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Wednesday Issue September 21, 2011 FRESNO STATE
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SERVING CAMPUS SINCE 1922
Veterans press for services $4,000 tax break for students By Johnathan Wilbanks The Collegian
Esteban Cortez / The Collegian
Omega Delta Sigma is a veteran fraternity at Fresno State created by and for veterans. Fraternity members Devon Mathis (left) and Anthony Graves try to recruit members and provide information for fellow veterans.
By Samuel Cosby The Collegian Student Veteran Organization pushes to get a veterans-only lounge and rededication of the Fresno State fountain. “Of all the CSUs, Fresno State is one of the only ones that doesn’t have a designated area for veterans,” said Luke Newlon, president of the Student Veteran Organization at Fresno State. “San Diego has a whole building for veterans. We don’t even have an office that we can go to, gather, have meetings or put out information,” Newlon added. Newlon explained that the Student Veterans Organization is one of the few things at Fresno State tailored to veterans’ needs. “We’re here to serve the veterans on campus,” Newlon said. “We want to give assistance in finding out what’s
available, as well as helping to ensure the smooth transition from military to student life.”
“O
f all the CSUs, Fresno State is one of the only ones that doesn’t have a designated area for veterans.” — Luke Newlon, president of the Student Veteran Organization at Fresno State
The veterans service coordinator Robyn Gutierrez agreed that a resource center would be beneficial for the veterans on campus. “Several campuses in California have veteran centers for their students,”
Gutierrez said. “The students would like to have a place to meet other veterans. They want a place so they don’t have to go off campus for counseling. “ C a l i f o r n i a S t a t e U n iv e r s i t y, S a c r a m e n t o a n d U n ive r s i t y o f Califor nia, San Die go both have resource centers where they have people to aid their veteran students,” she continued. “The veterans want a place where they can identify with one another, go in, hang out, have coffee and do school work. There is nothing on campus that’s solely for veterans.” Anthony Graves, the sergeant at arms for Omega Delta Sigma (National Veterans Fraternity Inc. at Fresno State), explained the benefits that he receives from Fresno State. “We get priority registration starting our second semester,” Graves said.
Zenovich, 22, g raduated with a Bachelor’s degree in political science and is now making the Fulbright expeFresno State communication student rience a part of her master’s degree in Jennifer Zenovich communication. was recently “I am very awarded the l u c k y t o h av e Fulbright Award been awarded a ennifer’s generation will and is now studyFulbright to study have to start becoming ing in Montenegro. in Montenegro,” more globally experienced.” The purpose of Zenovich said. the Fulbright pro“But at the same gram is to award t i m e, I wo rke d — Shane Moreman, students with very hard with my Faculty scholarships to mentor to make help them further sure my applicatheir education in tion was strong other parts of the enough to be conworld. The program was designed to sidered.” improve and sustain good internationZenovich and her advisor, interculal relations between the United States tural communication professor Shane and other countries. Moreman, worked together for about
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axpayers are still footing a lot of the bill for the students being here, but it doesn’t feel that way when your fees are going up every year.” — Sean Alley, Economics professor
See VETERANS, Page 3
Fresno State Student awarded Fulbright Award By Ciara Norton The Collegian
A $4,000 tax deduction for college tuition is available to students in 2011. Students may also deduct the interest they pay on their mortgages in their tax return this year. The amount of the tax deduction students receive relative to their amount of dependents varies, as $4000 is the maximum no matter how many students are listed under a single address, the Wall Street Journal, reported. Students may be unaware of the potential $4,000 tax deduction for tuition in 2011, Andrew Boydston commented “I haven’t heard about it but I would use it as a write off if possible. “Anything that can make life easier on my family financially is a blessing right now. I actually feel like it’s a welldeserved thing with how much tuition has risen since I first got here in the fall of 2006,” Boydston said. If a student is claimed as a dependent on their parent’s tax return, they are not eligible to personally receive the deduction. However, their parents might be able to claim the tax credit stated the website. The amount of deduction one receives also depends upon their income according to the Wall Street
five months to ensure that Zenovich was as prepared as possible. “We spent the weekends working together,” Moreman said. “I remember one Saturday she came over to my house at 10 a.m. and didn’t leave until 8 p.m. She is a steadfast, very focused individual.” In Montenegro, Zenovich will be studying women in a post-communist environment and how they view themselves. “These experiences are going to help shape who she becomes later in life,” Moreman said. “For someone her age to go abroad and experience a different culture for a whole year is life changing.” Zenovich will be in Montenegro interacting with the people and learnSee AWARD, Page 3
Jour nal. If one’s adjusted g ross income is above $65,000 per year or if one files a joint tax return with an adjusted gross income above $130,000 per year, they are not eligible for the full tax break. Fresno State Economics Professor Sean Alley shared other ways students can reduce fees through their tax returns. “The biggest tax deduction in the tax code is that if you own a house, you can deduct the interest you pay on your mortgage,” Alley said. “Any students that own a house should be able to take advantage of that, it could be sizable. “If you are a full-time student and are not part of your parent’s household, and you make less than a certain amount of money, you can qualify for Murphy income tax credits,” Alley added. “This tax credit pays back any taxes See TAXES, Page 3
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
You don’t have to be human to be humane By Maddie Shannon The Collegian
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ecently, I stumbled across a funny little YouTube video titled, “Jazz for Cows.” In this video, a small band of jazz musicians from the United States decided to play a few songs for a group of cows in the French countryside, where the band was touring. Despite what some people may think, these cows didn’t act indifferently toward the music or become frightened by these new strangers. Instead, they all wandered to the side of their enclosed pasture to listen to the musicians perform. This got me thinking. According to the 15th-century philosopher Rene Descartes, animals are not conscious beings. They have no sense of wellbeing, morality or sense of pain or pleasure, and therefore do not warrant
our sympathy or concern. This view of animal consciousness was quickly accepted at the time, and eventually became the foundational concept for animal rights (or lack thereof) for many societies of the modern era. Heading into the 21st century, however, it seems that traditional philosophy and science has given way to a new set of ideas that are sustained by many people who don’t immediately identify themselves as philosophers or scientists. In a day and age when we love our pets enough to spoil them rotten with dog carriers, kitty sweaters and implanted microchips to find them if they’re lost, more and more people firmly believe that their pet, indeed, does have a soul. Last fall, I read a New York Times news story about the moral life of babies, written by psychologist Paul
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n a day and age when we love our pets enough to spoil them rotten with dog carriers, kitty sweaters and implanted microchips to find them if they’re lost, more and more people firmly believe that their pet, indeed, does have a soul.”
