1994_09 Insight September 1994

              September 21,1994
IN FOCUS
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO
Page 3
INSIGHT
Prof, farm girl at heart
Lynn Diddy
INSIGHT
When Dr. Rita Atwood goes home,
she is greeted by the pitter pat of little
feet — 56 of them — but they're not
her children, although she might disagree with that statement.
At wood lives in the foothills by herself, with the exception of a few
friends that keep her quite busy.
Two dogs, 11 cats and a horse, a garden, an orchard and a home she
drafted herself, can all be found off
Highway 168.
Atwood had always fantasized
about building a home in the foothills and having lots of animals.
During her job interview with CSU,
Fresno, she took a drive out Highway 168 to Shaver Lake.
"It was springtime. The flowers
were in bloom, hills were green and
I thought, 'If I get the job, this is it,"*
she remembers thinking at the time.
She got the job and then decided to
build her home on a 10-acre lot on
the way to Prather.
The property is up on a hill with lots
of oak trees and a nice view of the
mountains. She even put in a basketball court, because she likes to shoot
hoops every now and then.
Atwood had never owned anything
except a small tract home, but this
time she drafted the three-bedroom
floorplan herself and supervised the
subcontractors.
"I had always lived in really small
houses. I had never thought of nw-
self as a homeowner. It consumeifall
my time outside of school for a'year.
So far it's been my bigges/ challenge."
Her house was completed in November 1988, making way for her to
house the animals she had always
wanted.
Broccoli, her 32-year-old horse, has
far exceeded the average horselife
span of about 20-22 years. A neighbor gave him to her four years ago.
"He's very smart," she proudly
says. "He knows five different gaits."
A gait is a term applied to a horse's
foot movement.
She used to ride him, but last May
he developed arthritis. After a $ 1,500
veterinarian bill, she decided to care
for Broccoli herself.
One of her dogs, a shepherd mix,
also has been ill. After a bad leg infection, he got valley fever, a viral
infection common to the San Joaquin
Valley that weakens the immune system. The veterinarian told Atwood it
would cost her $7 a day for a nine-
month treatment. Instead, she took a
different route and treated Cody herself, using certain herbs and vitamins
that she learned of from naturopathic
medicine books.
"It's the first cured case of valley
fever my vet has seen," she said.
Although she doesn't consider herself a cat person, she has managed to
accumulate 11 of them.
"Some people see themselves as either dog or cat people. I'm just an
animal person," Atwood said.
One cat, Gent, started hanging
around when she first started to build
her house.
"He was wild, and he always looked
beat up," she said, "but he wouldn't
let me get near him."
One time he came home with a broken leg, and when she tried to catch
him, he bit her. She eventually caught
the cat but also became very ill from
the bite. _
"When I brought the cat horrte from
the vet, he took off because he was
so furious with me." Atwood said. "I
thought maybe I'd done the wrong
thing."
Java has international flavor
Yi Ping Ho
Every Tuesday, students from every corner of the world come together
to share cultures.
The International Coffee Hour, held
from 3:10-4:00 p.m. at the University Restaurant, is a program created
to explore student diversity.
"It started as an internship about
two years ago by Iliza Wong, a health
and social work major," said Carol
B. Munshower. director of the International Student Services and Programs (ISSP).
Munshower said the idea was to let
everybody on campus realize how in- ^.«
valuable the community of international
students is as a resource for providing
"satiable cultural and
traditional information" and to give
them a chance to
present their ideas.
M o z g h a n        	
Yahiapour, 29, a
graduate student in business and the
coordinator of the International Coffee Hour said, "This is a golden opportunity for students from a different stratum of society and from different parts of the world to be united
in the understanding of the very diverse culture in our school."
"The idea is to encourage international students to become more active and involved on campus," she
Ivy Wong, 26, a graduate student
from Hong Kong, said International
Coffee Hour provides a good chance
for students from different geographical areas to speak about themselves.
"I think it is a good opportunity for
me to make new friends, to explore
more about the rest of the world I
never thought of before by attending
the Coffee Hour," she said.
Yahiapour has been a participant in
the Coffee Hour for the past few semesters.
She gave a presentation about the
philosophy and tradition of celebrating the new year in Iran last semester.
