1992_03 Insight March 1992

              .
Music vs. sports — which gets the cut?
If those in charge of the Fresno Unified School
District have their way, the birds will have one
less thing to sing about this spring. Those
sophomoric philistines are talking about cutting
the music programs at focal schools in order to
Good grief! What about after-school sports? Why
not cut those programs with the potential to maim
and kill, like football, soccer and field hockey? A
high school football player died during a game in
the Valley this year because of a sports injury.
What a sacred cow those sports programs are.
Especially in this bastion of middle class mentality
where people seem driven by a desire to rum redneck boys into "real" men. Read that "soul-less,
muscle-bound and insensitive air-heads."
What other explanation can there be for an injured quarterback such as Trent Dilferwho walked
around concealing his injury for a week so that no
one would keep him from playing. A physical
therapist fitted him with an inconspicuous electrical stimulation device to speed the healing of his
muscles. That was last fall, when Mark Barsotti
was out because of injuries. Did you notice how
quickly he got rid of his cast so he could play?
Obviously, sports fosters a regressive evolution
where the man with the least sense wins.
0*M
Wm.
1*^
Do we want this in our public schools?
Many students at CSUF are fresh out of high
school and don't care about anything connected
with their childhood. Bu t CSUF is a teacher training
school. Last year more than 1,200 students received
their teaching credential here. Weareoneof the top
three teaching colleges in the state. Students in
teaching programs should be concerned about the
It's time to clean up the mess
Last year, my roommate
and I did the environmental thing on Earth Day. We put
on our "Green the Earth" T-
shirts, planted a tree in our tiny
apartment backyard (it later
died) and pledged eternal commitment to conservation and
recycling.
A week later, it was back to
usual. I never saved the
aluminum cans, recycled the
bottles or even turned out the
lights in an empty room.
I'm as bad as they get
Oh sure, I've taken the
Greenpeace flyers and gotten
exdted about rescuing dolphins
fromun timely death—for about
a day. I've even promised to toss
out my charcoal-fueled Weber
in exchange for dean air, but I
like to barbecue too much.
I know I'm not the only one.
What's wrong with us,
besides being lazy, self-
indulgent and careless? Have
we no shame? Somewhere there
By Christie Sundberg
Staff Writer
is a huge pile of thoughtlessness and stupidity in the form
of bottles, newspapers and
plastic containers waiting to
pollute this planet.
Now I'm not talking about
radical change. Heroically
strapping ourselves to whaling
ships would be overkill.
Protesting the murder of trees
that supply important things
like parking tickets or tuition-
increase proposals would be in
vain.
I mean taking responsibility
and cleaning upafter ourselves.
It would take so little effort,
so little of our precious time, to
save and deposit recyclable
items, turn off the lights when
not in use or conserve water.
Fresno has recycling
programs. If you leave
newspapers, aluminum cans
and bottles on the curb, they
will be taken away with the
garbage pick-up — except in
apartment complexes, where
most of the CSUF student body
lives.
So use the campus. CSUF has a
place to leave recyclable items. It
is out on Barstow, just east of
Maple near Plant Operations, and
it accepts cans, cardboard, paper,
bottles and newspapers.
It can't be that hard — other
people do it.
There is a small company in
Pismo Beach that picks up
everything — glass, newspapers,
aluminum,cardboard,even used
motor oil — from residents'
homes for 50 cents a month. They
drive old Pepsi and Budweiser
trucks and even pick up from
apartment complexes. About 80
percent of the city's population
participates; they have won
nationwide recognition for such
efficiency.
We could do this. We'd all pay
50 cents a month to be
environmentally conscious — I
know we would.
It doesn't take much to care
about this planet. Buy only biodegradable items, recycle, use
refillablecontainers, don't waste
water, etc. We all know the song.
Remember it when Earth Day
rolls around and every day after
that
I know I will.
Advertising Proamnion
Christina Griffin
Photography
MarcMatteo
Steve Skibbie
II in . fa, CPU, »>»— IPrsm».CAm«,
Editor in Chief                       Photo Editor
 Kate Henry    Jesse Chenault
Managing Editor                    Produdion Editor
 Eric Coyne    Renee Torres
Arts & Entertainment Editor     Opinion Editor
 Laura Rasmussen    Susan Goad
Copy Editor                            Sports Editor
 DeeErway    Tim Haddock
Graphics Editor Advertising Manager
 Craig Moyle    David Wellenkamp
Imsmi wsJoott* <afl letters, commentsand corrections. Insight
reserves the right to condense letters to the Editor for any reason.
Anonymous letters to the Editor will not be considered.
Produdion Staff
Jenny Hamilton
Shiranee Murugason
Sonny Starks
 Christie Sundberg
Staff Writers
Students'of Journalism 100,
. 110*188
priorities of the schools that will eventually hire
them.
Other students are engaged to be married or
hope to marry shortly after their college careers
end. Some have begun planning families. What
your children will oneday learn—and the priorities
of those people who will spend more waking hours
with your children during their formative years
than you as a parent will — give you a vested
interest in seeing that public education improves.
Right now, it is disintegrating.
Can you imagine a world without the Beatles or
U-2 or reagge or rap? Talk about dreary! Even
sports freaks like music And if we eliminate the
programs that expose and nurture students in
musical skills and appreciation, who will be music-
makers of the future?
Sports will survive without a major investment
from public education. I agree that physical
education is necessary to the development of mind
and body. But every town and burg across the
USA. has access to Lime League baseball or Pop
Warner football where volunteer parent-coaches
help students experience the thrill of competition.
