked Parks to step down from teaching the class — which Parks did.

According to The Fresno Bee article, Parks sometimes said provocative things in his class to make points, and to prepare his students for touch situations in education.

Escutia still can’t believe that his fellow classmates let Parks get away with his behavior.

“Out of everything, how emotionally disturbing it was to deny that almost everyday there’s racial slurs and profanity,” Escutia told The Collegian. “It got to the point that some of my classmates would say racial jokes, too.”

Janette Redd Williams, associate vice president for academic personnel, declined to comment about if the university would do more than just suspend Parks, citing the case as a “private personal matter that is still under investigation.”

In an e-mail to The Collegian, Ashley Prows, a graduate student in Parks’ class, said she fully supports Parks.

“Dr. Parks never made any threats,” Prows wrote. “Although he may be provocative, he challenges our minds and helps us think ‘outside the box.’ He is also trying to break down stereotypical thinking and he is preparing us for the real world.”

The Collegian could not reach Parks for comment.

Additional reporting by Brandon Santiago and Jessica Szalay.

Student-athletes recognized for academics

The Fresno State athletics department held its first annual Night of Champions Gala on Monday to honor student-athletes for their accomplishments on and off the field.

The video montage-filled gala at Fresno’s Saroyan Theatre honored student-athletes in a variety of areas including academics, athletic accomplishments and community service.

Fresno State President John D. Welty began the night with thanks to the athletes.

“You have represented your university extremely well,” he said. “We are a university on the rise, a university on its way to becoming a top-10 engaged university in this country.”

Many of the awards were separately created years ago, but the gala brought them all together.

Coach Adrian Wiggins and the women’s basketball team took home the Athletics Director Community Service Award.

The award was given to the team that was extremely active in the community.

Fresno State women’s volleyball was the runner-up for the award.

The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) also recognized 105 Fresno State student-athletes who had averaged a 3.2 GPA and above for the past two semesters and were eligible to compete.

Eight seniors received the Victory Award, an award for the student-athletes who lettered the past two of three years, completed eligibility and achieved a cumulative 3.5 GPA.

Erica Henry from women’s basketball and Steve Susdorf received the George Ilg award.

This award was created for two seniors who excelled in the classroom, in the community and in their sport.

The Harold Haak scholarship honored two Fresno State lettering juniors who have been on the Dean’s List for two consecutive semesters and will be eligible to compete next year.

Business administration finance major Moses Harris from football won the award for the men, while kinesiology major and hammer thrower Grace Wiesmann won the award for the women.

The WAC also recognized 94 student-athletes with Academic All-WAC Recognition for athletes who posted a minimum 3.2 GPA and lettered the past year.

Fresno State also gave the Paul Schechter Courage Award for a student-athlete who overcame a physical challenge.

This year, the Fresno State athletics department honored two people, one student and one coach.

Ahijah Lane was recognized for recovering from his devastating knee injury during a preseason scrimmage.

Football Defensive Coordinator Dan Brown was honored for triumphing over brain cancer during the football season.

Coach Pat Hill gave a video congratulations and thanks to Dan Brown for his inspiration.

“He’s winning, just like he always has, he’s a winner and a special person,” Hill said. “The 2007 Fresno State Bulldog football team all played with Brown in their hearts.”

The Student-Athlete Advisory Council named Bulldog Spirit Award Hali Coppin of women’s golf and Frank Sanders of men’s track and field as this year’s winners.

The winners were selected by their teammates.

Henry, a winner of the George Ilg award gave a speech to her peers, describing her Fresno State experience.

Henry talked about her decision to come to Fresno State and how the Stacy Johnson-Klein trial affected her.

“Tierre [Wilson] and I took the role of becoming leaders,” Henry said. “Coach Wiggins didn’t think we could handle it at first, so we had to sit him down and talk him into giving us a chance.”

Henry then went on to talk about the frustration of losing the first six games of the 2007 regular season and the elation of fighting back and winning the WAC championship to gain the first-ever NCAA tournament appearance for the program.