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Bloom. In the article, he compares the distress of human babies to the distress of rats. “If you want to cause a rat distress,” he wrote, “you can expose it to the screams of other rats. Human babies, notably, cry more to the cries of other babies than to tape recordings of their own crying, suggesting that they are responding to their awareness of someone else’s pain, not merely to a pitch of sound.” This finding throws a wrench in the Cartesian theory of animal consciousness. If our own babies can exhibit the same reaction to the suffering of others as a lowly lab rat, then we, as a race, need to reexamine what it means to have a sense of humanity. As for those cows in the French countryside, I like to think that they liked the jazz music that the touring musicians played. It obviously entered their consciousness that there was pleasant music being played, and they wanted to get as close as they could to it. To me, it reinforced the concept that a being doesn’t necessarily have to be a human to have a sense of the humane. Maddie Shannon is a former columnist and Arts & Entertainment editor for The Collegian, and will be a biweekly columnist throughout the semester.
To the editor: For the past few years, I have noticed Fresno State’s smoking policy being broken by so many students and staff. I have tried to do my part in letting the people I see know the smoking policy on campus, however, this semester has been far too overwhelming for me, and I am sure that it has been for other students as well. Not a day goes by where I don’t see students walking through campus smoking. To make matters worse, I have seen students walk by campus escorts and police, and nothing is said to these students. I emailed President Welty and those in charge of the smoking policy last semester, but it seems as though matters have gotten worse. Perhaps it’s all the new students that arrived during the fall semester, but this is getting out of hand. I am aware that there is only so much you could do, but I was hoping you could use The Collegian to bring this matter to the attention of everyone who is part of this campus. I am only one voice, and my voice can only travel so far. Abraham Ayala Graphic Design major
Obama needs to get serious on the debt
The Right Tone Tony Petersen
D
uring the summer, in the midst of the debt ceiling fracas, President Barack Obama said this about himself: I’m prepared to take on significant heat from my party to get something done, and I expect the other side should be willing to do the same thing if they mean what they say. This is how the president has presented himself to the American people.
THE
He is the “adult in the room.” He is the pragmatist, the non-ideological reasonable man in between the crazies on the left and the right. He was the “post-partisan” president who would solve all of our problems by the sheer force of his personality. As if we needed any more evidence to the contrary, along comes Obama’s plans for the economy. His jobs bill was more or less a big bunch of nothing. It was the same old stimulus that has been tried and failed, though this time it is on a much smaller scale. And as for how he would pay for that stimulus? We now have the answer. Here are the five ways that Obama is planning on paying for this new round of stimulus: the $1.2 trillion in cuts that were already scheduled from the bill which ended the debt ceiling crisis; $580 billion in cuts and reforms to various programs; $430 billion in interest savings; $1.1 trillion in the expected drawdown of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is never a for sure; and $1.5 trillion in tax reform, which is a less-scary way of saying tax increases. So much for Obama the Pragmatist. This plan is manna from heaven for liberals: Medicare is barely touched, Social Security isn’t discussed at all and taxes are increased on the “rich.” Unfortunately, for Obama and the
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libs, this bill is D.O.A. in Congress — dead on arrival. The tax aspects of this bill are simply incompatible with Republicans and some moderate Democrats in Congress. According to the website Talking Points Memo, centrist Senate Democrats Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu and Jim Webb have already come out against the bill. And, obviously, no Republican will accept any sort of tax increases. What tax increases is Obama proposing? He wants to let the Bush tax cuts for “upper-income earners” expire, limit tax deductions for those making more than $250,000 per year, close some tax loopholes and eliminate some tax breaks and incorporate the “Buffet rule,” which would require all people making more than $1 million a year to pay more in taxes than their secretaries do. The bulk of this is plain political demagoguery. As The New York Times’ resident Republican columnist, moderate David Brooks, wrote, Obama’s plan “recycles ideas that couldn’t get passed even when Democrats controlled Congress... He repeated the populist cries that fire up liberals but are designed to enrage moderates and conservatives.” When you’ve lost David Brooks, one of the famed Obama Republicans, that’s when you know you’ve lost the
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country. As Brooks points out in his column, the rich already do pay their fair share: the top 10 percent of wage earners pay 70 percent of all income taxes, and the richest 1 percent pays 31 percent of their income to the government while the average worker pays only 14 percent. But most importantly, this bill will not do anything to alleviate the debt/ deficit crisis we currently find ourselves in. We need real reform, in all areas. We need a real balanced approach, not the phony type that we get from the president. All of the untouchables in American politics must be yanked from their pedestals, including Social Security, Medicare, defense and taxes. The only balanced solution requires actually reforming all of these areas. There have been plenty of good proposals laid out that tackle each of these: the Simpson-Bowles commission, Rep. Paul Ryan and former Clinton Director of the Office of Management and Budget Alice Rivlin have all given good plans to combat the debt problems we face, along with the countless thinktanks that have given plausible plans. The solution is out there, and it is obvious. It’s up to our government to have the will to do what is necessary.
