1996_04 Insight April 1996

              APRIL 24,1996
Lifestyle
Beeping
pagers
disrupt
classes
■ Owners fed stigma
of association with
low-life activities
by Katy French
Staff Write*
Disapproving eyes fell on Rila Fa/
when her hot-pink pager blared out a
loud beep during her Psychology 134
test.
"I hale when my pager goes off
during class.'' said la/. 22. a senior
at California Slale University.
Fresno. "Everyone looks at me, and
I can tell thai they're assuming that
I must be a bad person."
Pagers carry a stigma
ules
s have become a
or people with heel
tched-
Once perceived as the communication tool of choice among drug dealers, prostitutes and pimps, pagers often carry a stigma.
"Jo Jo." a drug dealer, said. "Wiih-
oul a pager, mv life would be even
more hell than il already is. This way.
the fiends don't have to call me al
home or al a pa) phone where il mighi
be suspicious."
. Pagers, though useful, have been
used to commit crimes. Because of
people like Jo Jo. owners of pagers
who are not criminals are often ste-
Answer for the hard to reach
People do use pagers for legitimate
reasons. These people include: doctors, nurses, business people, teachers and students.
A pager could be just the answer
lor the person who is hard lo reach.
Owni
a pager
:\pensi
lulur telephi
Darren Silvers, a salesman at U.S.
Cellular and Paging, said, "pager sales
are always steady and increasing
compared to the up and down sales
ofihecellulars."
Silvcra said high pager sales are
because of a decrease in monthly ser-
Offers what cell phone can't
The pager offers something lhal the
cellular phone cannot. There is no
control over who calls with a cellular
phone. In contrast, the pager acts like
a screen. Thc owner dives not have lo
Pa
.vide ..i
and offe
Standard voice mail for pagers
gives a caller (he option of leaving
a message or phone number. The
ow ner of the pager can then call his
ailbo>
c the
retrieval. Missed messages are not a
problem. This feature allows a person to retrieve messages even if the
pager was off or if lhc user was out of
the paging service area.
If traveling outside the paging
company's serv ice area is common,
having additional paging area features
is helpful. National coverage is also
available.
Katie Fchon, a former employee of
Patrol Cellular, said lhc most popular pager on the market today is thc
Motorola Renegade.
The Renegade offers both vibrate
and beep modes for when thc pager
goes off. There are several bright colors to choose from. The Renegade has
a lime display and a nine-number
memory.
The actual cost of owning a pager
varies w ith brands and features. Thc
Renegade, with no added features,
costs S7.95 per month or 595.40 for
one year. With added features, the
monthly cost ranges from $10.95 to
$31.95.
Insight is
on the Web!
http://
www.csufresno.edu/
Insight
by Kelly Hansen
Staff Writer
SDliSh      Millerton haven for jet skiiers
Splash
\
Sometimes, Dusty Funkner and his
friends head up after work lo Friant Road,
one of their favorite places.
Five minutes away from Performance
Hydrosporis. where Funkner works, lies
Millerton Lake. Friant Dam holds back the
171.2 billion gallons of gleaming blue
water that serves as Funkner's playground.
Thc stillness of thc cv ening is interrupted
when the boom of Funkner's Kawasaki jet
ski sounds.
Funkner.a 24-year-old recreation and leisure studies major al California State University. Fresno, took up jet skiing 10 years
ago after a friend introduced him to it.
"I gave up riding dirt bikes for it."
Funkner said. "Il's much nicer to hit the
water than thc dirt — especially when it's
hot."
The Central Valley
for water sports
or oceans and beaches.
Funkner lakes advantage of this and said
that Valley natives take the lakes in the area
for granted. Many of his shop's patrons
come from elsewhere lo enjoy the water.
"The lakes here are great compared lo
elsewhere. People actually come up from
L.A. to go camping al Millerton." Funkner
Whether sculpted by thc hands of
Mother Nature like Shaver and Hunting-
ion Lakes, or man-made like Millerton
Reservoir or Pine Flat Dam. area lakes are
high quality, according to Funkner.
