Issue 15 - Spring 2010

The S tate Hornet May 12, 2010

C alifornia S tate U niversity, S acramento

E st . 1949

O ne C opy F ree

Giving more to foster students

By Kristine Guerra kguerra@statehornet.com

Photos by Robert Linggi and Tony Nguyen State Hornet

Top: Vocal jazz director Kerry Marsh coaches students during rehearsal Friday in Capistrano Hall. Bottom, left to right: Senior music major Valerie Dickinson, genetics major Natalie Geeter, alumnus Tim Stephenson, jazz studies major Melissa Fulkerson, classical voice major Kalin Walling and jazz studies major Gaw Vang sing at the rehearsal.

Future uncertain for award-winning program

By Brittany Bottini and Lauren Greenwood news@statehornet.com

Sacramento State’s award-winning vocal jazz studies program has been spared from the chopping block. The program was expected to be cut at the end of this school year, but will continue for at least one more semester.

Though the program has won five Downbeat Magazine awards under the direction of Kerry Marsh and his wife Julia Dollison, the couple announced last fall that they would be leaving Sac State due to the uncertainty of their part-time positions at the university.

“My wife and I are not full-time teachers, so we don’t have the guarantee of a job from year to year,” Marsh said. “We already know that we will face pay cuts next year because we will be teaching fewer units. We thought we were on the verge of being cut, so we wanted to leave.”

When the couple announced they would be leaving the university, the department of music chair Ernie Hills and his budget

Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson and Sacramento State President Alexander Gonzalez signed a memorandum of understanding that will broaden services to emancipated foster youths.

According to the agreement signed Friday, Sac State will partner with the county to provide more services, such as housing, emergency funds, academic support, case management, internship opportunities, scholarships and counseling, to emancipated foster youths residing in Sacramento.

The county and the university will establish more organized lines of communication, so foster youths who have aged out of foster care can be properly referred to the university, Dickinson said.

“It’s an opportunity to make college a possibility for them,” said Joy Salvetti, director of Sac State’s Guardian Scholars, a program for former foster youths. “In dire budget times, it makes sense to leverage our resources.”

The county and the university will also seek joint-funding opportunities to increase services to former foster youths.

Dickinson said the county will provide state and federal funds to help the university with the costs of providing foster youth services.

Dickinson said the county spends more than $80 million a year to support foster children.

This year, 348 children aged

committee thought it would be best to cut the vocal jazz program entirely.

“There are few people doing what (Marsh) is doing, and are at his level of skill. He is relatively irreplaceable,” Hills said. “Rather than offer a mediocre program, we thought it would be better to let it go.”

For students like sophomore vocal jazz studies major Allison Yassee, cutting the program would mean drastically altering their graduation plans.

“As a sophomore vocal jazz major, I couldn’t finish my degree,” Yassee said. “I would probably look at transferring to another school or moving back home to finish my general education.”

Months after their announcement, Marsh said he and his wife were feeling more optimistic about their positions, and decided to continue teaching the program for the fall 2010 semester.

“When we let our students know about our leaving, it was a very see Program| page A3

out of foster care, and only 149 completed high school or its equivalent.

Dickinson said the memorandum of understanding aims to change these statistics.

Gonzalez said once foster youths age out of foster care, they either work or end up in worse situations.

“That’s really an important crossroad. We’ll provide an opportunity for them to attend Sac State,” Gonzalez said. “They could be doing something else.”

Freshman kinesiology major and former foster youth Brittany Chamalbide said the agreement will immensely help people like her.

“It will give us the chance to really receive the help we didn’t receive when we were younger,” Chamalbide said. “When we were younger, we didn’t have people to support us.”

Chamalbide is one of 52 students in the Guardian Scholars program. Salvetti said Guardian Scholars has already identified 100 Sac State students who can potentially be in the program.

The program, which started in 2006, provides financial and emotional counseling, academic assistance, scholarships, food allowance and job opportunities to emancipated foster youths admitted to Sac State.

Freshman business major Mark Hamlet said the Guardian Scholars is his “home away from home.”

“When you want an advice, you seek out to someone who comes out to help you, and that’s what Joy (Salvetti) is to me,” he said.

Robert Linggi State Hornet

Roger Dickinson (left) and Alexander Gonzalez sign an agreement to expand services to former foster youths.

Next ASI president outlines Graduating senior serves as plans for students, campus a model for fellow Latinos

By Kalie Barnes-Young kbarnesyoung@statehornet.

Improving campus life is one of Terry Martin’s top priorities when he takes office this fall as president of Associated Students Inc. “It’s very difficult to choose just one top priority,” said Martin, who earned 43 percent of the vote over his opponents in the 2010 ASI elections. “One of the ways that we can improve campus life is to build our community through organizational housing.”

In order to provide on-campus housing for organizations, such as Sac State’s sororities and fraternities, the current

ordinance established in 1993 by the City of Sacramento would have to be overturned. Another option would be for the university to be granted a special permit to allow organizational housing.

Martin also plans to change Sac State’s reputation from that of a commuter campus to a destination campus. One way to do this is to increase resources and funds to clubs and organizations, he said. see ASI|page A4

By Cahil Bhanji cbhanji@statehornet.com

Tina Horton State Hornet

Terry Martin will start June as ASI president for the 2010-11 term.

There will be ceremonial recognition for Sacramento State Chicano and Latino graduates on Sunday in the University Union Ballroom.

The event will be especially meaningful to economics and Spanish double-major Nancy Preciado and her family.

Bilingual and multicultural education professor Margarita Berta-Avila said Preciado’s graduation does not only symbolize her success, but also that of her family and others.

“She represents the perseverance and determination to

obtain a degree. Her graduation counters racist/discriminatory stereotypes and, most importantly,” Berta-Avila said in an e-mail to The State Hornet.

“Nancy’s graduation symbolizes the sacrifices, struggles, joys and efforts of her family and herself to obtain one’s goals not only for themselves but for all because one’s accomplishment is all of our accomplishment.”

Preciado, the youngest of eight children, immigrated to America with her family when she was 10 years old. Being the youngest in a family of farmworkers motivated her to excel academically, she said.

“In Mexico, my time was divided between school and farm

work. It was then that I understood that my hands were useful but my head was far more productive,” Preciado said.

In less than two weeks, she will be the first in her family to graduate from college.

“It’s like winning the lottery in my house. For farmworkers, education is a luxury and my older siblings couldn’t afford such a luxury,” Preciado said.

“For many of them college was not a choice, and that always motivated me to excel academically.”

She said she chose economics as a major because she believed if she has knowledge of see Latino| page A4

INSIDE THE STATE HORNET PURCHASE AWARD SHOW

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION COMIC

‘BARBERSHOP’

MOIRA ROBINSON

Why did some students get paid big bucks by the University Union?

Robocop is having a hard time enforcing Arizona’s latest anti-illegal immigration law.

Find out which all-male a capella group is performing on Saturday.

How has a redshirt season helped this athlete?

