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friday Issue february 11, 2011 FRESNO STATE
COLLEGIAN.CSUFRESNO.EDU
SERVING CAMPUS SINCE 1922
RAMIREZ TAKES MORE HEAT AT ASI MEETING
O’Brien accused Fresno State of selling parking passes to “illegal aliens.” He presented a photo of Ramirez’s alleged bloody parking pass to ASI.
By Michael Kincheloe The Collegian Wednesday’s Associated Students, Inc. meeting picked up where it left off two weeks ago, with ASI President Pedro Ramirez as the topic of discussion. Ramirez was absent from the meeting due to an “academic commitment,” but the controversy that has surrounded him lately was unmistakably present. Fresno State senior Neil O’Brien
was the only one to speak during the initial public comment segment. O’Brien displayed a large photo of Ramirez’s blood-soaked Fresno State parking pass lying on the ground near the truck Ramirez was driving in last month’s highly-publicized crash. “Fresno State sold parking passes to illegal aliens who could not drive legally,” O’Brien said. The meeting was relocated from the University Student Union to the third floor of the Henry Madden Library. Though previously posted, many were
not aware of the change, and this resulted in some members of the public arriving after the public comment session had ended. The student senate approved $2,000 in funding to Club Verge for publication of their magazine “On the Verge.” The magazine revolves around art and design, and is said to reflect both the Fresno State student body and the community of Fresno. California State Student Association Executive Director Miles Nevin addressed the senate. He was in atten-
Dana Hull / The Collegian
dance “to explain to us exactly what CSSA is, what it does, and what their opinion of us is,” ASI Executive Vice President Selena Farnesi said. Nevin spoke for a few minutes, and then stated that he would be happy to answer any questions concerning CSSA. Kristal Oliver, who introduced herself as Fresno State alumni, asked Nevin if CSSA “had paid for Pedro [Ramirez] to go to Washington, D.C. See ASI, Page 3
Smittcamp students lead campus in ASI By Ana Mendoza The Collegian While there are only 200 students in the Smittcamp Honors program, four of their students were elected to serve in Associate Students, Inc. (ASI), which is designed to represent the more than 20,000 students at Fresno State. Despite the disproportionate representation, these students seem to be essential to the well being not only of Fresno State, but of the Valley. “The reason this program was created was because President Welty saw the ridiculous brain drain that happens every year,” Director of The Smittcamp Family Honors College, Honora Howell Chapman said.
“Thousands of students leave the Valley and they don’t come back after they graduate, because they get used to life on the coast or elsewhere and they think it is better and they don’t want to come back.” Chapman said that many students decide to leave the Valley instead of opening shops, creating businesses, and “doing something to motivate [the Fresno] economy.” Earl and Muriel Smittcamp and their family donated $1 million, which is what funded The Smittcamp Family Honors College in 1997. According to Chapman, “President [John] Welty asked Earl and Mariel Smittcamp, ‘Can you help me create an honors college, so that we can invite
the best and brightest to stay in Fresno and hopefully those students will then become the basis of a growing economy?’” “And that’s what President Welty was trying to do, was to keep kids from going elsewhere. And by doing that, you then hopefully have stronger teachers, stronger business people,” Chapman added. Because Smittcamp students receive many benefits to increase their chances of success, some students have questioned if they can represent the average student, and know about the difficulties that Fresno State students encounter. “Just because I don’t pay my tuition doesn’t mean that I don’t under-
stand the value of a dollar, or that I have never suffered a hardship, or that I don’t work for my own money, or that I don’t struggle to be here to make ends meet and to do a good job,” ASI Executive Vice President and Smittcamp recipient Selena Farnesi said. “I am still a student here. I understand the struggles of students here. And I think I can accurately represent those students.” Farnesi added, “Being a representative is not about your own personal experience. Being a good representative is about talking to the people you represent and finding out what their experience is.” See SMITTCAMP, Page 3