"It is important to change people's
"International students
are really important to our campus
We should take advantage of that
and appreciate that."
— Carol Munshower
said.
"The ultimate goal is to share culture, to learn about other cultures, to
enable students to kindle friendship
and relationships without actually
going around the world," Yahiapour
said.
"I think it teaches students to tell
the similarities and differences between other cultures as well,"
Yahiapour said.
Students relish the chance to learn
wrong perceptions towards our country and culture." she said.
"The culture itself is not good or
bad. It is just worthy to realize more
.about it," Yahiapour said.
During the presentation of each selected speaker, the audience may ask    bringing up questions and get feed-
questions during or after the speech,    back," she said.
There are roughly 12 to 15 speak-   ' "Something you never heard about
ers per semester. will really catch your attention. It is
The speakers can select the topic    just peculiar," she added,
they would like to present regarding      Wong suggested that the speakers
Munshower's goal is 60.
"I feel like it is a very special thing
to do on Tuesday; it's very personal,"
Munshower said.
"International students are really
important to our campus. They bring
a new world to Fresno State. We
should take advantage of that and appreciate that." she added.
"It is not only a benefit for you to
have a general idea about other cultures, but also if you actively participate in this program, you will have a
chance to earn one unit of credit in
Social Science," Munshower said.
The class is SS 150T, "Exploring
the Global Diversity," Munshower
said.
Yahiapour said,
^mmm^_    "Wc make it as relaxed
~    as possible. It is an
open discussion."
Students say the relaxed atmosphere at
the meeting makes it
easy to meet new
friends.
"It is nice, interesting
and informative to par-
==:    ticipate in this Coffee
Hour," Wong said.
"It creates a very comfortable atmosphere for international students to
speak out, and you will listen and
hear more about new experiences you
never encountered before," she said.
"You may do a comparison by
the culture — such as religion, society, tradition and so on.
The ISSP provides the material and
visual information they need.
Speakers are chosen to reflect the
nationalities represented in the group.
"I think we are looking for a vari-
should avoid duplication and should
focus more on diversity.
As a whole. Wong thinks this program is very successful.
She added lhat if she had a chance,
she would be willing to give a presentation about her own culture and
ety of geographical representation of   experiences as well.
the world," Munshower said.
"We have foreign students from 80
different countries. Isn't that amaz-
about people from other parts of the    ing?" she said,
world and to tell others about them-      For the past few semesters, audi-
selves. ences have averaged 25 people.
: $5.00
OFF
VIDEO PLUS
VIDEO RENTALS, SALES. AND REPAIR
•   REPAIR
, COUPON     Z      VCR/CAMCOJtbt&rV/STEREO SYSTEM
•must be    •  ^KS*craawc«BW«„
ORDWTV/S1
'AT TIME OF  •      SOME RESTRICTIONS MAY APPLY
• • 6761 N. CEDAR AVE. FRESNO. CA 93:
•DROPOFF   •
6761 N. CEDAR AVE. FRESNO, CA 93710
(209)435-7889
STEPPING STONE FARMS
Hunters and Jumpers
Training ♦ Sales ♦ Lessons
AmyBisseU
Barn: (209) 264-7455
Home: (209) 271-1595
Munshower said this semester they
are concentrating more on staff and
faculty members.
Munshower wished they could
achieve a better understanding and
feedback for the program.
50 CENTS
OFF
Any purchase over $2
Tel: 4S1-4060   Barstow
Animal companions
surround Dr. Rita
Atwood's life at
home. Single-
handedly, Dr. Atwood
cares for her land
and her animals
while teaching here
at CSUF.
Photos by Matt Soby/INSIGHT
Two months later, however, Gent
came home as though nothing had
happened. Gent has tamed down
quite a bit and now allows her to hold
him.
Had she not been a professor, she
probably would have become a veterinarian, she says.
At 45. Atwood has achieved more
than most even dream of.
She overcame an impoverished
childhood in Turlock to become the
first permanent full-time woman faculty member in the former telecommunications department at CSUF.
See ATWOOD, Page 8
Re-entry students find support
Jefferson Beavers
INSIGHT
Although she isn't quite sure
who said it, single parent Karen
Hogue lives by the words: "Children are the best thing we do."
