1993_10 Insight October 1993

              Page 2
Insight/California StateUniversity, Fresno
October 20,1993
Rebecca Boyd
•wnraPARKiraroRSTU-
DENTS," bellowed the officer.
"Butsir.rmonlyoncampusafew
days a week fora few hours. 1 need to
park at a meter."
"No way, girl, unless you want a
tickcL Those spaces are for visitors
only, and only for the time on the
meter."
"But I'll put more money ia"
"Doesn't matter. Besides it broken. You damn kids keep breakin'
'em."
"But officer, there arcn' t any parking spaces in Lot Q by my class. I
looked."
"So park over by Peter's, you lazy
studenL"
"But that's a 10-minuie walk."
"So??"
So the parking struggle continues.
As of Thursday, Ocl 14, no one is
allowed to park at campus meters for
anytime beyond what themcter reads.
Opinion
more money or noL
I was told to see them not as meters
but "time zones."
It seems the policy opinion varies,
depending on who you ask.
Ed Mastropaoio, Administrator
Supervisor, said they're "just trying
to protect those indi viduals who need
the space for a short period of lime
and students abuse that when they
park at a meter all day."
But Fred Martinez, parking officer supervisor, said, "Meters are for
visitors only. A student must buy a
semester or day pass, or park off
campus."
Doesn't sound like much of a
choice.
Who's more important at this
school—visitors or students? Don't
answer that.
It's common knowledge that the
lots, except way out in the boonics of
Lot J,arc always full by 7:55 a.m.and
don't clear out until 5:10 pjn.
But Mastropaoio sees nothing
wrong with a student trekking to campus at 7 a.m. to find a decent parking
space.
Most of us would laugh at the
thought. We spend enough time at
school without wasting our time looking for a parking space.
But in all fairness, Mastropaoio
knows there's a problem and is somewhat sympathetic. He's hoping the
situation will improve when the new
Ed Building opens.
Let's hope so.
He hopes they might even build
some more parking lots...novel idea.
I, myself, don't understand why
they don't just build a parking garage.
It makes more sense than wasting 100
acres of land on car stalls.
Well, all of us who came out to our
cars on Thursday and Friday and found
a parking ticket for over-staying our
welcome at the "visitors'" parking
meters will have to find a new place to
stash our unwelcome vehicles.
You might be able to get away with
it—I did on Friday—but they are
marking car tires. So beware.
Boyd is the INSIGHT A&E Editor.
Letters to the Editor
Dear editor.
This letter is in response to your
article in the SepL 15,1993, issue of the
INSIGHT about the smoking ban. I
believe whote-heartedlythatGov.Pete
Wilson's Executive Order No. 599 is a
step in the right direction.
[It] prohibits smoking in state-owned
buildings. Now smokers will have to
step outside to puff their cigarettes.
So many times, I have sat in the
College Union, the Bucket or the Pit
and been engulfed in a cloud of smoke
that drifted ov cr from a person smoking al a nearby table. Being an asthma
sufferer, I found myself gasping for air.
It angers me that people would be so
rude as to light up their cigarette in an
enclosed area and subject everyone in
the room to second-hand smoke.
It was wonderful news to hear that
Gov. Wilson, who is a smoker, is tak
ing action to ensure the health of non-
smokers in California. A large majority of smokers do not realize the health
risk they present to others by smoking
in enclosed areas.
Everyday, people who have never
smoked a day in their lives are being
diagnosed as having lung cancer. Eighteen non-smokers die every day in
California from secondary smoke.
Hopefully this ban on smoking will
have a positive effect on our youths
and smokers in our community. Now
people who were always trying to quit
will have more motivation to stop
smoking. With smoking viewed more
negatively, more teenagers will realize
it is no longer the "cool" thing to do.
Our society needs to change its perception about smoking, and to stress
all the serious problems it poses. For
example, smoking is one of the major
causes of heart and lung disease.
Many smokers have a difficult ume
understanding the effects smoking has
on the circulatory system. Nicotene is a
vasoconstrictor; itcauses the blood vessels in the body to constrict. This limits
the blood supply to the heart and brain.
Over lime, smoking can lead to high
blood pressure, heart attacks or strokes.
It does permanent damage to the lungs.
Emphysema and lung cancer are consequences ihat can occur due to smoking.
If smokers were better informed, they
might be able to comprehend the long-
term effects their habits will lead lo.
