1996_11 The Daily Collegian November 1996

              News
THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Monday, November 4,1996
Write-in: Setencich fights to regain state assembly seat
Continued from page 1.
Setencich announced his write-
in candidacy last July.
On Nov. 5, voters in the 30th
district will have to write-in Brian
Setencich if they want him to con¬
tinue to represent them in Sacra¬
mento.
"Write-in candidacies are very
difficult and I wouldn't have got
into one if the circumstances were
different. This candidacy has a good
chance because it's not about one
person. It's a cause for the Valley.
It's about getting our voice back,"
Setencich said.
Setencich said his winning the
election is important for California
and for the San Joaquin Valley.
"It's also important for the state
because winning this race will show
other people who don't have a lot
of courage in Sacramento now, that
they can be more independent—
that they can beat these people—
that they can beat this pact who
holds their thumb over them in Sac¬
ramento," Setencich said.
Politics in Sacramento are
phony, he said.
"Everybody says great things
when they're campaigning, but then
when people get in office they want
to survive because they like the of¬
fice, they like their status, they like
their salary, they like the notoriety,
and that's it, they want to stay,"
Setencich maintains.
He says that the majority of poli¬
ticians in Sacramento will compro¬
mise and do anything to stay in of¬
fice.
When his battle to regain his seat
wears him done, Setencich draws
on the memories of his past.
When Brian Setencich was
young, his mother, Nadene
Setencich, would encourage him.
He recalls there would be times
during a break at one of his basket¬
ball games when his mother would
tell him not to worry about the
game. She'd tell him to "hang in
there" and be tough.
The 6' 6" basketball guard and
forward followed his mother's ad¬
vice and graduated from Fresno
High, attended Fresno City College.
San Diego State, and graduated
from Cal State Bakersfield in 1985
with a B.A. in Business.
Setencich was successful in the
game of basketball and toured from
1985 to the beginning of 1991 as
part of a European basketball team
in France, Germany, England and
Spain. When he learned in 1987 that
his mother had cancer, he returned
home to be with her, his father and
his sister Anna.
Nadene Setencich died that year.
With fondness, Setencich re¬
members his mom. He says she was
the kind of person that people
would gravitate towards.
"My mom always gave me the
encouragement, gave me the spirit
to be a leader. She'd say, 'Be as
tough as a terrier.'"
He said his mom would tell him,
"At times when you need to stand
up for what you think is right, then
doit"
Though he obviously feels he
can make a difference for the Val¬
ley, Setencich said he knows per¬
sonally that the Valley already has
"some great senators" in Ken
Maddy (R-Fresno) and Jim Costa
(D-Fresno).
He's worked with both senators
on legislation in Sacramento.
He says of senator Maddy, "He
kind of reminds me of one of the
real class acts in Sacramento. I
think he's respected, as is Costa, by
all the members, whether you dis¬
agree with them on an issue or not,"
Setencich said.
In Sacramento, Setencich
worked hard in getting AB 3305
passed, which will become law in
January 1997.
The law requires a uniform stan¬
dard for pooJL safety devices, like
fences, special latches and door
alarms.
"There are over a hundred kids
that die every year from drowning,
and also three or four hundred kids
that are seriously hurt for the rest
of their lives," Setencich said.
Another piece of legislation that
Setencich worked on was SB 901,
a clean and safe water bill authored
by Senator Costa.
Setencich believes that Costa
should take all the credit though.
"He did all the work. He worked to
bring the real divisive factions into
the fold, and it took a long time,"
said Setencich.
The law will help bring new re¬
sources of water and help to build
structures to store more water,
which will help agriculture,
Setencich said.
Today, California saves about 30
percent of its Water — the rest of it
runs out to the ocean. It's possible
Sweeney: Fresno State coach joins elite
Continued from page 1.
is Coach Sweeney's 200th win.
That was a big part of the game to¬
night." said Michael Pittman, who
rushed for a career-high 212 yards.
"I'm just happy to be part of the
team that gave him his 200th win."
Sweeney's son Kevin, who
quarterbacked the 1983-86 Bull¬
dogs, said this was the day when
his father entered the "elite" ranks
of coaching.
"I just think it is a great thing
for Jim Sweeney and a great thing
for Fresno State," Kevin said. "But
more importantly, he will always be
remembered as being in an elite
group of active coaches."
Despite the jubilation and the
easy win Saturday, the elder
Sweeney said his 200 wins were
anything but painless.
"I've had three back surgeries,
a neck surgery, four knee surgeries,
and some things that are unmen¬
tionable. Two hundred wins has
been far more difficult to go
through than any of that," Sweeney
said.
However, on Saturday, the sur¬
geries, a serious car accident in May
and the 200 wins didn't slow the
coach-of-the-hourdown. Sweeney
was still able to lead his players in
a "whoop-there-it-is" dance from
the center of the field moments af¬
ter the game.
Sweeney then accepted a plaque
from Fresno State President John
Welty in recognition of Sweeney's
celebrated coaching career.
"This is a great evening. And a
great tribute to an outstanding ca¬
reer," said Welty. "Coach Sweeney
has built this football program and
athletic program and he should be
very proud."
The City of Fresno also has
plans for Sweeney at the end of the
season. Mayor Jim Patterson said.
"We have been talking to the
university about a ticker-tape pa¬
rade." said Patterson. "At some
point, Fresno needs to formally and
officially thank Coach Sweeney for
Vhat he has meant to us all. So, we
have asked the university if it was
interested. The university re¬
sponded positively."
College football coaches with the
highest number of wins
1.) Bear Bryant, Alabama: 323
2.) Pop Warner, Temple: 319
3.) Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pacific: 314
4.) Joe Paterno, Penn State: 266
5.) Bobby Bowden, Florida State: 266
6.) Woody Hayes, Ohio State: 238
7.) Tom Osborne, Nebraska: 238
8.) Bo Schembechler, Michigan: 234
9.) Lavell Edwards, Brigham Young: 222
10.) Hayden Fry, Iowa: 219
11.) Lou Holz, Notre Dame: 213
12.) JessNeely, Rice: 207
13.) Warren Woodson, Trinity: 203
14.) Vince Dooley, Georgia: 210
15.) Eddie Anderson, Holy Cross: 200
16.) Jim Sweeney, Fresno State: 200
that new distribution systems will
be developed to route water to Cali-
fornians who are without or do not
have enough water, according to
Setencich.
If elected, Setencich said he will
continue to work more on improv¬
ing water in the Valley.
He'd also like to work more with
the public education system to es¬
tablish vocational training for stu¬
dents in high school, since some
graduates do not go on to college.
As for election day, and who will
be the best candidate to represent
the constituents in the 30th district
of the Valley, Setencich says,
"Don't think that this valley or any
other place in the state should al¬
low an outside influence to dictate
to them what kind of influence
they're going to have, to tell them
who they're going to be represented
[by] and to take someone out that
stood up for what they believed in.
To me, no one should allow that to
happen," he said.
"If we have enough people one
day that are willing to analyze leg¬
islation based on its merit only, and
not what a party affiliation is asso¬
ciated with, we would get a lot
done."
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