1993_09 Insight September 1993

              News Events
i**oponni» M»Kmnp
A recap of community
and campus news from
the summer.
COMMUNITY
«ut with the Old
i with the New
Although no arrests
were made in the case of
the mysterious fire mat
destroyed the old Alligator Gub in Nov. 1989, it
finally re-opened as
Prisma Graphics and
Campus Copy this summer.
Campus Copy was previously located next to the-
liquor store in Bulldog
Plaza.
Police Chief
Leaves for Oakland
Fresno Poiicc Grief Joseph Samuels Jr. was
sworn in to as Oakland
chief on Aug. 9.
He wass a 17-year veteran of the Oakland Police Department and captain when he resigned to
become Fresno's chief in
Oct 1991.
'Jurassic Park'
Spurs Dino-Mania
'Jurassic Park' broke all
box office records by June
13, raking in almost $50
million in ticket sales in
its first three days.
The Spielberg production touched off a summer-long dinosaur craze.
Pride Parade Draws
Larger Crowd than
Last Year
The third annual Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade and Festival in
Fresno's Tower District
drew 2,000 spectators on
June 13.
The tumour was considered a success by the
event's coordinators and
participants.
Pepsi Tampering
Scare
Hits Fresno
Nationwide reports of
syringes in Pepsi cans
found their way to Fresno
when a social services
worker claimed to have
found two sewing needles
in her Diet Pepsi can on
June 16. The company's
officials have been investigating the claims, calling them 'hoaxes.'
Valley UC Under
Reconsideration
If concessions to next
year's state budget are
met, planning may resume
for a valley UC, according to a UC spokesperson
on June 16.
Prehistoric Bones
Found in Madera
Bones, teeth and tusks
from two or three mammoths and at least two
other animal species were
found in May at the
Madera County J/airmead
Landfill. Some of the remains will be displayed
at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum.
It was agreed on June 1
the bones would become
property of University of
Califronia's Museum of
Paleontology in Berkeley.
Disgruntled Music
Fans Roast CDs
Garth Brooks' CDs were
cooked, roasted and barbecued on June 24 outside of Fresno's Ragin'
Records store in response
to Brooks' fight against
secondhand CD sales.
Sm Summer, page 8
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CALIFORNIA   STATE   UNIVERSITY,   FRESN
Wednesday, September 15,1993
Volume 27, Issue 1
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Robert Robblns, a senior International business major, makes his way carefully through
"Lake Fresno State" near the Satellite Student Union on Wednesday.
Fire strikes apartments
Fire erupts in complex
dominated mostly by
CSUF students.
By Christina Fonseca
Staff Writer
Nicole Martin's face told it all as
she watched her belongings go up in
smoke last week in the Tire at Plaza
Apartments near Cedar and Barstow
avenues. Her hands framed her
shocked features—wide eyes and gaping mouth showed her horror.
Martin's apartment was one of the
six units destroyed in the Sept, 9 Tire
thatcauscd more than S220.000 worth
of damage at 5411 N. Cedar Ave.
Fresno Fire Investigator Jim
Christiansen said the 1:09 pm blaze
ignited as a result of a kitchen fire in
apartment No. 240.
"The man and woman living in
apartment No. 240 were apparently
cooking some food on the stove when
it overheated." he said. The food
erupted into flames al around 10:30
am.
"The couple put out the fire with a
fire extinguisher and called the apartment manager," he said. The manager
checked out the situation. He assumed
there was no immediate danger, didn' t
call the fire department, hesaid.
According to the investigation,
flames from the burning food flared
up into the ventilation fan, sending
sparks into the duct work, he said.
The sparks escaped into the attic,
where they smoldered in the insulation until the wood structure eventually ignited.
"This is not uncommon," he said.
"We see a lot of fires that start from
sparks from stove fires."
Fresno Fire Battalion Chief Bruce
McDaniel said the residents should
have called the fire department. "A
few little sparks can cause a lot of
Kar*»ToUi/lNSlGHT
Firefighters were called to a blaze at the Plaza Apartment
complex on Cedar and Barstow on T hursday afternoon.
Plaza Apartments management and
1»etghbors refused to comment
Renter's insurance an
option for students
By Christina Fonseca
Staff Writer
If fire or burglary strikes your
apartment, what will you do?
Fur safety and renter's insurance are two things, experts say.
that all renters should be thinking
about.
Fresno Fire Battalion Chief
Bruce McDaniel said there are a
few things that every renter should
dowhenmovingintoan apartment:
1) make sure the smoke detector
is working
2) plan at least two different escape routes in case of a fire —
know what to do before a fire oc
curs
3) keep flammable products
away from sources of combustion.
"You also need to know that
three of the main sources of fires
are overheated food on stoves, children play ing with matches and cigarette smokers who are not careful,"
McDaniel said.
Probably the best type of fire
safety would be to carry renter's
insurance, be said.