News | A6

Opinion | A5

Features | B1

Sports | B4

OPEN HOUSE-OPEN CLIMB

More than 200 people went to great heights to raise money for foster youth to stay in college.

Online News statehornet.com

The State Hornet Issue 15 | Volume 62 | No. 29

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Wednesday - May 12

News Section

NEWS ROUNDUP Sac State’s weekly news briefs and campus events Yosemite camping trip planned

To kick off summer vacation, Peak Adventures will be taking students camping from May 22 to 24 in Yosemite Valley.

The trip offers endless opportunities for hiking and sightseeing of the park’s many landmarks, including waterfalls, giant Sequoia groves and Curry Village. Costs for the trip include guides, transportation, equipment, entry fees and all meals.

To participate in the trip, students must register before May 19.

For more information, contact Peak Adventures at peakinfo@csus.edu or (916) 278-6321.

Spring 2010 Commencement next week

Sacramento State’s Spring 2010 Commencement will be held next week at Arco Arena.

May 21: College of Arts and Letters, noon College of Business Administration, 3 p.m.

College of Education, 6 p.m.

May 22: College of Health and Human Services, 8:30 a.m.

College of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies, 11:30 a.m.

College of Engineering and Computer Science, 1:30 p.m.

College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, 5:30 p.m.

The arena doors open and candidates assemble one hour before each scheduled graduation time.

For more information, visit www.csus.edu/ commence/Spring2010commence.

Torres addresses unfinished business at board meeting

Associated Students Inc. President Roberto Torres will be addressing unfinished business at a special board meeting at 2 p.m today in the University Union Folsom Room.

The meeting will be addressing issues, including a resolution in support of Greek housing and a resolution in support of the Latino Alumni Association Mentoring Program.

For more information, contact Rita Tyk at tyk@csus.edu or (916) 278-6784.

Choirs to present ‘A Choral Celebration’

Sacramento State’s choral director Don Kendrick will present “A Choral Celebration” at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Sacred Heart Church.

The university’s chamber and concert choirs and the university chorus will celebrate the choral traditions of America, Canada, Russia and Latin America.

Tickets are $10 for general admission or $5 for students and seniors. Purchasing tickets in advanced is strongly recommended.

To purchase tickets, contact the ticket office at (916) 278-4323 or www.tickets.com.

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The State Hornet | Staff Editor in Chief Todd Wilson

(916) 278-6584

editor@statehornet.com Print Managing Editor Leidhra Johnson (916) 278-7300

ljohnson@statehornet.com Online Managing Editor Adalto Nascimento (916) 278-5590

online@statehornet.com News Editor

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news@statehornet.com Assistant News Editor Brittany Bottini (916) 278-7248

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Sports Editor Dustin Nosler

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In the article, “Rowing wins varsity eight race for first time since ‘06,” University of San Diego won the Division I overall section. The novice eight finished with a time of 7:23.2.

The Hornets finished fourth behind Gonzaga, which won the novice eight grand final.

The State Hornet apologizes for these errors. Please contact Leidhra Johnson, print managing editor, for corrections at (916) 278-7300 or ljohnson@statehornet.com

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awertman@statehornet.com

Benjamin R. Schilter

opinion@statehornet.com

Correction

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David Loret De Mola

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Katrina Tupper

features@statehornet.com The first copy of this newspaper is free. Additional copies cost $1. All views expressed herein are the responsibility of The State Hornet and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sacramento State Journalism Program, the Communication Studies Department, administration, student body or ASI unless otherwise noted. The State Hornet is copyrighted, and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the express permission of The State Hornet.

Signed articles, letters and artwork express the opinions of the authors and illustrators. Unsigned articles are the responsibility of The State Hornet. The State Hornet reserves the right to reject or edit all submissions.

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Further, The State Hornet shall not be liable for any omission on an advertisement ordered to be published. By written request, The State Hornet will reschedule and run the advertisement at the advertiser’s cost. In no case shall The State Hornet be liable for any general, special or consequential damages. Claims for adjustments of any error must be made no later than three days after publication date upon which said error occurred.

Wednesday - May 12

News Section

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Professors express concerns about student evaluations

By Timothy Sandoval tsandovals@statehornet.com Some professors at Sacramento State and across the country have expressed anxiety over student evaluations, which can weigh heavily on a professor’s chances of promotion or tenure.

Evaluations at Sac State were conducted last week, though some professors waited until this week to hand them out.

Louisiana State accounting professor Larry Crumbley, who has co-edited a book titled “Measure Learning Rather than Satisfaction in Higher Education,” said student evaluations have “destroyed our education.”

“They should be outlawed for performance purposes, for tenure purposes and for purposes of promotion,” Crumbley said.

Crumbley said professors often inflate grades and reduce coursework to receive good

evaluations.

“It’s an internal control feature that the higher administration are using in order to force professors to give higher and higher grades, because the higher administration only wants student retention,” Crumbley said.

Nick Burnett, department chair of Sac State’s communication studies department, said he thought Crumbley’s view was an overreaction.

“I think that there is plenty of evidence to suggest that student evaluations are effective ways to evaluate, but they shouldn’t be the only way to evaluate,” Burnett said.

The communication studies department has a three-pronged approach to evaluating professors. One is asking students open-ended questions to receive qualitative answers. The other is using a five-point rating system

“They (student evaluations) should be outlawed for performance purposes, for tenure purposes and for purposes of promotion.”

- Larry Crumbley accounting professor, Louisiana State University to measure student satisfaction with professors’ performance.

The third one is sending faculty members to classes to evaluate other professors.

“Every set of data you look at to measure teacher effectiveness has its flaws. But when you do this, you can kind of triangulate with three different kinds of data,” Burnett said. “Obviously, then, you can look for areas of agreement and areas of disagreement, and it gives you a more rounded picture.”

Universities vary in how they evaluate professors.

Crumbley said in his years at

Louisiana State, he rarely saw professors evaluate other professors.

“We have a dysfunctional system that the administrators like because they are too lazy to go into classrooms and see who are the better teachers,” he said.

“Likewise, they don’t want to go into the classroom because they would have to say ‘Crumbley is a bad teacher; this is how he has to improve.’”

Crumbley said it made no sense for students to evaluate professors because of the inherent bias it creates.

At Sac State, evaluations differ

from department to department.

In the government and communication studies departments, students are asked about their expected final grades to see if biases exist for those who have lower grades. Some departments, like the division of social work, only use a quantitative method to measure professors’ performances.

Robert Humphrey, communication studies professor, said that using only quantitative measurements was a problem.

“You can have one disgruntled student who just goes down the line giving ones,” Humphrey said. “I had one last semester.”

He said he knew of cases where professors inflated students’ grades for better evaluations.

Humphrey said he views evaluations as both good and

bad. When he was a student at UC Davis, student evaluations were not conducted. He said he would have liked to evaluate some of his professors.

“There were clearly people who were terrible teachers, who didn’t do their jobs or follow the catalog,” Humphrey said.

