1994_05 Insight May 1994

              Page6
IN FOCUS
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY. FRESNO
May 11,1994
INSIGHT
Opening of children's center signals new era
A new children center
will open for campus
children fall 1994
Andriana Doukas
 INSIGHT
One day a place will exsisi on
campus where children can run
through a redwood forest, and play in
a clay studio and in a sand kitchen.
Children will have access to new
iiinuvau»t mtMit% Mmw|iM u.~
will have the very best facilities offered lo them.
A remarkable facility, called the
Early Education Center, is part of the
new Education and Human Development building. The center will be
opening in ihc fall of 1994.
Dr. Sharcen Abramson, professor
of early childhood education and director of the Early Education Center,
has been working on die new center
for more than nine years.
She said the Early Education Center is going to model the best prac ticcs
in early education, and she wants
CSUF's center to be a model for the
state.
The center will practice a unique
philosophy imported from Italy called
the Reggio Emilia Approach.
"I talked with my colleagues in the
Early Education Childhood program,"
said Abramson, "and what we discovered was this program from Italy
and the program (at CSUF) was extremely current and there was tremendous interest in it."
Abramson said she attended an institute in New Hampshire to study
this approach and the more she
learned, ihc more she wanted lo see
the schools firsthand.
So she traveled to Italy and thai
became the basis for a lot of planning
for the actual program.
This approach includes such practices as community commitment, an
active school-home partnership, involving art in the classroom so that
children can use visual learning and a
concern for the environment.
Chi Idre n are encouraged lo express
themselves not only through verbal
communication, but imagination, and
teachers will use photographs, videotapes and other instruments so lhat
mentation.
The Early Education Ccnicr will
have four children's classrooms, two
infant-ioddlcr classrooms, a huge
kitchen and observation areas. The
ccnicr will serve up lo 150 children
ages six months to 6-ycars-old.
It will be available to CSUF students and has limited space for faculty and staff children.
Even, though Abramson and the
Early Education Childhood Department went through everything with
such detail, some would say the children probably won't notice.
But what ihc children will notice is
the boulder sand area, the gazebo, the
five level water tables controlled by
pedals, the redwood forest and the
sand box.
The list docs not end there.
Itconiinucs wilh the flowered herb
garden, ihc grape vines, the citrus
trees and the animal area filled with
lop-eared bunnies and visiting animals from ihc ag school.
The playground has also been carefully designed for disabled students
so they loo can Like advantage of
everything.
The Early Education Center will
also serve as a learning center for
student teachers and other disciplines.
According to Abramson. many students from different programs will
benefit from the center.
"The art department would like
students to have field placement here,
as well as communicative disorders.
The childhood development department would like to use this, as an
addition to their labs," said Abramson.
"So I think the possibilities are
unlimited and I hope to see involvement from the music department and
oiher departments across the cam-
Sydney Yarbrough, a student in
ihc credential program, said that she
can't wait to lake advantage of the
"As a student I think that wc are
learning the best practices to take us
into our careers," said Yarbrough.
"The Early Education Center is the
best facility for us to observe."
According to Abramson. "Children
deserve the best and they arc going lo
get the best in this program."
Lisa Rohrcr, also in the credential
program, agreed with Abramson.
"The ccnicr is going to be such an
exciting educational experience for
the children," said Rohrer.
"I am so excited for it to open."
The ccnicr was not completely stale
funded. With the help of the Fresno
Rotary Club donating S5.000 and the
ASI contributing SI 50,000 the center
was able to add certain key features.
"People used to make jokes about
were I was going to come up with the
money for a kitchen.
But ASI made it possible with a
S150,000 gi ft and this is probably one
of the most useful kitchens on campus."
Photos by Hadi YazdanPanah/INSIGHT
Above:
The new
campus chlldrens
center will be open
at the start of the
fall '94 semester.
Right:
Shareen
Abramson,
director of
Early Education
Center, confers
with Robert Borro,
consulting architect.
Fine arts majors face job crisis
Cheryl Nelson
Fine art students are majoring
in unemployment.
Enrollment of majors in the art
department has declined by 35
percent in the period of 1989 to
1994.
'Taculty are reluctant to admit
the straightforward terms regarding ihe dilemma of a marketable
career after graduation for an
majors," said Richard Delaney,
chairman of the art department.
"The only practical area a student is trained for is a leaching
position," he said.    •
"It's been a problem the depart
ment has been wrestling with for a
long time," he said.
Delaney teaches an introductory
course in photography, a field studies
course, and color courses.
The art department and the graphic
design department may merge in order to combat the problem.
The merger would benefit both
departments by incorporating more
cash for a belter curriculum.
The School of Art would redesign
its courses to accommodate ihc design courses by implementing a strong
commercial an curriculum.
"Fresno Stale is still a cost-effec-
tivc alternative lo some of ihc higher
priced schools lhat concentrate on a
commercial art course of study without offering a degree in that field,"
Delaney said.
"Students attending a school
like the Art Center or Rhode Island School of Design arc guaranteed a professional position once
ihey arc finished, bul the cost while
ihey attend is enormous compared
lo CSUF," he said.
Faculty and potential art majors won't know ihe fate of die
program, pending rigorous debate,
until late into ihe 1994 fall semester.
"1 don' t care what ihey say aboul
ihc art major program, it's what I
like to do." said Mary Klick, a 23-
year-old art major.
"I am going for my masters so
I can teach at ajuniorcollege." she
Campus postal service receives toads
"People will their bodies over to science and a specific school where
they are cut up and experimented with."
— Leo Gutierrez
LupeFttentes   Other mail ilems received have
INSIGHT bccnT-shins.jcwelry.insuranccpay-
ments and personal resumes shipped
by ihc academic faculty without postage, hoping the university will pay for
Cadavers and live tadpoles arc
among the packages received al the
campus mail room.
Leo Gutierrez, an assistant for ihe
pasi 20 years in ihc shipping and
receiving department, said, "forklifis
are used to ship ihe corpse [weighing
between 150-200 pounds] to the science department"
"People will ihcir bodies over to
science and a specific school where
they arc cut up and experimented
with." Gutierrez said.
The mail room tries to screen all
items 10 make sure people don't spend
state money on personal business.
Approximately, 12,000 pieces of
on-and-off campus mail items arc
weighed, sorted, coded and shipped
daily including international and
U.P.S mail.
Sloppy handwriting forces workers to open mail lo determine the
destination.
When an item is received, the mail
room sends the package back to the
department before it is opened, Dan
Ferris, the supervisor, said.
With 20,000 people to serve, the
mail room operates with cighi-full- •
time and six-part-time employees providing the same services and capabilities that compared to a small town
post office.
Extra space will be made available
for six machines with the addition of
a 12-foot by 36-inch room costing the
university about $24,000 to increase
mail productivity.
INSIGHT
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Comedy Class Classic Competition
Humor class final competition
The speech humor class will be
taking their "final" as stand-up
comedy competition
Must be enrolled in class to compete. The instructor is a former
stand-up comedian. 20 students
will compete.
Carl's Jr. Cafeteria
Thursday May 19
7:30 p.m.
FREE