Man assaults, robs pair across from campus By Paul Schlesinger @PaulSch_Photog
A man attacked a pair – punching a man and stealing a
woman’s purse during a robbery near campus Thursday night, university police said. The robbery occurred as the two were walking inside an
apartment complex on the 4000 block of North Backer Avenue, just east of Shaw and Maple avenues, around 9:15 p.m., university police said. The suspect ran
southeast through the complex. The suspect was described as a 6-feet, 150 pound, African-American, wearing a black hoodie, university police said.
If you have any information on this robbery, call the Fresno State Police Department at (559) 278-8400.
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COLLEGIAN Friday, February 2016 Monday, February4,8, 2016
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NO MORE LINES Testing Center reduced after finals fiasco
Troy Pope • The Collegian
The line for the Fresno State University Testing Center during Dead Days during the fall 2015 semester (Top). The line to take final exams extended to the Rose Garden. Many waiting in line for up to two hours on Dec. 9, 2015 (Bottom).
By Diana Giraldo @DianaInspired
Last semester the week before finals – thousands of students braved the crowd at the University Testing Center creating over an hour-long wait for those in the line that extended to the Rose Garden. This semester, that will not happen. The University Testing Center is on an operational pause during the spring semester. “At the request of the president, and in consultation with the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate and the Academic Affairs Leadership team,
the University Test Center will not be in operation as a test center during the spring 2016 semester,” the testing services portion of the Fresno State website reads. The week before finals, there were projected to be between 3,800 and 4,400 students utilizing the University Testing Center Monday to Wednesday. Although the testing center had adjusted policies to make the traffic during finals week flow faster, they failed to see the approximate 150 spaces in the testing center could not keep up the massive influx of students during the three day period, said Dr. Frank Lamas, vice president for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.
“It was working pretty well until all these people showed up and the line was all the way back down to the fountain and some people
who came back to school to master in sports psychology, stood in line for nearly two hours to take his final exam.
"Under those conditions – and then go in there and expect to take a test? To me it is not a very student friendly environment." — VJ Mirzayan, Sports Psychology Master’s Student even said to the Rose Garden,” Lamas said. “I think it was a combination of things. For whatever reason there were a lot of faculty who wanted to give the test that day.” VJ Mirzayan, an endodontic
“It is very difficult for somebody to stand in line for hours and then you are tired, your brain is not in normal conditions and you have to go take the test,” Mirzayan said. “That’s ridiculous. I was aggravated, agitated, tired and pissed. I did not want to be there.”
The wait was not the only negative aspect about the experience that stuck out to Mirzayan. After waiting outside the testing center, the line proceeded to a narrow hallway where the line wrapped along both walls. “There’s no walking room and there is no windows. This is against fire code,” he said. “You just feel constricted. It feels horrible to get in line for that long. Under those conditions – and then go in there and expect to take a test? To me it is not a very student friendly environment.” Lamas said he thought it was strange that such a high num-
See TESTING, Page 2
ASI
ASI cancels its Thirsty Thursdays By Julissa Zavala @TheCollegian
Associated Students, Inc. is looking to host a new event after the student senate decided Wednesday to stop hosting Thirsty Thursdays at The Bucket. The decision to cancel Thirsty Thursday, an event designed for students to meet their representatives, came unanimously from the Activities Committee and
the Senate, Sen. Joshua Dowell of the Jordan College of Agricultural Science and Technology department, said. The planned Thirsty Thursday on Feb. 11 is canceled. Dowell said that the committee wanted to start a new program that would hopefully begin in a month. He said the committee is working with Deborah Adishian-Astone, the vice presi-
See ASI, Page 2
Khone Saysamongdy • The Collegian
Fresno State welcomes back students with a free night of fun in the bowling alley in the USU on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016. The event included free root beer floats, video games, bowling and billiards
NEWS
2
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2016
A movie night at Maya Cinemas Campus offers outdoor wireless would replace Thirsty Thursday access now in 22 locations ASI from Page 1 dent for administrative services, to possibly get tickets donated to start a movie night at Maya Cinemas, inside nearby Campus Pointe, as the activity to take the place of Thirsty Thursday. The senate also discussed a potential change in how many times students can retake a course. Anthony Farnesi, ASI vice president of finance and CFO, said that the Academic Senate was thinking about updating its policy on retaking courses, possibly by lowering the number of times a student can fail a course from four to three times. “This affects your major because if you take it that many times and fail, then you essentially can’t complete that major and you have to switch,” Farnesi said. “In your G.E., you would have to either find a different G.E. class or get the class at a city col-
lege or an equivalent class at a city college.” Farnesi said that changing the policy may hurt students in majors with higher fail rates, but the Academic Senate has not made a decision on the policy change yet. Discussion in the senate meeting shifted to the upcoming elections. ASI President Abigail Hudson said she encourages interested students to apply for ASI positions. Hudson also said that she hoped to have a high voter turnout. “I’m hoping to have an on-campus voting location,” Hudson said. “A computerized polling location that would be hosted with the League of Women Voters – so it would be an unbiased individual running the polling station to increase voter turnout for students.” Petitions for ASI office are due by Feb. 12 at 5 p.m. The next ASI meeting will be on Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. in USU 312-314.
