BIG DAY AT THE FAIR
Preview Saturday’s game versus Hawaii ‘East meets West’ at International Coffee Hour
The Collegian online reports on the opening of Big Fresno Fair
SPORTS FEATURES
FRIday Issue OCTOBER 8, 2010 FRESNO STATE
COLLEGIAN.CSUFRESNO.EDU
SERVING CAMPUS SINCE 1922
Revitalizing downtown Fresno CSU funding further restored By Leonard Valerio The Collegian
Angela Salinas / The Collegian
Much like the Tower District, the city of Fresno plans to pump new life into the historical Fulton Mall.
By Kellcie Mullaney The Collegian In late September, the city of Fresno allowed the community to voice their vision on a variety of issues pertaining to the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan and the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan. Both plans are broken up into six different phases. The first phase, Discovery, concluded in May 2010. The second phase, Visioning and Design Workshop was designed to have the community participate and include their ideas on how to make downtown a better place. Community members of all ages, including Fresno State students, were encouraged to voice their opinion since those students make up such a large part of the community. The Tower District is an example of how such plans can help improve
somewhat neglected parts of the city. In 1991, a similar plan was constructed to revitalize the Tower District. The Tower District is now a popular place that boasts local artists, musicians and businesses. The hope is that
“I
’ve lived [in Fresno] my whole life and that side of town hasn’t always been the best.” — Kristen Bergmann, Student, Fresno State
the new plan for the Fulton Mall and surrounding areas will show similar, if not better, results. T h e Vi s i o n i n g a n d D e s i g n Workshops took place during the week
of Sept. 27 with two separate workshops each day. The first was an hourlong overview of the specific topic. The second was a three-hour workshop that allowed public input. “I think improving the Fulton Mall area is a really good thing,” says Kristen Bergmann, a child development major. “I’ve lived [in Fresno] my whole life and that side of town hasn’t always been the best.” The Fulton Mall, considered to be an historical asset to the city of Fresno, was the first topic discussed at the workshops. The mall was built in 1964 and contains some of Fresno’s most historic buildings, as well as a world-class public art collection. In its prime, it served as a central shopping attraction. Other topics discussed during the workshops were the downtown econoSee DOWNTOWN, Page 3
Journalist addresses culture, politics By Mike Boylan The Collegian The American journalist and author Chris Hedges addressed the culture of consumption, the perils of unfettered free-market capitalism and America’s obsession with celebrity culture before a packed conference room at Fresno State’s Henry Madden Library Wednesday night. Hedges has been a foreign correspondent for two decades, covering conflict in over 50 countries, and was part of a group for the New York Times that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for their coverage of global terrorism. Hedges sought to explain some of the key concepts from his recent book, “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of the Spectacle.” Hedges argued that the perverted ethic of celebrity culture, most commonly seen in reality television, is fostered by the ethic of corporatism and the delusion of a self-regulating freemarket economic system, and has thus produced a majority culture that is unable or unwilling to separate truth and substance from fantasy and illusion. “The cult of self, which [Michael] Jackson embodied, dominates our culture,” Hedges said after depicting the spectacle surrounding Jackson’s life, public persona and his eventual
Mike Boylan / The Collegian
In the Table Mountain Rancheria Room in the library, Chris Hedges addresses a student question regarding the future of education.
death. “This cult has within it the classic traits of psychopaths: superficial charm, grandiosity, self-importance, a need for constant stimulation; affection for lying, deception and manipulation, and the incapacity for remorse.” This ethic promoted by corporate culture and marketing breeds passive citizens that internalize these cult-ofself messages, argued Hedges. “The fantasy of celebrity culture is not designed to simply entertain, it is designed to drain us emotionally, confuse us about our identity, condition us to chase illusions of unachievable
fame and happiness, and to keep us from fighting back.” In the face of economic and political turmoil, fraud and deception, this infatuation with a promotion of selfworth personified by spectacles of the unreal, Hedges claimed, has created a populace “that is unprepared intellectually, emotionally and psychologically” for such crises. “Even in the face of catastrophe, mass culture assures us if we close our eyes, if we visualize what we want, if See ILLUSION, Page 3
Califor nia’s new budget pact, announced Wednesday, provides the financially drained CSU $139 million in one time additional funding. With the $106 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding awarded last week, the total budget increase is approximately $365 million. While the added funds are not all of the approximately $600 million cuts the CSU system was faced with in the last few years, it will still provide some breathing room and help the CSU system get back on its feet. Budget cuts resulted in class shortages, furlough days and the grave possibility that Fresno State along with many other CSU schools would not have the funding to accept applicants for the 2011 spring semester. The spring 2010 semester had to be scaled back and only 150 students were accepted but only those in specific circumstances such as credential students and students in certain graduate programs. According to a Sept. 16 CSU press release, a one time increase of funding amounting to $106 million was awarded to the CSU system and allowed for a partial restoration of spring admissions. As reported in the Fresno Bee, Fresno state is to receive $5.9 million of the AARR funding allowing the university to accept up to 1000 spring students. In a previous interview with The Collegian, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Services, Bernie Vinovrski expressed his mixed feelings about the one time allotment. “When one-time money comes in, we serve [more] students, then we don’t get additional funds, the we have to go back to that game of reducing enrollment next fall,” Vinovrski said. “No one wants to do that.” Fresno State may not have to play that game with the additional $199 million funding increase. The states new budget pact also provides a plan to fund enrollment growth, which can be up to an additional $60.6 million. Vinovrski said in a previous Collegian article that if the full $305 million was to be restored as the governor it was possible that all students that meet the admission requirement for spring would make it into the university. In a press release from the Califor nia Faculty Association, President Lillian Tai said the funding is a welcome change from the direction the CSU system was heading in. “The CSU truly is the economic engine for California and restoring this vital funding is an important art of putting our state back on the road to economic recovery.”