“I would have liked to have the opportunity to express my feelings.”

Humphrey said untenured professors were more likely to be nervous about evaluations, because bad evaluations could hurt their chances of being granted tenure.

Several untenured professors who were contacted for an interview declined to comment.

“I think you are always a little nervous,” Humphrey said. “But in general, I am in favor of evaluations. I like getting a little feedback.”

Fundraiser to help Haitians Program: Music deparment to reduce vocal jazz classes

By Timothy Sandoval tsandoval@statehornet.com

An assorted group of poets, musicians and aid workers will hold a fundraiser to raise money for medical supplies in response to the crisis in Haiti.

The event will feature poetry readings from Sacramento poets laureate Bob Stanley and Sac State English professor emeritus Dennis Schmitz. There will also be a live performance from former Sac State student Pat Grizzell’s blues band.

The money raised will go to “Partners in Health,” a medical organization that has served in Haiti for more than 20 years.

“We wanted to raise money for a large enough organization that people would be comfortable and motivated to donate to,” said Loretta Schmitz, organizer of the event and wife of Dennis Schmitz. “(Haiti) is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The children drink sewage and can’t even get clean water. Haiti has just never had

anything, and that’s really the tragedy of the earthquake.”

The event organizers suggested a donation of $25 for those looking to attend, but said any donation will be welcome.

Dennis Schmitz said he and Stanley will read poems that reflect their own response to the situation in Haiti.

“It seemed like a positive way to talk about continuing life. The people in Haiti right now had their lives so torn apart,” Dennis Schmitz said.

Larry Castagnola, a former aid worker in Haiti, will speak about his experiences working with Haitian schoolchildren in the 1990s, and about the history of Haiti since colonial times. Castagnola runs a nonprofit agency that raises funds for Haitian schoolchildren.

“It will be hard to even begin to describe what the poor people over there suffer,” Castagnola said.

Loretta Schmitz said presenting Haiti’s history will reveal

the extent to which the United States has influenced the current state of Haiti. She pointed at America’s support of dictator Francois Duvalier and its support of the coup against Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first democratically-elected president of Haiti.

“The situation has been created by the industrialized nations,” she said. “They took raw materials out of Haiti, but would not trade with a country that was run by blacks.”

Loretta Schmitz said she hoped that students and professors would come and donate for the cause.

“It will help us all have more awareness of this situation in Haiti, and hopefully more motivation to keep working,” she said.

Fundraiser for Haiti When: 7 p.m., Saturday Where: Newman Center, 5900 Newman Ct., Sacramento, CA 95819

Continued | page A1 sad thing. At the time, it was unexpected and we felt awful for doing it,” Marsh said. “There were tears, but the students understood our situation. Our decision to stay at Sac State has given all of us a big relief.”

Although the program will continue for at least one more semester, it will be much smaller. The department will be cutting classes in the program and will no longer allow students to become vocal jazz majors.

Such changes to the program have caused problems for many students, like freshman vocal jazz major Grace Duncan.

Duncan said she realized how little she knew about jazz when she first started with one of Sac State’s two vocal jazz ensembles.

However, her education and growth in vocal jazz was cut short.

“After I learned that the vocal jazz studies program would be cut, I disenrolled from the program and made plans to

move back home to San Jose to go to a community college and finish my general education,” Duncan said.

When she learned that the program will be continuing, Duncan said it was too late for her to reapply for the program.

Courtney Anderson, junior vocal jazz studies major, said she is relieved that the program will continue, but is disturbed by some of the cuts being made.

“Many of the classes in the vocal jazz major are not being offered,” Anderson said. “We are missing out on a solid education and not getting much from the program.”

Anderson said she is particularly upset that Marsh’s vocal jazz and big band arranging classes will not be offered anymore because they are a key part of the major and alternative classes are not adequate substitutes.

“Not having access to those classes is like not teaching a nursing major how to put an IV in properly,” Anderson said.

Anthony Tavianini, sophomore music education major, said the downsizing of the vocal jazz major will cause complications because of scheduling.

“The current groups we have now are big enough to provide a vocal jazz experience to a variety of people, but with the cuts, fewer people will be able to join and won’t be able to see if vocal jazz is their passion,” Tavianini said.

Marsh said that although the trials faced by the department have created a roller coaster of emotions and conflicts for everyone, one good thing came out of the experience.

“This may be the best year ever because of all the dedication from the students, thinking that this year was their last chance to be in a Sac State vocal ensemble,” Marsh said.

“Because we thought we’d have to cut the vocal jazz program, it reminded all of us to enjoy every minute of what we’re doing because it can go away at any time.”

Tony Nguyen State Hornet

Vocal jazz director Kerry Marsh said he and his students are relieved that the program will not be completely cut. The Vocal Jazz ensembles will have a concert at 8 p.m.

Friday in the Music Recital Hall located in Capistrano Hall.

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Wednesday - May 12

News Section

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ASI: Martin stays optimistic Latino: Ceremony to honor despite cuts and fee hikes students and their families Continued | page A1 “We have some amazing organizations here on campus,” Martin said. “I want ASI to be able to step up and work alongside these groups so that we can really build a unified community that students want to be a part of.”

Current ASI president Roberto Torres said Martin’s experience with ASI made him a qualified candidate for the job.

Martin started as an ASI volunteer in his freshman year.

The next year, he served on the finance and budget committees before moving up to vice president of finance the following year.

“It’s good to leave the office to someone who knows the position and what that entails,” Torres said. “Ideologically, we come from different backgrounds and positions, but I’m optimistic

about Terry. He’s in a good position to continue to make ASI a better organization.”

Martin also credits his election win to his outlined goals for the upcoming year.

“I’ve learned that every goal you set has to be smart. I came into the VP of Finance office with a long list of goals and I accomplished every single one of them,” Martin said. “I want to be able to do that as president by having goals that are smart, strategic and time-sensitive.”

One time-sensitive goal is to work with the administration to make sure that students get the classes they need to graduate.

The Office of the University Registrar announced April 12 that a 14-unit enrollment cap would be in place during the first period of registration. The announcement has faced a lot of criticism from students and faculty alike, causing the

Tina Horton State Hornet

As ASI president, one of Terry Martin’s plans is to increase funding for clubs and organizations on campus.

administration to defend its decision in recent weeks.

“The glaring problem is that students can’t take five classes and take the full load they need in order to graduate on time,” Martin said. “I plan on working with the administration closely in order to ensure that students get that fifth class, or more.”

Along with the unit cap, Martin said the increasing budget cuts and rising student fees have affected students’ quality of education.

“The fee increases are functioning to price students out of higher education and I think that’s ridiculous,” Martin said.

In order to encourage more communication between the students and administration, Martin said he plans to set up open forums where students can publicly voice their concerns without third-party moderators.

Martin also plans to increase ASI’s visibility.

“We’ve made good strides this year with more students becoming aware of what ASI is,” Torres said. “Terry is in a good place right now to take the progress that we’ve made so far and increase that awareness.”

