1996_08 The Daily Collegian August 1996

              THE DAILY
* COLLEGIAN
L     Wednesday, August 28,1996
Opinion
Telephone: (209) 278-5732
Escape the school chaos,
venture to Woodward Park
By Ingemar Dan lb erg
Special to The Daily Collegian
It's the first week of school. The
traffic is relenUess. The parking is
a migraine in the making. Then, of
course, there are those pesky
classes.
You've got to buy books for
those classes, and that involves go¬
ing to the bookstore, and that means
waiting in long lines.
What's that? You're hungry?
That's not good. Being hungry can
lead only to waiting in even longer
lines, and lots of yelling. 'Two
chicken soft tacos... please!"
Sure, things will settle down as
the semester progresses, but for
now, life is frustrating and Fresno
State is one large bubbling cauldron
of anxiety. Long lines, tempera¬
tures hot enough to flame-broil a
Whopper, people just as frustrated
as you, lots of bumping, crowds,
textbooks, notebooks, financial aid,
call-in registration, change-of-ad-
dress cards, classes, homework,
reading, labs, schedules to make...
A week of non-stop fun just beg¬
ging to be sponsored by our good
friends over at Pepto-Bismol.
But wait, there's relief, and it
doesn't come from a large pink
bottle. There are places to go.
things to do. Relaxing places, fun
things. Yes friends, here, in Fresno.
The Valley floweth over with sooth¬
ing places and interesting diver¬
sions.
One such place is Woodward
Park. A 300 acre park just a few
miles northwest of our beloved
campus. It a beautifully large area
of greenery and water, filled with
all manner of birds, and a serenity
not often seen in the development
hungry city of Fresno.
Grab yourself someone special,
pick up a large sandwich from your
local deli, and head on over. It'll
cost a couple bucks to park, but it's
well worth it. Find a bench near
the lake, in the shade, and pull out
the food. Be sure to save some
bread for your friends on the lake,
they'll thank you for it. An hour or
two absorbing the quiet will rem¬
edy that first week stress more than
you think.
Seeking even more inner-peace?
Well then, get up off of that bench
and take a stroll to the park within
the park, the Shin Zen "Friendship"
Garden. It's a traditional Japanese
garden within Woodward park that
is the epitomy of calm and quiet.
Find a quiet nook to sit back in and
take in the beautifully kept garden
that includes a pond with Japanese
Koi. waterfalls, and a "moon
bridge" over a lake.
Either place is ideal for forget¬
ting about the rest of the world, if
not only for just and hour or two.
For those of you looking for some¬
where a little less antiseptic than the
library to study, Woodward Park
and the Shin Zen "Friendship" Gar¬
den are ideal study areas. So grab
those fla&cards, books, or just a
sandwich and someone special, and
head on over to Fresno's answer to
the first week of school blues.
Cherh}or^__%/       -*- ii
/
Let Alanis Morissette do the screaming — it's therapeutic
By Andrea Meyer
Special to The Daily Collegain
My musically aware and Ger¬
man boyfriend described Alanis
Morissette's Ironic, as a song I
might appreciate. I was not in¬
trigued.
Music in or around the rock
scene has been my abhorrence for
some years. I can't admire some¬
one who wails, breathes heavily, or
screams throughout a whole song.
I love the light, classically trained
voice.  During the last two years I
have agonized through my own
vocal difficulties. Squirming, I lis¬
ten as someone else starts scream¬
ing in the middle of a song. I know
from experience; it's embarassing.
So I never liked rock too much.
This summer, while visiting with
my culturally hip cousins from New
York, I was awakened every morn¬
ing by Tori Amos' Under the Pink
and Alanis Morissette's Jagged
Little Pill. During the day, we heard
the group, Rusted Root over and
over again. They kept the selections
as musical as possible for me.
Whether or not it was this same
love for my cousins that prompted
me to listen, I did. And miracles,
do happen. I started to wake up
with Alanis singing in my head
even when the CD wasn't playing.
I knew the signs. I was starting to
like this stuff.
Many events have occurred in
my life this summer: I rode on scary
roller coasters with my hands in the
air, I saw and fell in love again with
a guy I haven't seen for two years,
and I got a door on my bedroom.
These are major breakthroughs in
my existence:
Now, I actual ly bought an Alanis
Morissette' compact disc.
I feel the doorway has been
opened into the modern music
scene. Not only lias it opened, but
there are really interesting ways of
conveying messages in thismusic.
Alanis Morissette sings in Not
the Doctor, about relationships
where one person is forced to be a
full time psychologist^ She men¬
tions in Ironic, the little things that
make life so unpredictable. In Per¬
fect, the lyrics portray the tragedy
of parents who push their kids too
hard, making love conditional. The
list goes on.
These subjects are so ordinary,
not beautiful, sadly common. She
speaks often of pain. Is this what
we are relating to?
It really helps when you're up¬
set to have someone else do the
screaming for you. I feel so calm
and peaceful after hearing her. I
start thinking that things aren't re¬
ally that bad. and that she should
Please see MEYER page 4.
Daily Collegian
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The Duly Collegian U published five
timet a week for and by tbe students of
California State University. Fresno.
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