1997_10 The Daily Collegian October 1997

              -:*V
Bulldogs sweep
Anamie Bu eke lew had seven kills in
Fresno State's victory over TCU Friday
night, page 7.
D
1   H  6 g        1 California State University, Fresno I
aily Collegian
Weather
Sunny and Breezy
high 76/low 53
| Volume 108, No. 30
http://www.csufresno.edu/Collegian
October^ 1997
Local businessman makes big time donation
■ Earl Smittcamp
gives Madden
library $2 million
By David Childers
The Daily Collegian
Fresno State President John
Welly announced the university's
third major private donation over
the last month, and the fourth larg¬
est in university history, in a news
conference Friday.
The cash and land donation of
approximately $2 million rfas pre¬
sented bv local businessman and
Fresno State alumnus Karl
Smittcamp on behalf of the
Smittcamp family. Half of the
Smittcamp donation will be used to
develop the Smittcamp Family
Honors College and the remaining
half will be used as a starting point
to build an alumni center on the cor
ner of Maple and Shaw avenues
"Once again, as a university
community, we are able'to dream
about new possibilities." said
Welly. "The gill will have a pro¬
found impact in two dramatically
different areas that will benefit both
students and alumni of the I'niver-
The land portion of the gift is
located at the corner of Herndon
and Villa, an area currently occu¬
pied by the Peachwood Driving
Range. Wclty indicated that the
driving range would continue to
operate there "into the foreseeable
future."
Alter receiving a standing ova- •
Hon from those in attendance. Earl
Smittcamp explained how the idea
for the donation had come about
"It started on my tennis court at
my home when Dr | Harold| Haak
was still [university! president."
said Smittcamp. "Originally, it was
going to be $ I million. But then Dr
Welty blew into town, and he fig¬
ured if this dude could afford to give
SI million, why not $5 million "
After what continued to be a
very light-hearted but dramatic pre¬
sentation. Smittcamp explained the
significance of the donation to the
university where he. his wife
Muriel, and all four of their chil¬
dren graduated
"I am particularly interested in
the Alumni Center, because I was
the president of the Alumni Asso¬
ciation for somewhere around 50
years." said Rarl Smittcamp "Not
that I am not excited about the hon¬
ors program, but I wa.s a lousy stu-
wifc got me through college. She
would take the notes. I would steal
them, and then she would complain
because we got the same grade "
The money for the aJumni cen¬
ter will be on an incentive match
program For every $2 that donors
offer to go toward the building ol
the center, the Smittcamp family
will match the donation - up to SI
million
"We need to really get at the
alumn; qf this university, said Earl
Smittcamp.,"I don't think enough
ol (hem get involved So. hopefully.
Pleas*- set- GIFT, page 5
North Carolina student falls four
stories out of window after drinking
By Tony Mecia
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
CHAPEL HILL - A University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
sophomore slipped and fell four sto¬
ries out of a dormitory window
early Thursday after drinking beer
with his friends, police said.
James Haskell Bumgardner. IX.
of Laurinburg. N.C.. was in fair
condition at UNC Hospital on
Thursday evening with injuries to
his back.
The incident follows two alco¬
hol-related deaths on college cam¬
puses in the last two months. In the
last year. UNC officials have
stepped up efforts to educate stu¬
dents about the dangers of alcohol.
Last week. Vice Chancellor for
Student Affairs Susan Kitchen told
UNC's board of trustees that alco¬
hol-related problems had dropped
_/ in the first six weeks of the semes-
vter and that the number of students
sent to counseling for underage ,
drinking had dropped by half.
Last year, police began strictly
enforcing open-container and un¬
derage-drinking laws, and admin¬
istrators increased the number of
alcohol-free events on campus. Fra¬
ternities instituted an alcohol-free
rush policy for the first time this
fall.
According to police reports.
Bumgardner had been drinking beer
with three friends - Jonathan Dale.
19. of Lenoir; Patrick Mullis. 19.
of Yaupon Beach; and Temple Lee.
19. of Greenville. N.C. - inside
Winston residence hall in the cen¬
ter of campus.
The four climbed out a bathroorn
window onto a fourth-floor ledge
to smoke cigarettes.
About ~*. 3:35 a.m. when
Bumgardner tried to climb inside,
he slipped and fell onto a small tree
and then to the ground, reports state.
Elson Floyd. UNC's executive
vice chancellor, said that he met
with Bumgardncr's family Thurs¬
day morning and that Bumgardner
was expected to make a full recov¬
ery.
Bumgardner, whom friends call
"Jase," was pledging Kappa Sigma
fraternity this semester, according
to UNC officials. But Floyd said he
did not believe the incident resulted
from hazing.
"The preliminary report indi¬
cates that his fraternity affiliation
had.nothing to do with it." Floyd
said. He added that police and ad¬
ministrators were continuing to in¬
vestigate the fall and that no disci¬
plinary action had been taken.
The university prohibits under¬
age students from possessing and
consuming alcohol. Rules also pro¬
hibit climbing outside windows.
At the four-story red brick dor-*
milory Thursday afternoon, many
students said they didn't know of
the incident until they woke up that
morning to find police and news
crews on the scene.
Junior Rich MacKclfresh of
Charlotte, who lives three doors
doWn from Bumgardner. said he
went to bed about 2 a.m. and heard
nothing until he woke up about 7
a.m.
"Hanging out. having a couple
beers in.the dorm is pretty typical
behavior." he said. "I was surprised
to hear they were out on the roof."
UNC official Floyd said, "What
this really does underscore is the
national magnitude of this prob¬
lem."
See the ball, be the ball
mmm
Ryan Weber — The Daily Collegian
Dana McGregor tries to control the ball in front of a San
Francisco University defender. The Bulldogs beat the Dons
3-0 Sunday afternoon. Full coverage, page 8.
Sign language in high demand as a foreign language course
By Colleen De Baise
College Press Service
When Kimberly Boggs, now a
Purdue University junior, picked a
1 foreign language course to com¬
plete her education major, she
mulled over the traditional offer¬
ings: Spanish. French. German.
"I had four years of German un¬
der my belt from high school, but
could not tell you much past 'How
are you?' and When is your birth¬
day'.'"' she said. "So. my next op¬
tion was to take Spanish because it
seemed \fi be the easiest thing."
Then she heard about another
option: A. .erican Sign Language.
"My roommate at the time was
in the first-year class, and men¬
tioned how much fun it was."
Hoggs said. "So, I asked my coun¬
selor if that could be an option. It
was, but it would be very hard to
get into. She told me the best op^
tion would be to sign up in the sum¬
mer, since not too many people
would be here."
It's been four years since Purdue
first approved sign language for
foreign language credit. And like
many other universities that now
designate American Sign Language
as a foreign language. Purdue re¬
ports a growing demand for classes
that teach the language long used
by deaf Americans.
All eight sections are filled to
capacity this fall with 160 students,
and the university has hired two
more sign language instructors. For
every student enrolled in a class.
two of three more are turned away,
according to Diane Brentan. a lin
guist who leads the program at
Purdue.
"This is not a unique situation."
said Brentan. who estimates that 25
percent of universities have ap¬
proved sign language for foreign
language credit. "Demand lor col¬
lege-level sign language classes is.
increasing nationally."
A few years ago. the majority of
students who signed up for sign lan¬
guage classes were peech. educa¬
tion or nursing majors. Now. busi¬
ness and engineering majors are
starting tojump on the bandwagon,
according to Brentan
. "Not only do students see
American Sign Language as a skill
that will really stand out on their
resume, but businesses are also be-
Please see SIGNS, page 4