Musk is different. A lot of families can't afford
private music lessons. Some families take music for
granted because of its presence on the radio. But
withoutsonieonetoencourageandinspirebudding
musicians, what some view as a luxury will leave a
tremendous void in all our lives.
Besides, who needs a society where a snot-nosed,
foul-mouthed, self-centered immature man or
woman receives $1 million a year to play games,
yet complains about paying $200,000 a year to the
president of the United States, who is responsible
for running one of the world's largest political
organizations.
Folks, we live in a warped time with warped
values. You and I have a chance to do something
about it Vote. Call civic leaders and tell them that
music is more deserving of a place in public
education than extra-curricular sports.
Make a difference for truth, for beauty—for life.
Four-year college degree
not that easy to acquire
By Linda Beltran
A college degree in four years.
Somewhat unheard of, isn't
it?
Not too long ago many students
were actually graduating in four
years. It used to be expected:
graduate from high school and
then four years la ter have a college
degree to brag about.
Unfortunately, used-to-be's don't
count anymore.
Today, for anyone to actually
earn a bachelor's degree in four
years, one would have to do so
under very strict and extraordinary
conditions:
• A full scholarship or full
parental support. According to an
article in The Fresno Bee, the main
reason for prolonging graduation
is because work schedules interfere
with class schedules, and work is
usually more significant to
survival. Part-time jobs are usually
a part of everyone's college
experience.
• No monetary obligations. If
rent, car payments, credit card bills
and grocery expenses are paid by
someone else, time can be used to
totally concentrate on studies.
• Not having to worry with
financial aid paperwork. If
students spent as much time on^
some of their class projects as they"1
did in financial aid lines and
workshops, they could ha verumcd
in better projects. Oh well.
• A very huge amount of luck
with advisers and class schedules.
• Most importantly, to get out
of college in four years, students
could never change their choice of
majors. Four years, as long as it
may seem, allows for no indecision
when majors are concerned.
Unfortunately, this scenario is
not real life. Nothing would be
better than to have one semester
StaffWriter
oft, let alone an entire four-year
span. Ash, to dream.
Let*s face it, for a person to
graduate in four years, not only
would a 16-unit minimum per
semester be necessary, but a
student could not ever change
majors, become seriously ill, flunk
or re-take more than two classes,
experience any huge financial
setbacks, bum out, get any bad
advising (ha) and never encounter
any schedule conflicts. Get real!
A spokesperson for the
Institutional Research Division on
campus said that while some
students do graduate in fouryears,
the majority complete their degree
in five.
The most recent numbers show
that of the U10 students that
entered CSUF in 1985, only 468
graduated in 1990— a dismal 35.8
percent. This number does not
take into consideration any dropouts or transfers, but that should
give someone, namely CSUF
administration, a big hint.
Some sources in The Bee article
suggested that students in public
universities take almost one year
longer because CSU and UC
students "procrastinate."
Procrastinate? Most students
would take offense to that. They
may not be graduating in four
years, but chances are that wasted
time is not the reason.
Aucontraire. Granted, major's
change, but bad counseling, lack
of financial aid, cutbacks in dass
schedules and difficulty with
transfer u n i ts sho uld help explain
why a four year degree was just
not feasible for many of us.
Four years would have indeed
been ideal, but six years have not
beeneasy. Those who are on their
fifth and sixth year know that Cal
Grants no longer are available af-
terthe fourm year of college. Thafs
where there needs to be some
major re-structuring. If statistics
clearly show that a five-year degree is more realistic, then why
should financial aid be so limited?
At this point, for graduating
seniors ifs pretty much over, and
financial aid will soon become just
a college memory. However, we
should take some solace in the
new student-aid hikes that the
State Senate approved on Feb. 21.
The senate overwhelmingly
moved to approve a substantial
expansion for those students who
fall in the middle-class, as well as
poor families. By raising income
limits for eligibility, the size of
grants and loans will increase.
Extending eligibility, however, is
another issue.
Thafs pretty good news for
some, but for mos^gettinga degree
goes past the money issue. If
students had a dollar for every
"crisis" they have had that was
not money related, there wouldn't
be any money problems to
complain about
The goal is to get them [the
studentsjin and out quickly so we
can get more [students] in," said
Mary Burger, vice president of
academic affairs for the CSU
Well, thanks Mary.
She makes it sound as if college
is comparable toa mass production
brain factory whose goal is
quantity not quality, where
students are just a product and not
the reason for education in the
first place.
We are all different. Some of us
can handle an 18-unit load while
otherscan barely cope with 12. No
matter. Besides, what's more
impressive: a student who took
the six-year route and earned a 4.0
or a whiz kid who got out in four
years with a paltry two-point
something?
You make the call.
BITE BACK
BITE BACK was recently
asked: Why is there no
place to get hot food on campus
at night anymore?
We went to Rick Finlay, director of food services, for a
response:   .
Thafs kind of hard to answer," Finlay said. "We aren't
closing anything any earlier
than we were before. The food
service in the Pit has always
closed in the afternoon at about
4 p.m The Snack Bar ts still
open until half an hour before
the recreation
center closes,
the Bucket is
still open until
10 pjn. with the
kitchen dosing at
7 p.m., and the residents dining facility isstill open until
7 pjn. Ifs hard for
some people to come to
terms with, but the residents' dining facility is open to the general
campus public, not just people
with long-term contracts.''
"We would like to have a better
idea of
what the
students
want and
where they
want It,"
Rnlaysaid.
He said it
would help
to know what
time evening
classes begin so that
food services could be
more responsive to their needs
[insight suggests Mr. Finlay
consultthescheduleof courses).
...
'
.     ^ . :