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VETERANS: Fraternity helps students CONTINUED from page 1 “We get some fee deferments because of the GI bill, and decreased GPA requirements for some classes. Other than that, there isn’t much that we get.” Gutierrez noted that funding was a major issue in getting veterans more benefits from Fresno State. “There is not really that many services specifically targeted toward veterans,” Gutierrez said. “But we are working on it, and we’d like it to happen, we just don’t have the funding.” Graves explained that in addition to the lounge, what he really wanted to see for veterans was recognition. “Omega Delta Sigma wants to raise veteran awareness more than anything,” Graves said. “There are a lot of men and women at Fresno State who have really done some amazing things. There are heroes walking among us. We sign up and give everything to
our country. That’s the message we really want to get out.” Omega Delta Sigma is not the only ones pushing for more awareness. The Student
The fountain was originally dedicated in 1961, Graves explained. “A lot of people don’t know that the fountain is a World War II veterans memorial that
here are a lot of men and women at Fresno State who have really done some amazing things. There are heroes walking among us. We sign up and give everything to our country.” — Anthony Graves, Omega Delta Sigma member Veteran Organization is also pushing to get the fountain renovated and rededicated. “ We w a n t t h i s y e a r ’ s Veterans Day celebration to be the biggest and the best yet,” Newlon said. “Last year’s class left a gift to get the fountain renovated. And since it’s a fountain dedicated to the veterans, we want to plan our celebration around the same day.”
was dedicated by the class of 1961’s Korean War veterans,” Graves said. “We want to get the fountain rededicated so that people know why it’s there. “Multiple generations of student veterans have given much more than we have, and it’s up to us to see that those people are recognized,” Graves added.
TAXES: Students can pay less taxes CONTINUED from page 1 you paid and writes you a check if there is any left over,” Alley said. “This is not a deduction, because it is an actual payment back to the taxpayer. A
Alley added. Alley also offered insight on how the CSU is funded. “All taxpayers pay into the system which funds our institution. Taxes are collected into a general fund and paid out to everything the gov-
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f you are a full-time student and are not part of your parent’s household, and you make less than a certain amount of meney, you can qualify for the Murphy income tax credits.” — Sean Alley, Economics professor
student must have ear ned income to claim this, but not a substantial amount. This is for low-income working people, so if you’re a student with a job you might be able to claim an earned income tax credit and get a couple thousand dollars back that way,”
ernment supports, and a big chunk of that goes out to the universities. “Taxpayers are still footing a lot of the bill for the students being here, but it doesn’t feel that way when your fees are going up every year,” Alley said.
NEWS BRIEFS NATIONAL
First day without “don’t ask/ don’t tell” policy is uneventful at San Diego Bases Military personel had been previously briefed.
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Tuition can be hefty for similar private universities such as Fresno Pacific University, which averages about $20,000 per year in fees according to its website. Biology major Kailie Privett commented on how she feels taxpayer funding affects her education at Fresno State compared to private universities. “It’s not the tuition prices I have a problem with, it’s how it’s spent. Like the pool we just built,” Privett said. “The whole point of college is education so I think the money should have been used to add more classes instead. “Also, I don’t think it is fair that administration is getting raises while our tuition goes up and classes are cut,” Privett added. “At least in a private university I would get the education I am paying for.”
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Republicans push for mandatory E-Verify; farmers not so sure
WASHINGTON — A hotly contested bill moving this week would compel employers to verify worker eligibility via the Internet while it ratchets up the nation’s perennial immigration debate. Far mers fear it. Skeptics sweat potential errors. But in the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee, mandatory E-Verify is now an idea whose time has come. Whether the full Congress and White House agree is quite another matter.
WORLD
Obama to Palestinians: Seek goals at negotiating table, not the UN
UNITED NATIONS — With his administration and U.S. allies unable to dissuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from pursuing membership at the United Nations, President Barack Obama will make a case Wednesday for reviving the moribund IsraeliPalestinian peace talks.
Suicide bombers kill Sunni ‘Awakening’ leader in Iraq
BAGHDAD — Suicide bombers on Tuesday killed a leader of Sahwa, the Sunni Muslim militias that were backed by U.S. forces in Iraq, as well as three other people in an attack on a local government compound in Ramadi, the capital of mostly Sunni Anbar province.