Martin said he plans to establish outreach programs and meet-and-greet sessions where students can learn more about ASI and its members. By doing this, Martin said, he believes it will help give ASI a more public face and possibly increase voter turnout during elections.

“One of the main things is to make sure students know who their representatives are,” Martin said.

Despite budget cuts and fee increases, Martin said he remains optimistic for the upcoming school year.

“I’m looking forward to a really exciting year,” Martin said. “We’re going to see some creative advances in ASI this coming year that I think Sac State can be proud of.”

Continued | page A1 economic policies, she can help change these policies to benefit migrant and guest farmworkers.

Guest farmworkers are people who come to America from Mexico to work the jobs no one else wants to work, like in the tobacco fields, Preciado said.

These guest workers often have poor living conditions that aren’t much better than where they came from, she said.

Preciado became a College Assistance Migrant Program intern and a McNair scholar during her more than four years at Sac State.While interning for the 10-week program in summer 2005, Preciado went to North Carolina to work with guest farmworkers.

“They’re living in shacks and they don’t have any drinkable water. They have bad living conditions, and we try to work with them to improve those conditions,” Preciado said. “It’s a different type of experience when you see guest workers with those conditions and they come from Mexico and have those same conditions here.”

As a McNair scholar, Preciado made research proposals and conducted studies focusing on the economic conditions of small farm workers in Mexico.

She studied the effects of Procampo, a program that supports the agriculture of small farmers.

“It’s a program in Mexico that gives money to farmers as a way to alleviate the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement,” Preciado said. “I looked into where the money

was going, whether it was actually reaching small farmers in the Mexico.”

In her research, she found that rural farmers were not receiving the money from the program as much as the farmers closer to urban areas in Mexico.

Preciado’s friend and senior business major Claudia Rodriguez said her accomplishments tell younger generations of Chicano and Latino students that they can also graduate.

“I think she’s an inspiration, considering the graduation rates of Latino people of color; they are relatively low,” Rodriguez said. “We are on the other side of the statistic.”

Berta-Avila said Preciado is the kind of student who goes beyond her expectations.

“She is an individual who goes above and beyond, will follow through with all responsibilities and at the same time figure out how to help others in the process,” she said.

Preciado is also a member of the Chicano Latino Recognition Ceremony Committee and helped plan the event for several months.

The recognition ceremony will be conducted in Spanish, so the graduates’ parents, who don’t speak English, can feel involved in their children’s graduation, said Preciado’s friend and senior business major Isabel Ibarra.

“As a Latina, our culture tends to include family into any celebration we have. That’s key so we also have to make it work for them,” Ibarra said. “One thing that makes our environ-

Robert Linggi State Hornet

Nancy Preciado will be the first in her family to graduate from college.

ment work is language. We have to have a ceremony where they feel comfortable and feel involved.”

Preciado said her success would not have been possible if not for the resources she found at Sac State.

“I was able to find resources like the College Assistance Migrant Program (and) the Educational Opportunity Program,” she said. “If it wasn’t for those programs, my family and I probably wouldn’t have made it.”

In the fall, Preciado will attend the University of Texas in Austin to pursue her master’s degree.

“Knowing Nancy’s character, she will continue on with her education with the purpose of giving back to her community,” Berta-Avila said.

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Wednesday - May 12

News Section

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Students win cash prizes, gain recognition for artwork

By Lauren Greenwood and Kalie Barnes-Young news@statehornet.com The University Union added two more pieces of student art to its collection through its annual Student Purchase Award Show held Thursday in the University

Union Gallery.

Junior art major Mario Sotelo and senior studio art major Victoria Keating won the two Student Purchase awards.

“The goal of the Student Purchase Award Show is to connect the administration and the Union with the students,” said Tiffany Dreyer, gallery coordi-

Junior art major Mario Sotelo’s biology classes inspired him to create the winning piece in the Student Purchase Award Show.

Sotelo received one of the two Student Purchase awards for his oil on canvas piece, “Hope and Water.”

“I am minoring in biology and I think that’s where I get a lot of my inspiration from,” Sotelo said.

“Hope and Water” was the main piece of Sotelo’s series of work focusing on birds. He said he had a hard time deciding if he will put it up for sale.

The theme for many of his pieces is to raise awareness of the environment. Sotelo said he is particularly passionate about stopping deforestation, global warming and pollution and improving the natural habitats of animals.

Sotelo studied pictures of pelicans to understand the correct coloring of the birds, and examined pelican skeletons to ensure he had the right proportions and structure.

“I want to capture the scene so people see the reallife beauty of nature and animals so that my message has an impact,” Sotelo said.

Ricky Afuang State Hornet

Artwork by Victoria Keating

nator. “Then after we announce the awards, the winners of the Purchase Award get to have their pieces permanently on display in the Union.”

The Union buys the pieces at the winners’ selling price or at a negotiated price.

Three Best of Show awards were also given. Senior photog-

Ricky Afuang State Hornet

“Hope and Water”

by Mario Sotelo

For senior studio art major Victoria Keating, the inspiration for her winning piece was lifted from her own life experiences.

“It’s personal, physical and mental pain, which were all things that I was going through in my life,” Keating said Keating’s three-dimensional piece has strategically placed nails over various body parts, representing pain. Keating said the artwork took 12 to 15 hours to create.

“I had no idea what the end conclusion was going to turn out like,” she said. “I go through my own process with everything I do and it sometimes varies. But obviously, I guess it worked out great.”

Keating said she’s thrilled that the judges chose her artwork for the Student Purchase Award.

“I started jumping up and down when I got the call that I won,” Keating said.

raphy major Melody Wermund, senior fine arts major Brian Wermund and Alina Ozeruga won cash prizes for the award.

A total of 22 artworks made in different mediums were submitted for both categories.

The only requirement was for the pieces to be framed, intact and finished.

“Generally, for each show I put on, there’s a theme that the artists have to consider. But with this show, there’s no theme,” Dreyer said. “That’s the beauty of the show.”

The Student Purchase Award winners were selected based on artistic quality, adaptability in the Union’s permanent collec-

The inspiration for senior photography major Melody Wermund’s Best of Show piece came from her fascination with the biological cycle of metamorphosis.

Her piece was part of a series of photographs highlighting the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly.

“The inspiration for this series comes from the transformation itself and the beauty of the process,” Wermund said. “I always found it interesting how these caterpillars can transform themselves into something very different than how they began.”

Wermund said she was unable to contain her surprise upon learning that she had won a Best of Show award.

“It was really a last-minute decision I made to apply,” Wermund said. “I saw the fliers and I thought I’d try it out.”

Looking beyond her win, Wermund said she wants to find a way to incorporate her love of photography into a career. She considers the award a step in that direction.

“070410” Ricky Afuang State Hornet

by Brian Wermund

tion and price of the piece. Best of Show Award winners were selected based on artistic quality.

