1994_05 Insight May 1994

              May 4,1994
IN FOCUS
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO
Page 3
INSIGHT
Fresno loses
edge on figs
JoeRosato	
INSIGHT
In the tin-roof fig packing
houses that once dotted Fresno,
the women worked along conveyer
belts, picking bad figs from the
box loads that came by, tossing
the bad ones into wood crates, the
good ones into aluminum. Side by
menian and Italian women with
little in common but their hands,
burned and blistered from the hot,
sticky figs.
"People without education had
nothing else," said Angic
Danisi,74, who worked in the
packing houses for 34 years."Most
of the Westside worked in the
packing house. That's all there
was."
The packing houses had brick
walls, which kept the sheds hot in
thesummerand cold in the winter.
"One year it rained in September
and ruined all the figs—there was
no work that year," said Danisi,
who first worked in the packing
houses in 1944.
Only four packing houses remain in Fresno; of the thousands
of acres of figs, most have given
way to houses and commercial
developments.
Fresno County, wh ic h once had
20.000 acres of figs, has dwindled
to 3,300 acres, according to Ron
Klamm, manager of the California Fig Advisory Board.
Klamm attributed one of the
factors in fig land reduction lo the
orchard owners who retired and
soldtheirlandstodevelopcrs. The
developers transformed the tree-
bearing acres into residential areas.
Another incentive for the growers to sell their lands were the
attractive prices the growers received for them.
"They got high prices for their
land, they don't make near that
amount farming," said real estate
developer Andy Caglia. "In Fig
Garden, those lots go for any where
between $50,000 to $100,000."
Fresno, which once led the nation in fig growing, now trails
Madera County which boasts
6,700 acres of fig trees.
Madera has become attractive
to fig growers because the land is
cheaper. Caglia said the cost of an
acre of Madera land is less than
S3.000.
In use in Madera is a new system of planting that allows more
trees to be planted per acre. An
average acre of Madera land can
hold 125 trees and produce 2,000
pounds of figs. AFresno acre holds
49 trees and produces 750 pounds.
"We're changing the system
nnu/ ihat w<* Irnnui -a lot more."
Caglia said.
Though Fresno has fallen behind in fig accragc, it remains the
only processor of figs in the nation. Allcommcrcial figsproduccd
in the United States must pass
through one of Fresno's four fig
processing plants.
The packing houscscitherpack-
age the dried figs for sale, or grind
them into paste that is used in
cookies or other foods. Of all figs
produced, about 3 to 5 percent arc
sold fresh.
Decades have passed since
Fresno was filled with fig orchards.
One of the city's busiest intersections. B lackstone and Shields, was
once covered with fig trees — the
site that is now ManchcstcrCenter
was an orchard.
The Fig Garden area was
planted with 12,000 acres of trees
in the 1920s by leading fig grower
J.C. Forkncr who envisioned a
small retirementcommunity where
retirees would live on one-acre
parcels of figs.
Though his original plan never
became reality, the area known as
Fig Garden thrives.
Fresno's once great orchards
arc only evidenced by the sporadic groves that remain in some
residential areas. Once such orchard was owned by the late
George Cloud, whose island of
figs trees at First Street and
Gettysburg Avenue withstood the
development that surrounded it
until recently. His fig orchard was
developed into a shopping center
soon after his death in 1986.
The original fig packers' ages
arc approaching three-fourths of a
century.
The figs are leaving.
Like the street cars that once
ran through Fresno's streets; like
the old city hall; like so many
other Fresno landmarks long since
demolished, another Fresno vestige makes way to progress.
CSUF 'Doogie Howser,' 13
Bryan Chan
 INSIGHT
When 13-year-old Ricky Lyon
walks into a class at Alia Sierra Intermediate School he doesn't cause much
of a commotion.
But when he walked into McKee
Fisk Room 208 the first day of his
computer programming class at
CSUF, conversation stopped and
people stared.
"Wc- were flabbergasted," Keith
Moshcr, 18,saidof thcclass' reaction
lo Ricky. His presence left lecturer
Jerome Smith bewildered.
"I was looking around to sec who
brougnt tncir Kia, smiui saiu. i
thought he was somebody's child."
Noticing Smith's confusion, the
eighth grader immediately explained
he wasn't in the wrong class at the
wrong school despite his tender age.
'They were pretty surprised," said
Ricky, the youngest student enrolled
at CSUF.
Ricky, a student in the Gifted and
Talented Education program at his
middle school in Clovis, is gradually
beginning to fit in with the big kids.
"It seems like they're treating me
like everyone else," Ricky said.
"The kid is carrying his load,"
Meyer Lcifcr, 80, said.
And then some. Smith said of Ricky
who is one of three student tutors in
the Computer Science 118 class.
"Quite often he'll have three to
four adults around him asking for
help," Smith said. "I'll say, 'he's taking care of it," and walk off."
Ricky shrugs off any notion that
he's the Einstein of the class though
he has the second highest grade in the
class.
Bryan Chan/INSIGHT
Ricky Lyon, 13, runs computer programs with Classmate Keith Mosher, 18, before their
night computer science class. Lyon Is the youngest student enrolled at CSUF.
"Ifthey'rcnotunderstandingsome- and chickens for his4-H club. of higher education was paved by
thing I show them the basic steps," "Computer programming seems straight A's, high scores on the
Ricky said. pretty cool," Ricky said. "With my Scholastic Assessment Tests and
When Ricky isn'tpecking away at background in 4-H, I might become a a scholarship from the Johns
his Apple Macintosh computer he's veterinarian." Hopkins University Center for
practicing his flute or raising sheep Ricky's road to the hallowed halls Talented Youth.
