1997_10 Insight October 1997

              2 ~:.~ \^ewPoint & News
Insight
Opinion
Take this wake-up call,
NASA, before someone dies
by Draeger Martinez
Plenttof things pose safety
and health risks these days.
Crime, pollution, diet drugs
that weaken heart valves — it's a
tough world out there.
But it seems that no amount of
analysis, studies, estimates, charts
or warnings sinks in with many
people. Every weekend, some drunk
Fresnan tells herself she can drive
home just fine. Each lover's night,
some guy somewhere thinks he can
have unprotected sex "just this
once."
The only wake-up call that
dependably conveys the message,
the one that grabs attention to a
problem and quick: when somebody
dies from Ihe problem.
Take a hard-partying high school.
Then suppose one popular kid, just
one. dies from some risky activity.
Within days, the school gets
religion about that particular risk,
even if they continue ignoring
others.
And when Princess Diana died
last month, many saw the tragedy as
an overdue warning about the
intrusive, even harassing nature of
the "stalkerazzi."
Well, there are a couple of
disasters waiting to happen that
haven't yet. They can be prevented
now, before anybody has to drive
the point home with their deaths.
And our very own ail-American
space agency, NASA, can do the job
in both cases.
One space-borne hazard zone is
the Mir space station. I have huge
respect for the cosmonauts that have
wrung so much use out of Mir,
which has been in orbit more than
twice its planned design life.
But with the station's recent
collisions, blackouts and other
problems, isn't every extra day the
crew spends up there another roll of
the dice? Snake eyes has to come
around sometime, with fatal results.
So save the lives aboard Mir,
NASA. Wrap up the experiments,
get the cosmic travelers an express
taxi home (maybe a space shuttle
with yellow-checkered heat tiles)
and give those folks a heroic
welcome back. While they're still
alive to enjoy it.
As tragic as the loss of life in a
Mir disaster would be. NASA has
another launch soon that could yield
an even bigger catastrophe.
On Oct. 13, the space agency
plans to send a big exploratory probe toward Saturn.
It's called Cassini, its power plant is
fueled by 72 pounds of ultra-toxic
plutonium-238. and it will threaten
the lives of thousands on Earth, not
once but twice.
City University of New York
physicist Michio Kaku has said
NASA has deliberately underestimated the risks with Cassini. He
figures that if the probe were to
explode during its launch or shortly
afterward, the plutonium on board
would hit the atmosphere and give
200,000 people cancer that would
kill them within a few years.
The plutonium-238 isotope is
among the most radioactive, and
cancer-causing, known to man.
While a launch accident would not
radioactivity could plague Florida
for centuries.
And that's merely the first time
Cassini poses a risk.
Once Cassini is launched, its
trajectory includes two big swings
around Venus and a pass within 500
miles of Earth.
Each swerve is meant to "slingshot" the probe, giving it gravity-
boosted acceleration into deep
space.
If a problem occurs with the
Earth flyby, there's no telling
who could find themselves
needing a 6,000-strcngth sunblock.
It could be India, Bosnia, Rwanda
— or California.
NASA officials say the risks are
minuscule and accounted for. They
say that Cassini has to rely on
plutonium fuel to reach Saturn and
study its icy rings, and that (health-
friendly) solar energy cells won't
pack enough power.
But Kaku and other skeptics say
solar power would be enough, if
NASA would simply leave out one
or two of Cassini's 12 instruments.
Or for that matter, maybe someone
can develop more densely-packed
solar cells, like Intel recently did
with flash-memory transistors that
double their chips' capacity.
The point is, why is NASA in
such a hurry to send this probe,
when it poses even a "minuscule"
risk of horrific cancer deaths?
There's normore Cold War adversaries looking over our shoulder.
Saturn's rings will still be there if
better solar cells take five or 10, or
50 or 100, years to develop.
The agency says it can't rebuild
or redesign the Cassini probe, which
cost $3.4 billion. But wouldn't
throwing that money away still be a
bargain compared to risking all
those lives?
Draeger Martinez is the Chief ■
Copy Editor for Insight.
DEAL: Estimates suggest savings
of $258 million ovet five years
Continued from page 1
from private industry and sold under
CSU auspices.
According to comments in the
memo, 'the CETI Corp. would apparently own, operate and control the
CSU technology infrastructure from
the workstations to the mainframes,
the cables to the software."
Job security within the CSU system is also an issue under the CETI
plan. The Business Plan Summary
states, "CETI will make every effort
to retain full time CSU employees in
their current job classifications. In addition, they will allow them to maintain an identity with their parent organization and retain their seniority
and full benefits."
