THE
COLLEGIAN Monday, 25, 8, 2016 Monday,April February 2016
Fresno State’s Award-Winning Newspaper Fresno State’s Award Winning Newspaper
By Myles Barker & Manuel Gutierrez Special to The Collegian
Paula Gillespie, whose real name is being kept confidential to protect her privacy, 41, had everything going for her in her mid-20s. She had just graduated from Fresno City College, landed a job as a homehealth nurse, got married to the love of her life, and bought a new house and new car. Then things started to take a turn for the worse. After a traumatic pregnancy kept her in labor for 30 days at a hospital – she was pregnant with quadruplets – only two survived. Several months later, Gillespie, who is of Egyptian descent, found herself struggling to keep up with her new hectic life, which also included two more kids from her husband’s previous relationship. She knew she needed a little help, but the Starbucks and Red Bulls she’d been drinking religiously didn’t seem to help. When a foreman she had called to her house to fix a light switch offered her something he said would do the trick, she took it without hesitation. That something was crank, a slang term for methamphetamine, and Gillespie became instantly addicted. “I was just ignorant and naive,” said Gillespie, who was 26 years old at the time. “But I was also beat and tired from having twins, two stepchildren, a new house, a new job, laundry, dinner, dishes, homework and all that kind of stuff.”
See METH, Page 3
fresnostate.edu/collegian collegian.csufresno.edu
YAK
This wind is making me self conscious. Now, everyone can see all my rolls & I’m not a MORE INSIDE bakery.
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K WEE MINOSRIDEE
METH: AS ADDICTIVE AS EVER
Darlene Wendels • The Collegian
Paula Gillespie, whose real name is being kept confidential to protect her privacy, 41, is a recovering methamphetamine addict. She has struggled with her addiction since she was 26.
Methamphetamine: a 3 part series ARMENIAN
Armenian Genocide survivors’ memoirs shared during commemoration By Jeanine Fiser @TheCollegian
Darlene Wendels • The Collegian
Tadeh Issakhanian and other attendees of the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide place carnations in the center of the Armenian Genocide Monument at Fresno State, Friday, April 22, 2016.
The loss of life on a grand scale seems like an unforgettable occurrence, yet humans throughout history have allowed massacres of cultures and races. This fact brought an element of solemnity and poignancy to the Armenian Genocide Commemoration hosted Friday by the Armenian Studies Program and Armenian Student Organization (ASO) at Fresno State’s Armenian Genocide Monument for the 101st anniversary of the atrocity. Information Sciences student Sean Minier attended the event to honor of his great-grandparents who lost their lives to the genocide. “I want to come here every year and bring a flower for them – it’s a chance to pay my respects,” Minier said. “It adds to the memory of not only my grandparents, but everyone who lost their lives.” Minier said he feels events recognizing
See ARMENIAN , Page 3
OPINION
GOT OPINIONS? We want to hear them. COLLEGIAN-OPINION@CSUFRESNO.EDU MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016
CAMPUS
IN THE MARKET FOR A FARMER’S MARKET
Gretchen McKay • Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS
Retherford’s Village Produce road stand in Benton, Pa., offers fresh fruits and vegetables well into fall.
By Megan Bronson @Bronsosuarus
Fresno State should institute an outdoor farmer’s market during the warmer months. We live in the agricultural basket of the nation. Why don’t we showcase this on our campus through the sale of fresh fruits and vegetables during the spring and summer months? There are three benefits to Fresno State instituting a farmer’s market. Chiefly, it would showcase student success and talent. Our agriculture students are some of the most talented in the CSU and UC system as they learn to grow and harvest many of the fresh foods that are sold in stores across The Valley. Granted, we have the Gibson Farm Market, but that is not the same as a bimonthly event where students come together to sell their goods. It could be an opportunity similar to Vintage Days, but on a smaller scale. Which segways into the next reason why Fresno State should have a farmer’s
market – it would engage the community. Ag students wouldn’t be the only people participating, clubs and campus organizations could take turns running booths and tabling. Students participating would benefit from revenue, the community at large would receive fresh food and see what their local university is capable of producing. The Old Town Clovis Market has a huge following in this area, and the same thing could be done at Fresno State. It could be set up exactly where Vintage Days is, and would encourage the community to come on campus during the summer, when the campus is least active. It would be a great way to create synergy with the growers in the valley, the students on campus and the Fresno area at large. The third reason is that our campus is a barren wasteland of food. The options on campus are mediocre and massively unhealthy. Bringing a farmer’s market to campus would help students keep fresh food in their diet. Other universities have small grocery stores on campus, or fresh fruit and veggie stands. But Fresno State, one of the biggest ag schools in California, does not have an on-campus market for students to
LETTER TO THE EDITOR By Kelly Caplan
Special to The Collegian On April 11, the VP of Student affairs sent a message to my inbox at 4:44 p.m. informing students and faculty about a forum proposing a remodeled USU and Faculty Development Center. This forum was set for the next day at Noon. While I am glad there is another forum occurring at Noon on April 27, I’m suspicious about the surprising nature of the initial e-mail. Because of work, I was unable to attend the first forum and I have personally seen this tactic used to prevent concerned people from attending and asking hard questions like “how much is this going to cost” or, perhaps “are you making students pay for it?” I understand there’s a brand to uphold (although I cringe at the fact that my education is now a privatized commodity), but I am not going to allow our administration do so at the expense of students, if that is the case. It would seem rather ironic asking students for money after recently opening Fresno State’s Student Cupboard due to the 1 in 3 students who are food insecure. While the model pictures look shiny and pretty, you best find another way to pay for it. And while you’re at it, perhaps you should consider dishing out private funds to fix our decaying buildings? Or maybe actually give the English department their own building? And possibly, in the process, you could get your priorities straight?