AWARD: Student goes abroad ing their language for one year. She will then return to the U.S. to construct her thesis based on her research results. F resno State recreation major, Stacy Chan recently traveled to Thailand on a mission trip. “I think that being able to travel and see a completely different culture is a good experience,” Chan said. “When you get back from your travels, you sometimes see your world a little differently.” Whether it’s traveling for a mission trip or with the Fulbright program, studying abroad can be the experience of a lifetime. The International Education of Students conducted a study that found 76 percent of students who traveled abroad “acquired skill that influenced their career path.”
“W
hen you get back from your travels, you sometimes see your world a little differently.” — Stacy Chan, Fresno State student The same study also discovered that 98 percent of students who travel abroad said that their travels helped them to “better understand [their] own cultural values and biases.” The Fulbright program’s website, describes the organization as the flagship of international exchange scholarships. The U.S. partners with
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Jennifer Zenovich Photo courtesy of Jennifer Zenovich
155 governments worldwide to support the program. Other countries involved in the prog ram include Afghanistan, Russia, Ireland and Israel. T h e F u l b r i g h t p ro g r a m was started in 1945 by former senator J. William Fulbright from Arkansas. Fulbright served as the chair man of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and served in the U.S. Congress for 30 years. Since then, 43 Fulbright alumni from 11 countries have been awarded the Nobel Prize and 78 alumni have received Pulitzer Prizes, according to the Fulbright website. The program awards about 1,600 American students, 4,000 foreign students, 1,200 U.S. scholars, 900 visiting scholars and several hundred teachers and other professionals. Approximately 8,000 grants are given annually. Students from dif ferent fields including science, business, public service and other academic fields are encouraged to apply. Fulbright Award applicants must be U.S. citizens with a bachelor’s degree. It is also helpful if the applicant can speak the language of the country they intend to travel to. Although she already speaks English and Spanish, Zenovich is now lear ning Montenegrin. “ Je n n i f e r ’ s g e n e r at i o n will have to start becoming more globally experienced,” Moreman added. “She will be ready for a market place we can’t even imagine. One that hasn’t even been created yet.”
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THE COLLEGIAN • FEATURES FEATURES EDITOR, THOMAS PEARSON • COLLEGIAN-FEATURES@CSUFRESNO.EDU
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
Summer Arts honored with Horizon Award
By Dylan Patton The Collegian
Awards are a reason to make anyone smile. Receiving an award usually means something has been accomplished. The “Horizon Awards” are a yearly event held by the Fresno Art Council (FAC) that honors art contributions of both individuals and businesses. This year the Summer Arts program, which was hosted on the Fresno State campus for the 13th straight year won an award. The FAC has held this ceremony since 1984, and its purpose is to show recognition to the art community in Fresno, as well as those that have helped artists around Fresno. FAC executive director Lilia Chavez explained that the winners are based on nominations from members of the community. The public can attend by purchasing tickets to the event. There are a total of six different nomination categories. The “Artist” category is comprised of visual, perfor ming or literary artists. The “Businesses” category honors the businesses throughout Fresno that help support the various art genres. The “Citizen” category awards those who have helped the art community. The “Educator”
category is named after the Ella Odrofer educator award that is given to art instructors. The “Special” cate gory is given to those who have made special contributions in the art community. The final category is the “Youth” category, which awards a young artist who has shown promise. Local artist Bob Kliss was hired to design the awards that were to be given at the ceremony. "He is an exceptional artist, His art is very beautiful," Chavez said. Summer Arts received recognition at the last ceremony. Director of Summer Arts, Jim Spalding, was one of those that received an award marking the first time Summer Arts has received an award. One of Summer Arts award recipients, Jim Spalding was excited and touched when he received the award. "I was very humbled. It was an excellent presentation," Spalding said. Another recipient was Jackie Doumanian, who is the community relations specialist of the Summer Arts program. She received an award in the 'Special' category. About two or three weeks before the ceremony, Doumanian received a phone call notifying her of her nomination. "It was pretty exciting,"
Photo courtesy of Andrew Jordan
Summer Arts has been held on the Fresno State campus for 13 years and has provided students with exposure to the various arts, such as music.
Doumanian said. This was the second time she had been nominated and won a Horizon Award. Last year, she took home an award in the “Business” category. "It was a real surprise to be included again," Doumanian said. Various colleges in the CSU system make bids on where the Summer Arts program will take place, and Fresno
has won the bidding every year since 1999. Next year, however, the Summer Arts program will move to the CSU Monterey campus. The Summer Arts program is more than happy to help up-and-coming artists to pursue their dreams. They also arrange to have guest artists come and work closely with the students. "You have to have a lot of
passion," Doumanian said. She also advised that students work hard to build connections. "Don't be bashful, put yourself out there," Doumanian said. Spalding also had some lasting advice: "Follow your heart. Be true to who you are."