Savings expected
The CETI plan is also predicted to
save $147.5 million in the CSU budget from 1997 to 1999. according to
the Business Plan Summary.
Over a five-year projection, estimated savings will be more than $258
million.
Budget savings are expected from "Information —■—
Technology Expenditures,
Infrastructure Deployment, Student Services and
Support Costs," as stated in
the summary.
CSU spokesman Ken
Swisher said the contract
could be implemented by the end of
this year.
"The idea is to get all of our campuses working together," he said.
Proposed infrastructure timeline
Upgrade to baseline infrastructure for
19981 aU campus libraries, computer labs
and faculty offices.
1QQQ* uP6Tade 12 selected campuses and
127277* all campus administrative offices.
2000* ComPIete upgrade of remaining 11
<L.KJ\J\J. campuses, including Fresno State.
 Source: CETI Team Business Plan Summary
Business Plan. The categories are:
development of educational content;
career and student development; development of telecommunications;
and commercial products.
The development of educational
content category will offer products
created by both the CSU campuses
"The idea is to get all of our campuses
working together."
— Ken Swisher,
CSU spokesman
elude: campus consumers, consisting
of students and faculty; university
consumers, including alumni and
staff; and public i
Reduced commitment
Under the development of educational content category. Team GTE
has proposed 13 different
——— services, eight of which
are specifically designed
for electronic delivery
which "reduces classroom commitment."
One such proposed service, called CSU Virtual
University, is described in
Appendix B as intended
to "supplement current programs."
Ken Swisher in the Chancellor's
Office said the Virtual University
would "offer options for students to
take classes in classrooms or in dis-
UUCICU I'
four"revi
accordinj
and the industries.
Career and student development
products will be designed to assist stu-
Swisher explained the proposed    dents and graduates in job searches
plan as marketing the CSU students,    and career enhancements.
faculty and administration, appro*i-        The telecommunications category    tance classes.
mately 375,000 in total, to the Team    would "maximize the infrastructure        However, philosophy profe
GTE companies. As a result, the team    developed under CE^l," while the
would provide better rates for service    commercial products category would
and state-of-the-art products. offer "products that leverage and pro
mote CSU's established brand recog-
Variety of services nition," according to Appendix B,
The products and services to be    written by GTE.
offered by Team GTE are divided into       Team GTE has divided the prospec-
four "revenue-generating" categories,    uve market into three categories, ac-
according to Appendix B of theCETI    cording to Appendix B-2. These in-
Warrcn Kessler disagrees.
"Student-faculty interaction is the
key to learning," said Kessler, president of the Fresno State chapter of the
California Faculty Association.
"Computer simulations will not improve [students'] skills. Sitting passively by the television or computer
won't do the trick."
Appearance-based treatment unfair
by Clora Ash
Consider this hypothetical situation: "Miss
Sunshine" woke up one morning and
decided that she wanted to dress pretty. She
spent two to three hours getting dressed. Without a
doubt, the girl looked good.
Everyone thought "Miss Sunshine" looked great
and they went out of their way to acknowledge her
presence. Men practically ran to open the door for
her. The world was hers to command. The sun was
shining and the birds were chirping. It was a
glorious day.
However. "Miss Sunshine" misinterpreted the
positive feedback that she received from everyone.
She thought that it was her presence alone that
caused people to fuss over her — not! She quickly
found out that wasn't the case if she came in looking
like a plain Jane.
In that situation, men decided that she could get
her own door, and in some cases, they slammed the
door on her. "Miss Sunshine" had learned a valuable
lesson about our civilized society, which is: If you
want to treated with respect, you have better look
nice every day or pay the consequences.
Most people have experienced this difference in
treatment, which can be physically, mentally and
emotionally exhausting. People also know how it
feels to be ignored, and yet it is still considered
acceptable treatment for people whose appearance
falls outside the slatus^quo.
How did society get to this point? When did
vanity become more important than the heart or the
spirit of the human being? What does the outside
appearance really reveal about a person?
Just because a person looks good, naturally or
through cosmetic surgery, that does not represent
intelligence, kindness, or accomplishment. Many
times it only represents a lot of time looking in the
mirror and admiring ourselves.
When the person's heart is devalued, but his
vanity is valued, it shows that societal morals are
headed in the wrong direction. This misplaced value
probably contributes to low self-esteem, even
unhappiness.
Maybe this society can accept that adults go to
extremes for acceptance, but what about the effects
it can have on teenagers? We have teenagers not
only wanting surgery, but they also are willing to go
to extremes so that they can be thin.