“It was really difficult to choose this year because the quality was a lot higher than what we’ve had in the past,” Dreyer said. “The high quality of work from the students made for a great show.”

Ricky Afuang State Hornet

“Be Careful Butterfly”

by Melody Wermund

Senior fine arts major Brian Wermund said his winning artwork started out as an experiment.

“I would call it a collaborative work with a former student,” Wermund said. “We just played around with different markers and techniques until it produced a result that we were pleased with.”

Wermund spent a couple of days on the piece, working for about an hour at a time until it was finished.

Like fellow Best of Show winner and his wife Melody Wermund, he said he decided to submit his artwork after seeing the fliers for the show.

“I try to take advantage of everything going on at Sac State and this was something I felt compelled to do,” said Wermund.

Wermund’s winning piece belongs to a series of graffti-inspired work that had been previously featured in the Witt Gallery located in Kadema Hall.

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| S p r i n g I s s u e 15 | S a c r a m e n t o S t a t e

EDITORIAL

Summer fixes for school year blues To say this year at Sacramento State has been stressful would be an understatement.

Three years of budget cuts to the California State University system have left students disheartened. This year we saw the harshest consequences of the cuts to date: Student fees rose yet again while courses were cut, programs cancelled, professors were furloughed and many part-time faculty members were dismissed.

The often tense “Alliance for the CSU” seems to have finally broken down and students, faculty and the administration are once again at each other’s throats.

Given the state’s inability to pull itself out of the current economic crisis, next year doesn’t seem like it will be any less stressful.

In light of this, The State Hornet believes students need to use the summer to take advantage of their break and de-stress.

We have come up with a list of five things students can do to help make sure they come back next fall refreshed and ready for battle.

1. Take some time to smell the roses.

Just like a computer, people’s brains need to be shut down every once in a while to function properly.

We suggest devoting an

entire week this summer to doing absolutely nothing productive. You can go for a walk in the park and literally smell the roses; go to the beach and watch the tide roll in and out; watch DVDs of all the movies you wanted to see this semester but couldn’t, or even just sit around stare at the wall and vegetate.

2. Read books for yourself rather than your professors.

Take your head out of those musty old academic tomes and learn to read for fun again. Devote a couple of hours each week to sitting under a tree and reading. It doesn’t have to be an intel-

lectual pursuit - you can pick your favorite trashy novelist and read just for the entertainment value.

3. Find a hobby or take a class that may not be offered at Sac State.

Go to your local community center and find out what classes are offered. Not only is this an easy way to find a hobby, but these classes are often cheap, if not free.

Maybe you can learn how to play the clarinet or make truffles. Learning can be fun and affordable.

4. Volunteer your free time to benefit yourself and your community.

Find something you care about and volunteer your

time to help that cause.

Serve food at a homeless shelter; pick up trash; volunteer at a zoo. There are plenty of options and opportunities for you to feel good about yourself while helping others.

5. Become politically active.

If you just can’t seem to get your mind off the sad state of the CSU system and California as a whole, take your free time to become involved in the political process. You can spend your summer volunteering for the campaign of a candidate that has vowed to protect higher education. You can contact the California Faculty As-

sociation or the California State Student Association and work on behalf of their lobbying efforts. You can even work for your favorite political party getting others to register to vote. If the situation is really eating at you, find some way to be a part of the solution.

This list is hardly exhaustive and are just a few ideas we came up with to relieve stress this summer. Above all else, make sure to take some time for yourself.

Our ultimate hope is that you come back next fall rejuvenated and ready to devote yourself to getting the most out of this university.

STATE HORNET OPINION ONLINE What are you really doing with your life?

If you’re going to college just to get a job, wake up.

Matt Erickson says start caring about what you learn, at statehornet.com.

Just be thankful it’s not your colon

Marcy Hendricks State Hornet

The CSU system might have to declare impaction.

Paul Roundtree says that this is an unfortunate side effect of our hard times, at statehornet.com.

Guest Column: Keeping the Promise of California’s Master Plan for Higher Education Fifty years ago, visionary leaders created California’s Master Plan for Higher Education. For decades, the Master Plan provided millions of Californians with opportunities to pursue their academic ambitions and improve their vocational skills.

A well-trained and educated workforce entered the private sector and enhanced California’s reputation as a state on the cutting edge of the future, creating new and exciting industries, powering our economic growth and engaging in trailblazing research.

Now, however, our higher education system is reeling. The visionaries are gone

and our community colleges and public universities are bruised by cuts, furloughs and ever-increasing fee hikes that threaten affordability and access for students across California.

Stories about this decline can be found on campus after campus. A UC San Diego professor worries about students’ inability to get into the classes they need for graduation. Sacramento State officials consider turning away qualified students because more people want to enroll than the university has funding to handle.

A CSU student concludes the system is creating a generation of student debtors.

A report this month by the Public Policy Institute of California finds that the state is confronting two main crises in higher education: budget cutbacks and an education skills gap. By 2025, the state will have a shortage of 1 million college educated workers relative to demand unless we substantially increase rates of college enrollment and graduation.

Yet with all this daunting news, we spend more on prisons than we do on all three higher education systems combined - a black mark on the Golden State.

There’s a better way. Tens of thousands of Californians

have marched on college campuses and city streets to save higher education. My bill, Assembly Bill 656 - the Fair Share for Fair Tuition bill will generate almost $2 billion a year for our community colleges and public universities.

It would levy a 12.5 percent extraction fee on oil companies. California is currently the only major oil producing state that does not impose an extraction fee on oil companies. Even former governors Sarah Palin of Alaska and George W. Bush of Texas both levied oil fees and used them to help fund higher education in their states. Now is the time for California to join the

rest of the nation.

Big Oil has experienced record profits in recent years.

For example, Exxon-Mobil earned a $45.2 billion profit just two years ago, the most ever by a publicly traded U.S. company. AB 656 will redirect a small portion of that huge profit to the place California needs it most to secure a prosperous future - higher education.

Join the movement to support higher education in California and recommit our great state to investing in the Master Plan for Higher Education. To date, more than 75,000 supporters have signed cards and more than 12,000

people have registered their support for AB 656 by joining Facebook.com/FairTuition.

Join us on Facebook.com/ FairTuition today to help California keep the promise of the Master Plan for Higher Education. ▶◀ ▶◀ ▶◀ Alberto Torrico is the Chair of the Select Committee on Prison Reform and Rehabilitation as well as candidate for California Attorney General.

For additional information, visit: www.albertotorrico.com.

America needs more immigration reform

By Julia Baum jbaum@statehornet.com Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer recently raised the ire of a lot of people when she signed Senate Bill 1070 into law. Because of this bill, people will be required to show proof of citizenship if there is reasonable suspicion that they are in the country illegally.

California state Senate leader Darrell Steinberg is even pushing for California to protest by ending its state contracts with Arizona.

Difficult as it may be, this en-

tire situation highlights the fact that something comprehensive needs to be done about illegal immigration in our country.

