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March to capitol planned By Thaddeus Miller The Collegian Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) is sponsoring a bus to take student activists Monday to a march to the state capitol. The California State Student Association (CSSA), a studentrun nonprofit, has aided in the organization of the day’s events. Representatives from the University of California (UC), community college and California State University (CSU) systems will take part. Olgalilia Ramirez, the director of government relations for CSSA, said student activists will gather at Raley Field in Sacramento before the march to the capitol building’s north steps. A similar event took place two years ago, she said. “We’re asking the public to make higher education a priority,” Ramirez said. T he state of Califor nia spends an average of $7,500 annually per student and $47,000 annually per prisoner. Ramire z said CSSA has a tentative list of featured speakers, which includes Fresno State graduate and m e m b e r o f t h e b o a rd o f trustees Russel Statham and California Community College Chancellor Jack Scott. Cole Rojewski, ASI’s chief of staff, said the event will give students a channel to express their feelings about fee increases, much like the March 4 rally. “We want to help them along the way and let them express [themselves] up there,” Rojewski said. “So, state legislators can see it, and hopefully make a difference.” The tuition at CSUs has nearly doubled since the 2002-03 school year, increasing every year since, except for the 200607 school year. Along with the march, Rojewski said, ASI will deliver postcards, signed by students, to legislators. The postcards read, “For every $1 the state invests in the CSU, the CSU returns $4.41.” Rojewski said ASI paid for the bus, and will provide meals for the participants on the bus. He said the bus has room for more participants. Whitney Thompson, facilitator for Students for Quality Education, said she was not involved in the planning, but supports the efforts. “That’s good that they are putting some pressure on legislators,” Thompson said.
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Candidates address campus By Collegian Staff Candidates running for the 2010-11 Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) president engaged in a formal debate Thursday afternoon to a crowd of nearly 50 people. ASI presidential candidates Alex Andreotti, Cody Madsen, Cole Rojewski and Pedro Ramirez laid out their plans at the March 18 debate in the Free Speech Area before students vote in next week’s election. The debate began at 1 p.m. and lasted roughly an hour and a half, with candidates answering a series of questions ranging from topics on improving communication with students to unifying the student body. The ASI presidential race is a perennial battle, but rarely has it seemed more important than this year, with the candidates faced with shaping public perceptions at a time when massive budget cuts and a faltering state economy has hit higher education.
Matt Weir / The Collegian
ASI presidential candidates answered both prepared questions and questions from those in attendance Thursday. (From left to right) Cody Madsen, Alex Andreotti, Cole Rojewski and Pedro Ramirez all currently serve in ASI.
Rojewski said that his decision to run for ASI president was born out of frustration with the current administration. “I’ve always been more of a backseat person, but I’ve become so frustrated to a point where I have to take a front seat,” Rojewski said. Andreotti, who currently serves as the executive vice president of ASI, said that her
two-year experience in student government makes her an ideal candidate. “I’ve been through three dif ferent administrations and presidencies throughout my time at Fresno state,” Andreotti said, “and I’ve learned what works and what hasn’t. I’ve seen the rough patches and I’ve seen the successes. I know if picked for presidency next year I would
be able to pull from the administrations from the previous years.” Ramirez, however, saw it differently. “We have been here for three years and have seen nothing. Nothing has gotten done,” said Ramirez, a political science major and ASI senator at-large See DEBATE, Page 6
Sexual relationships in the digital age By Joe Bailey The Collegian “Sexting” – sending sexually explicit images or messages through cell phones – isn’t a new trend, but it certainly seems to be a growing one. Tamyra Pierce, a mass communication and journalism professor and media effects researcher at Fresno State, surveyed 409 Fresno State students. She found that approximately half of them had sent inappropriate images from their cell phones and that onethird of them had forwarded sexually explicit images. “I was somewhat surprised,” Pierce said. “But after studying all of this in the last five years or so, I found that people are being a little bit more forward online or with their cell phones and they are becoming a little more uninhibited with sending photos.” Pierce said many fall victim to a false sense of security behind their cell phones or computers, thinking that their images will not go any further than the one individual they sext. This is when the real trouble can begin. “My goodness, the humiliation of all these people seeing or hearing about this incident,” Pierce said. “If one person sent 50 people the picture on their cell phone, we don’t know who those 50 people sent the picture to. It can really start to snowball.”
Pierce recalled the case of Cincinnati high school student Jesse Logan who in 2008 sent a nude picture of herself to her boyfriend. After their breakup, he spread the picture around campus. After months of embarrassment and harassment, Logan took her own life by hanging herself at age 18. According to the Sex and Tech survey, conducted by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 20 percent of all teenage r s h av e sent nude
or semi-nude photos of themselves. The same survey found that 39 percent of all teens have posted or sent sexuallysuggestive messages about themselves. Pierce said she’s seen these trends developing and has visited several local schools to talk to teens about the perils awaiting those who are partic-
ipating in these activities. “I [give] speeches to schools and parents and students,” Pierce said. “We can’t tell everybody to put restrictions [on sexting] but they need to be aware.” Pierce said that sexting began with the popularity of social networking sites where a lot of teens and young adults would post pictures of themselves on the internet. “Lots of the activity we’ve seen posted on MySpace or See SEXT, Page 6
Photo Illustration by Michael Uribes / The Collegian