1995_05 Insight May 1995

              In Focus
Coach Estes
heads CSUF's
recycling center
By Janet Souks
StaffWriler
Trash, clothing, furniture and
recyclables spilled onto Barstow Avenue, blocking traffic at CSUF.
At one time people could donate
their recyclables by dropping them off
at campus, but without any organization and management the site became
a dump, according to CSUF's head
men's track coach Red Estes.
It needed to be cleaned up. and it
took the track coach and team to do
It used to be a dump: now it's a recycling facility.
If it weren't for Estes' commitment
to recycling, it's possible CSUF
would not have a recycling program.
Estes, who has never missed a day
of work in his life, saw that eyesore
on Barstow in 1980 and rounded up
the track team. They hauled 22 pickup
loads to the dump.
"If he starts something he's going
to finish it. If he's going to do it. he's
going to do it all the way. He's a tenacious guy, and if somebody throws
a road block in the way, he's going to
find a way to get over it, around it or
through it," said CSUF head women's
track coach Tom Pagani.
Estes is concerned about others. He
does things for the good of others, not
to benefit himself, Pagani said.
The money available after Estes
pays his student employees goes into
a fund for the track team which gives
them the chance to attend national
competitions that aren't part of the
regular schedule, Estes said.
One of Estes' previous employees
was Michael Ogorzalek. He used to
pick up recyclable paper from various campus departments and take it
to the center.
Estes is "a good person to work
with." Ogorzalek said.
Ogorzalek said he admires Estes for
taking on the operation for such a long
lime when most people would bum out.
Fifteen years after cleaning up the
mess, he's still managing the recycling center on campus located at
Barstow and Maple.
Estes believes there are a lol of
people on and off campus who don't
know about the program.
"It's the best kept secret on campus,"
he said.
According to Estes. separating
recyclables prevents the products
from being contaminated.
"The secret to recycling is separation at the source." Estes said.
Estes says that if the newspapers,
plastics, aluminum cans, glass and
cardboard were not separated, no
company would buy them.
In an effort to organize the center,
he purchased bins to hold the recyclable materials.
During Ihe 17 years Pagani has
known Estes. he has seen the latter's
dedication.
According to Pagani. Estes works
hard with his athletes, and it's the same
with recycling. It's part of Esies' per-
For the love of
pure Jaiowledge
Coach Red Estes has provided
recycling program.
sonality to be motivated to manage the
center, he said.
Pagani works with Estes each day
taking telephone messages for the recycling center. The program's working well, he said.
What impresses Pagani most aboul
Estes is his desire to do the right thing
and lo help those around him — especially his athletes.
Whatever he feels they need, he gets
it for ihem. Pagani said.
Today, Estes strives to impart something to CSUF. Recycling is some-
Photo by Christine Mlrlglan/lnslght
the Impetus behind CSUF's
things he's been doing since he was a
kid in the Midwest.
Estes suggests people look at a
product's packaging to sec if it's made
of recyclable material before they buy
it.
"We live in a society that wastes
everything, and we can't go on forever doing lhat because the natural
resources just won't last," he said.
Estes provides flyers to inform the
departments at CSUF about the pickup
service available. People can call the
track office lo arrange for the service.
Youth, from page 1
The Tulare County Probation Youth
Facility has become the experimental model. It opened in January and
received 40 "wards" (juvenile offenders), 10 more than expected.
"We were expecting to be full by
May," said'Christie Meyer, director of
the facility, which holds approximately 100 wards.
"That actually came sooner than
expected," she said.
For the next six months, the 36
males and four females will undergo
a three-phased, 130-day program followed by an intensive 90-day community-based supervision program
based on electronic monitoring.
The program involves an initial assessment followed by a rigorous 16-
hour-per-day, six and a-half day week
of "highly structured physical, therapeutic and educational/vocational activity," Meyer said.
"I've received calls from all over,"
Meyer said in regard lo the increasing popularity the new approach to
juvenile offenders has received, she
said. "I've been getting calls from all
over the country from parents wanting to put their child into this program."
Meyer said thc high interest in the
program lies in the recognition of the
need for therapeutic intervention,
along with supplying i
cipline and accountability.
Formerly the Return to Custody Facility, the new youth facility was established by a Tulare County Board
of Supervisors resolution. Il took two
years lo bring the old facility up to
code.
The interior of ihe facility consists
primarily of iwo wings each containing a dormitory, dining room and
dayroom area.