It is reassuring that Executive Order
No. 599 applies to Fresno Slate. I am
glad that something is finally being
done to protect the health of non-smokers on our campus. School should be a
healthy environment, not one that is
potentially hazardous lo students.
Stephanie Ezaki
Dear editor,
I find it the ultimate in ironies ihat I
as a socialist should be agreeing with a
capitalist billionaire about an issue relating to the welfare of workers. However, Ross Perot is absolutely correct in
his opposition to NAFTA.
There is a saying that those who do
not leam from history are doomed to
repeat iL There is mliistory another free
trade agreement—the Open Door
Policy in China. The British East India
Company imported opium into China,
converting many Chinese into opium
addicts.
Theforeign capitalists who built factories there paid no attention to the
environment or th ehealth and safety of
workers in those factories. Little chil-
drcn worked 16 hours a day in factories
where they were often locked in at
nighL In match factories, they got phos-
phorus bums all over their bodies, and
when they died, they were simply
thrown on the trash heap for the dogs to
eaL They wot considered nothmgmore
than an expendable input into a product.
Supporters of NAFTA say a similar
situation couldn't occur today becaasc
child labor laws exist and environmental organizations have power. Well,
judging from the Maquiladora factories, I think they are being overly optimistic. Pollution near these factories is
so bad that children are being bom
without brains or with numerous other
terrible birth defects.
NAFTA, in my opinion, is nothing
but a smokescreen for exploitation.
American workers will lose because
high-paying manufacturing jobs will
translocate io Mexico and be replaced
by service sector jobs paying five or six
dollars an hour. Mexican workers will
lose because of pollution, low pay, bad
working conditions and no benefits. It
is a losc-rosc proposition for everyone
except the American capitalists who
take advantage of NAFTA lo increase
their profits.
Gary Sudborough
Juan Williams, political analyst ot the Washington Post and author of "Eyes on the Prize:
America's Civil Rights Years 1954-1965," signs his autograph for senior Robert Taylor after
the "Diverse Opinions" lecture on Ocl. 12 at Satellite Student Union.
Lab fee cache stashed away
for maintenance and repairs
This is the second of a
two-part series on computer, printer charges.
By David Donnelly
Staff writer
Last year CSUF made $92,500 from
Ihe $15 lab fee imposed on students in
answer io the 1992-93 budget cuts.
According to Gail Abbott, instructional and office consulting coordinator, this money doesn't just fund the
paper supply.
"It goes toward paying student assistants, general maintancc of the computer labs and computer-related handouts," she said.
Abbott said general maintancc in
cludes ensuring the proper functioning
ofthcLascrprintcrs.Imagcwritcrs.mice
and computers.
But Ihe beginning of the semester
was frought with computer problems in
McKcc-Fisk that interrupted several
Mass Communication and Journalism
classes and upset not a few instructors.
"That was a file server problem, one
of many during the first couple of
weeks," Abbott said.
Students' cars being towed,
no longer getting off the hook
Recycling.
It's the catch word ofthe '90s. Bul
sadly, not everyone has caught on.
Wecan'tcount the numbcrof times
we've walked into professors' offices
and classrooms and spotted perfcedy
recyclable materials in waste containers—-junk mail.thc boss' latcstmemo,
college newspapers. Yes, even trash
can have some redeemable value.
You'd think the simple act of tossing that aluminum Pepsi can or glass
Snapple bottle into a local recycling
bin would be one of tbe least taxing
activities of someone's day.
And although wc' re prac tically trip
ping over recycling boxes on campus,
il's still not uncommon to find newspapers in the trash, ore ven more tragi-
cally, trash in the recycling boxes.
What will it take for the rest of the
population to make mat small change
in its daily routines and learn to think
automatically in terms of what is and
isn't rc-usablc?
Il's actually very simple. If people
would just place a recycling bin next
lo the trash cans in their offices and
classrooms, they wouldn't have to go
out of their way lo do it. Think of it as
Editorial
another way recycling saves energy
costs.
Even hauling shouldn't pose a problem because thcRcycling Center (278-
4097) will send someone out anywhere
on campus to personally lake materials
lo the center on Barstow Avenue. Problem solved.
It could be just as easy to do in ihc
workplace as well. For instance, in an
effort to stimulate one cdilor'sco- workers into recycling action, she offered to
do the hard part by taking the stuff to
the bin herself if they would just throw
it into the two G lad bags by her desk—
one for while paper, one for colored.
