1992_02 Insight February 1992

              dents rave about Chii
sian semester abroad program big
tyJohnD.Chavira
^aff writer
Tmagine spending a CSUF
JLsemester where the campus
police deddes who can visit
your home, cards your guests
and turns away those they
dislike.
TWs is not • "What if...r
scenario, it continues to happen to CSUF students who em-
barkontheChinasemesterpro-
gram, a CSUF fall semester international exchange program
in cooperation with Hangzhou
University in the People's Re-
Bublic of China. Hangzhou
Wversity, a two-arrd-a-Jjgf
hour train ride west of Sha%-
hai is where CSUFstudentscan
earn betweenl2 to 18 semester
units, the equivalent of one semester of academic work at
CSUF, with courses, credits, and
gradesappearingonCSUF transcripts.
All foreign students at
Hangzhou University are required to live in a special for-
eigners-onlycomplexthatis patrolled by Chinese guards and
must abide by a nightly curfew.
The reason for the security is
not so much to keep Western-
en from the Chinese, but the
Chinese from Westerners.
David Winslow, a 23-year-
old CSUF graduate with a minor in East Asian studies, was a
member of the fan 1988 CSUF
China semester program
"Lots of people were frustrated,* said Winslowabout the
American reaction to the security measures placed upon them
by Chinese officials. The local
communist officials and the
Hangzhou University administration allowed the Westerners to speak one-on-one with
the Chinese students on and off
campus, Winslow said.
Several CSUF courses at
Hangzhou were taught by Chinese professors; but frequent ,
unauthorized visits to the for-;
eign compound at Hangzhou
by Chinese nationals were prohibited by the authorities.
The lack of freedom of association was one of the main
American complaints. Winslow
wasin charge ofan American plan
tothrowaHalloween masquerade
party and hoped to invite the local
Chinese community from the
Hangzhou City, but his initial request was denied. Winslow per-
tte 11 p.m curfew wm appropriate; but he was amazed at the
boldness of the Chinese students
and faculty in voicing their frustration artddiscontenttoWestern-
era.
That surprised me when I was
where the CSUF continj
sisted and the authorities eventu-   there. They'll talk about political
ally relented. things. 1 would imagine they'd
"'Why are we even here?"'   get into trouble,* Liu sakt
China, withitsgreatH*tory,cul-
ture,philosoprtyandcfvilizatk)nhes
always fascinated the Western
world. As one of the last remaining
communist nations, it is abo the
cmlysodaliststatemtrehstofCSUF
Winslow remembered some in the
CSUF group asking after the initial refusal. ITheOiineseorheials)
couldn't care less if we held it
among ourselves," Winslow said.
Winslow, who speaks Mandarin Chinese, stayed behind after
the fall semester to teach English
in Chinese schools until the communist crackdown in Ttennamen
Square in 1989.
"TheChinese will talk to Westerners about
what they
won't talk to
other Chinese
about,"
Winslow said.
They're more
truthful with
Westerners
than with each
other. The
Westerners
aren'tgoingto
turn them in"
hesaid.
Winslow found that most Chinese citizens wentoutof their way
to break tradition by making eye-
contact and saying hello to Westerners, especially Americans,
whom they regard with admiration. Winslow believes there is a
deep-seated discontent in China
that Is especially felt the among
educated Chinese and that the
communist authorities exercise
strict control of the population
because they fear change.
• Wallace CUu, CSUF business
professor, was the coordinator of
the fall/88China semester. He was
in charge of the 16 American students tn the CSUF group and considered Winslow his best student.
Liu, bom in Taiwan, stresses
ft the foreim visitors building
\ not a milfBSr compound and
t the ChinasBguards were eld-
edydvillansecunty personnel. Liu
believes the security measures and
The fact that
society that has
students for:
is a closed
its own
aloud about
freedom and democratic change,
raises questions about CSUF's m-
volvement
"The average
Chinese student
through the
semester
program.
Paul
thirsts to meet
Westerners."
—Paul Vander
Vander
Meer, CSUF
Sroieasorand'*
this   year's
Meer
China semester coordinator, is aware
"•"The average Chinese
dent (Mists to meet Western**
eft," Vander Meer said. The
rnore contact we have, the inore
impetus tor change becau)
more contacts Chinese have
with foreigners, the more bet
dom they find out that they
don't have," he said.
Shien-rrdnJenCSUFanthro-
potogyprofe5sor,wr» founded
the CSUF China semester program and was its first <
nator, teed a email group of
eight CSUF faculty and students to China for the fall 136
Jen was bom in the Wuhan
province, of China in 1936.