"We are really fortunate. Thc water is
.cry thing
beautiful here. The lakes ;
some." Funkner said.
Funkner. who has jet skied all over the
stale ai ihe competitive level, said thc lakes
in the Los Angeles area arc particularly
muddy.
He said that the water closer to Fresno
is really clean, but the facilities arc lacking.
Southern California lakes arc smaller
and more crowded because there are so
many people and so few lakes. However,
said Funkner. since thc lakes arc man-
made, they arc surrounded by green grass
and cement sidewalks
Chuck McConnon. 28. agrees that Valley residents are fortunate to have facilities so close but said that each lake has its
downfall.
McConnon was on the Chico State water ski team before he transferred Fresno
State. Now a Fresno resident. McConnon
skis year-round, even if it means slipping
into a wet suit in the colder months.
He often skis al Millerton because it's
close and accessible. Bul. it is the only area
lake lhat has an entrance fee. ,
The S6 per vehicle fee allows a full day
of access.
McConnon said lhat since Millerton is
so close, it's extremely crowded, bul lhat
the launching facilities at Millerton are
numerous.
"The water is great at Millerton from
about 7 a.m. until 10 a.m.." McConnon
said. "Then it becomes the terrain of the
jet skiers because all thc waves and stuff
are there for them to jump over."
Richard Kaz. 25. and Chris Tautges, 25.
sal on the shore next to the jet-ski launching ramp, itching for the sun to come out
so they could hit the water.
Tautges had bought a shiny purple, white
and pink Yamaha Wave Runner only three
weeks before and was eager to hop on his
new toy.
HcJ>lowly cruised out past the buoys that
marked thc "5 mph zone" and explained
that they had just been yelled at by lake
officials the weekend before for going too
fast.
Tautges said he likes the Wave Runner
model as opposed to the stand-up version.
"Jet skis make you work loo hard. With
the Wave Runners, you just sit and go."
Tautges said.
"Plus, ihe Wave Runners are generally
faster than the jet skis." added Kaz.
Thc two were wailing for a friend, on his
way wiih two additional jet skis. They were
going to try to pull a "skurfer" (half ski,
half surfboard) with thc jet skis.
Mark Wilson. 25. emerged and backed
his Range Rover down lhc launching ramp
where he dumped off a Yamaha Wave
Blaster and another Kawasaki, both on loan
from Clawson Honda in Fresno.
"I've bought so many bikes from them that
ihey just let me bring these two up here to
demo ihem." Wilson said. Back from his first
trip out on the new jet skis. Wilson said one
of them reacted "squiriy."
Wilson, who has been jet skiing for about
3 years, said lhal it wasn't too hard to leam.
■They're not too hard to maneuver. The
sit down ones are easier: the really quick
ones are hard." Wilson said.
For Kaz. who is a public health graduate
student, the sport is for relaxation.
"It's nice to jusi get away from
it all." Kaz said.
"Being out there w ith all of my
friends, having fun — there's
nothing better than thai." Funkner
Insight photos by Matt Uoyd
Chris Tautges (above left)
preps his skurfboard, while
Mark Wilson (left) rides for
free on a new Yamaha Wave
Runner, loaned from Clawson
Honda, out at Millerton Lake.
Karaoke still echoes
at Fresno nightspot
I Sing-it-yourself
music sticks to the
pop classics
by Sakiko Yoshimoto
Staff Writer
Greg Seldon sipped his glass of
while wine and scanned lhc karaoke
song list for his next request. "Horse
with No Name" bv America.
John's New England Pi//a & Pasia
has transformed into "Karaoke Night"
on Wednesdays nights.
John's, located at 2633 H. Shaw Ave.,
is decorated with the colors of Italy:
green vv alls and curtains, red-and-w hile
plaid tablecloths and floors. Jerry
Tarkanian's life-size cardboard figure
smiles nc\t to ihe big screen TV.
Owner John Williams started
karaoke at the restaurant March 13
arid usually draws a good crowd.