Grazing permits, fees increasing
Tom McGarry
 INSIGHT
Like the plot of a B-ratcd western, today's
caiticoien find themselves locked in a raging range
war.This time, thcblackhatsarcn'tsodbustcrs.but
a 1990s breed of bad guy — the en vironmcnial ist.
Determined to rid the National Forest of cattle,
environmentalists have galloped across the political landscape of Washington, rounding up votes to
banish the cows by raising public grazing fees.
According to Terry Thomas of the environment
conscious Sierra Club, fees aren't the only issue.
A whole wilderness environment used for grazing
is being adversely affected.
Dan Macon of the California Cattleman's Association said calUemcn have been public landsstcw-
ards since the 1800s, and he wonders just what all
the fuss is about.
Last year, in the Sierra National Forest alone,
847 cattle-grazing permits were granted and 76.
427 cattle grazed.
This newest shoot-out in an ongoing war began
with Interior Department Secretary Bruce Babbitt's
endorsement of congressional legislation to raise
grazing fees, nearly doubling them in three years.
Currently, fees charged arc $1.86 per Animal
Unit Month, or AUM. An AUM is the amount of
forage required to sustain a cow-calf pair for one
month.
That amount, Thomas claims, is nothing more
than a federal subsidy for the cattle industry.
Thomas said fees paid arc used for land upkeep
on which catdc graze, but that current fees do not
begin to cover damages caused by cattle hooves
impacting the soil, destruction of vegetation and
loss of wilderness habitat.
"Even if they double it, it still wouldn't be
enough to pay for the damage," he said.
His legislation killed. Babbit wants to use agency
regulations to impose the new fee system.
Dan Macon of the California Cattleman's Asso
ciation said transportation costs, time involved to
check caulc. fences and watering areas all cost
cattlemen money.
He said increasing the grazing fee will not only
push them off public lands, it will put them out of
business.
He also attributed part of the recent government
action to the disparity of federal-land lease vs.
private-land lease fees.
He said ranchers on private lands arc paying for
convenience and likened federal lands to a cheap
apartment in the low-rent district, and private lands
to an expensive apartment in the high-rent district.
With private land, catUcmen merely drop off
their cows to graze, and return to pick them up.
Land owners arc responsible for fences, land
and water.
Nathan Carver, a Glcnville cattleman with 200
head on public lands expressed the same opinion.
See GRAZING, Page 11
Aid still available in tough times
DavidMirhadi
 INSIGHT
The state's financial woes have
put a strain on resources available to
students through CSUF's financial
aid office.
There is aid, however, if students
know where to look.
The CSUFFoundation, established
in 1931 as a means for "promoting
and assisting the educational services
[of CSUF] and make expenditures to
or for the benefit of California Slate
University, Fresno," also assists in
raising money from local benefactors
in the community to provide many
different types of scholarships for
students.
The CSUF Foundation works in
concert with the financial aid office
to secure funds for student scholarships, and although the money gener
ated by the Foundation for students is
small, it provides a vital resource.
There arc two kinds of scholarships that the university provides and
the Foundation raises money for, said
Joseph Hcuston, director of financial
aid.
"There are two kinds of scholarships: the inside scholarship and the
outside scholarship. The outside
scholarship is where the student makes
an application to a community organization, like the Rotary Club or
Knights of Columbus. The organization notifies the student of the award
and sends the check to us," he said.
"In all cases, the money is handled by
the Foundation. In many ways, the
Foundation acts as a bank, a holding
compartment."
The money awarded is earned
through the process of investment
income. Heuston said.
Last year, the scholarship award
committee, which grants scholarships,
awarded 504 individual department
scholarships and 127 individual donor
scholarships among a pool of 1,027
scholarships.
"If there is a fund that has earned
$5,000 in interest income, forcxamplc,
then it would be our job to award that
scholarship," Hcuston said.
Jon Shaver, executive director of
the CSUF Foundation, said the donors
have the option of asking how their
money can be spent.
"A lot of scholarships arc earmarked
for certain majors. Wc can designate
how wc want the scholarship to be
spent, if the donor does not specify."
said Pete Prcstcgard, controller for the
Foundation. 'The students know what
they arc getting into."
See AID, Page v\
Students fight off sleep in class
Tisha McDonald
 INSIGHT
When students walk into lecture room 121 in McLanc
building for a three hour night class, they are walking
into a steam room not unlike the ones some pay thousands of dollars for at health spas.
The room is stuffy and the lights softly hum.
Many students rest their heads on their clammy
hands while slumping in their chairs. Some can be found
with their heads on their desks, face down in their books,
learning through osmosis.
For many part time students it is a challenge to stay
awake in class alter a full day at work.
"Every week 1 fight staying awake in class because
I'm just so urcd after an eight hour day at work," said
CSUF student Andrea Wilson.
Wilson is not alone. Many students struggle balancing work by day and class by nighL
Most night classes meet once a week for three hours.
Many students find three-hour classes almost unbearable.
But for students who work days there are not many
alternatives.
"After work 1 use my night class to catch a nap
before I go home and study," said CSUF junior Tim
Robbins.
Philosophy major Tricia Collins said she takes two
No-Doz, drinks a Pepsi and eats a chocolate bar to stay
awake in her night classes. But after 9 p.m. nothing
helps, Collins said.
Kcllc Holt, 24, with a human resource degree, said
that even if she did not work, she still would not be
able to stay awake in a night class.
"I would consistently nod off in my management
class," Holt said.
"I could not stay awake."
Holt later learned that a group of students w ould bet
every class period to sec how long it would take her to
fall asleep.
As the tuition continues to increase, more and more
See SLEEP, Page 11
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