Jen, who hastaughtatCSUF
since 1970, created the China
felt the Central Valley was isolated wi A regard to the world
' situation and that
political
CSUFsh
of the possible double-standards implied in
dealing with Chins but staunchly
defends the China program.
"Leaving China in isolaHon leaves
the Chinese political structure to
do what it wants," Vander Meer
said. "It would discourage those
who want to see economic changes
and who want to see a more liberal
society"
Vander Meer was born in
Xiaman and spent the first 16 years
ofhislifetherewithhis missionary
'parents.
This fall will be Vander
Meer's first CSUF China semester. He recognizes that the
communist officials in China
are deeply concerned with dose
contacts between Westerners
and, Chinese but feels that certain "security precautions"
such as the screening of Chinese guests wishing to visit to
the foreign visitors' building
with a Chins still mysterious
and misunderstood to Ameri-
cans after almost 40 years of
strained relations.
"I thought now was the time
to open our door and our students'eyes," Jen said.
The CSUF China semester
still operates as Jen intended,
as a reciprocal foreign exchange
program whereby CSUF students attend Hangzhou University and Chinese students
come to CSUF, with both countries acting as hosts.
Jen acknowledges that certain frustrations arose during
the first China semester as well.
"If some of the local Chinese
contacted or talked often or frequently (with usL the so-called
'security personnel' would try
to find out why or for what
purpose.
"Communist and demo-
cratic systems are two di fferent
systems," Jen explained. "We
can talk to them, explain to them
what is democracy. "IButJ we
can't say, T-Iere. Here is democracy, take it/" Jen said.
Airport: from
page one
McCampbell Drive, the street
the Smilies have called home for
39 years, was named after Navy
pilot commander David
McCampbell, who was the first
naval pilot to land an airplane on
an aircraft carrier at night.
The extra-large road ways range
from 80 feet wide in residential
areas to 150 feet wide in commercial areas. According toSmilie,it is
possible for two planes and two
cars to travel on the roadway at
one time.
Planes traveling on residential
streets required certain modifications to street-signs, mailboxesand
power lines.^.
Since the Wing level of the
planes would not reach over
ordinary street signs, the signs
had to be set at 30 inches. The
mailboxes are spring-loaded to
lie down at the touch of a wing
and bounce back up after the
passing of the plane. All power
and telephone lines are buried
underground.
W>th the help of Fresno
county, Smilie was able to have
a special amendment added to
the state vehicle code, which
allowed planes and cars to
travel on the same roadway.
This amendment also made
it possible for the entirestate of
California to have the same
privilege. Twenty-eight aviation subdivisions are now in
operation in California and
more than 520 in operation
throughout the United States.
One man's dream has now become a nationwide reality.
"We've even had people
from England and Japan come
to see Sky Park with the idea of
building one in their country,"
Smilie said.
Got a gripe about an issue or person on campus? Let
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at BITE BACK — Insight, Mailstop 10; 278-2892
Graduation long wait
for most students
units per
By Trade Clem
Staffwriter
CSUF students   are  still to ge< through infour years," said
graduating in four years, Zie^. The amour* of time the stu-
aren't they? Some, but not many, dertt spends working keeps him or
accordingtoCSUFadministrators, her from reaching this goaL Most
Several top administrators of the students wrcworiccari'tcarry a full
larger schools on campus; business dass load so they are unable to
and ad ministrarive sciences, cduca- graduate in four years, according lo
tion and human development and Ziegler.
natural science, agree that graduat- The large sizeof the school Jsaho
ing in four years is still possible, helpful. "Being larger helps the stu-
Graduating "on time" depends on dent," said Ziegler. Larger depart-
how many hours a student works ments can help supplement tire
outside of school, whether he or she staffing of smaller departments so
supports a family and whether the that more sections and varieties of
student is able to enroll in classes classes can be offered,
that are increasingly impacted. Cutbacks have had a drastic ef-
The School of Business and Ad- feet on the natural sciences, Ziegler
ministrative Sciences, which is the said, because it is a school based on
largest on campus with an enroll- instructional equipment, for which
mentof3^94,doesn'tkeepstudents there has been no bud get for the last
from graduating in four years, ac- two years. Spending vacation time
cording
Marilyn Martino,
undergraduate
adviser for the
school. The business school actually tries to help
the student by
substituting a
course if another
is full so that he
or she is not held
back from
graduation,
Martino said.