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Arts & EnterTainment WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
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‘Two and a Half Men’ gets record ratings 28.7 million viewers tune in to Ashton Kutcher’s ‘Men’ debut By Scott Collins McClatchy Tribune LOS ANGELES — After seeing these ratings, the producers may have wished they’d buried Charlie Harper sooner. “ T wo a n d a H a l f M e n ” earned its most-watched episode ever Monday night as the No. 1-rated CBS sitcom helped kick off the fall TV season
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heen’s appeal, however, is far from dead for some fans.”
with the funeral of Harper, the wisecracking heel played by Charlie Sheen. But the night was hardly a farewell to Sheen: The newly contrite actor, who has been trying to mend fences the last few days, happened to turn up Monday night with his own highly rated roast on Comedy Central. The sideshow of Sheen’s career derailment — combined with the hiring of Ashton Kutcher as his replacement — lured an enormous audience of 28.7 million viewers to “Men’s” Season 9 premiere, making it one of the year’s top prime-time broadcasts, according to data from Nielsen. In the 18-to-49-yearold demographic often sought
Allen J. Schaben / McClatchy Tribune
‘Two and a Half Men’s’ debut without Charlie Sheen enjoyed its most-watched episode ever two nights ago.
by advertisers, the sitcom delivered a gigantic 10.7 rating/25 share, numbers seldom seen for a scripted program in these days of fierce media competition and splintered audiences. Those were the best stats ever for “Men,” which suf-
fered a shortened eighth season earlier this year after producers sacked Sheen, who had engaged in a public war of words with his bosses. In fact, viewing was so high, it put a noticeable dent during the 9 p.m. half-hour for ABC’s heavily anticipated
season premiere of “Dancing With the Stars,” which ended up with a 19 million average for the night. The two-hour “Dancing” was still strong enough to power ABC to a win for the night in viewers, See MEN, Page 6
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The daily crossword Across 1 Its median score is 100 7 Weapon for Tyson 11 Christmas choice 14 Former drug giant 15 Sans employment 16 Enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, say 17 *Title role in the 2009 Tony winner for Best Musical 19 Drop off briefly 20 Shoe with a swoosh logo 21 Tex-Mex snack 22 M-16, e.g. 24 *Advantage of some military goggles 26 Bottlenecks 30 Not hard to grasp 31 Plaza Hotel imp 32 Write quickly 33 Sports car roof option 36 SkyMiles airline 37 Make, as a sandwich 38 Ethiopia’s Selassie 39 Like flannel and fleece 40 Creepy-crawly 41 Tiered Asian temple 42 Butterfly’s perch 44 Noble headpiece 45 *Freetown is its capital 48 Response to a dare 49 __ II razor 50 Actor Morales 54 Film buff’s channel 55 “That’s exactly how I feel” ... or what each
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis Los Angeles Times
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starred clue’s first word can do? 58 Stat for Ryan Howard 59 Having the knack 60 Tough leather 61 Subj. that helps people assimilate 62 Niggling things 63 “Enough already!”
Down 1 Publisher’s ID 2 Royally named liner, briefly 3 Heart-to-heart 4 Gardner of mysteries 5 Shrewd 6 When strokes begin to count 7 Rip off 8 Couch potato’s fixation 9 Pavement warning
MEN: Debut overshadows shortened eighth season CONTINUED from page 5 thanks in no small part to curiosity over the introduction of Chaz Bono, the series’ first transgender contestant. NBC, meanwhile, suffered a bruising night: Both its reality competition “The Sing-Off” and the new 10 p.m. drama “The Playboy Club” bombed, logging barely 5 million viewers apiece. “Men” even wrapped its ratings glow around a new CBS sitcom, “2 Broke Girls,” which averaged 19.4 million viewers, making it the highestrated fall sitcom premiere in a decade. The next few weeks, however, may cut “Men” back down to size. “I don’t think anyone expected that number,” said Brad Adgate, an analyst for ad firm Horizon Media in New York. “Unfortunately for CBS, the audience for the comedy will only go one way, and that is down.” Once the Kutcher novelty wears off, the sitcom will probably settle this season in the 12 million to 14 million range, which is what it’s averaged in recent years, Adgate predicted. CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said in a statement: “We’re cognizant that it’s only one night in a long season, but it’s certainly a spectacular and rewarding way to get started.” Kutcher was introduced mid-e pisode in “Men” as
Walden Schmidt, a lovelorn Internet billionaire who had tried to commit suicide by walking into the ocean near the Malibu beach house previously owned by Sheen’s character. The episode’s opening revealed that Harper had died after a girlfriend had learned of his infidelity and, it was assumed, pushed him in front of an oncoming train. Sheen’s appeal, however, is far from dead for some fans. Comedy Central’s “Roast of Charlie Sheen” — shrewdly targeted as counterprogramming to “Two and a Half Men’s” season premiere — drew 6.4 million viewers, a record for the cable network’s p o p u l a r r o a s t f r a n c h i s e. Celebrities who came to insult the troubled actor included William Shatner, Kate Walsh and “Family Guy’s” Seth MacFarlane. Though Monday was the official start of the 2011-12 TV season, some new shows jumped the gun last week. NBC may have reason for optimism with “Up All Night,” a sitcom about young parents (10.9 million), but the workplace comedy “Free Agents” looked weak (6.1 million). At the CW — a youth-targeted mini-network with a shorter ratings yardstick than its broadcast competitors _ Sarah Michelle Gellar fans turned out for the thriller “Ringer” (2.8 million), and the teenage witch fantasy “The Secret Circle” drew a respectable 3 million.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
10 Game with tumbling blocks 11 *Unauthorized stories written by devotees 12 Author Calvino 13 Confine again, as swine 18 Trails 23 “Did we get the bid?” 24 Orion Mars mission gp. 25 Acid container 26 Some arena displays, briefly 27 Bar from a dairy case 28 *Pro shop freebie 29 Pre-speech obstacle 32 St. Patrick’s Day dance 34 Ye __ Shoppe 35 Bog fuel 37 Big name in online poker 38 March __: Carroll character 40 Sound at a shearing 41 Stormy weather gear 43 USC athlete 44 Cold weather wear 45 Give the creeps 46 Sonnet line fivesome 47 Maritime birds 50 Footsteps-in-an-emptyhallway sound 51 Blunder 52 BMW rival 53 “Yeah, sure!” 56 Shizuoka sash 57 Phone no. addition
C
Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively. SOLUTION: http://collegian.csufresno.edu
Word of the Day
bromance Describes the complicated love and affection shared by two straight males.