"Education is very important."
said Hogue. 35, a human resource
management major. "But my son
takes priority every time something comes up. I only have one
chance to do it right."
Hogue has an 11-year-old son,
Justin. Like many other single-
parent re-entry students, Hogue
has found the demands of home
life and school life lo be overwhelming.
But through a myriad of challenges, she says she has found
strength in her family, friends and
campus re-entry services and is
scheduled to graduate after the
spring 1995 semester.
"It has all been a matter of prioritizing," Hogue said. "I keep
telling myself to persevere because ultimately, the rewards will
be worth it."
Hogue began her college experience in 1977 at Fresno City College, taking legal secretary
courses after graduating from
Hoover High School. She had two
years of part-time experience for
a small local law firm, doing miscellaneous clerical jobs.
After two years at FCC, Hogue
experienced several big changes
— getting married, leaving school
and accepting a full-time legal
secretary job at a different law
firm. Her son Justin was born in
1982, and she continued to work.
Hogue divorced in 1985 and
worked for three more years before
deciding to return to school part-time
in 1988 as a human resource manage-
"I saw a lot of new things to learn,"
said Hogue, "and my plans to begin
working in human resource management worked as incentives to moving up where I was working at the
time."
Moving up to an administrator level
in Ihe firm where she was working,
Hogue found that the demands of
home, school and work were beginning to press in on her quickly, and
described her life as a "constant, daily
balancing act."
"It was then I decided to quit working all together," Hogue said, after
going to CSUF part-time for four
years while holding down a full-time
law job.
VI wanted to continue my education
on a full-time basis, because part-
time wasn't working.
"I couldn't sec the end of it," she
said.
Hoguc's parents then made her "the
incredible offer" in 1992 that she and
Justin live with them while she finished her academic work.
Since then, Hogue has concentrated
on her classes and raising her son.
"Several times I felt all alone on
campus," Hogue said. "I felt like an
old lady with totally different responsibilities."
Hogue said that she attended several conferences and meetings and
came across a single mothers' support group through re-entry services.
She says that she felt excited that such
programs existed but had to pick and
choose which ones to take part in
because of time restraints.
"The programs were always there
if I needed them," Hogue said,
"but a lot of times I didn't have
time to explore them."
Angie Cisneros, Re-entry Services director, said that her department has a host of support groups.
retention programs and academic
and social advising methods lo assist older students like Hogue.
"The most important thing is for
these students to feel like they are
part of the campus," Cisneros
said.
"A lot of students, after being
gone for a long time, need to revive some of their student skills.
They are over-anxious and need
to meet other people like themselves."
Cisneros said that her re-entry
office is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5
p.m. daily and until 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, making it
the first campus office to open in
the morning and the last one to
close at the end of the day.
"The center is always full,"
Cisneros said. "It's an ideal place
for them to find students with
same kinds of problems [that]
they have."
Cisneros says that in time, re-entry students get away from the services after building a network of
friends and contacts that become
"their own support group."
As for Hogue, she says that anyone considering the program
should certainly make the sacrifices now for the long-term benefits.
"Perseverance is the key," she
said.
"You must plan, organize, be patient. But ultimately, the rewards
will definitely be worth it"
RE-ENTRY WEEKLY SUPPORT GROUPS
HISPANIC CONNECTION WEDNESDAY, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
AFRICAN AMERICAN SUPPORT GROUP WEDNESDAY, 12:00 to 1:00 pjn.
FEMINIST WOMEN'S READING GROUP TUESDAY, 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.
ENHANCING FAMILY COMMUNICATIONS ■.... .THURSDAY. 6:00 to 7:00 pjn.;
Qotta "Be Qree£!
T- Shirts with 4" Greek Letters for Under $20.00
* Over 75 Fabrics To Choose From
"Low Prices with
High Quality"
Group Discounts Available
 Call Vanessa at 226-2884 	
CATHOLIC STUDENTS
Learn mora about the Catholic faith...
Prepare for CONFIRMATION...
Have your questions answered...
TUESDAY EVENINGS. 7-9PM
IT'S THE RITE OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION OF ADULTS]
(RCIA)AT..
ffl