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WEB-SPE@K: Do you feel safe on campus?

Is it important for students to have regular access to campus crime records? Is a constant source of this information important for students’ safety?

Lacrosse set for UC Davis

The Fresno State lacrosse team is heading to UC Davis this weekend to try to earn the program’s first ever win.

“We’ve had some really good training days and that has been a key to helping us get prepared for Davis,” head coach Sue Behme said.

As a new team, the Bulldogs have not only had to work on team unity, like any other team, but also on simply learning the game.

Consequently, many of the mistakes the team continues to make are simple, basic and easily fixed.

The three main focuses for the Bulldogs heading up north Saturday are controlling draws, capitalizing on offensive opportunities and forcing a lower percentage of shots.

“We have been working hard on defense and reacting in the backfield and making better transitions,” said Kristen Hoska, a senior first-year lacrosse player. “We have improved a lot in becoming more of a team and a unit.”

Tighter offense strategy against Aggies

While the ’Dogs have been working hard to improve their defensive abilities, they are also striving to gain confidence on the offensive side.

Taking more shots and not hesitating on open opportunities will be something they can look to improve upon.

“We are going to be taking a lot more shots and capitalizing on shooting opportunities,” said Hoska. “We are going to work on communication and not allow them to be wide open.”

The Aggies, who are 1-1-1 on the season, just came off a narrow 14-13 win over Saint Mary’s in double overtime.

Before they play host to the Bulldogs, UC Davis faces off against Stanford tonight.

Jack scores historic goal

Fresno State hopes to have better luck against UC Davis than its previous three opponents.

The team opened its season with a 19-0 loss to Cal Berkley at Bulldog Stadium but enjoyed the positive fan support and the atmosphere of the newest sport to be brought into the Central Valley.

After suffering the home loss, the ’Dogs went on two straight road trips.

The first game was held at Stanford on Feb. 12, where the Cardinal, who is ranked No. 18 in the national ranks, beat Fresno 20-1.

But 20 wasn’t the number that meant the most. Instead, it was the one.

That one represents the first goal to ever be scored in the program’s history, and Heather Jack was the one able to claim the honor.

“That was something that I will never forget,” said Hoska. “At that moment we were all just so happy and knew that we were going to be able to do this.”

Jack simply carried the ball up the crease of the field and laid it in past Stanford goalkeeper Annie Read.

Behme striving for ‘the next level’ of play

While scoring the first goal was an exciting milestone for the team, there were many little things Behme was happy with as well.

She felt that her team did a good job causing turnovers, especially since Stanford is such a tough opponent.

After the loss, the ’Dogs traveled to Denver and suffered another 20-1 loss, but this time to Canisius College.

The team complied six shots on goal, but it was senior Molly Sovacool’s shot that was to score.

In that game Behme didn’t feel her team played to the best of their abilities.

“We struggled,” said Behme. “We played below the level we should have but it was a good learning experience.”

The ’Dogs aren’t expecting to win many games this season but have yet to be discouraged.

Focusing on developing the program, improving upon specifics and finding their individual roles is what the team is narrowing in on.

“Right now we are at a point that it was so much fun to be the first lacrosse team here,” said Behme. “But now we can’t live in that thought. We need to go to that next level and challenge ourselves.”

Fun and games, 2/27/09

Crossword and sudoku answers for Feb. 27, 2009.

Former Fresno State track coach alleges gender discrimination

Little more than a year after a trio of gender discrimination cases costing the university more than $16 million, and just months after settling out of court with softball coach Margie Wright, Fresno State has another discrimination lawsuit on its hands.

Ramona Pagel, an assistant coach for the Fresno State track team, says she will be filing a complaint within the next few days.

Pagel is claiming the university committed gender discrimination when it did not ask her to interview for either the head coaching or assistant coaching jobs she applied for last year.

According to Betty Mosher, senior associate athletic director, the university does not comment on lawsuits.

Pagel said she applied for the job after former head coach Bob Fraley resigned at the end of last season.

She had served as an assistant coach for three seasons prior to her application, serving as the men’s and women’s throws coach, and was not rehired for this position either.

Pagel is a former Olympian and, over the summer, served as a trainer for Kim Kreiner, a competitor in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Pagel’s attorney is Warren Paboojian.

Paboojian has previously represented former women’s basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein and former associate athletic director Diane Milutinovich in their lawsuits against Fresno State.

The university agreed to pay Johnson-Klein $9 million over 25 years during when they arrived at a settlement in June 2008.

Milutinovich settled with the university for $3.5 million in Oct. 2007.

