1993_11 Insight November 1993

              November, 101993
Insight/California State University, Fresno
Page 3
Parachuting: the good, the bad and the ugly
By Aaron I
and Inger Sethov
ly
Staff Writers
Parachuting costs 20 to 30 U.S.
lives every year, the majority caused
by operator malfunctions.
Out of the 2 million to 3 million
jumps of the country's 200 drop zones
affiliated
jumps, said, "Every time I've hurt
myself, it has been my own fault."
Gilbert said he always keeps up on
current emergency procedures, keeps
close familiarity with the equipment
and maintains the equipment to the
highest standards.
Every skydi ver has a reserve parachute which is inspected by the Federal Aviation Agency every 120days.
with      the
demjump,
United
in which a
States Para
*^k_V
certified
chute Asso
instructor
ciation, only
carries a
4 percent are
parachute
related   to
and is har-
equipment
nessed
problems.
Piggy
"The
back on a
USPA regu
student.
lations arc
requires a
only rccom-
a**
total    of
JL/
three para
but we take
m
chutes, the
them   very
Mr
main, a re
seriously,"
a
serve and
said 43-y car-
V
an emer-
old owner of
g e n c y
Madera
chute.
ParachuteCenie
r,DavidGilbcrt,who
Gilbert
has jumped mo
■e than 3,000 times.
used his reserve chu
e in his first
Gilbert said
his parachute center
jump, when his main c
hute failed to
release.
lishment eight y
ears ago.
But it didn't prev
nt him from
"We've had
our share of broken
jumping again.
arms and ankle
, bul never anything
"Something inside
af me told mc
to try it again," he said
.
Richard Ric
e, 39, with 2,530
For some people tha
"somcihing"
is just plain fun.
"Parachuting is very addictive," said
34-year-old Lory Bartlett-Hamess with
1,500 jumps.
"It's a healthy addiction, though,"
she said.
Fresno fire fighter Mickey
Obradovich, 37, helps keeping the costs
of his hobby down by photographing
jumpers and selling the photos.
"I spent 800 bucks a month at one
poinL" he said. "I just couln't stop."
A complete parachute equipment
package costs approximately $3,000
and a first-time jump typically ranges
from S100 to $200.
"We're not crazy," said 39-year-old
Lory Bartlett-Hamess, who hasjumped
1,500 times, "just a little more adventurous than the average couch potato."
The skydiving adventure is by some
characterized as the feeling of crossing
die limits.
"When someone tells you to jump
out of an aircraft that is 12.500 feet up,
that goes against human preservation,"
said Scott Pettichord, 28, an employee
at Madera Parachute Center with more
than 1,200 jumps under his bell.
Madera parachuters said even after
thousands of jumps it is still exciting.
"It's never the same as ihc first time,
but it's still an adrenaline rush." Bartleti-
Hamess said.
Obradovich said the fear of heighLs
is an important element of the excitement.
"Anyone who say s they' re nol afraid
of heighLs is lying," said Obradovich.
"Those people were squeezed out of
Simulating the free fall position, instructor David Gilbert hoists Beckie Jonasky, 38, of Yosemite,
before her first jump at Madera Parachute Center.
the gene pool thousands of years ago
when fearlesscavcmcn fell off cliffs."
But Madera skydivers ignore the
cavemen heritage and next weekend
they continue practicing to beat the
French record in canopy formation.
The record is 39 parachuters connected forming a diamond in the air.
In October next year Madera
Darachuters will trv to form a dia
mond of 49 parachuters.
The diamond is expected to be 300
feet tall from top to bottom and include
13 rows of people.
"It's a trip." said 35-year-old Dave
Witte, who will participate in challenging ihc record.
"Your brain goes into high gear."
said Shaun Vineyard.
Thorough preparation is required
for 49 skydivers to coordinate their
jumps and movements in the air.
"It's a learn thing." said Bartlett-
Hamess. also a diamond formation
participant.
"If you mess up, you let everybody else down with you."
"You have to keep your head
cold up there," she said. "That's the
clue."