The gala also honored the WAC championship teams and the individual WAC champions.

Marcus Riley from the Fresno State football team was also scheduled to speak, but was unable to because he was at the Green Bay Packers’ mini-camp.

Tyrone Bradley from the 1983 NIT Fresno State basketball championship team was the keynote speaker.

He directly addressed the athletes, telling them to get involved in their communities and to not forget about where they came from.

“Don’t lose contact, and always come back and say hello,” he said. “The university has grown a lot but it still has a long way to go.”

Bradley emphasized community involvement and told the student-athletes to always remember where they came from.

The Fresno State athletics department said that Athlete of the Year would not be named until summer because some of the sports, such as softball and baseball, are not finished.

Morgan Melloh from softball and Tanner Scheppers from baseball were nominated along with seven other student-athletes.

Finally, the newly-created Bulldog of the Year award was announced.

Katie Nenneker of the equestrian team won for the women and kicker Clint Stitser of the football team won the award for the men.

“As you all know, our scholarships and opportunities are all supported by the community,” Stitser said. “And the least we could do is excel in the classroom and off the field.

“I’m really proud to be a Bulldog and I’m going to represent the rest of my life.”

Work beginning on Campus Pointe

The Campus Pointe project was envisioned as a profitable showpiece for California State University, Fresno, turning agricultural fields east of campus into a new cash crop. The $167 million, 45-acre development was planned as a collection of stores, senior/multifamily housing and office space anchored by a Hyatt Hotel.

While the historic project, which was announced in 2005, could still be months away from an official groundbreaking, according to University President John D. Welty, construction on the housing project is just days away.

“Probably in the next few days you’ll start to see construction equipment move on the site and work begin on the housing project,” Welty said. “And of course that will be in full swing as we move into the fall semester.”

The project has been through many delays from lawsuits, a review of the plans and leases by the California State University Chancellor’s Office and a notice of violation from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.

The project has been delayed following an air district rule, which requires an assessment of how the project would affect air quality, according to Dan Barber, supervising air quality specialist for the district. The assessment would lead to the university having to pay mitigation fees. Those fees would be used to pay for projects that would offset the pollution the project would cause.

Kevin Hall, the air quality chair for the Sierra Club Tehipite Chapter, had lobbied for the mitigation fee, which is part of the indirect source review rule. He said the university should be leading the way in fighting air pollution and not dragging its feet.

“Fresno State is in the heart of one of the dirtiest air pockets in the Valley, state and nation,” said Hall. “The university is being grossly negligent in its refusal to comply with the rule.”

Campus Pointe’s impact on the Valley’s air would not be small. The project will generate 12,000 new trips per day, according to the environmental impact report that was issued in 2006.

Wayne Clarke, compliance manager with the district, said that a preliminary estimate of the mitigation fees puts the amount between $1 million to $1.5 million, based on the environmental impact report and the total cumulative impact of the project.

The university was informed that the rule applied to Campus Pointe when it went through the state’s Environmental Quality Review process, Barber said.

“We sent several letters to that effect to the university, trying to advise them of the need to comply with [the rule],” Barber said.

Clarke said the university should have applied after the rule went into effect in March 2006. “We’re almost getting to where it’s two years late,” he said.

The district issued a notice of violation in December, informing the university that it could face fines of up to $75,000 a day. The notice gave the university until Jan. 31 to respond.

“They [Fresno State] came in the next working day we had after [the deadline],” Clarke said. “They came in on Monday, Feb. 4, and spoke with our group and found out what they needed to do.”

Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) President Juan Pablo Moncayo said that he didn’t know very much about the issue, but that it may have a misunderstanding.

“I’m guessing that there’s just been a difference of opinion in how Campus Pointe [should be] handled,” he said. “In previous conflicts, we’ve seen that it’s just been a difference of opinion in how to go about getting approval. From what I’ve observed Fresno State has been pretty observant [in following environmental rules].”

