1990_04 Insight April 1990

              Professor's verdict: health over big money
TOM JONES
I     STAFFWRTrER         |
For criminology professor
Robert Perez, teaching is not only
a love. It is a way to live longer.
Last fall, at his doctor's advice,
Perez stepped away from his high-
stakes law practice to step into a
CSUF classroom.
Like a soldier coming home
from the battle, Perez is returning
to his old stomping grounds.
In 1972, Perez, a graduate of
McGeorge School of Law at
University of Pacific, was teaching
criminology at CSUF when he
received a letter that changed his
life-notification thathehad passed
the bar exam.
For 10 years, he not only
practiced law but was a tenured
professor. Bu t in 1982, he conceded
that he had to choose between the
two jobs he loved.
"Trying to be two placesat once
became very, very difficult. It was
becoming a nightmare," Perez
said.
The choice between the two was
further complicated by the fact
that he was making a lot more
money as a lawyer.
"When you start making three,
four and five times what you're
making asa teacher. ..it can't help
but have an impact upon you,"
said Perez.
After much soul-searching,
Perez finally made his decision:
he quit teaching.
"That letter of resignation I
wrote, tore up, wrote, tore up... I
mean, it (CS,UF) was really my
security blanket."
Perez soon found himself
involved in several complicated
cases.
Inoneofhislargerones, Perez's
firm wasabletoprovethata farmer
was negligent when an explosion
occurred on his property, killing
and injuring several people.
The settlement was for $4.2
million.
As the representative of the
Mexican government's interests i n
.the San Joaquin Valley, Perez was
involved in a case in which a
border patrol officer was accused
of committing involuntary
manslaughter when a young
Mexican man died in his
custody.
Perez described ho w he picked
his cases: "I take only two types of
cases. Those are bodily injury
"Most lawyers dream
of having their million
dollar case... I've had
seven. Making the
big money wasn't
important to me
anymore. Most
important was my
health."
Robert Perez
accidents, and what I call fun
cases."
Fun cases, according to Perez,
arc cases that might not bring in
large settlements, but ones he will
take because he feels someone is
being treated unfairly. His tactic
in such cases is to "fight fire with
fire."
With time, Perez found the
desire to teachagainashisconcem
for his health grew. He also felt
that he had accomplished about
everything he wanted to in his
law practice.
A respected memberof thelegal
community, Perezdidn't leave his
practice without obtaining some
financial security.
"Mostlawyersdreamof having
their million dollar case. . . I've
had seven. Making the big money
wasn't important to mc anymore.
Most important was my health."
His health was the closing
argument in his career conflict.
Diagnosed asadiabetic in his third
year of law school, he realized
that the "pressure cooker" was
taking its toll.
"You will not find anything
more stressful than a trial lawyer,"
Perez said, explaining that stress
can cause diabetes to worsen. "I
was looking for a way to extend
my life."
Although he found being a
lawyer exciting, Perez said that
teaching is fun. "I enjoy being in
front of the class and going
through my routine."
Bu t now, Perez finds himself in
a similar position as he was in
1972. "With a law practice you
cannot just say, 'Today I'm here,
tomorrow I'm not.'"
Involved in a transition period,
Perez said it will take at least one
year to phase out his law practice
to the extent he wants to.
Presently he remains "of
counsel," which means he stays
with his firm as an adviser. He
said he has a responsibility to his
partners to maintain a contact with
them.
Now, instead of facing a
courtroom full of intense and
sometimes angry faces, he faces a
classroom of students, eager to
gain from his experience.
In the classroom, Perez is
constantly moving. Sometimes,as
he tries to make an important
point, his voice rises and he
throws his arms out wide, the
diabetic bracelet he wears on his
wrist, flashing in the fluorescent
light.
At other times, he grips the
podium with both hands, his eyes
close to slits, hiding his brown
eyes, and a shadow of a grin will
pass over his face.
He said he gains a lot of
satisfaction from teaching. And it
excites him to see his students
learning.
Terry Da vis, 33, and Scott Rings,
27, both juniors and both ex-
policemen, are former students in
Perez's criminal procedures class.
They said that in many classes,
the information in the textbook
goes from the mouth of the
instructor to the notes of the
student without ever passing
through the head of either. They
said that their class with Perez
was nof like that.
Perez creates a lot of class
interaction, they said, even taking
an opposite position sometimes
simply for the sake of the
interaction.
"He will literally put you on
the spot to see what you think and
how you justify what you think,"
Davis said.
In his office, Perez is the picture
of relaxation as he leans back in a
.hair with his left leg propped up
on his desk.
The office, which he shares with
another professor, is a simple
one.
On wall there is one picture,
depicting a large house and an
elaborate garage with many doors.
In each opening sits a different
expensive car. The poster is titled,
"Justification      for      higher
"When you start
making three, four
and five times what
you're making as a
teacher... it can't help
but have an impact
upon you."
Robert Perez
education."
Next to the door of the office
stands an old white refrigerator
which belongs to the department.
Inside, surrounded by plates of
Angtf L MmmAi sight
Leaving a successful law practice Robert F. Perez join the CSUF
faculty as criminology law professor.
food and a jug of punch, sits a one-
inch glass vial of insulin.
Twice a day, every day of his
life, Perez fills a syringe with
enough insulin to kill the average,
healthy adult. He then proceeds
to inject the liquid into himself.
He said the shot only takes a
moment and that the pain is less
than from scratching your
back.
He feels it is a small sacrifice for
life.