Parachute
Continued from page 1
Gilbert. 43, owner of the outfit, we
boarded the Queen Air, a 13-passen-
ger twin-engine airplane customized
for hauling skydivers.
Accompanied by six solo jumpers,
a photographer and the pilot, we were
packed in like sardines.
No one spoke as we ascended lo
12,500 feet.
Mickey Obradovich. 37, with video
and 35 mm cameras bolted to his helmet, raised Ihe plcxiglassdoor to "spot"
the landing target.
Our faces, beaded with sweat, were
slapped by ihe 46-dcgrec air.
'Take off your seal bell and get on
your knees," Gilbert ordered from bc-
With pounding hearts and swealy
palms, wc witnessed the solo jumpers
jettison oul the 3-hy^4 door.
They disappeared in Ihe flick of a
switch.
Then ii was our turn.
With iocs peeking off the edge, the
valley staring up, the cold truth hit.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
In secondscachof us were plunging
120mph,lookingforGirbert's thumbs-
up signal indicating a successful jump.
Gilbert's thumb was bigger lhan
life. Now ihe time had come to enjoy
the euphoria of moving weightlessly
in the air like fish in ihe sea.
The feeling of free falling blatantly
violates Mother Nature's basic law:
"You fly. you die."
From the airchcckcred ground turned
into fields of alfalfa, and the stream of
colorful moving doLs frighteningly became the motorisLs and truckers on
Freeway 99 .The 40 second, 7,500-foot
free fall ended with cold reality and hot
technology.
We realized we needed man-made
equipment to enier the ground world
alive.
Our 120 mph speed violently slacked
lo a drowsy 20 mph in less lhan two
seconds as Gilbert released the rainbow-painted canopy at 5,000 feet.
The turbulent journey ended and
calmness took over.The dramatic
change from the howling air shattering
the ears at 120 mph to the sudden silence, was like entering a peaceful
vacuum.
We could hear our voices and could
talk to Gilbert as he pointed oul ihe
landing spot and taught us to steer.
Wc went over ihc landing procedure
and went for the touchdown.
Our return to Earth was confirmed as
four legs scrambled onto the circular
gravel landing destination.
After a hug and wearing grins from
ear to car. we jumped into our brown
dot to join the colorful stream on ihc
checkered ground.
Eateries
Continued from page 5
system wc use." Prince said.
The eateries coming onto campus
was a long drawn-out process, he said.
"It started well over a year ago when
we were put into a situation of building
and expanding the bookstore and food
service complex," Prince said. "At thai
lime wc were notified that the old cafeteria building would be torn down and
the library extension wouldcome across
to where it is presently located."
"So wc immediately went out and
started searching what wc could put in
the complex that would be attractive to
the studcnLs. We were looking at major
franchises that could offer a large variety of items for breakfast, lunch and
dinner in the complex," he said.
Different organ zationssuchas Carl's
Jr., Subway and Guido's Pizza did presentations in front of ihe Food Committee, which represcnLs the campus
community, according to Prince.
Prince said thai around lasi March,
Drummond decided to do a survey
through the College Union because
ihey felt they had to do something in the
College Union if this new complex was
built.
Drummond said she received more
than 450 surveys back that said the
studenLs wanted Taco Bell at CSUF.
their first choice. They wanted Subway
as their No. 2 choice and a Chinese-
type operation as the third choice.
These surveys asked students what
type of restaurants they wanted.
Bui what really feuled the fire for
Drummond was what she noticed on
different campuses while she was traveling wiih the Association of College
Unions International, such as CSU
chises on campus.
"I thought why can't wc do thai."
Drummond said. "It was basically because (former Director of Food Services) Rick Finlay never wanted to get
into that. So I had some discussions
with Jim Prince and he said he would
really like to go that way because that's
whai siudcnLs want to do."
Carl's Jr. was brought up in food
committee deliberations quite a few
times and was a very controversial
topic. Drummond said.
She said that Carl's Jr. was very
controversial because there were studenLs, including herself and former ASI
President Marci Dcmings. that had concerns aboul bringing the fast-food franchise on to campus.
Some of the concerns centered
around the affiliations Carl Karcher
has had with some organizations that
have been considered racist or sexist
and some of the contributions he had
made.
