1996_09 Insight September 1996

              Junk yard or amusement park?
You decide.
Insight
California State University, Fresno M W SEPTEMBER 11,1996
Volume 28 Number I ^^^^^^^
Bulldog
softball
player
strikes
gold in
Atlanta
Police station
gets a facelift
I After two year£ of
planning, the state-
funded facility
features updated
computers
by Michelle Brown
Staff Writer
A S271.000 expansion and renovation of the campus police station will
consolidate lhc public safety, parking
and environmental health offices in a
single location off Barstow Avenue on
the north side of campus.
The old building was once the campus fire station and has been the offices ofthe public safely department
since 1954. This building will still be
utilized after the remodeling.
"Remodeling makes ii more efficient to deal with issues related to
public safety." said police chief Willie-
Shell.
The state-funded project took two
years to design with thc assistance of
campus planning, facility planning
and the public safety department. Thc
added building will have new offices
complete with new equipment.
"If not state-of-the-art, it will be a
lot nicer than the old building," Shell
said. The new equipment for the facility will include updated computers,
a new 9-1-1 system, radio communications ami fire alarms.
"When I walked in here four years
ago, I thought this was awful," said
Rick Fenden, parking administrator,
of thc old building.
Fenden works in an enclosed
former patio. With five others in ihe
office, thc space is very limited. He
said thc area is a safety hazard, and
the exits are not easily accessible.
"We were always running into each
other." said Adaore Nwigwe, student
assistant, ofthe light space. "I'm excited about the new change."
Debbie Astone, facility planning
director, said, "We're hoping to better serve everyone."
The remodeling is not only for
comfort.
Some changes needed to be made
because of the Americans with Disabilities Act and its fire and chancellor codes. According to Astone, there
will be expanded hallways, handicapped accessible rcstrooms, power-
assisted doors and three entrances
instead of one.
San Diego shooting
alarms professors
I Campuses across
the nation reevaluate
workplace violence
procedures
by April Ghan
Staff Writer
Fresno Stale criminology professor
Ruth Masters never thought she
would have to fear for her life on a
university campus.
But after the Aug. 15 slaying of
three San Diego State University professors by a disturbed graduate student. Masters is left to wonder if
anyone can ever be safe.
"You never know where people like
this are. They can pop up in a classroom, be walking down a hall, or be
driving down a street," said Masters,
one of several professors shocked by
the recent shooting and concerned
about workplace violence.
Frederick Martin Davidson, an engineering student in  the        	
graduate program at §an
Diego State,
was distraught over
the unfavorable review of
his master's
thesis. At a
rebuttal session in which
a discussion
of the revidw
was to take
place. Davidson gunned down the
three members of his committee.
Student stress
The shooting has drawn national
attention across college campuses, increasing concern about thc stress levels students endure.
"This case was tragic because this
guy became paranoid and believed his
professors were out to get him," said
Dr. Eric Hickey, Fresno State criminology professor.
When students such as Davidson
become paranoid, they often believe
there are no other options and may
turn lo anger.
Hickey, who has spent much time
working with graduate students, said
that graduate school can be especially
demanding. "Some people define
themselves by their career," he added.
"The danger comes when they define themselves only in terms of their
career. Becuasc if they lose their career, they lose everything."
Workplace task force
The Fresno Stale campus has been
working to address fears that faculty
and staff/nay have over workplace
violence
Since 1994, a task force on Workplace Violence Prevention has been in
action lo educate faculty on emergency procedures and other workplace safely issues.
The task force has published the
pamphlets "Workplace Violence" and
"Emergency Procedures" which offer
helpful information on ways to handle
emergencies and recommend responses to violence.
"Nothing is more important than
Ihe safety and security of faculty,
staff, students and visitors on our
campus," said police chief Willie
Shell in a campus statement.
"Threats, threatening behavior, or
acts of violence againsi any member
of our community will not be tolerated." •
W. Ronald Perry, coordinator of
Psychological Services at the Fresno
State Student
"The danger comes
when [studentsJ define
themselves only in terms
of their career. Because
if they lose their career,
they lose everything."
Eric Hickey
Fresno Slate Professor of Criminology
Health
signs i
a look
for in a person who may
be under too
much stress.
He    said
that changes
in eating and
sleeping patterns, crying
for unknown reasons and inappropriate behavior, such as sudden outbursts
of anger, arc strong indicators.
"The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior," Perry said.
"Most people will not go out and
just start shooting people. Most of us
are creatures of habit and do things
out of repctitive behavior."
Open communication
The best solution for helping to relieve stress seems to be open communication.
"A good stress relieving exercise is
to talk to your friends," Perry .said.
"Being able to acknowledge and verbalize your fears is very helpful."
Perry also added that not all stressful situations require a therapist. If
students are dealing with stress from
classes or coping with personal problems that they feel they can't handle.