buy fresh and healthy food. Having a farmer’s market taking a healthy direction could also give the students in the nutrition and culinology fields on campus to get real life experience either teaching market-goers about fresh food or showing them recipes involving the food being sold onsite. An outdoors farmer’s market is so right for Fresno State. It is needed, it is wanted and it would be appreciated by the entire community.
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Yaks of the Week
From the bowels of the anonymous app Yik Yak – a five mile radius from Fresno State
Fresno State should invest in a hammock garden so we can all take naps in hammocks. College is just 4 years of being a tall child looking for food. I didn’t talk to any of my friends today but I meowed back to my cat a bunch of times so I can’t say I haven’t socialized. Does anyone else lay in bed for about 18 hours a day or is that just me? Curry got his ankles broken. Boy needs some milk. Why pay for a concert when you can see it for free on snapchat? Vote online! The winner will appear on the front page of next Monday’s Collegian!
Harriet Tubman is going on the $20 bill. It‛s about time.
Paul Vieira • The Collegian
THE COLLEGIAN The Collegian is a student-run publication that serves the Fresno State community. Views expressed in The Collegian do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff or university. fresnostate.edu/collegian
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THE COLLEGIAN • NEWS
MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016
LITHOP
Local writers share their articles, poetry and more
PAGE 3
Interviewee: ‘So much of our heritage was lost’ ARMENIAN from Page 1
Ricky Gutierrez • The Collegian
More than 140 writers gathered in Fresno’s Tower District Saturday, April 23, for LitHop 2016, an all-ages literary festival that headlined Fowler native and U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera.
By Razi Syed @TheCollegian
The talent of dozens of Fresno State faculty, alumni and students were on display April 23 at the inaugural LitHop, a daylong literary festival held in Tower District. The festival was headlined by U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, a professor emeritus of Chicano and Latin American Studies who was appointed to his second term as Poet Laureate on April 13. Herrera is the 21st national poet laureate and the first Latino writer to hold the title. LitHop featured 140 writers at nine different venues starting at 2 p.m. At least half of the 140 writers are associated with Fresno State in some way. Fresno’s Poet Laureate Lee Herrick, who organized the festival, was thrilled at the attendance. “From 2 p.m. and on, it’s been pretty full everywhere,” he said, while introducing Herrera. Several Fresno State faculty had readings scheduled at 6 p.m. at Fulton Street Art. Dr. Samina Najmi shared an article she wrote for The Progressive, titled “Hiding Osama bin
Laden.” Najmi, who was raised in England and Pakistan, wrote the article after a classmate asked one of her children if her family helped hide bin Laden. “My childhood a spliced narrative of Pakistan and England. I thought I finally found belonging in America,” Najmi read to an audience of around 50 people. “While the world seemed to take leave of its senses and while we razed Afghanistan that October in order to kill one Saudi man responsible for our national tragedy, I was about to bring an American boy-child into the world.” Najmi, being non-religious, said she took comfort in the secular traditions of the United States. “I returned with the knowledge that the only text I could hold sacred was the American Constitution,” she said. “That I could trust it in a way that I couldn’t trust governments or public opinion anywhere. “Even if we warred with two Muslim countries simultaneously, America would give me space to raise my children as I wished,” Najmi continued. Dr. Larissa Mercado-López, a
faculty member in the Women’s Studies program, read her children’s book “Esteban de Luna, Baby Rescuer!” It’s set to be published in March 2017. “I’m pretending you’re all four years old,” Mercado-López joked while she read to the audience assembled at Fulton Street Art, which flooded out of the entrance and had people standing on the sidewalk. The festival culminated with a speech from the national poet laureate. Herrera spoke to a packed house at the Fresno City College Old Administration Auditorium. During Herrera's speech, which closed the festival, he spoke about growing up in the Central Valley, and read poetry. He also commented on the large number of poets that Fresno has produced, which includes the national 2016 Walt Whitman Award winner and LitHop participant Mai Der Vang. “People always ask me, ‘What’s going on in Fresno?’” he said. “Well, I forgot to tell you but Fresno is the poetry capital of the world.”