By Chueyee Yang @ChueyeeYang
Outdoor wireless access is now available at Fresno State, Technology Services said Tuesday. “Our hope is to enhance the experience in teaching and learning for our students, faculty and staff,” the official said in a press release.
Before finals, lines reached as far back as the Rose Garden TESTING from Page 1
FOURTH ANNUAL
STUDENT-SELECTED LECTURE SERIES
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Veena R. Howard, Ph.D.
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Awakening the Force of Nonviolence: Gandhi’s Moral Experiments
DISCOVERY
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Lisa A. Bryant, Ph.D
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Voting by the Numbers: It All Comes Down to One
DIVERSITY
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Martin Shapiro, Ph.D.
24th
Elephants, Glowing Mice, and Flying Robots: Interconnected Forces Shaping the World
The wireless service is now available in 22 outdoor locations across campus. Users can access it around the dorms, Peace Garden, Free Speech Area, Memorial Fountain, Rose Garden, Maple Mall and the open spaces that surround the Science II Building. To give feedback on the service, users can contact the help desk at 559-2785000.
ber of students had to take tests before finals week, seeing as there are policies faculty have to follow regarding administering finals before finals week. “It doesn’t seem like a midterm,” said Lamas. “Could it have been a final? I don’t know. Could have been their third or fourth test. I don’t know? All I can say is it seemed a little bit funny to me that – that many students were there at that time.” According to the Academic Personnel Manual (APM, 339), final examinations or final class meetings are required in all courses and shall be held at the time and place identifies in the schedule of the courses. No final examination may be scheduled prior to the time specified in the schedule of courses. Once the university administrators were made aware of the situation, a discussion was held with the cabinet and the Academic Senate, where it was decided the testing center would be put on pause and no longer administer midterm or finals. “The last thing we wanted was a student to go to take a test, which is already a nerve wracking thing, you want to be at your best. You don’t want to be stressed out more than you already are. You don’t want to wait in line and hour or an hour and a half to take your test,” Lamas
said. “Student success is the number one thing that I and the president are always talking about how we want to help you to be more successful and quite frankly that wasn’t helping.” During this semester the University Testing Center will not be used, but the Academic Testing Center, in the Family and Food Science Building, will still be administering students make-up exams, early takes, exams for Students with Disabilities, campus department-specific exams, professional Certification and licensing exams, educational assessment and placement exams, distance learning exam proctoring and exams for online courses, said Rita Bocchinfuso-Cohen, director of Testing Services. The main difference this semester is professors cannot send their classes to take whole class assigned exams in the testing center. Due to the operational pause, 13 student assistants, whose jobs could have been jeopardized by the change, were assured their jobs would be retained through the spring semester, Lamas said. Six of those students students decided to continue working in the testing offices, two took positions in other offices on campus, one declined and four did not respond to our inquiry. A small committee of faculty, staff and students will be established this semester to discuss the future of the University Test Center.
DISTINCTION Reception 6:30pm
Lecture 7:00pm
Satellite Student Union 559.278.2741 getinvolved@csufresno.edu www.fresnostate.edu/fstalks
London London Spring/Summer Spring/Summer 2016 2016
May May 23,2016 23,2016 -- June June 11,2016 11,2016 For For more more information, information, please please contact contact Gail Gail Freeman, Freeman, London London Program Program office office Music Music 186 186 or or call call (559)278-4103 (559)278-4103 or or email email gailf@csufresno.edu gailf@csufresno.edu
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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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2016
San Jose State snaps ‘Dogs’ MW win streak for second straight year
THE COLLEGIAN • SPORTS
PAGE 3
Fresno State football inks 21 student-athletes FOOTBALL from Page 4 College) and offensive linemen Ryan Popolizio (San Mateo College), Shane Gama (Southwestern College) and Christian Cronk (Riverside City College). For this class, the ‘Dogs reached out to six different states to find some of these student-athletes but were also signed some
Central Valley talent like defensive back Juju Hughes (Hanford), running back Justin Rice (Central Catholic-Modesto) and tight end Johnny Rojas (Clovis West). “Recruiting is changing with social media, and your outreach is vast now,” DeRuyter added. “Those guys, because we are on TV all the time, they know what Fresno State football is all about, and we’ve
got coaches that have relationships all over the country. You have to take advantage of those and try to get the best talent we can coming in here, but at the same time I’m really proud of the three local kids we have coming in.” The ‘Dogs kick off spring ball on Feb. 29 and open the season Sept. 3 at Nebraska.