Source: UrbanDictionary.com
Are rednecks in ‘Straw Dogs’ an insult to Mississippi? By Patrick Goldstein McClatchy Tribune My family is from all over the South — Mobile, Montgomery, Atlanta, Chapel Hill — so I’m always quick to defend the region against nasty cultural slights, whether it’s a lack of culinary appreciation for fried okra and biscuits with gravy or having to endure hearing yet another New York actor do a bad Southern accent. On the other hand, I’m not a mindless defender of S o u t h e r n b a c k w a r d n e s s, like James Frazier at the Wa s h i n g t o n T i m e s , w h o has penned a lengthy essay defending Mississippi against the hordes of Hollywood liberals who have, as he puts it, “cemented the state’s image in American culture as a brutal, benighted backwater teeming with violent bigots.” Of course, we could just end this argument right here by saying that if you’ve ever studied the history of Mississippi, home of such virulent racist demagogues as Sen. Theodore Bilbo, Gov. Ross Barnett and Sen. James Eastland, you’d know that the state’s image as a brutal backwater teeming with violent bigots is well deserved, having been cast in stone by its own actions long before Hollywood had anything to say about it. That brings us to “Straw Dogs,” which barely opened over the weekend, making a paltry $5 million and earning a measly 38 Fresh Rating at Rotten Tomatoes, meaning that its days at the multiplexes are numbered. But is
the Rod Lurie-directed film a slap at the South, as Frazier and other conservative critics have argued? The remake of the Sam Peckinpah classic does offer a number of uncomplimentary Southern stereotypes, substituting Mississippi rednecks for the British working class tormenters from the original film. A c c o r d i n g t o F r a z i e r, Mississippi has spawned a host of great writers and musicians, but “in the imagination of Hollywood, Mississippi has long since ceased to be a place and become instead a facile metaphor for violent racist bigotry and hostility to outsiders.” He recruits a gaggle of academics to back up his theory, with Kathryn McKee, associate professor of Southern studies at the University of Mississippi, saying that “the idea of Mississippi has functioned in the American imagination as a kind of holding bin for negative things about the nation.” That may have been true in the days past that gave us “Mississippi Bur ning” and “Ghosts of Mississippi.” But what about “The Blind Side,” which presents a very idealized vision of a Mississippi family that helps raise a homeless football prodigy? Or “The Help,” now a huge box-office hit, which offers an upbeat take on the ability of black maids to stand up for themselves in the midst of the racial upheaval of ‘60s era Mississippi? Frazier acknowledges their presence, but views them as exceptions to the rule. But I
think he’s missing a much bigger trend. If you watch reality TV, you see far more negative stereotypes about the South in such shows as CMT’s “Sweet Home Alabama” and tru TV’s “Lizard Lick Towing,” where the South is viewed as such a backward, thickly accented region that many of the shows have subtitles for their characters, worried that a welleducated reality TV viewer wouldn’t understand what they were saying. Reality TV doesn’t make any pretense about pushing the cultural envelope. If it portrays the South as benighted, it’s because it thinks that is what its audience wants to believe. I suspect that the South is often portrayed as a poor relation because most of America needs to feel superior to someone, so why not the South as a good starting point? But it’s a stretch to say that “Straw Dogs” is part of Hollywood’s overall hostility against Mississippi, just because the villains in the movie are rednecks. Conservatives are always up in arms about some new Hollywood excess, just as they were when they greeted “Avatar” with a stor m of complaints that it was somehow anti-American because its military characters were por trayed as war mong ering invaders. Stereotypes are everywhere in storytelling. Rod Lurie may be guilty of a lack of imagination, but he’s not guilty of giving Mississippi a bad name. The state did that all on its own.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
THE COLLEGIAN • SPORTS SPORTS EDITOR, JERRY HUERTA • COLLEGIAN-SPORTS@CSUFRESNO.EDU
PAGE 7
Cross Country starts its season with high hopes By Jerry Huerta The Collegian
T h e j o u r n e y fo r re p e at appearances in the NCAA West Regional began at the beginning of September for the Fresno State cross country team. The ‘Dogs had a relatively strong showing at the Western Athletic Conference Championships last season with the men’s team finishing in fourth place and the women’s team finished in fifth place out of the nine schools competing. With its performance in the championships, Fresno State advanced to the NCAA West Re gional where the men’s team finished in 19th place and the women’s team finished in 26th place. Now, with the 2011 season up and running, the cross country team has goals it wants to accomplish this season. Head coach Sean McManus is in his third season as head man
of the cross country program and is impressed with his returning roster, one runner in particular. “Eric [Battles] is one of my all-time favorites,” McManus said. “He’s nearly a 4.0 student. He’s been All-WAC on the track [team] and in cross country. So he’s one of those all around student-athletes that you really want on your team as a leader. He’s a senior now and he is kind of fulfilling that leadership role. If we had a team full of guys like that I would have a lot less gray hair probably. So we’re happy to have him and we’re going to miss him when he does graduate after this season.” Battles is one of the premier returning Bulldogs, men or women, along with junior Ann Poythress who have both made their presence felt so far this season. Battles finished second in the 6K race in the Nevada Chase Race, the first meet of the year held on Sept. 2. Poythress finished the
3-mile women’s race in third place. Battles’ performance helped the Fresno State men’s team finish second overall and the women’s team finish third overall. The Nevada Chase Race was the Bulldogs’ first meet of the season and they h ave s i n c e competed in the Hornet Jamboree, hosted by Sacramento State on Sept. 10. The ‘Dogs had a sucSean McManus cessful trip head coach up north as they finished within the top five for both the men’s and women’s teams. Although the veterans on the team have made a difference already, they aren’t the only Bulldog contributors McManus hopes will shoulder the load and help Fresno State make a run at a conference
