‘Privilege’ to being an athlete

I have played baseball at Fresno State for the last three years and have greatly enjoyed my time.
Every year had a much different outcome but nevertheless, I appreciate each year equally. I am so fortunate that I have been able to play my entire career healthy and uninjured. I have truly been blessed.

I want to say thank you to all the young children who never get a chance to play sports like I did, because life had a different plan for them. I want to say thank you for being so strong and tough even when life isn’t fair.

Playing sports is a privilege and that should never be forgotten. For all young kids who are fighting a sickness, I want to encourage you to hold on and keep fighting, for you are my inspiration everyday.

You truly show me what it means to fight for something, and what a real victory is.

I hope that one day I could be as strong or as tough as you are everyday of your life. Thank you for being a real hero, and a true inspiration to all student athletes.

Alan Ahmady
Junior
Kinesiology

‘Equal support’

It seems that our school has an issue with supporting all our student athletes. Fresno State is home to great athletes that are rarely noticed. They are usually noticed if they have football shorts or if they are not wearing Fresno State men’s basketball shirts.

For the past couple of months, our women’s tennis team hosted a few matches; you would expect fans to show up and support them since it’s a home competition right? They did, but for a completely different reason, free food!

The only reason people attended a match was because free pizza was handed out. Why not go out and simply support our home team? Fresno State is the home to the number one doubles tennis duo in the country and the overall team is ranked number 16.

We have a championship soccer team, a championship women’s basketball team and a 8-time championship tennis team, but everyone only seems to follow our football team that loses heartbreaking games.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge Fresno State football fan but I’ll also be there to for our teams that are overlooked and not given the support that they have earned.

Jordan Morillo
Freshman
Kinesiology

Costly budget cuts

Education budget cuts in the state of California go beyond the under-furnishing of the new Fresno State Madden Library. They reach deep into the system, hindering students from kindergarten to 12th grade from getting the education that they deserve.

An over-$10-million-cut plan is going to increase class sizes dramatically and decrease the opportunity for students to obtain school funded assistance if they struggle in school.

California already spends much less than the national budget average on education and our drop-out rates reflect such conditions. By cutting more money from schools, there will be less teachers, which means less help to students, which results in an even higher drop-out rate.

If we aren’t willing to pay for a tax reform in order to improve our educational system, we have to come together and help those students who would have relied on the once-existing school-funded after school assistance and tutoring programs.

Having had volunteered at a free tutoring center myself, I can testify that any help we can give is valuable.

Chris Lopez
Freshman
Chemistry