Perry said they can contact the Student Health and Counseling Center at
278-2734.
f\pnernberingDebbie
On August 22, Fresno State student Debbie Dorian was found murdered in her
apartment. As police search for suspects, the campus mourns the loss of one of its own.
Donald Leet, chair of the economics department, reminisces with a photo of Debbie Dorian.
By Leah Perich
Staff Writer
M ~***k onald Leet sat in his
m M office and tried to fig-
m m ure out his e-mail.
m ^m Nothing he tried
JLmwa^^ worked, so he hung up
and started over. He answered a few questions and then looked
around his office. He pointed to a chair.
"She used to sit right there," he said.
It was in the fall of 1994 when Leet.
chairman ofthe economics department,
first met Debbie Dorian. She was president ofthe Economics Club, and a person he would never forget.
"She was a free spirit and very outspoken." he said.
Back in his office. Leet takes out a
folder with a liny photo inside. A sad
smile appears on his face when he sees
the photo of bright-eyed Dorian. The
photo shows Dorian, her long dark hair
neatly in place, standing by two classmates, with a glowing smile on her face.
In the same folder, he takes out a letter of condolence.
On Aug. 22, just a few days before
classes started at Fresno State. Dorian's
father. Peter, discovered Dorian's body
in her apartment on North Cedar Avenue.
When she had failed to meet him earlier lhat morning. Peter Dorian went to
her apartment around 8:15 a.m. It was
there he found his only daughter murdered. Debbie Dorian was a 22-year-old
student working on an economics and
uudiology major.
Few answers
As most students prepared for the
start of classes recently. Debbie
Dorian's friends and family were left
with dozens of questions and few answers. "She will never laugh again,
never contribute anything again. Why
would someone take that away?" asked
Dr. William Rice. "Why would another
human being do lhat?"
Rice is a marketing professor at
Fresno State and also the father of
Dorian's fialf-sister. He and Debbie
talked often. He too remembers where
she would often sit. He also remembers
the person. "One thing 1 liked about her.
she was a no-nonsense person," he said.
"When she saw something, she
would tell the truth about it. She had
extraordinary candor."
Rice described Dorian as a person
with a good sense of humor. As a
good-hearted prankster, she would
knock on the door and ihen run away,
he remembers.
"She had fun with people." he said.
"She was a person who enjoyed life.
She w anted to grasp more of life."
Dorian was active on campus. She-
was president ofthe Economics Club
last semester and was involved in the
economics department. She organized the senior dinner, helped raise
money with car washes and was an
organizer of Debi Busters, a conference for high school students sponsored by thc Concord Coalition.
"When someone dies of cancer, you
can say good-bye," Rice said. "But to
have someone murdered, it's unresolved. It's an unresolved emotional
impact."
No arrests
Fresno Police have made no arrests
and are releasing little information
about her murder. The only real information available is the death certificate. It states "binding and
gagging" as thc cause of Dorian's
death, according to local media reports. Peter Dorian has hired a private detective to work on the case.
Although there is no information
from police, Leet believes Dorian's
death may have had something to do
wiih her advertising for a new roommate. He also thinks she may have
been acquainted with the killer.
English major Christina Gomez
said. "It really gives me the creeps.
It's not really close to home, bul il
As the campus community copes
with the death of Dorian. Leet is certain the university will honor her
work with an economics degree posthumously. He has already spoken
with President John Welly who
agreed, and now it is jusi a matter of
paperwork.
Leet said Dorian had completed
130 units, enough for her economics
major, but was returning to school
this fall to work on a second major
in audiology. to follow in her father's
footsteps. He said Dorian will probably be honored ai the >ocial science
graduation ceremony in May and by
Welty at the university commence-
"Anvtime vou h.i\ e energy in a per-
Chandler Airport recaptures past
Iniight photo by Mohinwd El Sharif
After i long flight from Redding, Calif., pilot Gene Fincham soaks
in the relaxing atmosphere at the Flying Saucer cafe.
By Angela Castiglione
Staff Writer
Ed Sullivan quietly sips a cup of
coffee inside the Flying Saucer Cafe,
looking out over the deserted runway
where he often reminisces with
friends.
Sullivan's worn creases across his
forehead and under his eyes tell of
his 50 years of experience flying airplanes in and out of Chandler Airport
in West Fresno.
Many students aren't aware of
Fresno's other airport, the 68-year-
old Chandler Airport.
Still open for general aviation, air
mail carriers and private planes.
Chandler Airport hasn't lost its past,
keeping its old-fashioned pace to
Fresno Air ""terminal's hustle and
bustle.
Sullivan and his pilot buddies spend
a considerable amount of time in the
Flying Saucer Cafe ."It's like a club."
^ said Pally Wang, cafe owner.
The old-fashioned coffee shop sits
inside the stucco terminal building
w here pictures of forgotten airplanes,
built by the same men that frequent
the cafe, hang on trje walls. The customers are mostly pilots and plane-
lovers. "There's no busy
bureaucracy," said Charles Schaefer.
a pilot for 31 years. "It's much more
loose and informal."