February 27 2012

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Former Bulldog Paul George was robbed in the Dunk Contest SPORTS Campus not well-equipped to serve the deaf in emergencies OPINION Lemon tree dedicated in honor of former Fresno State professor FEATURES

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MONDAY Issue FEBRUARY 27, 2012 FRESNO STATE

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SERVING CAMPUS SINCE 1922

Library may require ID card for access By Lindsey Jones The Collegian As the Henry Madden Library turns three years old this month, the library administration is discussing the implementation of a new system that will impact the Fresno community as a whole. Peter McDonald, the dean of library services, said the system essentially requires everyone using the library’s facilities to swipe his or her identification card upon entering the building. With the swipe of a card, data can be captured and reported to the library administration for the calculation of statistics. “It would prevent homeless people from coming in and sleeping and stinking up the basement,” said student assistant Lyndsay Garner. McDonald said Fresno State is looking into a system called GradesFirst. The number of mandates is growing that require faculty to be more active in finding out exactly what services are being utilized in the library and how often. In response to these mandates, Fresno State administrators believe GradesFirst may be the answer to determining which services are most effective for students. While the system does seem as though it would serve as library security, McDonald said that is not what it See LIBRARY, Page 3

File photo by Brandon Ocegueda / The Collegian

The GradesFirst system would use swipes of student ID cards to find what services are being utilized at the library, and which ones are effective. David Tyckoson said that the 2.6 percent of the non-Fresno State community who use the library would still be welcome.

6,000 expected at Peach Blossom Festival Event attracts 200 schools from as far south as Delano, as far north as Livingston By Stephen Keleher The Collegian On March 15 and 16, Fresno State will see 6,000 elementary students from all over the Central Valley come through campus for the 54th-annual Peach Blossom Festival. “The campus is the biggest thing they’ve ever been to, and they get to perform in front of people and they get to recite,” Geraldo Marquez, senior journalism major and publicity coordinator for the event, said.

Marquez said that participating in Peach Blossom as a kid pushed him to try new things. “When I was young and I came to Peach Blossom, it did open up a lot of doors that I didn’t know could open,” Marquez said. “From the Peach Blossom Festival I continued on with school plays. Then from elementary school plays I got involved in drama in high school.” Marquez is one of the many students and alumni affected by the long-running festival. When Peach Blossom

Festival started 54 years ago, the goal was to let children from first grade to sixth do recitations of poetry and prose at Fresno State, thus, giving them the chance to learn to speak publicly. It started as a joint effort to help teach young people about interpretation, performance, how to be an audience member as well to give them the experience of visiting a great university campus. Since then, the festival now attracts 200 schools from as far north as Livingston, and as far south as Delano. “I think it is an amazing festival that is an opportunity unlike any other in the Central Valley,” faculty sponsor Stacie Mimura, said. The elementary students can recite poems in solo, duo, trio or a small group and a large group. Judges look for confidence, fluidity, their ability to focus and presentation quality. After perfor ming, the children receive positive feedback from the judges. Students will then receive either an excellent or superior stamp along with a certificate.

Marquez knows first hand how it feels to be on that stage, and said it can mean a lot. “I was one of the ones that was a little kid getting my autograph signed,” he said. “With that great influence at such a young age, that one event can change one child’s life.” Though some students may experience a disruption or a cancelled class during the festival, most will welcome the young students who will learn valuable lessons about public speaking as well as experiencing the gravity of being on a university campus. “It is intended to boost the morale and the public speaking skills of young elementary children so that later on in the future in high school and college they have that motivation that they can do it, that they can speak in front of people,” Marquez said. “It is our goal to give kids a feel of how it is to perform in front people, to take away that gut feeling of what it is to be a public speaker.”

“W

ith that great influence at such a young age, that one event can change one child’s life.”

Shavon Furrow / The Collegian

Kids from the 200 schools not only have the chance to perform in front of an audience, but also meet their favorite student-athletes and get autographs.

— Geraldo Marquez, publicity coordinator


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