Let’s make one thing clear: this issue isn’t about racism. It’s about people who cut in line to get into this country and demand government handouts.

I’m sorry if you fail to see the distinction between the two, but I can’t help you with that.

Rewarding sneaking over the border is a slap in the face to those who saved their hardearned money to move here legally and waited to apply for citizenship.

Fortunately, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sees the need for immigration reform and is ignoring Steinberg’s rally cries.

“We showed our displeasure and we made it very clear that this is not something that we will do here in California,” Schwarzenegger said at a news conference this week. “I also made sure that we challenge the federal government and let them

know that they have to act.”

Schwarzenegger is against Arizona’s SB 1070 but still supports immigration reform, indicating he recognizes the inherent flaws of the bill but does not agree that the government “must” do anything for people who illegally enter this country.

“He recognizes the contributions that the immigrant community makes in California,” said Schwarzenegger spokesman Francisco Castillo. “That’s why he’s reiterating the need for comprehensive immigration reform in the United States.”

Some people have the mistaken idea that it is their right to be given housing, food stamps and other government benefits without being an actual citizen or contributing to Social Security, Medicaid or any other number of social welfare programs.

If someone is a legal worker and paying taxes, that person is contributing to the American economy and should be entitled to all of the same rights

and benefits as any other legal citizen.

Someone who sneaked over the American border to get an under-the-table job and doesn’t pay into the system is not contributing. These people allow companies to undercut legal wage laws. Would you accept a stranger breaking into your house and demanding that you feed and house them without payment? How is this any different?

I’m expecting someone to write me and say that we should give amnesty to everyone who came over illegally to work because illegal immigrants are the only people willing to pick crops and wash dishes.

My response to that argument is this: Maybe the many jobless legal citizens in this country would be willing to do those tasks if they were actually paid legal wages.

And really, in this economy, I doubt illegal immigrants are the only group of people willing to

do those jobs. It’s time for us to put that poor argument to rest.

It’s just very difficult to raise wages when others are constantly willing to come in and undercut. Americans seem to be changing their ways a lot in this economy and are more humble all around.

Produce and restaurant prices possibly going up is not a valid

reason to condone the exploitation of underpaid workers.

Doing so only contributes to employers committing tax evasion and other offenses.

America faces the huge liability of taking on illegal immigrants.

We must confront this political correctness gone awry and say “no more.”

McClatchy Tribune

Protesters from a Mar. 26, 2006, event in Forth Worth, Texas, demand reform to immigration laws.

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Seniors showcase choreography

By Miriam Arghandiwal arghandiwal@statehornet.com

From the soothing sounds of rain to the rough sounds of rock music, senior dance majors showcased their talent Friday night in a Senior Dance Concert at Sacramento State.

The concert was choreographed entirely by students and was an opportunity for senior dance majors to produce their own show. Each senior was given a chance to create his or her own themed dance routine, resulting in 13 dance routines for the night.

“The students were responsible for making their own piece, they were given certain parameters such as a time limit and restrictions on using music with no lyrics, but ultimately the creative process was left up to them,” said Randee Paufve, dance professor and director of the show.

The concert was sold out and the crowd sat silently inside a pitch black room as the show began. The stage backdrop lit up with figures in zoot suits and black dresses, and dancers appeared in front of the backdrop wearing identical outfits to the figures on the screen.

This upbeat routine, “A Chicano Story,” choreographed by Vanessa Bautista, included techniques of mambo dancing and set the tone for the night. The dancers let their body language and expressions tell a silent story. The level of passion and concentration during the performance was effective; it seemed as if someone had pulled them out from the past and placed them in front of the audience.

The momentum of vivid expression continued throughout the performances, even in melodies that seemed impossible to dance to. In the performance of “Fish Oil,” choreographed by Katie Horch, performers danced to the sound of raindrops. The dance technique used in “Fish Oil” seemed very free-flowing and natural; it left me wondering why I had never seen any dance performances to rain before - it seemed so fluid and right.

Paufve said the students had been practicing the techniques used in the show throughout their time at Sac State.

“The students have been studying composition and choreography the whole time they’ve been at Sac State, so tonight is them taking all the skills that they’ve gained and creating a piece of art,” she said.

The most enticing piece of art was the performance called

“Dystopia,” choreographed by Kat Painter.

While the rest of the Senior Dance Concert was full of colorful costumes, “Dystopia” kept it simple. Dancers were dressed in dark grungy clothes that made them seem like they had come out of an 1980s rock concert.

The skit began with a young man appearing in front asking, “Who would like to witness humanity fall by looking into my crystal ball?”

Then, loud music played as dancers emerged onto the stage and immediately revealed their uncommon techniques.

They placed one hand on their waist and slipped the other hand through the space of their arm and waist, moving it like a worm.

The dance continued with a more serious tone as the female performers danced while being aggressively handled by the male performers. In an abuse-like routine, they struggled and then came to a sudden halt as one dancer delivered a monologue about rape.

The skit ended with a message from the same man who opened the skit: “Tell yourselves this.

The things you just witnessed will never happen to you.”

The strong message along with the intense passion of the dancers, lighting and costumes made the skit a chilling one that left a

lasting impression.

Emily Cook, senior dance major and choreographer of “The Offering,” a dance depicting ancient times, said working effectively in a group was a huge part of their recital.

“As choreographers we had to work side by side with costume designers, lighting and do work backstage; we just had to learn from each other,” Cook said.

Although the choreography was hard work, Cook said intertwining different aspects of a show was the most difficult part of the production.

“Those dancers are our peers.

It was a big change from dancing side by side to taking the role of a leader,” she said.

Leandro Danasco, senior dance major and choreographer of “Epoch,” a rhythmic dance that showed off the dancers’ physical flexibility, said the experience has prepared him for a career in dance outside of college.

“It was a great ending to my college career. We put the production together like a family,” he said.

Cook agreed and said the semester long final project was a great way to end things.

“The piece I created was me, and it was amazing to get to share that with my peers and an audience. They brought it to life,” she said.

Photos By Caroline LeDoux

Above: Crooks and Matthew Talaugon, sophomore dance major, performed in “The Offering” at a May 3 dress rehearsal.

Far Left: Christine Crooks, senior kineiseology major, performs in “The Offering.”

Left: The Senior Dance Concert was choreographed entirely by students.

A capella group connects Sac State alumni

By Erin Rogers erogers@statehornet.com Bing Crosby and Harry S. Truman were both performers at the a capella show called “Barbershop,” an annual spring performance that the Sacramento Capitolaires host annually.

The Capitolaires are not the only a capella group that performs the well-known production “Barbershop,” but members of the Capitolaires said they look forward to performing each year because of the history behind the production.

“Barbershop singing started around the 1930s as men sang in local barbershops,” said Joseph Samora, secretary of the Capitolaires and Sacramento State alumnus. “The show got bigger and the men went on to create a Barbershop Harmony Society, which is what we run under today.”

The Barbershop Harmony Society was very popular when it first started and even had famous people sing for them, Samora said.