The north wing includes an open
dormitory, divided only by a control
area for male wards involved in both
Phase I and II of the program.
The south wing includes two separate dormitories divided by a dual station control area allowing for the sight
and sound separation of the male
wards involved in Phase III of the program and all female wards.
Eligibility into the program includes
being a ward of the Tulare County
Juvenile Court, between the ages of
13 and 17 and having a medical clearance for strenuous activity.
Upon arrival at the "boot camp" the
wards are immediately given intense
training in drill and ceremony.
Each ward is also given a series of
tests including MCMI-II designed to
assess both personality traits and
acute clinical syndromes, and the
WISC-III, which determines verbal,
performance and full-scale I.Q.'s.
Besides a uniform of fatigues, wards
are also given khaki pants, jeans, a T-
shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, deck shoes
and undergarments.
Girls with long hair arc required to
tie il in ponytails. while boys are directed to a barber's chair and sheered
like sheep into a Marine-style crew cut.
After they are given personal hygiene supplies, the wards are shown
to the barracks-type quarters where
they will sleep, dress and shower for
the next six months.
The six-month stay al the facility is
broken down into three phases. Phase
I, the Military Milieu, involves a 60-
day dedication of "proper military
courtesy, marching and drills" given
through instruction by TAC (Teach.
Advise and Counsel) officers.
"Phase I hopes to provide structure,
accountability and self-discipline."
Meyer said. She is also quick lo point
out that unlike traditional military
boot camps, TAC officers are not allowed to use profanity, corporal punishment or training methods that degrade, humiliate or are inhumane.
"It is that type of behavior that actually does the opposite of what we
are trying lo establish with these
kids," Meyer said.
Phase I also includes educational
and therapeutic interventions. Therapeutic intervention uses group counseling to address substance abuse,
grief therapy and anger management.
While providing basic skills and encour
aging self-esteem, educational interventions include reading, math, computer
awareness and horticulture classes.
"We're seeing that in general these
kids have a second grade reading
level," said David Peden, assistant
director of the youth facility. Kl|
Phase II, Therapeutic Milieu, another 60-day program, provides increased self-awareness, victim-awareness and interpersonal communication skills.
During the phases, each ward is
evaluated on a daily basis by TAC
officers. All wards are required to
maintain 15 poinLs each day to allow
for phone privileges and avoid a Formal Report of Counseling.
One-point deficiencies include bad
bed checks, poor dress, insubordination and verbal confrontations, while
five-point deficiencies arc given for
fighting, promoting gang activity and
verbal threats.
Wards are awarded points for honesty, courtesy and tidiness.
While Meyer doesn't expect any
program failures, escape, arson, vandalism and participating in sexual acts
arc all reasons for wards to be removed from the program and brought
back before the Tulare County Juvenile Court.
The last phase. Transition, helps the
ward-transition from the facility back
See YOUTH, page 7
♦ Philosophy majors lead
enriched lives, prof says
By Manny Fernandez
StaffWriler
One day, when no one was looking,
Nigel Villanueva began to change.
The 22-year-old CSUF senior can't
remember when the transformation
started. Maybe it began after studying the principles of epistemology. Or
maybe it happened after examining
the ambiguity of language. He isn't
quite sure.
There's only one thing Villanueva
is sure of these days — that he has a
lot of questions. And sometime,
somehow, when his parents and
friends hadn't noticed, he changed.
Of course, this transformation had
no affect on Villanueva appearance.
He was still strong and athletic, his
arms and legs bulky with muscle, his
face chiseled. He still looked like a
football player.
And the transformation didn't really
change the way Villanueva felt about
certain things. He still listened to the
Sex Pistols. He still loved working
out. He still went to Wiliker's on
weekends.
No, this change was not obvious.
His parents knew him as the same
young man; popular, confident. And
to his friends, he was still Villanueva,
the guy thai was into wrestling in high
school, an altar boy for a few years,
fun to be around.
But after enrolling at CSUF two
years ago, Villanueva knew he wasn't
the same. He was taking a few philosophy classes lhat first year, studying knowledge and language, thought
and theory, ethics and morality.
And then it happened. Philosophy
changed his life.
"I can no longer perceive how I used
lo," he said. After taking those first
classes. Villanueva started questioning the meaning of his existence. He
began wondering if there was a God.