the Armenian Genocide are important so the younger generations and people outside of the culture can learn the history of what happened. “A lot of people see Armenians as hard workers,” Minier said. “I think that’s because we are trying to rebuild. So much of our heritage was lost, there’s still refugees, and there is still so much to be done.” The Armenian Genocide is marked annually on April 24 to memorialize the day the genocide began in 1915. The genocide was carried out through death marches, massacres and sexual assaults. As a result 1.5 million Armenian lives were lost. The commemoration included the performance of songs written about the genocide and the recounting of survivor’s stories by their ancestors. Members of the Armenian Student Organization Hourig Attarian and Diana Gasparyan read memoirs written by their great-grandparents. Attarian read stories about the loss of an entire extension of her great grandfather’s family due to exposure and a severe lice infestation. She talked about a relative’s baby crying of thirst until perishing in its helpless mother’s arms. Gasparyan recounted similar tragedies. Her great-grandfather was nine when the genocide began. He witnessed the execution of the elderly who could not keep up and the disappearance of his older brothers and the forced marriage of her great aunt to a Turkish neighbor. She said the memories were so
painful, her grandfather could not help but cry every time they came up. “The denial of this massacre is a shame humanity will endure forever,” Gasparyan said. Chair of the Department of Sociology Dr. Matthew Jendian delivered a keynote addressing the need to recall these tragedies. “‘The cure for the pain is in the pain,’” Jendian said quoting Persian poet and theologian Rumi. “We have to connect this pain to the injustices around the world today.” Jendian touched on the continued inaction of people to stop ongoing crimes like the genocide in Darfur. “We hear ‘never again’ all the time but it is only an aspirational hope that people will take actions to prevent crimes against humanity,” Jendian said. “There is no lack of knowledge or influence – it is a lack of will.” President of the Armenian Student Association Tadeh Issakhanian brought the event near to an end with a call to action. He reminded younger generations of their responsibility to continue the success of generations before them. “Recognition of the genocide locally is the result of individual action – we need leaders to take their place in the future,” Issakhanian said. “The escalation of advocacy during this week cannot end when April is over.” The crowd sang the Armenian National Anthem at the close of Issakhanian’s speech. Then while a single flute played people followed in a solemn procession through the Armenian Genocide Monument leaving red carnations in the center.
Meth remains one of the hardest drugs to recover from METH from Page 1 Gillespie initially thought she would just use the meth to help her get her life situated, but it was already too late. The damage had been done. “I didn’t think I would become addicted to it,” Gillespie said. “I thought I could just use it now and again and maybe do a line every once in a while just to stay awake and do what I had to do. I thought that I had it under control.” It wasn’t long before Gillespie left her husband, her kids and her life that she had worked so hard to get. Six months after the foreman introduced her to meth, Gillespie was living on the streets with drug dealers doing anything she could to get high. To support her habit Gillespie found herself selling her things,
including her motorcycle, stealing jewelry from her parents and begging for money from her husband. When none of those options worked, Gillespie felt she had no choice but to hit up a Motel 6 and sleep with anyone who had her next fix. “I would do whatever I had to do to get high back then,” said Gillespie, who has now been a meth addict for 15 years. “I thought the meth would make me better, and it didn’t. It took me down real, real fast.” Growing up in a middle-class family with her father being a real estate agent and her mother a librarian, Gillespie knew she was a huge disappointment. Abandoning her family, especially her two daughters, made her feel even more ashamed. “Once I left my husband and
my kids, it was like I didn’t want to feel that guilt,” Gillespie said. “So the more guilt I felt, the more drugs I would do to numb myself. And the more drugs I did, the more guilt I would feel for doing the drugs. And it was like a perpetuating cycle that just kept going, going and going.” Surprised and worried, Gillespie’s husband and parents spent days driving all over Fresno looking for her, only adding to her already guilty state of mind. She only hinted at the notion of getting clean after having an accidental pregnancy, but it wasn’t until three to four months into her pregnancy that she stopped her meth use. “When I found out that my baby was going to be OK, and that his brain was developing OK, and he had all his fingers and toes, I
stopped doing drugs and I was clean for four years,” Gillespie said. With a new job and getting remarried, Gillespie was ready to start her life over again, but just when things were starting to look good, she had a bad day at work and suddenly felt the urge to use again. She eventually relapsed. “I relapsed after four years of being clean, and it made me feel like shit,” Gillespie said. “It was a dirty feeling.” Dirty not because she had went back to her old ways, but because this time her new husband found her stash and threatened to leave her. “I kind of had it under control, and I thought I was OK because I was still holding a job, still a productive member of society. I was just doing meth,” Gillespie said.