“Bing Crosby and Truman are just two examples of famous people who sang when it first originated,” Samora said. “The society has been very successful

since it was created and we hope to continue singing for audiences for years to come.”

A capella, Samora said, is a method of using voices in different tones and pitches to sing together in harmony.

“When you get a group of people whose voices harmonize together, it just sounds beautiful,” he said.

The Capitolaires, an a capella group formed in 1946, is a group made up of more than 60 men of all ages, including 11 Sac State alumni.

“We have men from all ages and backgrounds,” Samora said.

“These are some of the best men in the world.”

Samora said he graduated from Sac State with a degree in history. Even though he did not take any music classes while attending the university, Samora said music has always been his passion.

“My degree from Sacramento State helped me with my career,” Samora said. “But now that I am retired, I now have the time for a capella and to sing with the Capitolaires.”

Even with 30 years of experience singing in a church choir, Samora said singing a capella is somewhat challenging.

“I have never been in something like the Capitolaires before,” Samora said. “Memorizing music is definitely difficult to perform.”

Samora said members must learn the music on their own time, outside of the group’s practice.

“We have to go through the music ahead of time so that we make sure that we sing and perform to the best of our abilities,” Samora said. “It is very time consuming and involves a lot of outside work.”

Sac State alumnus Don Salz said he had to stop singing with the group for quite some time during college because it was taking away from his schooling.

“I originally joined the Capitolaires in ‘78 but had to stop in ‘82 when I went back to school to get my master’s in psychology,” Salz said. “Just the combination of going to school and work full-time was too much to sing.”

As soon as Salz completed college and moved back to Sacramento, he said he had more free time to sing with the group and joined the Capitolaires once again.

“I really love to sing and being a member of the group gives me an excuse to do it well,” Salz

said. “You make really good sounds with the other members and you get to meet some of the best people of the world.”

Tom Reaves, member of the Capitolaires and Sac State alumnus, said he still had a passion for singing even though he changed his mind about majoring in music.

“I graduated from Sac State in ‘69 and I have three degrees in anthropology, biology and environmental studies,” Reaves said.

“I used my degrees for teaching within the Grant district as a biology high school teacher.”

While attending a community college, before his time at Sac State, Reaves said he realized music was not for him.

“I was going to school to become a music teacher and after taking some music courses I got into thinking that I don’t want to be a music teacher,” Reaves said.

“As a music teacher, they give you the worst of the worst when it comes to students.”

Even though he tried to stay away from troubled students, Reaves said his 35 years at the Grant School District involved helping those who were not destined to graduate high school. see Barbershop| page B2

Chris Chiang State Hornet

Members of the Sacramento Capitolaires rehearse for their annual performance of “Barbershop” at Saint Mark’s United Methodist Church on May 4.

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Wednesday - May 12 CLUB CORNER | TEACHERS ASSOCIATION

Association trains aspiring teachers

Julie Keefer State Hornet

The Student California Teachers Association plays a mock game of “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader” on Thursday. The club meets at 7 p.m. every Thursday in Alpine Hall, Room 144.

By Erin Rogers erogers@statehornet.com The Student California Teachers Association of Sacramento State is helping future generations of students by preparing aspiring teachers at Sac State.

Kelsey Leachman, junior liberal studies major, said the club’s main purpose is to expose members to the teaching field through networking.

“If we want to become teachers, it is really important to network,” Leachman said. “As a member, you will be able to meet people who have been teaching for many years, or even principals.”

By meeting these individuals, Leachman said, members are getting their names out into the teaching world, which will help them when looking for teaching positions.

“It’s all about who you network with,” Leachman said. “If you get your name out now, you will already have an advantage for when you leave college.”

Lina Tran, freshman liberal studies major and member of the association, said she was approached at the beginning of her college career to join the club and is happy she took the opportunity.

“This club is helping me for college by showing me exactly what it takes to become a teacher,” Tran said. “If I wasn’t a member, I would have no idea about what I need to do get all of the credentials needed.”

Tran said any students interested in a career in teaching can join the association.

“Most of our members are liberal studies majors or early childhood development majors,” Tran said. “But we are urging single-subject majors to join if

they want to be teachers as well; they just have a specific major that they want to teach.”

Jacob Mickelson, junior early childhood development major, said being a member of the club is also preparing him for teaching after college.

“Next semester I will be a future communications officer, which will help me with my people skills and networking,” Mickelson said. “Plus, it will look great on my resume for when I go to apply for jobs in teaching.”

Besides helping members, Mickelson said the club helps other people around the world as well.

“We are hosting an upcoming book drive where the proceeds will go to Better World Books, a program devoted to helping people who can’t afford pricey textbooks,” Mickelson said.

The book drive will run from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. starting Monday in the Union Station Lobby.

“We are taking the books that we can’t sell back and are selling those for a really cheap price,” Mickelson said.

“Basically, we are donating our books for people who can’t afford them.”

To learn more about the association or how to become a teacher, Leachman said to attend the book drive and speak with any member of the club.

The association meets at 7 p.m. every Thursday in Alpine Hall, Room 144.

“As a teachers or leaders, we want to discuss all of the information we know,” Leachman said. “Education is power - we want people to be just as successful and knowledgeable as we are.”

Features Section

statehornet.com

Campuswide exhibition of student art

By John Saelee jsaelee@statehornet.com Senior art students at Sacramento State will give the campus community one final view of their best art pieces throughout campus on Friday in the annual Catch the Art Ball event.

The Art Ball began in 1994 and is intended to honor bachelor degree and master degree graduates’ work and to commend the art department for committing its time to help Sac State students prevail as artists.

The exhibition is free and will run from 5 to 9 p.m.

“It is always a great opportunity to see what the next generation of artists is up to in their studios,” said Robert Ortbal, faculty exhibition cocoordinator. “This exhibition is like several open studios - an art tour rolled into a one-stop exhibition.”

Catherine Turrill, assistant chair of the art department, said the Art Ball is an opportunity for Sac State to showcase what the art department has to offer the community.

“By attending the Art Ball, people outside can learn about the art program, which is a big part of Sac State,” Turrill said.

“We are hoping to bring more

students to Sac State by getting people interested and excited about what the art program has to offer.”

The exhibits at the Art Ball are chosen collaboratively by the students and professors, Turrill said, and are meant to exhibit the students’ strongest artwork.

The event took more than two months to prepare but would not have been possible without the support of several Sac State organizations.

These organizations include Associated Students Inc., art students, the art department and the Art Chapter of the Alumni Association, an organization that supports the art department.

Patricia Mills, artist and secretary treasurer for the Art Chapter, said the Art Chapter has been working diligently to prepare for the exhibition.

“The organization has contributed to the exhibition by purchasing food, releasing publicity and other background work done in conjunction with faculty,” Mills said.

The event, she said, is important because it brings all the students and faculty together for a day before the graduating art students leave Sac State.