Carl's Jr. sent representatives to talk
to Drummond aboul the concerns.
Drummond said the alledged racism and sexism were big concerns,
especially coming in to a campus cli-
Northridge had voted down bringing Carl's Jr. on their campus.
"We talked to ihem and they said
everything we wanted to hear,"
Drummond said. "Il was a little loo
perfect."
So. Prince set up an appointment
wiih Carl Karcher and he flew- Dcmings
and Drummond down to L.A. to meet
with him.
"We talked to ihem, along with
Prince and Terry Noble from the Association," Drummond said.
Drummond said that most of
Karcher's beliefs stem from his religious background. "He's a very religious man. very Catholic." Drummond
said. "I don't agree with his philosophies, bul I really respected him for
believing in those things."
She added she felt better when she
left ihc meeting and had a new-found
respect for Karcher.
"1 remember the one thing he said to
us was that if you bring another franchise on campus, "are you going lo ask
the same questions you asked me?'"
Drummond said.
Prince said thai they arc slill planning lo expand the Carl's Jr. by putting
in another warmer and another soda
Smuggling
Continued Irom page 5
house, but only if you take off your
shoes." Perez said. "I have the right to
insist upon it.
"In this situation I've attached what
most perceive as reasonable conditions, bul a property owner can attach
whatever conditions to allow you a
license—that's what the law calls it—
io enter his property."
Perez said this
that can then be modified by statute
or the constitution. He added thai
when private property is opened to
the public, owners subject themselves to limitations applied lo the
government.
Dr. Paul Lange. professor of finance and business law. said as long
as a theater doesn't violate health
and safety codes or onc'scivil rights,
a theater can refuse service.
"People don't usually realize that
legally you can discriminate as long
as it's not protected by your civil
rights." l.ange said. "legally, you
could say. "I refuse to serve blonde
women or left-handed people.
"And we do—if you've ever noticed the desks in classrooms built
for right-handed students."
Sousa and management for Festival Regency said thai although
there are signs posted, they don't
enforce their policy unless customers bring in hot food or glass containers.
Perez appeared amused by the
conflict.
"Absent of some constitutional
or statutory law," he said, waving
his spectacles in emphasis, "property owners have the right to do
what they doggone want to do.
" There's a difference between
freedom of expression and Ihe right
to consume munchies." he said.
"I don't think it's risen to constitutional magnitude.
'War of the Worlds' scare showcased power of radio
By Julie Johnson
StaffWriter
This year's Hal low een Eve marked
the 55th anniversary of the day the
world came to an end — almost.
Oct. 30.1938, will be remembered
as an extraordinary nighl when the
submerged anxieties of tens of thousands of Americans surfaced and
joined in a flood of terrorthat swept the
country.
Between 9 p.m. EST and dawn of
the next day. men. women and children inscorcsofiownsandcities across
the nation were in flight from objects
that had no existence except in their
imaginations.
On that Halloween nighl, Orson
Welles and the Mercury Theatre aired
over the CBS Radio Network their
dramatization of the novel written by
H.G. Wells in 1898. The War of ihe
Worlds." which depicted space aliens
taking over ihe world.
In ihc course of 45 minutes, ihe
invading Martians were presumably
able lo blast off from their planet, land
on the earth, set up their destructive
machines, defeat our armies, disrupt
communication, demoralize the population and occupy whole sections of ihe
country, and then be destroyed by a
bacteria ihat to which their alien bodies
were no immune. All in 45 minutes'
A new climate was created lor radio,
a recepiiveness in official circles to
argumenLs about iLs power and importance as- a medium for transmitting
Mass Communication Professor Jim
Wilson helioses thai there were some
positive aspects that came out of the
hrn.uloisi
"I think the broadcast showed ihat
radio in its very young years was a
tremendous propaganda tool. If it were
in the wrong hands, it could be used to
sway people's minds. They realized
just how strong it was to influence
the public." Wilson said.
Wilson added (hal radio slill is a
powerful loo! when used properly,
but more often docs not utilize the
concept of "ihc theatre of the mind."
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