1994_02 Insight February 1994

              Wednesday, February 16,1994
Volume 25, Issue 12
Earthquake disaster prompts
sister campus to help CSU
Northridge stay on line.
See Page 4
Bulldog hoopsters riding
high on wave of confidence
after six straight wins.
See Page 6
JXTSI
Calendar
Job fair
Some 50 representatives from
government, private industry. Cooperative Education and various
summer camps will be in the
Satellite Student Union today,
Wednesday, Feb. 16, from 10
a.m. to 2 p.m. lo accept applications and offer information regarding summer '94 and Cooperative Education positions.
Wine tasting
Bulldog Women's Foundation will sponsorformerly known
as annual wine lasting. "Gourmet Gala...A Dog*s Delight,"
from 5-7 p.m. Thursday in the
Exhibit Hall of lhc Fresno Convention Center. Admission is
$12.50 for adults and S6.50 for
children 12and under. For more
information call 439-1480.
HIV testing
Testing for AIDS will be offered in the CSUF Health and
Counseling Center from 1 -4p.m.
on Thursday, Feb. 17 and Tuesday, Feb. 22. Lab fee is $10-
anonymous test For more information call 2*78-6796.
Ecological musical
The original ecological musical review, "The Environmental
Follies Of 1994," will be presented in the Satellite Student
Union at 7:30 p.m. tonighL Admission is $5 general and $3 for
students and seniors with proceeds to benefit the Ecology
Society and other environmental causes. For information call
636-0891.
President's forums
President Welly will hold open
forums for faculty, staff and students, the first of which will be
from 3-5 p.m., Wednesday, Feb.
23 in thc Upstairs Cafeteria,
Room 200.
Poetry contest
The National Library of Poetry is offering $ 12000 in prizes
that will be awarded this year to
250 poets in the North Ameri-
can Open Poetry ConiesL Entry
deadline is March 31 and entry is
free.
To enter, send one original
poem of no more than 20 lines to
The National Library of Poetry,
11419 Cronridge Dr., P.O. Box
704 - YD. Owings Mills. MD
21117. Include the poet's name
and address on the top of the
Chicano reception
Minority students are invited
to a reception sponsored by the
newly established Chicano outreach project.
Information will be shared
aboul the program that links continuing students with new students for retention support.
The reception will be held
from 3-5 pjn. today, Wednes-
day.Feb. 16in the West Cafeteria.
Included in the program will
be guest spcakcrTcxiyGastelum.
Gastelum will be running against
Councilman Robert Smilh for
representation of District 3.
Bryan Chan/Special to INSIGHT
With some of the 300 portable classrooms yet to be installed, many professors and students were forced to hold outside
lectures and use cardboard boxes for seats.
CSUN: Better late than never
By Olivia Reyes
Staff Writer
NORTHRIDGE — Korina
Shalt uck rcstcdontopof a ihrce-fcet
stack of plywood oblivious to Ihe
streams of sludents scrambling
through a once grassy field lumed
trailer lot in search of classes.
Bothered by dusty air from the
nearby construction and the sounds of
hammering and sawing, shc rubbed
her eyes and sat up.
Trie senior tried to relax as shc wailed
for a malh class at California State
University, Northridge. a campus struggling to recover from a 6.8 earthquake.
"So far. it's been really sad,"
Shatiuck said. "It's like a war /one.
There's no bathrooms. It's been really
depressing."
Shattuck, a libera! studies major,
was beginning hcr firsl day of school.
Shc, along with fellow studcnLs,
appeared anxious and uncertain Monday.
Bul even thc first day of school did
not resemble a usual first day for
Shatiuck.
"It seems like a whole different
school." Shatiuck said. "Everyone's
walking around in a daze.
"It was such a beautiful school
anil now it's destroyed."
See QUAKE, Page 4
Crowded
classrooms
cause chaos
By Rex Avakian	
StaffWriler
The room resembled a prison cell.
Students milled around mumbling
like convicts.
Who, ihey whispered, was going to
thc chopping block.
NikSidcksatsilcndy with the others
in room 242 of McKee Fisk, diligendy
waiting to add MCJ 104. a must-lake
editing class.