Some of the prior conflicts that the university has faced over Campus Pointe are a lawsuit by the city of Fresno over the project’s impact, especially on traffic, and a request for impact fees from the California Department of Transportation for the project’s effect on the ramps for highways 168 and 41. The university settled the lawsuit with Fresno and agreed to pay Caltran’s fees.

Despite these issues, the project’s previous documents were complete, according to Deborah Adishian-Astone, executive director of the California State University, Fresno Association, which will supervise Campus Pointe once it’s finished.

“The environmental impact report for Campus Pointe adequately addressed all required traffic and air quality mitigation required and the EIR included an air quality assessment report as required by [the] California Environmental Quality Act,” she said in an e-mail.

CEQA is the state’s environmental law. Its air quality rules require some mitigation as well but, unlike the air district’s rule, don’t require mitigation fees. Even when developers make mitigation efforts on their projects, the project still causes more pollution, Hall said. He said that other polluters, such as industry, are already working to cut emissions.

“They [developers] need to pay their fair share,” Hall said.

The air district’s rule is an important tool because it addresses the effect of growth, Hall said.

“We’re getting lots of [emission] reductions from local sources but that’s being undermined by sprawl,” he said. “We have more vehicles traveling more miles more often and at higher speeds.”

The rule is aimed at more than one kind of emission, according to Barber.

He said that there are two types of emissions that occur with development: the construction exhaust and emissions that are associated with the operation of the project-its energy consumption, landscape maintenance and vehicle miles traveled.

“The rule is really intended to encourage developers to think about the way they design and develop a project,” Barber said.

A constructive summer: Henry Madden Library taking shape

As the Henry Madden Library rounds out its second year under construction and renovation, library employees are being moved to temporary buildings and students are left to study elsewhere until its completion in January 2009.

Library services will remain available throughout the summer and fall semesters, but the small amount of study space that was available in the south wing will become a construction zone on May 19.

“All services will still be available,” Henry Madden Library Dean Peter McDonald said. “The one thing there will not be is the student study space.”

Library materials, except special collections, will be available by online request and can be picked up at University Center (UC) Room 123, also known as the Renaissance Room.

Student laptops will remain available for checkout in UC 5, where printers are also available.

Many undergraduate students haven’t known the library as anything but under construction, since the demolition began on August 8, 2006.

Sophomore Stephanie Klein entered her first semester at Fresno State just as construction was beginning on the new library.

“It will be so nice to have a library again,” Klein said. “My entire college experience has been without one and now there is going to be even less of it. At least future students will have a nice library to study in.”

Dean of Student Affairs Paul Oliaro, Ph.D., said that the University Student Union (USU) will remain a prime study location for students, but other options are being looked into.

Locations such as UC 200 have been reserved as student study space, but are under utilized and seldom full, Oliaro said.

“The library staff have worked really hard to ensure students have access to library materials,” Oliaro said. “This is the last phase of renovation but after it’s completed in spring 2009 we should have some semblance of normalcy.”

Students and staff alike are looking forward to the library reopening.

Library staff will be housed in temporary buildings that will sit south of the Satellite Student Union until December, when they can move into their newly renovated offices and begin moving books inside.

Victor Morales, assistant superintendent of Swinerton Incorporated, helps oversee the project and said the new addition and renovations will be complete by January. He does not foresee construction taking any longer.

“It is progressing very well, we are on schedule or ahead of schedule on all projects,” Morales said.

Once it reopens, the four-story library will be the largest in the 23-campus California State University system.

It will feature state of the art information technology systems, space for more library holdings and provide many student reader stations.

Until then, access to library databases and electronic journals is available online and reference help will be available on the main floor of the USU, and through instant messaging.

For students like senior Chris Johnson, not having a library on campus has affected the way they study and their whole college experience.

“Even though services are still available, it just isn’t the same as having a library to wander around in,” Johnson said. “Now I go to the city library or a book store to get my fix, but it isn’t the same as stopping at the library between classes for a quick cram session.”