championship. “Hopefully they contribute. It’s always a little bit of a wild card with freshmen making the jump,” McManus said. “On the men’s side for cross country, the distance compared to high school is a lot longer,” They run 5K races in high school and we run 8K for the majority of the season. So that takes a little bit of work. For the women, the courses are the same. The races are 5K for the majority of the season and then 6K at the end so it’s only a half-mile longer. It’s really a little bit easier transition for the women. So we’re excited about all of our freshmen.” Freshmen Chriss Grimble and Kevin Poythress, Ann’s younger brother, have finished in the top 10 in the Wa t e r m e l o n Ru n , w h i c h is open to the public. This wasn’t an official race for the 2011 season, but the freshmen showed there wouldn’t be a slow transition from running at the high school level to the
A lot has changed in 10 years for Fresno State football I
t all started almost 10 years ago. Fresno State w a s p l ay i n g We s t e r n Athletic Conference newcomer Boise State at Bulldog Stadium and the ‘Dogs were looking to prove to everybody they could be the first team outside the Bowl Championship Series automatic-qualifying conferences to break the mold and potentially compete for a national championship. Prior to this game, Fresno S t at e d i s m a n t l e d O re g o n State, 44-24 who was picked by Sports Illustrated as the topranked team going into the season, at Bulldog Stadium. The following week, the ‘Dogs traveled to Wisconsin to face the Badgers who won the Sun Bowl the year before. The Bulldogs pulled out the victory with the national audience’s attention on then-undefeated Fresno State. Coming into the Boise State game in week seven, Fresno State was the eighth-ranked team in the country, sitting pretty at 6-0. During the game, a then-record-tying 42,881 fans filled Bulldog Stadium to watch the ‘Dogs continue their march to what certainly looked like the promise land. All the ‘Dogs had to do was beat the little guys from Boise, Idaho who were in just their fifth season in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Despite the circumstances, Fresno State left the Bulldog faithful shocked at what they witnessed as Boise State pulled the road upset, 35-30. In one night Fresno State’s chances at playing in the
Jerry Huerta national championship game sank quicker than the Titanic, along with the opportunity to put Pat Hill’s program even higher on the national radar. That loss may have been more costly for Fresno State than anybody thought at the time. Since then, Boise State has propelled to one of the top programs in the country. It beat Oklahoma in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl and continually bullied Western Athletic Conference competition before jumping ship to the Mountain West Conference this season. Although Boise State competed in a BCS Bowl game, it wasn’t the first team from a non-BCS conference to do so. In 2005, with head coach Urban Meyer and quarterback Alex Smith, Utah played in the Fiesta Bowl and defeated Pittsburgh in dominating fashion, 35-7. Since then, Boise State, TCU and Hawaii, all current or post-WAC teams, have also moved into the national scene with appearances in BCS bowls. Fresno State couldn’t help but be the outsider looking in on all the fun – and money. The Bulldogs haven’t made a big splash on the national scene since that year Utah
owned the Fiesta Bowl. During that season, Fresno State started off 8-1 with wins against Hawaii and Boise State, who had beaten Fresno State the three previous years. Fresno State was the 16thranked team in the country going into its matchup with USC. The ‘Dogs battled the men of Troy and almost shocked them - and the nation - but again fell short, losing 50-42. It has been almost been six years since that game in Los Angeles and Fresno State hasn’t so much as sniffed the idea of a BCS bowl game. There are a couple of things head coach Pat Hill can do to get the program back to where it was a decade ago. One is scheduling. Fresno State has been known for the mantra “anybody, anytime, anywhere,” meaning it won’t back down from the nation’s premier competition. A looming factor is when Fresno State plays so many tough opponents in the same season, it becomes harder for it to be successful later in the season. A simple solution is to avoid scheduling perennial topnotch competition – or do so in reasonable proportions. F resno State has already started to schedule teams from the Football Championship Subdivision, but the problem is sometimes it backfires. An example of this is from this past weekend when North Dakota played the ‘Dogs harder than they expected, almost pulling off the upset before losing 27-22. Another solution is chang-
ing the coaching philosophy a little. In years past, Fresno State has been a run-first program, but since David Carr’s younger brother Derek has taken over as the starting quarterback, the ‘Dogs seem to carry a more prolific aerial assault. Carr has thrown over 90 passes in three games this season. An example of what could be to come was in the North Dakota game where Carr found sophomore wide receiver Jalen Saunders twice for deep touchdown catches. This is what Fresno State has needed to do for a while now, and it finally has a quarterback that can deliver the big throws. The final solution to Fresno State’s problem is to play with a killer instinct. If you watch how Boise State plays, it always has the killer instinct in clutch situations. This past Friday Boise State played Toledo. Toledo nearly upset Ohio State in the previous week and had a chance at home to upset Boise State. The game was close until halftime. Then Boise State did what it does and won the game, 40-15. Fresno State shouldn’t allow opponents to stick around because it gives them the confidence they need. Blame it on lack of talent or defunct recruiting classes, but since that day nearly a decade ago, Fresno State hasn’t broken the barriers. If the ‘Dogs try to reinforce some of these solutions, we could be seeing them in the national spotlight sooner rather than later.