He agrees with those who
consider him a role model for his
students, particularly his minority
students.
Perez serves on the steering
committee of the National
Hispanic Scholarship Fund, which
raises money for scholarships for
Hispanic students.
"I see one of my mis5ions as
helping those young kids. The
answer for me was education. The
answer for them is education."
Janitorial  budget  cuts
lead to dirty classrooms
DEBORAH A. LORE^ZEN
STAFF WRITER ±_J ]
The small desk-filled classroom
is narrow and closed in. A faintly
odd smell permeates the stale
atmosphere arjd the blinds of the
lonewindowarcshuttightagainst
the spring sunshine.
A grayish-green chalk board
fills the front wall, the chalk tray
overflowing with dust, y^wide
powdery line softens the color of
the carpet below the board, and
the table and podium are
discolored by a fine powdery
coating. The chairs in the front
row arc little-used as they also are
buried in a layer of dust.
The room is in San Ramon 6,
I 1    * *     " ^J\   '      I   1 ■ " ">*=-—VHJ ^E3   and, due to a $125,000 cut in the
'*!9^ft*'       I WBtTlf* JCm i^H    plant   operations   budget,
$650,000 in 1988-89 to $525,000 for
fiscal 1989-90, classrooms arc
getting cleaned fewer times per
week, and less time is being spent
in them when they do get cleaned.
Izumi Taniguchi, chairman of
the economics department,
teaches in San Ramon 6. He said
the top of the teachers' table in the
front of some of the classrooms is
grayish because of the layer of
chalk on top.
He also said he sometimes has
troublebrcathingand has to pause
during his lectures because there
is so much chalk dust in the air.
The only reason the front row
of chairs stays clean, he said, is
because students in crowded
classes wipe them off when they
sit there.
Ron Hicks, director of plant
operations, said due to massive
budget cuts, the custodial
department is down from three
shifts to twoand isoperating with
15 fewer workers than at the same
time last year.
"Wc can't afford shiny at this
point," Hicks said. "My main
concern at this time is health and
safety."
According to Hicks, the health
center, locker room showers and
    restrooms arc taking precedence
h*ck>» Am«acua/ir*grit   over everything else right now,
and the last of these is not up to his
standards.
More workers wookJcrikrwfcf btnwr^e^rg, occordfrg k)B«Coo4ey, whocleonsthe 15i6qin>   - "Puring spring break we're
In San Ramon 6 Sunday through Friday, plus the Agriculture Bulking. going to have to concentrate on
bringing restrooms up," Hicks
said.
Another spring break project is
to try to remove the peculiar odor
that pervades San Ramon 6.
As of now. Hicks believes the
problem is the glue used to lay
down the carpet. To get rid of the
odor, plant operations has been
advised to close off the roomsand
heat them up to try to "bake" the
odor out. Jt
To do the job right Hicks was
told to let the rooms bake for two
to three weeks, but since theydon't
have that much time they are
going to do what they can in 10
days.
This, of course, does nothing to
alleviate the chalk dust. And
Taniguchi is not alone in his
complaint.
Economics professor James
Cypher said he had to end class
early once because he was having
trouble breathing in San Ramon 6.
I le said that San Ramon 6 is a
disaster and the dust interferes
with academic progress.
Cypher said he issued a formal
complaint after he was forced to
end class early, but never heard
anything back.
"I went through proper
channels and there was no
response," he said.
The lack of response could
mean two things, he said. Either
his letter got lost in the mail, or
there just wasn't much concern
for the academic environment.
Hicks said all classrooms on
campus are cleaned every night
from Sunday through Thursday,
but several professors expressed
doubts. A search through several
campus classroom buildings
showed countless unswept floors
and chalk-encrusted boards.
Custodial classroom cleaning
currently includes the sweeping
floors, straightening chairs,
cleaning chalkboards and taking
out the trash. Floor scrubbing,
waxing, polishing, window
washing and carpet cleaning have
been discontinued.
Hicks said the problem with
chalk dust comes about because
"Some classes will go through
a box of chalk in a day."
Some of the problem could be
alleviated. Hicks said, if professor's
would uscdust-frce chalk or write-
on/write-off boards, those with
pens instead of chalk.
But a survey of several math
professors put the averageamount
of chalk used per week at one
piece. They said they would use
dust-free chalk if it was made
available at the university
warehouse, where currently only
the soft type of chalk is stocked.
Beyond the current dust and
dirt problems, though, plant
operations may be facing some
bigger problems down the road.
A budgetary reprieve is, not
expected for at least another two
fiscal years.
Plant operations is only
working on specific problems right
now, takingcareof what is already
broken, but doing no preventative
maintenance. Hicksis worried that
with the hot summer weather, he
may be faced with some expensive
air conditioning problems.
Hicks is also faced with an
antiquated water system and the
absence of a street-sweeper.
Plant operations has been
running in an "emergency
purchases only" mode since last
fall and recently went into the red.
Hicks said he was amazed they
lasted as long as they did.
Accentuating the cutbacks in
labor supply, installation of the
new phone system has impacted
Hicks' department a great deal.
He said although Bumup &
Sims — the subcontractor for
Fujitsu that was doing all the
digging on campus — started out
doing a good job, they slipped in
the last six months, building up a
three-inch stack of problem reports
that need to be dealt with.
Overall, Hicks said the
custodial staff has been trying its
best to do a good job but is faced
with overwhelming odds.
"A lot of our people are getting
frustrated. They can't finish one
job before having to start a new
one."
.the big