Master Plan changes campus over 10 years

When the graduating class of 2008 comes back for their 10-year reunion, it won’t be just their classmates who have changed.

The campus will have undergone a major facelift by then, as part of the university’s Master Plan, a 20-year projection of all possible changes to the university’s infrastructure, buildings, landscaping and parking.

“I see a greener campus, a more sustainable campus,” said Bob Boyd, the associate vice-president for Facilities Management.

The library, Campus Pointe and the photovoltaic parking lot are all part of this Master Plan, as well as the new University High School, which is due to break ground in fall 2008.

In 10 years, the main entrance to the university will shift from Maple Avenue to Barton Avenue, near the new Henry Madden Library. A brand new Free Speech Area will greet students driving into campus, where the sides will be lined with trees and student booths.

The University Center Building will be demolished in order to increase the size of the Free Speech Area.

“It’s really crowded,” Boyd said of trying to cram 20,000 students, plus the student booths, into that one area.

“The renovations will bring a lot more life into the center of campus,” he said.

Many of the changes are going to be more than cosmetic, though. In order to accommodate a projected 5,000 student growth, major updates are needed to campus infrastructure.

Boyd said the infrastructure updates are “desperately needed” and it would “probably set the campus up for the next 25 years.”

Priorities are expanding the air conditioning system and developing a sewer treatment plant. The plant will be key in helping Fresno State become a greener campus, as it will allow the school to use recycled water for its irrigation.

However, before many of these projects start, the campus needs to get the Master Plan formally approved. The school is currently studying the environmental impacts of the proposed projects, such as their affects on traffic and air quality. The Board of Trustees will decide whether to formally approve the plan in November 2008.

Hit the road Mackin, don’t ya come back

Jim: Fresno State softball player Robin Mackin said she is not returning to Fresno State next season.

Mackin took a year off to train with the Canadian National Softball Team for the Beijing Olympics this summer.

Apparently Mackin said she had been thinking about this for a long time.

I find it quite ironic that Mackin wants to quit as soon as new freshman sensation Morgan Melloh shatters all of her records.

Does she not realize that she and Melloh were going to be the one-two punch next season to bring a national championship back to Fresno State?

Her decision makes no sense to me.

Kim: You have to admit that it isn’t a huge surprise she’s chosen to pursue her options. She’s got talent and another school might be better for her.

It also must have been kind of hard for her to leave for one season and the next thing she knew, a young talent helped people to almost forget her name.

Of course we would never forget her, but her absence wasn’t as detrimental to the team as we thought it would be.

Jim: Mackin said she wants to pursue another option, “possibly at Division I.”

This seems like a slap in the face to the Fresno State program. The Bulldog softball program is one of the best, if not that, in the country.

So what are we Fresno State fans supposed to think when we see Mackin next season wearing the uniform of another school.

If she “loved all the fans and the community support” then why leave? Sounds to me like the lure of the bigger-budget programs may have swayed Mackin.

Kim: Maybe everything Fresno State had just wasn’t enough. She has experienced playing softball at one of the highest levels possible and that probably opened her eyes.

Fresno State was nice, but the exposure at other schools is what she wants.

I agree with the fact that the reputation of Fresno State softball is not a bad one, but maybe it wasn’t enough.

Jim: I don’t think the softball program has anything to worry about though.

Margie Wright is the best coach in the country and knows how to find talent. She will definitely find a new pitching phenom like Mackin and Melloh.

Mackin will probably feel a bit foolish when Fresno State returns to the promised land in Oklahoma City for the NCAA Championships.

Kim: As long as she doesn’t take a season off to play somewhere else, we will have three more seasons of the Melloh attack.

It’s sad to say that not only is this most likely the last time we’ll be writing about Mackin, this is the last time we’ll be writing together.

So, I guess it’s time to say so long to two great things.

With change, though, comes bigger and better.

« Previous Page — Next Page »

5201 N. Maple Ave., M/S SA42 Fresno, CA 93740-8027 | (559) 278-5732 | collegian@csufresno.edu