collegiate level. Now, with the veterans and new additions proving themselves just two official races into the 2011 season, the only thing that the program has yet to accomplish is an annual cross country meet held locally. “Anytime that we can get people in the community to come out and support what we’re trying to do it’s a great thing,” McManus said. “Cross country is a big thing here in Fresno and Clovis because they host the state championship here for state of Califor nia in high school. Everyone in California and on the West Coast knows Woodward Park. We do want to take advantage of that get the community out supporting us. We are hosting the Mountain West Cross Country Championships in two years, so our second year in the Mountain West. So we’re trying to get big meets here.”
DOGS: Fresno State faces tough programs early CONTINUED from page 8 Calkins, horsemanship rider Lauren Crivelli and reiner Mercedes Antonini. Calkins is a Kansas State transfer riding for the Wildcats for one season. The California native was the captain of her high school equestrian team. Crivelli is a transfer from San Luis Obispo and has already qualified for the 2011 American Quarter Horse Yo u t h A s s o c i at i o n Wo rl d Show in horsemanship and other events. Antonini was the 2005 Year End Nor Cal Grand Champion for 17 and under youth. Co-head coach Stephanie Reeves, who coaches both the western reining unit and western horsemanship team can’t wait to see the entire squad in action. “I think we probably have the most depth we’ve ever had on the western side, which makes me very excited to see how they perform both here and on the road,” Reeves said. The team recently completed an intra-squad scrimmage with the Blue team winning 12-9 over Red team. Reeves gave her assessment of the Bulldogs’ first live-action competition. “I’m won’t say they surprised me because I expected them to perform and they did just that,” said Reeves.
The
Collegian
SPORTS PAGE 8
FRESNO STATE DE SUSPENDED FOR HALF Defensive end Tristan Okpalaugo was issued a first-half suspension in the Idaho game by Western Athletic Conference officials for his ejection from Saturday’s win over North Dakota. SPORTS EDITOR, JERRY HUERTA • COLLEGIAN-SPORTS@CSUFRESNO.EDU
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
Equestrian gets back to work
Tim Salazar / The Collegian
The Fresno State equestrian team opens the season as the 9th-ranked school in the country and will try to prove that national ranking in its first contest against South Carolina on Sept. 23.
‘Dogs head to the East Coast this weekend for first lineup of competitors team in the country in the preseason coaches poll after its third-place finish in last year’s Hunter Seat Bracket. Coming off a year that ended with The ‘Dogs won’t compete at home first-round losses to TCU in the in their first meet until Oct. 8 against Western Bracket and the University New Mexico State. The final home of Tennessee at Martin in the Hunter meet of the first half of the season will Seat Bracket at the Varsity Equestrian be against Stanford on Oct. 29. Co-head National Championships, the Fresno coach Julia Scrivani recognizes the State equestrian team has a chip on its daunting schedule her team faces, but shoulder this season. also sees how this season can be speThe squad fincial. ished last season “I’m really as the 10th-ranked excited for this team in the counupcoming season. e’ve got a strong team try. Fresno State We’ve got a strong and I hope they can is the 9th-ranked team and I hope show their strength.” team in this seat h e y c a n s h ow — Julia Scrivani, son’s preseason their strength,” coaches poll. S c r iva n i , wh o Co-head coach The Bulldogs p r i m a r y wo rk s now be gin their with the English march to get back squad, said. to the Varsity Equestrian National The team is broken up into two sepaChampionships this Friday when they rate divisions: English Hunter Seat travel cross country to South Carolina. and Western. The two squads compete Fresno State last competed against the in two different competitions with the Gamecocks in the 2010 Best in the West winning riders of each receiving a Tournament, edging the visitors 7-5. point for the entire team. Immediately following the trip to The Western riders compete in horseSouth Carolina, Fresno State will manship and reigning. The English travel north to Delaware to take on Hunter Seat team competes in equiDelaware State and Texas A&M on tation on the flats and equitation on Saturday. The Aggies are the topfences. The team captains are senior ranked team in the preseason coaches Sammie Jo Stone for horsemanship, poll and took first place in the Valley senior Shawna McClurg for reigning, Equestrian National Championships junior Lauren Carr for equitation on Western Bracket a season ago. In last flats and senior Holly Elsbernd for season’s matchup, the Aggies beat the equitation on fences. ‘Dogs 11-8. Joining the quartet of leaders are The East Coast road series will be some new additions to the stable with followed by the Willis Invitational at the ‘Dogs welcoming in 11 new ridthe end of the month, which consists ers for this season. Some of the notaof Miami of Ohio, Baylor and South ble additions are English rider Belle Dakota State in competition with Fresno State. Baylor is the fifth-ranked See DOGS, Page 7 By Tim Salazar The Collegian
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