"Not many renters actually have
insurance for their belongings," said
McDaniel. "Most renters think the y
are covered by the apartment
complex's insurance, but they
See Fire, page 8
Budget cuts
hit students,
departments
Presidentss Office,
Computer Services
among victims.
By Inger Sethov	
Staff Writer
Well-known, but frightening; understandable, but upsetting—budget
cuts are forcing departments across
the board to tighten their belts and
pray for the light at the end of the
tunnel.
Promising words from authorises
make little difference to students
striving to graduate, who are unable
to get into much-needed classes.
Students this semester have seen
an increase of $66 for seven or more
units, and $39 for six or fewer.
"I was apalled when I heard about
the $66." said 23-year-old marketing
senior Ingrid Larscn.
"I don't think very many people
know about it," said Kara Clayton, a
22-year-old graduate student in the
multiple subject teaching credential
program."It doesn't seem like toe
information was very well publicized."
"I wouldn't mind paying $66 more
if I knew what it was going toward,"
Clayton said.
Every department is required to
cut its spending by seven percent and
they've all felt toe crunch.
The President's Office has been
unable to replace toe president's assistant and administrative assistant,
whose positions were eliminated in
'91-'92, according to Iris Matlosz,
director of Budget and Internal Audit, Executive Management
"Every school has its price," said
PetcrSimis, interim Dean of Sid Craig
School of Business.
Despite the $10 million Sid Craig
grant business students are still getting the all-to-well-known "Sorry-
the-class-is-fuLT speech.
"Yes, I do believe the quality of
education is being compromised,"
said Gail Abbott, consulting coordinator for Computer Services.
Although there is not enough
money to repair broken computer s
on campus, lab hours will remain
unchanged, according to Abbott
Smoking ban
burns students
New law prohibits
smoking in the Pit,
the Bucket and USU.
By Erik Loyd
Staff Writer
The smoke has finally cleared over
cigarette use at California State University Fresno.
Gov. Pete Wilson's Executive
Order No. 599 went into effect July
1, which prohibits smoking in state-
owned buildings. That includes buildings on state-owned land.
"It's pretty much said and done
now that we have word that CSUF
President John Welly would enforce
a university-wide ban," said Mary
Ann Drummond, USU board chairperson. "I think it's a done deal higher
up."
Students and instructors may no
longer light up in any campus building, including the Bucket USU building, cafeteria or the Pit
Smokers must step outside into
scorching heat or chilling fog lo lake
a few drags from their favorite brand
of cigarette.
Concern over ihc dangers of second-hand smoke led Wilson, a
smoker, to proceed with the ban in
concert with more lhan 500 communities across ihc United States.
Many establishments in Fresno
have also banned cigarettes smoke.
Proponents of the ban argue that ventilation in buildings which have designated smoking areas isn' t adequate
in keeping smoke oul of non-smoking areas. Improvement of ventilation systems has been deemed too
expensive.
Since tobacco smoke contains
thousands of chemicals, some of
which are colorless and ordorless,
non-smokers say separate smoking
areas aren't enough to eliminate a
health risk.  -
It has been estimated that 53,000
deaths in the United Slates occured
from exposure to second-hand
smoke.
The Environmental Protection
Agency declared second-hand smoke
to be a Class-A carcinogen, a cancer-
causing substance.
Even so, Dummond said she sees
the smokers' side of the issue as'
"For me, it's a health issue,"
Drummond said, "bul I sympathize
with smokers. It's kind of funny. The
Bucket is now a place for drinkers
only, not smokers."
Drummond said violators,of the
ban will be asked to leave the premises. If they refuse, campus police
may be asked to intervene.
"We don't have people patrolling,"
Drummond said, "but we have
enough people to enforce it"
Know thy Latin
By Steve Skibbie
Staff Writer
"LVCEM ACCIPE VT
REDDAS" is the Latin phrase that
graces the official seal of CSUF.
It means "Receive the light that
you may give it forth." Or, to 1,137
fall 1992 graduates. "Receive, your
diploma so that you may give it back."
Proud of his recent accomplishment CSUF journalism graduate student Jason Terada scrutinized his diploma and noticed toe Latin motto
was misspelled.
"So I sent it back to get another
one," he said.
The misspelling was verified by
Bill Monson who is a professor of
classics at UC, Santa Barbara and is
fluent in Latin.
"There is no such Latin word as
'RADDAS' toe way it is spelled on
the diploma," Monson said. "The
correct Latin word is 'REDDAS'."
Richard Backer, director of the
Office of Admissions, Records and
Evaluations, said toe fall diplomas
were printed by a Cincinatti-based
printing firm called ScripSafe.
"We changed diploma vendors in
September ofl992," Backer said.
"The typographical error must
have slipped by the proofreader, who
probably didn't know any Latin," he
said.
Backer said the error does not affect the validity of ihc diploma and
that any fall 1992 graduate could
receive a replacement diploma from
CSUF if they wish.