■nts for a selection of songs while
ings along. Karaoke litcr-
"empty orchestra" in Japa-
People from all ag(
karaoke, using it
Jown after a hard da
relax and wind
vork or to
a date
ithti
Mar
-Hide,
California State University, Fresno.
Mike Beagle, a plant science major at Fresno State, sang "Nobody's
Home'' h> Clint Black in lune as if
he were a trained singer. His voice
echoed throughout the restaurant, carried by two large speakers.
Frequenters like Seldon. who has
played the guitar and sung for 25 years.
enjoy singing in from of the crowd
"If you go lo a concert or sports
games, you just watch someone else's
doing." Seldon said. "I really enjoy
karaoke because everyone can participate and get involved."
Originating in Japan, karaoke machines play instrumental accompani-
nnpre
Barbara Morrone. nicknamed "Red"
because of her auburn hair, sang five
or six oldies, including Judy Garland's
"When You're Smiling."
Her husband. Jerry "Papa"
Morrone. lapped his foot in beat as
he wailed through "Tangerine" by
Frank Sinatra.
The Morroncs made iheir firsl visit
after receiving an announcement about
karaoke from Silk Hal Productions,
who present thc karaoke at John's.
Disc Jockey Michael Harmon
cheered thc crowd while operating the
karaoke equipment and shaking his
"During spring break, it was
dead, but we are gelling a good
crowd tonight," said Harmon, a
mass communications and journalism major at F.esno State.
Tokyo Garden, at 1711 Fulion. offers karaoke for both English and
Japanese songs. Toshi Yoshioka. from
the restaurant, said karaoke is available during weekdays; live bands perform on weekends as a feature event.
Karaoke costs SI per request.
The Acapulco Mexican Restaurant. 3966 N. Blackstone Ave, has
both English and Spanish songs.
Employee Arnie Ceja said a quarter of the songs are in Spanish.
Karaoke night is on Friday from
8:30 p.m. to midnight.
Sell your future
classic.
278-3934
"We Open Bomww Money
Veny Much Too Dean."
William Makepeace Thackenay
When Thackeray wrote Barry
Lyndon, credit cards didn't exist.
Too bad Barry couldn't take advantage of the terrific rates we offer
at The Golden 1 Credit Union.
We've taken the confusion out
of selecting an all-purpose credit
card. When you apply for one of
The Golden 1 's VISA^cards, you'll
get everything you've always
wanted in the card you carry.
Because we understand that using your good credit is a vital part
of your total financial portfolio—
to make purchases as diverse as
major appliances, fine dining, and
holiday gifts—The Golden 1 offers
four different VISA cards.
All four Golden I VISA cards
have a low annual rate and no
Clovis Office
1030 Shaw Avenue
Mon.. Fri.. 10:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Tues.. Wed.. Thur.. 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Sat.. 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
1-800-448-8181
annual fee. And they give you a
1% cash rebate* on all qualified
purchases. Each offers worldwide
acceptance and a wide range of
special services, such as free cash
advances at Golden 1 offices and
cash withdrawals through the VISA
International Network.
You can pick up a Golden 1
VISA Credit Card application at the
Golden 1 office nearest you or
have one sent to you by calling
our Member Service Center at
1-800-448-8181.
If Barry Lyndon had carried a
Golden 1 VISA card, Thackeray's
novel might have had a happier
ending. Take a page from his book.
Call us today, and avoid "borrowing money very much too dear."
Shaw Office
111 East Shaw Avenue
Mon., Fri.. 10:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Tues.. Wed.. Thur.. 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Sat.. 9:00 a.m.-1.00 p.m.
1-800-448-8181
*     Excluding purchase credits and cash advances.
Accounts in default under terms of ihe agreement
or closed accounts forfeit all accumulated rebates.
Membership in The Golden I Credit Union is open to
all California state employees, faculty. stafT. and
students of ihe University of California and California
State University systems and to members of their
families. To leam if you're eligible, telephone us at
(916) 732-2900 or 1-800-448-8I8I.
Visit our Horn* Page on tbe Interaet at
http:ZMww.goJdeol.coeB.