THE COLLEGIAN FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2014
FRESNO STATE'S STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1922
COLLEGIAN.CSUFRESNO.EDU
Bullard High evacuated after bomb threat By Ricardo Cano @Ricardo_Cano1
Fresno police arrested two suspects in the graffiti tagging and bomb threat at Bullard High School on Thursday that led to the early evacuation of students and “copycat” threats on social media of a mass shooting. Aaron Nevarez, 18, and his 17-year-old brother, who was not named because he is a minor, were
arrested around noon at their home near the northwest Fresno school, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said. With help from the FBI, police located the brothers after combing through social media. Dyer said police were also seeking a third suspect. Bullard High principal Brian Beck received an email around 11 a.m. Thursday saying a bomb would detonate on campus. The email was from “The Merry Men,” the same signature left behind at
a string of recent graffiti attacks at the school and nearby churches. The brothers are suspected of these taggings and face felony charges of vandalism. Police and bomb-squad dogs searched the campus for explosive devices throughout the day and found nothing. Although investigators did not find the bomb threat credible because of the email’s lack of specific details,
See BULLARD, Page 3
Darlene Wendels • The Collegian
Authorities covered graffiti left by “The Merry Men” on a sign at Bullard High School on Thursday,
Pastor recounts Ferguson protests
A Russian summer: 14 students go abroad By Antonio Henriques @TheCollegian
By Ricardo Cano
Over the summer, 14 students traveled to Russia as part of an international study tour for an unforgettable glimpse into the country’s history, culture and nature. Professor Michelle DenBeste, chair of the history department, led the trip as the group visited numerous historical sites and landmarks. However, for DenBeste, it’s a familiar trip into the foreign land. “When I first made the trip in 1990, communism was falling apart, but by the next year things were a mess with the change in government,” DenBeste said. “Now I usually go once every couple years and things get consistently better. The streets are prettier. The economy is better, which is why I could finally start bringing students.” However, with recent developments in Ukraine, the planning and organization of the trip was problematic. “It was mayhem,” DenBeste said. “Three people ended up dropping out of the trip. I had to call friends in Russia to see if everything was fine. And everything was fine. We had no problems.” The transition from the U.S. to Russia was difficult, yet exciting for the students. Senior James Hernandez, a history major, said he was tentative at first, but eventually loved his time there. “It was a bit of a culture shock for most of us. It took a while getting used to,” Hernandez said. “But I ended up loving the place.” Upon arriving, one aspect of the trip DenBeste noted was Russia’s “overwhelmingly beautiful” infrastructure and terrain. “We had a run-on joke with all of us saying, ‘Oh look, more gold,’ because everything was covered in gold,” DenBeste said. While initially being greeted at
Eleven days after the Aug. 9 death of black teen Michael Brown, protesters marched down one of the streets near the Ferguson, Missouri, apartment complex where he was killed. It attracted immediate national media attention – live accounts of angry, sign-wielding citizens and riot gear-wearing police soon in the immediate aftermath of Brown’s death at the hands of white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. On Aug. 20, the 11th day of the protests was more subdued than previous days. Police agencies were in “wait-and-react” mode. Booker T. Lewis, a pastor at Fresno’s Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church, was there to witness it. Through People Improving Communities through Organizing (PICO), a national network of clergymen that called for members to come to a divided Ferguson to help maintain peaceful protesting, Lewis flew from Fresno to Ferguson to a church he’d never been to. There, he saw familiar faces – clergy friends from Philadelphia, New York and Sacramento who came for the same cause of keeping the night’s protests orderly. Lewis, talking to a peace and conflict studies class Thursday night, called Brown’s death an “execution.” “It’s still true that a person’s attitude toward another is often defined by skin color and racial definition,” Lewis said. “We develop a prejudged perception of a person, and we already have some idea about what we expect based on how they look.” Lewis was at the St. Mark Baptist Church, one of the headquarters for protesters, the second
See PERSPECTIVE, Page 6
@Ricardo_Cano1
Young redwoods located by the main fountain face threats due to the ongoing drought.
Darlene Wendels • The Collegian
Arboretum campus’ ‘living laboratory’
By Colby Tibbet @Robotmilk
As students walk between classes or head to Starbucks in the library, they are passing by a living, breathing museum every day that is preserved as part of the Fresno State Arboretum. The Arboretum, established
in 1978, is a collection of more than 100 different specimens with over 1,000 different species on campus. There are three guided tours throughout Fresno State called “Treewalks” – paths that showcase native and foreign trees that wrap around various areas on campus. “One of the advantages for the campus is that there are
over 2,000 trees on this campus,” said Mike Mosinski, the new grounds manager of the plant operations department. “For a student, for a community member studying about trees that may be non-native...where else can you see that?” The Arboretum contains a
See ARBORETUM, Page 3
See FERGUSON, Page 6