He started thinking about life after
death, mathematics and ethics. Marx-
ism and feminism, Plato and
Immanuel Kant.
Things like sports and working out
became silly. Things like discovering
right and wrong became essential.
"What was important is now just
becoming smaller and smaller," said
Villanueva, a philosophy major a few
classes away from graduation. "I
don't really have any answers. That's
where you end up in philosophy. You
have so many endless amounts of
questions lhat have got to be answered
but they're never going to be."
The thoughts and questions bearing
down on Villanueva are nothing new
to students who major in, minor in or
study philosophy. Like Villanueva,
they struggle and grapple with the
theories of Plato, the meaning of life,
thc definition of right and wrong.
For these students, philosophy
classes arc more than a means to raise
their GPA or land a high-paying job.
The classes unlock doors within.
Of course, many students don't have
the same reaction to philosophy as
Villanueva. Some study philosophy
because math is too boring and debating in class is fun.
But many say studying philosophy
Castle, from page 3
"Now, we've just got a little here, a
little there."
DeVoe said a blimp company has
expressed interest in opening up a
plant in Atwater, which may help relieve some of the initial unemployment when the base closes.
The city of Atwater was in thc running for a U.S. Postal Service coding
center until sites were chosen in
Fresno and Modesto. There was also
a chance that the next University of
California's living quarters would be
located in the dormitories at Castle if
the U.C. Board of Regents chose
Merced County's Lake Yosemite site
for the next campus.
"We've got some new dorms and a
dining facility, and it would only be a
15-minute commute to the school,"
DeVoe said. "BuL there's always a
chance the UC could go someplace
else."
Ron Goblc, information officer for
the UC regional office in Fresno, said
the castle dormitories would be highly
unlikely, since the land is near a federal Superfund site where toxic
wastes are buried.
DeVoe said making the transition to
a non-defense economy will be tough.
"All of the businesses in this town
are going to be impacted. I own a
Jack In The Box, so I'm gonna feel
the heat, too."
The Castle Joint Powers Authority
was formed in 1991 to ensure the
base's smooth transition from a military to a civilian operation.
Maria Courtney, executive assistant for the Castle Joint Powers Authority, said the city will have a
chance to determine what its needs
are in changing from a military to
civilian city.
"It's hard for Atwater to deal with
the governmental impact — we're
talking about deciding the future of
thousands of acres and equipment,"
she said. "We will come up with a
plan that will involve the community."
DeVoe said politics ultimately won
out over the practicality of keeping
the base.
"I know, because when Tom Foley
was speaker of the House, he wanted
to save some bases in his home state
of Washington in favor of dumping
bases like Castle."
On Sept. 30, Castle will bid its final
farewell. There won't be any pomp
and circumstance. There will be no
speeches. A ceremony was held in
October to mark the occasion, so the
base would have enough people to
participate before flyboys and other
Air Force brats took off like B-52s for
parts unknown.
Through it all, the city of Atwater
and Castle Air Force Base always
enjoyed a great relationship, Gaddy
said.
"The neatest thing is that the community and the base have always been
very tight," Gaddy said. "Atwater's
never treated us like "Those military
guys over there.' They treated us like
them, and that's what's really nice."
Jackson, from page 3
of these behemoths, a reminder of I
bygone era when women pilots and
women combatants were as rare as a
two-dollar bill. "You gotta remember." Jackson said, "this force used lo
be all guys."
Jackson puffed on a cigarette and
sighed. On Sept. 30. the place where
he spent two years of his military career will close forever. The clouds,
which had been hovering overhead,
drifted as the wind picked up speed.
The flame on Jackson's cigarette
flickered.
"It's kind of sad, you know, because
there's a lot of tradition in the 93rd
Bomb Wing, but as a taxpayer. I'd
rather save the money. I hate to see
the base close, because we won't have
the Air Force to help us anymore."
Jackson wasn't born with the desire
to fix engines or repair broken wings
He went into the Air Force because
he wanted to fly the missions, risk his
life, grab the glory. Unfortunately, it
wasn't meant to be.
"You know, I went into the service
because I wanted to fly an airplane.
Didn't work out, so I ended up being
a mechanic. And I was never going
to be happy till somebody let me fly
their airplane," he said.
"I was totally dissatisfied with being a mechanic. I wanted somebody
else to do the work. I wanted the
glory."