Professor James Tucker, silent and
all-business, entered the room.
He scanned the room, counting the
students.
Anxious faces stared back.
Hc asked students who wanted to
add lhc course to step outside. Half the
room emptied.
Sidck.a low key,contemplative stu-
dcnL the kind professors usually welcome in classes, got the booL
Turning away students and lack of
c lass options for them had worn Tucker
down.
"It was a stem and ugly day," he
said, slowly shaking his head.
StudcnLs desperately wanted to add
Tucker's classes - classes already
ovcrenroUed.  „
He walked ihe McKee Frsk halls
attemtping no eye contact.
If a student recognized him ihey
would stop and plead to get in.
Thc repercussions of California's
recession and budget problems have
hit full force at CSUF.
B udgct cuts have forced departments
to hack away at part-time and full-time
positions resulting in fewerclass offerings and capacity classes.
Students are seeing their graduation
day pushed forward.
Glenn Hamilton hopes his graduation plans are not postponed.
Five of six classes Hamilton could
sclcci io complete his nursing degree
have been cancelled.
See CLASSES, Page 3
Hundreds change
majors monthly
By Heather Watson	
Staff Writer
From past experience, Tracy King
knows declaring a major is not easy.
Atone time. King was a psychology
major - bul that changed.
"I was turned off by thc rcsearchpan
of psychology, so 1 decided to go into
human resource management because
il has more of a business psychology
aspccL" said the
22-year-old. ^^^^^^^^_
Choosing    a ^^
major is not about
clarcd." said Michelle Nelson, Institutional Research Center.
"Students must then declare a major
by ihcir junior year."
Oul of CSUF's 18,000 average student population, about 2.800 or 15pcr-
cent, change majors each year.
Some of thc factors lhat help students to decide arc general education
courses, wcll-likcd teachers, and promising career choices for thc future,
Nelson said.
       'Two of thc
most common
major choices
random choices. "AS d freshman, I felt  are liberal stud-
„:j r>^._ xi  ■» r    j ics and business
said Brian Nova,
CSUF student    preSSUred IfltO ChOOS-   management.
Nelson said.
ing a major, SO I JUSt        One reason
'As a freshman, I felt pressured into choosing a major, so I
jusl randomly
picked something
that I thought
would interest mc,
said Nova, now a
criminology major.
Nova and King
represent a growing number of |
CSUF sludents
who are making
major changes in career decisions.        do it on their own free will."
Sincel982,moreihan21.000CSUF        In 1992,theaveragcnumbcrofstu-
siudcnis have changed majors at least    dents per month lhat changed ihcir
once, according to Advising Services   major was about 230.
Office. That figure went up about a hundred
"The most popular major for in-    students in September and January, at
corning freshman is, by far, unde-    the beginning of each semester.
randomly picked
something that I
thought would
interest me"
—Brian Nova,
criminology major
lhai students
change their
major so often
is because it's
simple lo do.
"Students
don't have to be
advised to
change their
major." said
Walter Pier.
Advising Services.
"They can
Bryan Chan/Special to INSIGHT
California Highway Patrol officer Dick Bier looks over the wreckage of two tractor trailer
riggs that crushed a small compact car between them, killing its two occupants.
Danger lurks in valley fog
By M. Cristina Medina
StaffWriler
The last thing Cynthia Durham remembered seeing in thc dense fog early
Jan. 15 was a man frantically waving
from the side of Freeway 99.
His warning was lop late, though.
Not more than five seconds later
Durham was tangled in a web of
smashed cars.
"It seemed so unreal. I've driven in
thc fog all of my life. I've never experienced something so terrible," said
Durham, a senior nursing student.
"Now, driving in ihc fog really scares
Thc 56-car pilcup near Selma was a
harsh reminder of what the fog can
bring. Durham, 24, a Kingsburg rcsi-
dent, is among thousands of FSU students who com m ute from outlying com -
munities daily. Manuevering through
hazardous blankets of fog is a fact of
life.
"Sure, accidems happen, but it's
just the price we pay for living here.
There's no way of getting around it,"
said Isabel Nunez. This Madera resident makes the twenty-minute commute three times a week.
See FOG, Page 3