Bul her associates seem to think
even that is too much to ask, and she has
ended up foraging through waste baskets at ihc end of the day collecting
recyclables.
Il's especially difficult to justify environmental laziness in business and
newsprint production offices such as
this one where such large volumes of
paper are processed.
When it's all been made so easy for
otherwise eco-unfriendly individuals,
why arc some still so resistant to ihc
idea? After all, il's everyone's prob
lem.
But despite a barrage of environ-
mcntalists'pleas io exercise more earth-
friendly habiLs, many people still act as
if it takes some sort of Herculean effort
lo toss the moming paper, once read,
on a slack for take-out.
Hey. it has to be thrown outanyway,
right? Why not do the right thing arid
place it in its proper receptacle?
Remember, with every unrccyclcd
plastic, glass and paper product we
unwittingly tip die scales of earth's
delicate ecological balance.
Hcrc'sanolhcridca: Place recycling
bins at athletic events, loo. Anyone
who's seen Bcidcn Field ihc moming
after a game knows having recycling
bins at the stadium could cut ihc amount
oftimcmaintcnarrcccrcwsspcndclcan-
ing up, and therefore costs, loo.
So ponder this green thought: Can
recycling find a place in a self-serving
society ihatconsidcrsconvcnicnce first
and ecological welfare last? That depends on where this paper ends up
when you're finished with this column.
By Aaron Riggs
StaffWriter
Shift manager Joseph Bowen calls
die low truck for the sevens time that
day.
Hescansthe Taco Bell dining room
for customers.
No one.
"They think they can cat here, leave
iheir car, then take offtoclass," Bowen
said.
"But after an hour, adios."
Students are taking the chance of
having their cars towed when they park
in the lots of businesses near campus.
Bowen said the problem with studenu parking in the Taco Bell lot on
Cedar Avenue across from campus has
been getting worse in the past couple of
weeks.
Now he's taking a stand. He's enforcing rhe 30-minute limit he often
used to let slide to one hour.
he can'trcmembcr how many students'
cars he has lowed in the 14 years he's
owned the store.
also been fighting the problem for much
EungsooPark, owner of the7-Elevcn
store on Shawand Maple avenues, said
"They think they
can eat here,
leave their car,
then take off to
class.
But after an hour,
adios."
—Joseph Bowen
"Iflcan'tstandthcm.oriftheypark
in front of the garbage cans, I low
them,''Park said.
"It doesn't work though. The next
day, there arc more cars."
For some students, the costs saved
by not buying a parking permit is one
reason for their enticement to park in the
nearby lots.
Adrian Claiborne, a sophomore,
parks his 1991 Toyota Corolla next to
Wendy's in the parking lot of Breuncrs
Furniture on Cedar Avenue, despite the
signs that read CUSTOMER PARKING ONLY.
"I save money—it's dose," he said.
"I don't get a dckeL and I haven't been
towed."
The price of a student parking permit
at the beginning ofthe fall semester was
$54.
But some lowing companies charge
two cr three times that much when they
tow a car.
One business owner is more sympathetic when it comes to students using
his parking lot.
Yaser Amirch, co-owner of Bulldog
Liquor on the comer of Shaw and Cedar
avenues, said he doesn't like it when
students park in his lot because it takes
spaces away from the customers, but he
has never called a tow truck.
"I see kids with backpacks park right
in front of my store, and off to school
ihey go," he said.
I ^J J\ I(j fl \       Department of Mass Communication and Journalism
2225 E. San Ramon Ave.. CSUF, Fresno, CA 93740-0010 News: 278-2892 Advertising: 278-3934
Editor-in-Chief
Deborah Miller
Copy Editor
Managing Editor
Christina Fonseca
News Editor
Graphics Editor
Inger Sethov
Advertising Manager
Camilla Cederquist
Erin Yasuda
Jennifer Lewis
Diane Troha
Photo Editor
Sports Editor
__^ Tony Altobelli
Arts & Entertainment Editor
 Rebecca Boyd    StaffWriters
Advertising Production Manager
 Jennifer Lewis
Photographers
Steve Fujimoto
Karen Toth
 Tommy Monrcal
Assistant Copy Editors
M. Cristina Medina
Olivia Reyes
Students of MCJ 103 & 102VV
INSIGHT welcomes all letters, comments and corrections. INSIGHT reserves the right to
condense letters to the editor for any reason. Anonymous letters to the editor will not be considered.
Please include your phone and I.D. numbers for our identification purposes.
.