BASKETBALL from Page 4 but Faz Davalos missed a last-second field goal attempt at the top of the key as time expired. “They’re good,” White said about the Spartans. “They have played every team in our league hard. They almost beat Colorado State at home, and they almost beat us there. It wasn’t like we didn’t think it was going to be a hard game. They played better than us tonight, and that’s frustrating but that’s just kind of how it is.” Furr led the Bulldogs in scoring with 12 points on four 3-pointers, Shauqunna Collins added 11 points off the bench for her 12th double-figure scoring effort of the season, and Toni Smith chipped in 10 points for her eighth-consecutive double-figure scoring game. San Jose State (8-14, 6-5 MW) was led in scoring by Byrd as the junior center scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds off the bench.
Take A Ride On The Bulldog Express
SPORTS
4
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2016
FOOTBALL
‘DOGS BOOST ROSTER ON NATIONAL SIGNING DAY By Daniel Leon @DanLeon1994
Ricky Gutierrez • The Collegian
Fresno State football reloaded its roster by signing 21 student-athletes on Wednesday’s National Signing Day event. The Bulldogs made an effort to beef up at the line of scrimmage, signing four offensive linemen. Another area the ‘Dogs heavily focused on was strengthening the front seven on defense, where they added five linebackers and four defensive linemen. The 2016 class also includes three running backs, two tight ends, two defensive backs and a quarterback. “We are really excited about the quality student-athletes we signed today and how our coaching staff was able to make connections with these young men and their high school coaches in putting together a tremendous class,” head coach Tim DeRuyter said in a statement. “We were able to address a number of needs between the early signing period and now.” Of the 21, 16 were signed on Wednesday while five signed in December as mid-year junior college transfers including linebacker Trent Soechting (Blinn College), defensive lineman Malik Forrester (LA Pierce
Fresno State offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau talks with 940 ESPN radio host Paul Loeffler about the Bulldogs’ new recruits during National Signing Day.
See FOOTBALL, Page 3
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Bulldogs’ eight-game win streak snapped at hands of Spartans Fresno State senior forward Toni Smith looks to get off a shot against San Jose State’s Emily Vann during Wednesday’s 66-64 loss to the Spartans at Save Mart Center.
By Cox Odia
@TheCollegian The Fresno State women’s basketball team suffered its first Mountain West loss of the season as it stumbled on both sides of the ball in a 66-64 Wednesday night home loss to San Jose State. “We are obviously disappointed with the outcome of the game,” head coach Jaime White said. “We had a good first quarter. I think we got a little ahead of ourselves. We gave up 16 offensive rebounds, and I think that was big. I thought defensively we weren’t as tough as we have been. We let them get drives, and they did a good job
of transitioning in the fourth quarter. We flipped quarters – we did well in the first and they did a good job in the fourth.” After an even start to the game, the Bulldogs ended the first quarter on a 16-3 run that was led by back-to-back 3-pointers from senior guard Alex Furr. Fresno State guard Brittany Aikens knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the Bulldogs’ largest lead of the game to 15 with the score of 34-19 with 5:32 left to play in the first half. But the Spartans stayed resilient, countering with their own 11-0 run while the Bulldogs didn’t record a basket for over five minutes. Furr drained her third 3-pointer of the game to end the Spartans’ run, giving Fres-
no State a 37-30 lead going into the half. The 'Dogs’ lead dwindled to four early in the second half. But they were able to end the third quarter on a 10-3 run – in which Furr connected on her final 3-pointer of the game to cap off the run – to take a 53-42 lead into the final quarter. With 3:40 to play in the game, the Spartans went on a 17-6 run to tie the game at 59-59. The Spartans continued the momentum with a 3-pointer from Emily Vann to take their first lead of the game at 62-59 after two missed field goals from Fresno State’s Bego Faz Davalos. After a free throw from the Spartans put them up 65-61 with 1:22 remaining, the Dogs got back within one point after a
Khone Saysamongdy • The Collegian
3-pointer from Aikens with under a minute left in the game. With time waning, the 'Dogs buckled down on defense and forced two missed field goals from the Spartans. Collins had a chance to win the game with a layup drive in the lane, but was blocked by Riana Byrd as the Spartans crashed the glass for the rebound. The Spartans essentially closed out the game after a made free throw with five seconds left to take a two-point lead and after committing three fouls in the ensuing 4.2 seconds. The 'Dogs had one more chance to steal the win at home with 0.8 seconds left,
See BASKETBALL, Page 3