October 21, 2015
Vol. 41, No. 5
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Letters bring encouragement to freshmen CAMPUS
By Esteban Ramirez Editor-in-Chief
As a way to support and encourage freshmen at CSU Bakersfield through midterms and the rest of the quarter, CSUB had its third annual Freshman Letter Day on Oct. 14 at the Student Union Patio. According to Associate Director of Campus Programming Emily Poole, there were 1,473 freshmen that received letters, which is the most in the three years that
they have done this event. “I think it was great,” said Poole. “We know that sometimes in our students’ freshman year, they sometimes start doubting themselves. “Maybe they can’t succeed in something or just need a little extra encouragement or motivation to do well.” Poole was not sure how many letters there were exactly, but she said that every freshman received at least one letter. Some received multiple letters. She said they partner with the
campus community, faculty, staff, student leaders and alumni to write letters of encouragement to the freshmen. She added that on the first day they had over 800 freshmen that picked up their letters, and there were 600 letters leftover. For those that didn’t get theirs because they weren’t on campus on Oct. 14, she said they would sort them and hand them out to the students in their CSUB 101 classes. There were over 150 faculty,
staff and student leaders that wrote at least 10 letters to CSUB freshmen students. CSUB freshman biology major Estefania Mejia, 18, said her letter was encouraging her not to give up, to study hard, to pass the midterms, to have fun and socialize. Physical education and kinesiology major Jose Gonzalez, 18, shared in that sentiment. He said that he feels more confident now going into midterms after reading his letter.
CSUB battles to a draw MEN’S SOCCER
Marisel Maldonado/The Runner
CSUB junior midfielder Adam Arana goes for the ball at the same time as Utah Valley’s junior midfielder Skyler Milne on Oct. 18 at the Main Soccer Field.
By Joe Macias Reporter
CSU Bakersfield men’s soccer team drew even at 0-0 against Western Athletic Conference co-leader Utah Valley University at the Main Soccer Field on Oct 18. “It was a hard fought Sunday game,” said CSUB head coach Richie Grant. “In this league, as tight as it is, you have to take the point.” The Roadrunners almost converted in the first half with a shot fired by senior midfield Christian Duarte in the 26th minute but was saved by Utah Valley goalkeeper sophomore Collin Partee. “It was a physical challenge,
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and we knew that we’d have to defend very well on set plays and I thought we were excellent on that (today),” said Grant. The Roadrunners (4-4-4, 1-2-2 WAC) had to defend well against the tall Utah Valley team (11-4-1, 4-1-1 WAC) that only had one starting player under six foot tall. “It was a tough game both teams were similar, both teams had chances,” said
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CSUB junior goalkeeper Nicolas Clever. “At the end, it was like one pass was missing, the final pass, but we were close Julian (Zamora) had a good opportunity and Chris (Duarte) had an opportunity.” Utah Valley also created chances to get on the scoreboard as sophomore forward Karson Payton shot from the right side of the box in the
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61st minute but hit the post and the ball deflected back to Clever for the save. “First of all, we kept a clean sheet so that’s really important for a goalkeeper,” said Clever. “Everyone worked their ass off, and that’s what we really needed today.” This was Clever’s second shutout of the season and his ninth of his career. “Now it’s about recovery,” said Grant. “We need a couple of days (of rest). It’s been a hard weekend. “It’s really important that we put a lot into next weekend.” The CSUB men’s soccer team will play Air Force next on Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Main Soccer Field.
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“It’s a good way to reassure the freshmen who need some help and encouragement,” Gonzalez said. One of the writers for Freshmen Letter Day was Associated Students Inc. President Mike Kwon. He said that he wrote 12 different letters, and he felt that it was very important to reach out to the students, encourage them and support them. Poole also said she thinks this will get bigger and bigger each year.
“What I am hoping is that the people who didn’t know about it this year, will talk about it next year and get more people to join in on the efforts of writing letters and supporting,” she said. “It’s just a campus-wide effort. “I can’t express that enough. As we get more and more students, we’ll need more and more writers.” She added that she would like the first class, who will be seniors next year, to write to the freshmen.
By Heather Simmons Reporter
Bicycles, skateboards and scooters are a common sight around campus, but many students are unfamiliar with the university’s transportation policies and are not sure where to find them. “We could probably do a better job of putting that information more up-front on the website,” said Evelyn Young Spath, executive assistant to the president. “I’m working on centralizing the policies so that it’s easy access for the campus community and the community at large.” When this project is complete, all of the university’s policies will be located on a single webpage, but the university’s personal transportation policies are currently located on the webpage of the University Police Department. According to UPD’s webpage, “…bicycles may only be ridden upon roadways and sidewalks, except that where a bicycle path has been provided adjacent to a roadway or sidewalk, bicycle riders shall use such bicycle path.” The UPD did not respond to any requests cocerning rules. Skateboards, scooters and skates are only permitted “upon roadways, the bike path, or upon designated routes in the campus interior.” “I don’t know where I’m supposed to go and not supposed to go,” said Allison Mathis, a freshman majoring in business administration who rides a scooter around campus. The approved areas are outlined on the website, but students want more obvious indications of skateboard-friendly areas. “They should probably put up some signs in obvious places,” said Armando Estrada, a
sophomore majoring in English and political science. Some students are concerned about facing punishment after breaking a rule, since failure to comply with the transportation policies, even unknowingly, can lead to “temporary seizure of the bicycle, skateboard, scooter or rollerskates,” according to the UPD website. “I think that UPD could be a much bigger part of the CSUB community by…showing us what they expect of us as bicyclists and skateboarders,” said Adrian Mejia, a sophomore majoring in finance who works for the Bike-Share program. “UPD may know the rules, and we may not. It’s not going to stop them from enforcing it.” In spite of students’ lack of knowledge about the university’s transportation policies, serious violations are rare. “From time to time, we get some complaints regarding skateboards in some unapproved areas, but I think for the most part, we’ve had relatively few complaints, and those few that we have had are minor, so I wouldn’t see it as a major issue at this point,” said Spath. Still, there is the occasional clash between wheelers and walkers. “I see it happen probably every day where a rider has to get off whatever they’re riding…to get out of the way of people that aren’t aware that they’re coming, or…almost hit a pedestrian because they…weren’t being considerate of students that are walking campus,” said Estrada. “I think any time you mix modes of transportation, you’re going to have…opportunities for people to learn to co-exist,” said Spath.
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