1993_04 Insight April 1993

              Page 2
April 21,1993
o
Insight
pinion
Beat by whom?
We now take you live to a
broadcast going on at this very
moment, being electronically
scattered all over the globe via
satellite.
"This is Buffy Clalenderon,
live on channel two, and we
are sorry to interrupt the televised premiere of the Pope's
small rifle training in the Sudan
to bring you this breaking story
from Los Angeles. We send
you now to Bob Abalabal on
the comers of Florence and
Normandie, where a startling
reaction to the King verdict
has just hit."
"Thank you Buffy, this is Bob
Abalabal and a man, ethnicity
unknown drove through this
intersection and attempted to
ignite the entire neighborhood
with a small, incendiary
device.He careened through
the area in a late model sedan,
above the speed limit I might
add, and hurled a burning cigarette out of his driver's side
window. It seemed to be aimed
directly at a patch of oil on the
asphalt. Fire officials are on
the scene, which has been cordoned off, and the liquid on
the street was determined to
be a slightly acidic, odorous
substance, better known as
urine.
"So, everything seems to be
safe down here, and we shall
be on the lookout for any
trouble, and report it to you as
soon as we get it."
"Thank you Bob. We will now
go to...."
Thomas Jefferson once made
the claim that if he had the
choice between a government
without newspapers, or newspapers without a government,
he "should not hesitate to prefer the latter."
Had Jefferson been alive for
the last few weeks prior to the
announcement of the verdict
in the Rodney King civil rights
case, he would have chosen to
become a hairdresser.
We interrupt this to bring you
more inconsequential news.
"This is Bob Abalabal on the
now violent comer of Florence
and Normandie, and I am sorry
to say that the rioting has yet
again ignited. As you can see
behind me, more than 50 television and newspaper groups
began throwing Bic pens at
each other, sparking one ofthe
worst riot situations we have
seen in current history. Back
to you in the studio."
Endless hours of prime-time
newscast time have been devoted to predicting the "inevitable" outcome ofthe verdicts,
and reporting the insurgence
ofthe armed forces into south-
em California.
Many of the pictures, both
printed and broadcast, have
shown the effect or presence
of themselves in one way or
another.
Arthur "Scud Stud" Kent
braved missiles in Kuwait to
get on television, the Marines
cut through the press during
the beach landing in Somalia,
and the hourly newscast broadcast the absence of violence in
Los Angeles.
The media was formed centuries ago to inform the public
of their rights, actions and problems, and society should insist
that their local and national
broadcasters remain objective,
fair, and out of the limelight.
Fresno's 'Field of Dreams'
Lisa Driver
A little over six months ago, the Fresno City
Council made the decision to begin buying
property in downtown Fresno to build a multipurpose stadium, ideal for Triple-A baseball.
Hurry up, Fresno! Nothing has happened
yet-
Many people are worried about the cost of
the new stadium, especially since there are no
real estimates available yet
But don't worry about that Instead, think of
all the revenue that would be brought into
downtown Fresno, an area everyone was once
really proud of. It can happen again, and il
will once the stadium is built.
Imagine attending a ballgame, knowing you
arc seated with 15,000 other fans'in your
home stadium, watching your home team. All
this, and in downtown Fresno, too. We arc
talking about an area of Fresno that many
north-Frcsnans arc presently too scared-lo-
death to drive in, let alone walk in, and here
we are, feeling that our worst danger is getting hit by a flyball.
I would be ecstatic to pass the beautiful, new
stadium while on my way to a trendy downtown restaurant or boutique.
Even more exciting is the prospect of attending huge conceits, watching real, famous
performers. Is it live or is it Memorcx? It
would be live, and in Fresno.
Naturally, to build the stadium complex,
several downtown businesses would be forced
to relocate. Some jobs would be lost
Butall hope is nol lost on them. The stadium
would provide 400 new jobs to the Fresno
area. I'm sure that's probably more new jobs
than the total number that would be lost by
moving businesses out
These people should fed lucky. They could
en ter a new, exciting profession, and possibly
even make better wages than they make at
their current jobs.