“I said that this is what I need to make me feel good every day, and that I can’t function without it.” Determined not to let her husband down, Gillespie agreed to go to rehab and has been clean for several weeks. “I know that if I ever test positive he will leave, and I feel bad, but I am not going to let the guilt run me anymore, I’m not letting it run me anymore,” Gillespie said. “I have a lot of anxiety because it is hard when you become dependent on something and then it is gone. It’s like if you have a close relationship with your parents and all of a sudden they are gone, it is hard to deal with, but I know I’ll figure it out.”
Part 2 will run April 27.
NEWS
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MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016
FFA
Thousands compete in annual FFA conference By Justin Johnson @TheCollegian
High school agriculture students from California flocked to Fresno for the four-daylong 88th annual Future Farmers of America Leadership Conference. “All the agricultural colleges up and down the state – Fresno State, Cal Poly, Chico, Davis – they put on workshops about the agriculture field, leadership and anything to inspire, motivate and make kids aware of what’s out there for their high school career and also for what lies ahead of them in college,” said Marc DeBernardi, a teacher from Santa Maria high school. The Fresno State campus was a sea of blue jackets Saturday as FFA high school students represented their chapters and supported their fellow members throughout the day’s competitions. “Registration for the event is around 6,300, which is the largest one ever held,” said Rosco Vaughn, an agriculture professor at Fresno State. “Usually it’s between 5 to 6,000.” The event kicked off Saturday morning with students competing in 24 contests. Categories includ-
ed dairy, fruit trees, grape vines, farm power, agronomy, machinery, marketing, small engine, poultry and more. “It’s about getting new leadership abilities, public speaking abilities and mingling with the members from all over the state of California,” said Julianna Dailey, a student from Atwater High School. After the FFA events ended at 3 p.m., there was an awards ceremony at 4 p.m. downtown at the Fresno Convention Center’s Exhibit Hall. “It’s a state leadership conference for the development of FFA members to promote their personal growth,” said Kellen Habib, president of the State Conference Committee and pre-veterinarian major at Fresno State. Saturday’s events were followed by guest speakers Nick Baker, National Secretary from Tennessee and Taylor McNeel, National President from Arkansas on Sunday in North Gym. “The Sunday talks were motivational talks to encourages high school kids to achieve to maximum of their ability,” said Rosco Vaughn, an agriculture professor at Fresno State. FFA was formed in 1928 be-
Khone Saysamongdy • The Collegian
Future Farmers of America (FFA) Secretary Nick Baker and FFA National President Taylor McNeel visit the Fresno State campus Sunday, April 24, 2016. The members give a speech presentation in the North Gym and answers questions from students during the California FFA State conference.
cause boys were losing interest and leaving the farm, states the official FFA website. Today, it has grown to include 320 high schools and 85,000 members. “I am interested in ag because my family revolves around it and I plan to go into ag business after high school. I want to attend UC Davis or Chico State,” said Justin Croman, a student at Red Bluff
High School. Monday there will be a career show where Jordan College of Agricultral Science and Technology students will host three booths downtown at the Exposition Center from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. “Ag opens up so many opportunities – you learn so much, you
meet great people and I plan on doing agriculture at a community college then transferring to Fresno State for ag education,” said Jacob Haze from El Diamante High School in Visalia California. On Tuesday six newly-elected state student officers will be honored at a luncheon by FFA officials and Jordan College Dean Sandra Witte.
GET AHEAD THIS SUMMER May 23–June 17 4-week Session
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June 20–July 29 6-week Session (559) 442-8273 www.fresnocitycollege.edu/summersession State Center Community College District