These teens want to look like the models they see
on television and in magazines, but this is an
unrealistic desire.
Some people will argue that it is acceptable to
expect people to look a certain way, because it is
important to look good for employment and advancements in life. This argument should not be
acceptable, because there is something called "free
time."
When people are relaxing during free lime,
they should not be expected to dress up.
before they leave their homes. Only a
shower and deodorant should be required.
This is a free country, and that means that the
people who live here should be able to dress as they
please, without consequences. People should not be
defined or limited because of their appearance.
There is still a chance to create a mellow environment, and a peaceful planet, which can be achieved
through challenging daily our insensitive attitudes
and actions. Everyone has the ability to make a
difference, no matter how small their contribution is.
It is important to look beyond people's outer
appearance and look a little deeper for what they
have inside their heart. Each human being should
work hard to judge each other less, and love each
other more.
Clora Ash is an Insight staff writer.
RENOVATIONS:
Facelifts for campus
will take 5-10 years
Continued from page 1
and classes arc littered with old equipment and chalk dust.
"We are facing the multi-million
dollar deterioration of an educational
institution." said Warren Kessler,
president of the Fresno State chapter
of the California Faculty Association,
the union for professors.
"How can we ask students to take
us seriously when we're ushering
them into rooms that look like Russia in the 1930s?" he asked.
Many disagree with the philosophy
professor's extreme position, but few
would argue that the Fresno State
campus needs help.
"From an aesthetic point,
[Kcssler's] estimation is very accurate," Boyd said. "The classrooms are
old, they're worn out. It's time (for
them] to be refreshed."
To face the problem, last year the
Joint Labor Council, which represents
all unionized labor on campus, met
with the university's Plant Operations
department to work together on how
to improve conditions.
Council Chairman Dan Westbrook
considered the problems imperative.
"The conditions of the classrooms
have a direct impact on the educational activity," he said. "If a teacher
has to spend class lime to deal with
sticky floors and dirty wipe-boards,
then it's going to affect the class quality."
The meeting resulted in a proposed
"fix-it list" of items in need of repair,
which was submitted by teachers and
faculty.
"[The council] was not out to find
fault, but to work together to improve
conditions. We have a great working
relationship." Boyd said.
Instructors placed more than 250
repair requests on the fix-it list. Faculty members listed everything from
cleaning light fixtures to ceiling repair.
When Plant Operations got to work,
they conducted $30,000 worth of repairs in three months.
By the end of last year, they had
accomplished close to 70 percent of
the list. But Boyd is facing a lack of
funding and personnel in his campaign for repair.
"We have two full time painters
again for the first time since the paint
shop was closed in 1992," he said
Because of cutbacks, the entire university was maintained by part-time
painters for the last five years.
Boyd said that the university should
have six painters soon, but he has
enough work right now to keep 20
painters busy.
Meanwhile, there arc only 49 custodial staff members in charge of the
cleaning and upkeep on every classroom and office on campus.
The lack of personnel and resources
comes from a shortage of money.
According to Boyd, there are several major projects that are in the process of being pursued, but budgets are
not keeping up with the cost inflation
of supplies.
"Our operations and maintenance
funds are staying at a consistent level,
and they're not keeping up with inflation," he said. "And we still have
to use some equipment that dates back
to the 1960s."
The light at the end of the tunnel
for renovation is the support of President Welty's office.
The president's office has pledged
$ 100,000 of support for classroom repair this year. This brings the total
budget for class repair to $350,000.
Stiff not enough money
According to Astone.'s office, that
is enough money to aesthetically
renovate 23 classrooms.
Fifty classrooms have been slated
for help, so this year's renovations
would mean almost half would be
fixed by next spring.
The major reconstruction funding
this school year is going towards matters of safety rather than environment
or aesthetics.
Joyal Administration is slated for a
much needed refurbishing of its
poorly designed ventilation system.
McLane Hall is in for a $6-million-
iloll.tr full renovation.
Reconstruction projects are still few
and far between, however, due to their
expense. Limited funds for such
projects puts their priority behind
building new facilities, which are usually funded through bond issues.
"We have to compete with the prisons, the elementary schools, the high
schools and the community colleges
for our money," Boyd said, "It will
take millions of dollars to get this
place to where it needs to be."
In five to ten years the department
of facilities planning hopes to have -I
all 50 of the classrooms on campus
revitalized.
Kessler said that that was too long
to wait for this kind of action.
"If you want people to take themselves seriously, you have to create a
physical environment that they can
excel in," he said, "How can you aspire to excellence in the midst of deterioration."
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