1986_09 The Daily Collegian September 1986

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.Friday, Sept. S, 1986
Page
Housing glut shakes dorms
Off-campus rental housing is giving the dormitory system a run for
its money.
The campus housing system at CSUF is facing a serious and rare��problem. The dorms have vacancies — 74 of them at last count —
which means a possible loss of up to $80,000 in revenues. Improve¬
ments have been put on hold, and the housing department is working
on a marketing strategy to pull in more business.
Dorm advertising seems strange, because dorms were usually the
first quarters to sell out. But now the dorms are facing competition
from apartment complexes, making for a somewhat unbalanced race.
Apartments, by nature, advertise in the classifieds — bragging
•about prime location, deluxe features, and special low move-in rates
to find quick renters.
Dorms haven't had to do that. Many students reside in the dorms
out of necessity — perhaps they are from out of town — so there is no
"shopping around" for a dorm room.
Then there is the massive issue of roommates. With an apartment,
the renter can find a place with no roommates, no loud next-door
Unite or falter
Minority editions
deserve insurance
Once again, the three minority news¬
papers at CSUF are faced with a crisis
that threatens their very existence. This
time it's not a single person expressing
his opinion in unclear fashion, but
insurance companies expressing theirs
very dearly.
It seems'the insurance companies
have decided that The Daily Collegian,
La Vox de Azdan, Uhuru Na Umoja
and Hyt Shorihoom now qualify as
"high-risk factor*," there by sending
the premiums to insure these papers
against liability through
the ceiling. However, The Daily Col¬
legian WAS able to obtain liability
insurance for a pahry $4,325 a year.
But why wont the Insurance com¬
panies insu re the minority publications?
They art, in fact, published by the
same students, using the same resour¬
ces, catering to the same student pop¬
ulation as The Dally Collegian, with
the same goal of keeping the students
of CSUF informed of events
pertaining to them. The fact that they
are not daily publications, or the fact
that they tend to focus on minority��issues, should have no neg¬
ative bearing on how they are insured.
This, unfortunately, b not the ease.
CSUF Accounting Officer Robert
Vega, the man dealing most directly
with the insurance companies, said at
the first meeting of the AS Senate
Thursday that the minority publications
could be insured along wit h The Daily
Collegian, thereby becoming a part of
The Dally Collegian and losing a great
deal of their autonomy.
The alternative to this would be for
the minority publications to print
without liability insurance and hope no
lawsuits are filed, or cease publication
until reasonably priced insurance can
be obtained, which could possibly take
the entire semester or longer.
Neither of these alternatives are
sound. The first would leave the papers
open to litigation, meaning one poorly-
turned phrase could bankrupt the newly
incorporated AS. The second could
mean three very important campus
voices will he silenced indefinitely.
So while the AS tries frantically to
deal with this problem internally, and
while representatives in the accounting
office try to scrounge up some reason¬
able insurance, the three minority pub¬
lications should consider temporarily
merging with The Daily Collegian until
proper insurance can be found. Any
setback this may cause eaa be easily
overcome, and it is far preferable for
the papers Involved to publish safely
than for them not to publish at all.
The minority papers are too impor¬
tant to let their voice be silenced, and
they are too well-rooted for this unfor¬
tunate turn of events, to stop their
growth. If the editors of the four campus
newspapers work together, there should
be no trouble maintaining the integrity
of all the campus publications. /
neighbors, and often, no security deposit or last-month's rent. Dorms
almost always require sharing quarters with another student.
On top of that, dorm rooms aren't exactly replete with spacious¬
ness, and with meals, run about $3,000 a year.
But the housing department is trying to address these issues.
Creation of the "Super Singles" dorm room is a step in the right
direction. For an extra weekly charge, students can get a room to
themselves and not have to contend with an unknown — or unwanted
— co-habit at or. Plans are being made for more of these setups, since
the original 12 sold out fast.