Paboojian asserts that the university had no reason for not rehiring Pagel, given her athletic credentials and that she did not receive any negative performance reviews.

Grad student covers dismissed UHS teacher’s music classes

University High School (UHS) has hired a Fresno State graduate student to fill in for the music teacher who was dismissed in late January.

Jennifer Dean, who earned her bachelor’s degree in music education and is now pursuing a master’s degree in flute performance, has replaced Jonathan McCoy Malcolm for the time being, Dr. James Bushman, head of school at University High School, said.

On Jan. 29, Malcolm was arrested on charges of distribution of lewd material and annoyance or molestation of a minor.

After an emergency board of officials meeting on Jan. 30, University High School announced that Malcolm would no longer be serving as a music instructor for the school.

Amy Armstrong, public information officer for the University Police Department, said she could not comment on the status of the case because it is still under investigation.

Two-day transition ’seamless’

Dean will take on Malcolm’s responsibilities as music director for the rest of the semester, Bushman said.

Those duties include serving as an instrumental music teacher, teaching music theory classes and conducting the various musical ensemble groups.

Bushman said that after Malcolm was dismissed, University High School was able to get Dean into the classroom in less than 48 hours.

“No classes were missed. We were able to move seamlessly without problems,” he said.

“While [the incident] was clearly a disruption, we were able to transition through the problem quickly.”

The classes have picked up right where they left off. The students have performances scheduled in May that they will continue to rehearse and prepare for under Dean’s guidance.

“I plan on doing the best that I can with the bands that I teach,” Dean said. “I want them to have a musical learning experience followed by a wonderful end of the year concert.”

Bushman said since the incident, “The kids are doing great. There were a lot of questions and doubts about what was going on but as the kids became more aware, they understood what was going on and have now moved on.”

Fresno State student to fill position after May

All students who attend University High School participate in some sort of musical education including orchestra, band, choir and music theory.

Because Malcolm played a key role in all of these areas, three additional graduate students have also stepped in to help teach University High School’s music department.

Bushman said he will post a full-time job announcement soon but that Dean and the graduate students will carry the program through this semester.

Bushman said that hiring Fresno State students to fill these positions helps carry out Fresno State’s mission to create better educational opportunities. He said University High School serves as a lab for Fresno State students interested in education and even though the way it came about is unfortunate, this is a perfect example of that relationship.

“We feel lucky that we were able to collaborate with the music department to enrich our own students and the graduate students,” Bushman said.

“I have only heard uniformed praise for our new teacher.”

“This experience is tremendous,” Dean said.

“I hope to gain knowledge that turns to wisdom.”

She added that this experience is different than others she has had in the past.

She is learning to manage and organize while learning techniques that work and troubleshooting those that don’t.

Dean says she hopes her students learn independence and self-discipline but her ultimate goal is for them to enjoy what they do.

“I hope to inspire the kids and show them proof that life is always positive when you believe it is,” she said.

“Music should be a fun experience. It touches a different side of you that you probably didn’t realize you had.”

Movie review: ‘The Reader’

Kate Winslet has never been one to shy away from shedding her clothes for the camera, and “The Reader” is no exception.

As lovers Hanna and Michael, Winslet and the surprisingly well-endowed David Kross spend a fair share of their screen time together sans clothing.

As a boy of fifteen, Michael first meets the thirtysomething Hanna in 1958, just after vomiting outside her door.

Their affair is quick and intense, lasting only a summer. Hanna wastes no time schooling him in the art of lovemaking; her only request is that he read to her both before and after sex.

At summer’s end, however, Hanna is gone without a trace, and Michael is left to ponder over the loss of his first love.

Eight years later, as a chain-smoking young law student, Michael comes face to face with Hanna, now in her forties, in a courtroom as she and five other women stand trial for Nazi war crimes.

The atrocities of the Holocaust are trotted out as Hanna willingly submits herself to interrogation and eventual imprisonment, taking with her a secret she finds more shameful than any act she committed as a Nazi guard.

“The Reader” is a haunting, melancholy film that does not seek to answer any of the disturbing questions it raises. Hanna makes no apologies. “The dead are still dead,” as she later tells Michael.

Oscar winner Winslet is an emotional powerhouse here, delivering a performance that is both quiet and devastating.

Ralph Fiennes plays Michael as a middle-aged adult adequately enough, but his stiff formality is rather tedious to watch when compared with Kross’s searing portrayal of innocence not so much lost as forgotten.

In the end, the character of Hanna Schmitz remains as elusive and mysterious to Michael (and the audience) as on the day he first meets her, even as her soul and her sins are laid bare in the courtroom for all to see.

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