1994_09 Insight September 1994

              CALIFORNIA
Wednesday, September 14,1994	
UNIVERSITY. FRESNO
Volume 26, Issue 1
Swing your partner...
Matt Soby/INSIGHT
Cowboys, cowgirls & non-ranch types all learned to dance the 22 step on Friday night in the pit as
the country band, Horseplay, performed many tunes. Heather Campbell gets in the swing of things
as Scott Darling shows her a few steps.
Cisa C. Atvey
Chris Baxter of the USU
Productions Committee said that
the line dancing at last year's
Country Fest was_sp popular that
the Welcome Week Committee
INSIGHT    est dance craze sweeping the United
States.
Twenty steps down into the To begin. Miss Charlie spread the
pit. Miss Charlie could be heard students across the dance floor and
yelling: "heel, toe, heel, toe, began to share her line dancing tal-
swivel. swivel." ent-
Welcome Week ended last "Okay, you guys. You are going
Friday on a Western note. Stu- to learn the 22 step. It's what we call
dents were given the chance to a stop-and-go dance," she chuckled,
learn line dancing from a master. "It'll be a little confusing at first,
Dressed in black from her but by the time I'm done you'll be
head to her cowboy pointed-toe great. Trust me."
boots. Miss Charlie started her        As the students began imitating
line dancing lessons. Miss Charlie, they had a difficult time
Looking around the make- watching their own feet but soon were neat. The people here would probably
shift dance floor. Miss Charlie chanting the instructions along with be afraid to go to the clubs to learn,"
laughingly commented that if her. saidCrull.
more men could dance they could Steve Maclas, a junior, agreed "By learning here they won't
date anyone of their choice. with Miss Charlie that it is easier to    look stupid. They feel more comfort-
Ninetcen women and two meet women if you know how to    able around other people who don't    clubs, parties and charity even
men met at the pit to learn the lat- dance. know how to dance," she added. ever since," said Miss Charlie.
He came to the pit with approximately 15 friends from Baker Hall and
was the only one sitting the dance out.
About 45 minutes into.the lessons, even Maclas couldn't resist the
infectious beat any longer. He jumped    wanted to include it during this
up and found two female dance part-    year's Welcome Week,
ners easily. Within minutes he was
dancing like a pro.
Jody Crull, a 24-year-old, self-
proclaimed country music fan, said
she learned how to line dance by
watching other dancers at clubs.
"I think it [the group lesson] is
"Logistically, it's easy to put i
together and fairly inexpensive.
The USU does a lot of business
with Rich Casanova. He was able
to arrange Miss Charlie's appearance and the band Horseplay,"
said Baxter.
Bar-hopping nine years ago
looking for something to do. Miss
Charlie was introduced to line
dancing.
"I've been teaching it at
Preparing for future pays off later
Jennifer Davis
INSIGHT
While most college students are
struggling to live on a budget, some
are planning for their future by saving and investing.
"Time is more precious than
money," Paul Franco, a business
major said.
You can save a smaller amount
at a younger age and have it turn into
more money compared to saving
more money at an older age. Franco
said.
Students who invest in their late
teens and early 20s believe that the
small amounts that they put aside
now will add up to large amounts
needed later in life, like when they
are ready to buy a house or retire.
Franco, 25. has put money into
some form of investments since he
was 19.
INSIDE
Franco's main influence was a
friend's father, who showed Franco a
chart showing how small amounts of
money invested early in life can be
more lucrative than large sums of
money invested later in life.
"I realized how important time
was — more than the money itself,"
Franco said. "I want to retire at 65
with a million [dollars] in investments. That's the idea of investing this
early."
Franco has found that his finance
classes have taught him how to analyze stocks, but he hasn't used that
information yet, as his investments
are primarily mutual funds.
There are finance classes targeted
toward teaching the basics of all types
of investments. Dr. K.C. Chen, professor of finance, teaches a graduate
class on investments management
which covers all types of investments.
He also teaches an undergraduate
class on financial management.
Chen uses a simulated investment
contest to teach his students about investments. Each student begins with
$500,000, and can borrow up to
$500,000 throughout the semester.
"Usually I ask students to set a
goal for themselves, whether they are
going to be aggressive or defensive
in their investing," Chen said. 'Toward the end, I look at their target and
evaluate their performance."
Mahork v usually advises clients
who are just starting out to open an
Individual Retirement Account.
"An IRA is a brown paper bag,"
she said. "You can put in it whatever
you want."
The account holder decides
where the money should be invested.
Some of the options include mutual
funds, bonds, stocks and certificates
of deposit.
Mahoney feels thai mutual
funds are a smart investment for students. Mutual funds are investment
See FUTURE, Page 8
Sorority Rush back on
Stacy Dlpple
INSIGHT
'Dogs take a beating
page 7
Ska revival in Fresno
page 5
district towers above Fresno
page 3
WIN movie i
Pa8e~
INSIGHT
Sorority rush, which was originally scheduled for August 21-25,
proceeded full swing last week, despite delays due to low turnout.