Even so, the apartment side of this issue has'students flocking to
rent off-campus. Major reductions in move-in costs, along with the
glut of apartments, have enticed dorm residents to get off campus and
into their own place.      s ." ,
Unless the housing department succeeds in its quick and shrewd
marketing maneuvers, the echo of partly vacant halls may turn into
the metallic sound of doors locking, and "moving into the dorm" may
become an archaic phrase to tell the grandkids about.
WHO
puts the
Daily Collegian
together?
Editor ia CUcf-J G Wirt II
MMMftes Editor-Sarah Williams
Copy Editor-Glen Faison
Sports Editor-Mike Butwell
Photo Edttor-Tbrty Olmos
Ami. Photo Editor-Glenn Moore
Graphics Editor-Lane Turner
Baaiaaaa Maaaaar-John Fry
Advertises Maaaaar-Tncia Holt
Advertising Prodactioa-Regina Fitts
Asst. Baaiaaaa Maaaaar-Anna Carretero
TypesottJos-Gretta DeFehr. Amelia DiMesio.
Marga Kellogg. Wendy Parent
Prodactioo-Julie Borek
Raportars-LeRoy Bamett. Elizabeth Breen,
David Comfort, David Forster. Michael T. Jarvis,
George Kostyrko, Peter Melton, Tamara Toller.
Paul Worthington, Cael Weston
Advartiaiag  Baprasaatativas-Sharon
Kuan, Regina Noh and David Vigneault
Staff Artiat-Kefth Curtis
Circalatfoa-lsmatf Taib
The Daily Collegian it published bv the Assoc¬
iated Students of CSUF and the newspaper staff
daily except Saturday. Sunday, examination
week and university holidays.
The newspapers office is located in the Keats
Campus Building. Fresno. Gtilif. 93740. Editor¬
ial. (209) 294-2486. News line. 294-2487.
Business/Advertising. 294-2266.
The< Daily Collegian is a member of the
California Intercollegiate Press Association.
Subscriptions are available by mail for SI 7.50
per semester or SJO per year.
The opinions published on this page are not
necessarily those of The Daily Collegian or its
staff. Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the
papers five member editorial board.
The Daily Collegian
Founded in 1922
■
<
I Reader
Response
to Daily Collegian articles and opinion are
welcome. Send letters no longer than 250
words in length to Daily Collegian. Keats
Campus Bldg.. CSUF. Fresno, CA 93740.
Letters must be signed and include the
writer's name, address and telephone
number.
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed
Cal
en
dar
The Latin American Support Com¬
mittee will conduct a slide show at 7
p.m. tonight in the Ted C. Wills Com¬
munity Center. The show will feature
, the group's recent tour of Nicaragua
and El Salvador. For more information,
call 225-0403.
An Art Reception Featuring CSUF
Student Artists will be held tonight in
the Phebe Conley Art Gallery and the
President's Gallery in the Thomas
Administration Building. The public
receptiontvill be from 7 to 9 p.m.
The Annual Watermelon Run will
be held Saturday, Sept. 6. A six-mile
run will begin at 9 a.m., and a two-mile
run starts at 10:30 a.m.
The Executive Committee of the
Academic Senate will meet Monday,
Sept. 8 at 3 p.m. in Room 203 of the
Main Cafeteria.
A Film Festival sponsored by Beyond
War will begin Monday, Sept. 8 and
will be held in Room 200 of the Old
Cafeteria. "Booom," an animated film
dealing with the global arms race will
be shown at noon. It will be followed
by "War Without Winners," a segment
relaying Eisenhower's warnings con¬
cerning the development of nuclear
arsenals. Beginning at 7:30 p.m., the
film "Overture*' will run, featuring a
performance illustrating scenes of war.
This will be followed by "No Place to
Hide,"depictingan American idea that
nuclear war is survivable. "Dark Circle"
will be the final Monday evening film
and will involve rare footage of bomb
manufacturing. Tickets are 51 at noon
and $2 for the evening films.