He was a kid from Bowling Green,
Va., who joined the Air Force about a
year after graduating from high
Photo by David Mlrhadl/lmlght
Charles Jackson rests after giving "his" plane a new coat of wax.
school. His career in the military
lasted four years — two at Castle AFB
and two at a base in Michigan. At 53.
after spending a quarter of a century
flying for Trans World Airlines, hc
says hc really didn't like being in the
"I enjoyed the operation, but, my
God. in Michigan, we'd be outside
working on the engines when it was
20 below and the wind would be
blowing. I can't really say I enjoyed
my time in the military," he said.
"Not when you're making SIOO a
month."
It's been hard for Jackson to look
back on his military career and not
have a few regrets. There were an
awful lot of people he wanted to thank
for helping him become a success.
Friends and buddies he'd probably
never see again. Fellow mechanics.
Anybody he considered a friend.
"A couple of pilots in our squadron did,me a couple of big favors,
and like everybody else, after you
lose contact, you think, did I ever
really say thank you the way I
should have?"
"You know, when you are a GI, you
bitch and complain about everything
you do, but it was good people, and it
means a lot to me that when people
who flew this airplane or had something to do with building it come
back, and they bring their grandkids
over and it looks good."
"That makes this job worthwhile."
has changed their life.
"Philosophy really opened my eyes
to things I never thought about," said
Lara Simonian, a philosophy and
English major. "Things that you don't
notice start to become important. I
learned a great deal about myself."
Simonian. a 22-year-old senior,
doesn't leave her schoolwork in thc
classroom — she applies the theories
and ideas she learns to situations and
people around her.
"I'm definitely not the same person
that I was," Lara says of philosophy's
impact on her life. "I've been bit with
the bug. It's going to be a part of my
life."
Villanueva and Simonian are two of
nearly 50 students majoring in philosophy at CSUF. And even though
the number seems small, more students study philosophy at CSUF than
at other universities across the nation,
according to Donald Blakeley, chair
of the Philosophy Department chair.
Al most public universities with
10,000 or more students, the average
number of philosophy majors is 22.5.
With 45 to 65 philosophy majors every year, CSUF is well above the national average, Blakeley said.
Blakeley attributes this to the diversity offered in the philosophy program. Students majoring in philosophy can choose three sequences: religious studies, general philosophy
and prc-law.
The students come from a variety
of backgrounds and areas of study
including political science, English,
physics, economics. And the students
say philosophy helps them make
sense of the world, teaches them to
think critically, to analyze argumenLs
and beliefs.
Philosophy, Blakeley said, offers
students "something that enriches
their own life ... that doesn't seem to
be addressed in other disciplines or
offerings lhat are available at the university."
Every year, philosophy majors score
high on the GRE and LSAT tests. The
studenLs with the highest marks in law
school are often philosophy majors.
Yet, despite developing breadth and
understanding of the human experience, literature and one's own meaning, philosophy students are often left
with little hope in finding a career.
"It's basically stupid to be a philosophy major," Simonian said. "I had
recently read that there's 18 to 30 job
openings for philosophy majors
across the United States. That's just
incredible."
For most philosophy majors, the
career decision can be a serious one.
And often, family and friends want
to know: What do you do with a philosophy degree?
The students say everyone they
know asks the question. Everyone
wants to know how they expect to
make money. But for these students,
there is more to life than money.
Many philosophy students like
Simonian, double-major, using an
area of study to pursue a career and
philosophy to pursue their mind.
"If I was just a philosophy major, it
definitely would've worried me."
Simonian said of the career question.
"You kind of have to switch the philosopher off, if you want to survive."
"The unexamined life is not worth
living."
— Socrates
Villanueva said he doesn't watch
much TV.
After sitting in philosophy classes
for hours and soaking everything in,
he doesn't feel like watching a mini-
series or sil-com or anything else. It
all seems so inessential after talking
for hours about feminism and existentialism and deontology.
Nigel is taking 21 units this semester. So to unwind at home, he said he
likes to read. He sets aside at least
three or four hours a day just for reading.
The other night, after his classes,
when his homework was finished, he
sal in the Jacuzzi at his parents' house
just after midnight, smoking a cigar,
reading about lightning.
Whence really thinks about it.
maybe the only thing that matters is
reading. If he had his way, he'd make
a lot of money, move out to the moun-
tains, buy a library and read forever.
See PHILOSOPHY, page 7
Congratulations
Class of 1995!
Promthtmslghi Staff