Panhellenic President Joy
Simonelli postponed the rush, because
she wanted to wait for the semester to
begin in an attempt to attract more students.
One hundred and fifty pledges
were expected to participate.
An oversight concerning mailing
labels caused the low numbers for the
membership drive.
Panhellenic, the governing body
of nationally recognized sororities,
was given the prior semester's mailing labels and did not receive names
of the new students for the fall semester.
Soroities normally rush 22
women at the beginning of the semes-
Bulldogs take
a bite out of
campus crime
Kathy Mater
INSIGHT
CSUF is ahead of Fresno in the
fight against crime, showing a 25
percent decrease compared to only
a 7 percent drop in the city as a
whole.
The 1993-94 California crime
index presented an overall 7.7 percent decrease in crime in Fresno in
two categories, violent crimes and
property crimes.
Campus crime statistics showing the 25 percent decline wer<
based on figures from 1992-93.
The decrease in campus crimej
is attributed to people's attentivej
ness to what is going on, according
to campus police Lt. Steven King.
"People arc becoming aware of
crime trends," said King.
In addition. King said people
are taking further precautions by installing alarms and other safety devices in their cars to prevent theft
from occurring.
"The key to reducing crime is
to find out about what's here to protect you," said King.
According to King, several services arc available on campus, including 47 emergency phones and
a police escort program for students
who have night classes. Safely
lighting also outlines high traffic
pathways.
In addition to these services,
the campus police department is
working on other services^ protect students from becoming victims of potential crimes, said King.
For example, a new lighting
system has been installed in the
women's locker room in the South
Gym. It includes a motion detection
device that automatically switches
on the lights if someone enters the
room.
Future plans for the campus
police include installing video cameras outside high risk-areas such as
the new Education Building.
Video cameras have already
made their way into the computer
labs and will soon be found in the
parking lots to record any thefts that
may occur.
King said that students can help
prevent themselves from being victimized by using the same precautions on campus as they do in the
city.
Because the campus of CSUF
is isolated from Fresno, students may
tend to take that sense of security for
granted.
"Students let down their guard on
campus, because they feel safer," said
King.
King said that there is plenty of
crime in Fresno and that we should
keep in mind that the city is a large
community.
The index shows a 7.8 percent
drop in violent crimes that include homicide, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
Property crimes such as burglary,
auto theft, larceny, theft and arson fell
7.6 percent, according to the California crime index.
However, Hal McKinney. instructor of criminology and a retired police officer and sheriff who served
Fresno for 36 years, said that the decrease in the crime rate doesn't mean
that there is a reduction in the fear of
crime.
'To measure safety of the community by the crime rate isn't a valid
measurement," said McKinney.
McKinney said that statistics may
be misleading because they don't include all crimes. The statistics also
neglect the fact that there are several
crimes that aren't being reported to the
police. .   _.     ...
"There are fewer numbers of certain kinds of crimes, but that doesn't
mean that the community is any safer.
The heart of the fear of crime is not in
statistics but in how people perceive
their own personal safety," said
McKinney.
Crjmes such as rape may be kept
hidden from the police or the general
public to prevent embarrassment or
lack of privacy for the victim.
"Rape victims will report their
crime depending on how they perceive
they will be treated, especially in the
courts." said McKinney.
According to McKinney. the
Three Strikes legislation, which permanently incarcerates offenders who
commit three crimes by way of a mandatory 25 years-to-life sentence, can
reduce crime and the fear of crime if
used properly.
"People view Three Strikes as an
attack against what they fear the most
— criminals," McKinney said.
With a continued effort by the police and the convenience of provided
services by students, crime rates, both
on and off campus, may continue to
decline.
With the postponement, the sororities hoped to reach the girls who
were not notified about rush over the
summer.
Phi Mu President Marianne
Chrisman had a positive outlook on
the postponement.
"The later rush gives ladies, especially freshmen, a. chance to see
the Greek system on campus so they"
know what they are getting involved
in," Chrisman said.
With the advantages of rush
postponement, disadvantages arise
for active sorority members.
Sororities must first overcome
the common stereotypes.
"Sororities are not elitist organizations only looking for clones.
They are seeking to find women to
share college experiences with,"
Simonelli said.
See RUSH, Pag* 8
Grime statistics
for 1992 & 1993
The following is the most recent breakdown
of statistics revealing some of the crimes reported to the campus pplice.-The statistics
show a comparison of crimes committed during 1992 and 1993.
Year'
1992
1993
Homicide
Rape
Robbery
Aggravated Assault
AutoTheft
Drug Abuse
Vandalism
Larceny/Theft
0
1
2
76
76
89
528
0
1
3
2
55
51
1
379
_he total number of c
ampus police in 1992
^opped to 613
i to the   I