in school may be
the only good option if students
"Students are also  want to _
not going to school *"£££, „
full-time because     Carolyn    Botta,
of other
responsibilities,
like supporting a
family while
trying to go to
Although the   school, increasing
school tries to  the amount of time •■"• *-»««: •»•
help, most stu-        .     . .    . stons. The School
dents are not      Students Spend at of Education and
CSUF tO •*■"-» Devetop-
 j »_ m ment is the second
graduate.  — urgest school on
Marilyn Martino   carnpuswith^ow
education advisor
for the School of
Education and
Human Development, students
wrcarernanaglng
to graduate in four
years are going to
summer  school
graduating in
four years because "the majority of students
I advise are
working 20 to 30
hours, or full -
Botta said, "Irs
smart
time." Stodentsarealsctnot going to (surnrner school] and knock off a
school full time because' of other semester."
responsibilities, Tike supporting a        In the education school, 85 per-
family while trying to go to school, cent of the students are going into a
increasing the amount ot time stu- credential program, so they take
dents spend at CSUF to graduate. full class loads and get through as
Stanley M. Ziegler, associate fast as possible, Botta said.
Parking at the Sky Park requires creative
architecture. Doug Shell Is converting his
garage Into a hangar to accommodate his
fixed-wing commuter plane.
According to Smilie, Walt
Disney World Productions personnel came to Fresno with the
thought of building an airport
community at Disney World.
Residents of Sky Park say they
are very happy with the community. Many residents have moved
out of cities such as Los Angeles
and San Francisco to be in Fresno
where they can fly in and out at
their convenience.
One such resident is Dr. Ron
Nelson, who moved from Los
Angeles four-and-a-half years
ago because he and his wife, Jan,
didn't want to lose sight of nature.
"Ifs beautiful," Nelson said.
"We chose Fresno after looking
into other places, including
Yosemite Lakes. We wanted to be
able to see the sun rise and set,"he
said." All we have to do is look out
the window."
Not all has been upbeat and
peaceful regarding Sky Park in
recent years. The final outcome of
a lawsuit between a private landowner and the city of Fresno is still 4
pending.
According to city attorney
David Gilmore,, the suit focuses
on property south of Hemdon that
is set aside for a clear zone at the
end of the landing strip.
Don Blosser and Jill
Robinson, who own the 18 acres
across from Herndon, want to
develop the land into both
housing and commercial complexes. Originally they lost the
suit to thecity of Fresno in 1989.
The City was concerned that
having an occupied building so
close to the runway was a^afety
hazard. The ruling was overturned in July of last year by
the 5th District Court of Appeals, who said Blosser was left
to bear the burden for the ben
efit of the airport owners James
Shekoyan and John Jamison.
In Sky Park's 46 year history
Ihere has only been one serious
incident. In Dec. '90 Bruce
Owens, 54,an experienced, but
not instument rated pilot, became disoriented while taking
off into a fog bank and died
when his plane crashed into a
gravel pit a quarter-mile from
the end of Sky Park's runway.
Even though pilot error was to
blame, the city of Fresno says
the airport still poses dangers
for the housing developments
that surround it.
Some developers actually
count Sky Park as a plus.
Cobblestone Developers Corp.,
which is building Rio Ventana,
a housing development near
the airport, use Sky Park in their
brochures to entice potential
home buyers.
dean of the School of Natural
Sciences, which enrolls L867
students, agrees that the main
reason students are not graduating in four years is because of
the time students spend working to try and support them-
selvesor their family's. Hesaid
that every program is designed
to be finished in four years with
a normal classload of 15 to 16
Botta said the only students who
are having trouble graduating from
the education school in four years
are those with limited time for
scheduling classes. /
"You can scoot right through
taking 15 units for four years. This
is not an excessive amount of units
per semester. You can decrease
the load with summer and winter
sessions," Botta said.
Prison: from page three
Thomas said." But this was easy compared to some of the strip shows rve
worked. This is the type of audience comedians dream of having. They
were very receptive."
"Now let's here from a women's point of view," the MC said, with
thunderous approval from the audience
Shuklian sprinted to dw stage to open her part of the show, giving high-
fives to the audience members along the way.
1 fed like Oprah up here today," said' Shuklian, who's ben dote
omedy for four years. "On today's Oprah; Women in prison, whar'slthker
Shuklian said she wasn't as nervous as she would be before a n
show.
ndon'tdoitfccaUving,butitkeepsmeUving-shesaki."Ictothecomedy
for the people and for myself. Ifs as much for me as anybody dse,"
"1 would come back here as many times as they would want tohaveme
back," said Shukhan,
'