Even the design of the stadium would be a
marvel. It would be used as a baseball field for
Fresno's new Triple-A baseball team.
Wait just a minute? Did I just say Fresno's
new Triple-A baseball team?
I sure did. When the stadium is built, the
Fresno Diamond Group will provide us with a
real team, with players itching to make it
straight from Fresno to the major leagues.
We could also transform the stadium to a
soccer field. There is talk of holding the World
Cupof Soccer in Fresno. Just imagine what an
honor that would be.
It could also be used as an outdoor arena for
large concerts, holding up to 20.000 fans, if
some were scaled on ground level.
In other towns, stadium projects like this one
have drawn big-name bands like the Beach
Boys, Gloria Estefan, and others popular
groups. Bands that won't know Fresno exists
until we have a concert arena able to hold
enough ticket buyers to convince them to
come to town.
This kind of dream has worked in other large
cities. Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore is one such stadium, built to revitalize a
deteriorating section of Baltimore. The same
sort of thing happened in Des Moines, Iowa
Oriole Park is similar to the stadium plan for
Fresno. Both are designed to revitalize the
downtown area. But our stadium will feature
a view of an urban skyline, something unheard of in Des Moines.
Building a new stadium would bring more
money into Fresno's shriveled pockeibook,
ballgames for the many fans we have in the
Valley, and big-name concerts, so no one has
to empty their bank account and drive all the
way to Ihe Forum or the Oakland Coliseum to
waich their favorite band. With the Sports
Entertainment Complex, we only have to
empty our bank accounts.
■«&
Eeny-meeny-miny-Mayor
What's on jour mind?
Question:
Do you believe the
education you are
receiving at CSUF is
adequate preparation
for employment in the
"real world" ?
Victoria Sumler, senior, social work
Asked of students in the
Free Speech Area last week. «Ycs, I think I'm getting enough information in my social work classes.
My classes have not lacked anything."
Monica Monies,   graduate student, Laura Terrazas, senior, English
liberal studies
"No. They have career day, but they
"Yes and no. Now I got a job offer at don't really prepare you with the right
Buchanan. But some instructors don't questions to ask. You take GE classes,
tell you everything you need. But there but don't get enough training. I'm go-
are a few that really care." ing to the Peace Corps."
Laurentius Suparwoto,    graduate Monica    Rodriguez,    sophmore,
student,   business criminal   law
"No..Classes are old-fashioned and "No, because we can hardly get the
too big. The library facility is not classes we need to prepare us for the
enough, especially for journals. real world."
Letters to the Editor
Hooray for Lindsay Lang and her
mature and intelligent response to this
ASI funded Women's Herstory circus
that we have all become subject to last
month! Having read her letter I feel a
new hope. I am thrilled that I am not the
only intelligent, politically active female on this campus who chooses to
distinguish herself from the current victim-centered mentality and male-bashing antagonism that has unfortunately
become what was once the feminist
movement.
Wc need more women like Ms. Lang
active on campus. I would like to extend a personal invitation to Ms. Lang
and all other such politically active
and aware women to join Fresno State
Republicans. We meet in the USU 312
Sundays at 6:30 p.m.
Sincerely,
Giovana Driussi
Fresno State Republftans
Recording Secretary
Corrections...
The article "Islam and Muslims" (Mar.
24), read "(Abourish] added that this persecution made little sense because few
Muslims around the world arc Iranian
nationals who espouse the terrorism of
Ayatollah Khomeni." Neither Insight nor
Abourish intended to imply all Iranians
espouse terrorism, the way it was misinterpreted by some, for this would be untrue. Iranians are as diverse as any ethnic
group and a great many reject terrorism.
Also, due to the fault of the writer, the
anecdote cited by Abourish was not from
personal experience but was actually about
the prophet Muhammad
Mail Stop 10, CSU Fresno
Fresno, CA 93740 (209) 278-2892
McKee Fisk, Rm. 240
CALIFORNIA STATE
UNIVERSITY, FRESNO
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