“The Art Ball is a smashing celebration of the faculty and students to honor their achieve-

ments in a celebration held at the end of the school year,” Mills said. “It is needed because everyone worked so hard.”

Kathyrn Luna, senior studio art major and co-curator of the event, said she is eager to hear the responses from the public at the Art Ball event regarding the art in each exhibition.

“It gives art students the

chance to watch or hear the public’s reaction when they view students’ work,” she said.

Luna said she is happy to conclude her time at Sac State by celebrating with her department.

“Being part of the senior show and the Art Ball will give me a sense of relief,” she said. “The Art Ball is a gateway for students to show their work.”

Teachers Association recycles books

By Miriam Arghandiwal arghandiwal@statehornet.com The end of the semester is near, and for many Sacramento State students this means one thing: time to get rid of textbooks.

“It really bothers me to have textbooks laying around, I don’t have the room to keep them,” said Thi Pham, junior engineering major.

Pham said she keeps textbooks regarding her major, but sells her other textbooks.

An alternative option to discarding textbooks is being provided by the Student California Teachers Association, which will be holding a fundraiser book drive from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 17 through 21 in between the University Union and the bookstore.

Rebecca O’Haver, junior liberal studies major and a northern regional vice president of the Student California Teachers Association, said

many students and faculty members end up with books that they can not sell back at the end of the semester. These are books they hope to collect.

“For me sometimes it’s been the case where instructors change their books or the value of the book goes down to $5 when I’ve tried to sell them back and its just not worth it,” O’Haver said.

O’Haver said if students have that problem at the end of this semester, the book drive will be waiting for students to donate their materials. O’Haver encourages students to donate books they have laying around from previous semesters as well because their donations will help other less fortunate students with their education.

Kelsey Leachman, junior liberal studies major and member of the association, said the books will be donated to Betterworldbooks.com, a website that resells used textbooks for affordable prices and then donates its prof-

its to fund world literacy.

As aspiring teachers, Leachman said, it is important for the association to help teachers provide materials and opportunities for their students. This allows teachers to become more effective at their job, she said.

“We want to help out our community, because one day we are going to become teachers and we too will need help with materials and providing students with resources, so we’re participating in a cycle we hope will continue,” Leachman said.

A certain percentage of the proceeds will come back to Student California Teachers Association’s branch at Sac State, which provides support for aspiring teachers on campus.

O’Haver said books under 7 years of age should be donated and that all books should be in usable condition. The age limit has been put on the books to ensure the information the books hold is accurate and to ensure the editions of the book are still

being used by professors. Any unusable books will be recycled.

Leachman said if the books are usable but not worth anything, they will be donated to local libraries.

O’Haver said the fundraiser is not a resource that is limited only to students.

“I know a lot of teachers are retiring and trying to clear off their shelves. This would be a good place to donate all those books,” O’Haver said.

Since the fundraiser is being held during finals week, more students will be on campus than usual and by the end of the week, they will be done with using their books, O’Haver said.

She said she is hopeful the turn out will be a success.

Pham said the decision for donating books will depend on her circumstances.

“I usually try selling them at the bookstore, and if that doesn’t work I try online. If both attempts fail then I’ll be willing to donate them,” she said.

Barbershop: Sacramento Capitolaires share musical interests Continued | page B1 “I was using my degrees to teach a life science class that took the kids who were failing their science courses and this was their last resort at graduation,” Reaves said. “They took the class, learned to enjoy biology, graduated and ended up

going into careers of teaching.”

Reaves is retired and he said he can now return to his passion for singing and concentrate solely on a capella and the Capitolaires.

“I love being able to perform in front of others without having that alone feeling,” Reaves said.

“Seeing the audience enjoy the

music we perform is a great feeling.”

The Capitolaires’ performance of “Barbershop” is premiering at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church. Tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for ages 18 and under.

“The entertainment value of

our show is priceless, a lot of people will know the songs we are singing,” Samora said. “It’s worth the price of a ticket just to see the quartets perform.”

Joining the Capitolaires is the Great Western Timber Co.’s senior quartet, a group of only four a capella singers rather than a large chorus.

“The four of them carry all of the responsibilities of a particular song,” Samora said. “They sing by themselves and it’s quite different from that of a large chorus.”

To learn more about the Capitolaires and a capella singing, Samora said meetings are open to those interested. Meetings

are held 7 p.m. every Tuesday at the Sierra-Arden Church of Christ.

“Even if you don’t have a background in music and can’t read it, we will teach you,” Samora said. “This will give you a better appreciation of music and a deeper look into the music field.”

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Junior men’s tennis player Kiryl Harbatsiuk had arguably had one of the program’s most impressive seasons in recent years. Harbatsuik won the Big Sky Most Valuable Player award and earned a spot on the All-Conference team for the second straight season. He currently has a 25-match winning streak and is 26-1 this season.

“I’m really glad because I was working hard the whole semester,” Harbatsuik said. “That is the result of my hard work.”

Harbatsuik has been nationally ranked as high as No. 40 in singles play and is currently No. 92. As the team heads to the 2010 NCAA Regional on Saturday to play UCLA, Harbatsuik will look to extend his winning streak.

“First of all it’s hard work and then it’s being confident,” Harbatsuik said.

“I want to say thanks to my coaches who helped me build my strength and improve my tennis.”

Junior track star Lea Wallace is The State Hornet’s best female athlete of the spring.

Wallace is receiving this honor for her performance during the indoor season for track and field.

Wallace made it to the 2010 NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., where she became the first Hornet indoor track athlete to earn All-American honors. She finished in eighth place.

Wallace said she is proud of the honor.

“I am extremely flattered that your staff has chosen me as the best female athlete.

It is exciting to be recognized,” Wallace said.

Wallace said she contributes much of her success on the track to the people that she has around her.

“It’s take a lot of hard work,” Wallace said. “But I would say that a lot of my success comes from really good coaching and support from teammates and family.

They all helped me perform this season.”

Freshman gymnast Nicole Meiller did what no freshman gymnast has done in eight years: She made it to the 2010 NCAA West Regional. The last freshman gymnast to make a regional was Kimiye Narasaki in 2003.

“It’s an honor. I’ve never been a part of a team or a part of something this big,” Meiller said. “I told some of my teammates about it and they seem pretty excited about it.”

Meiller finished 18th at the regional and averaged a 9.75 in her final five meets. She said the transition from Phenom Gymnastics to Sac State was not easy.

“It was hard at first because you’re competing for a team and not just yourself,” Meiller said. “People always told me that college gymnastics is different.

The team really did help me a lot and so did the coaches. They help you get over that struggle that you have at the beginning and push you towards your goals.”

Coming into his freshman season, John Dickson did not come up in many people’s minds as much of a factor on the men’s basketball team.

Dickson had other thoughts.

The forward used the summer between his senior year in high school and his first year at Sac State to get ready to make an immediate impact. He took the train from Fairfield to Sacramento to work out with his future teammates a few times a week during the summer and replicated the workouts he learned at home.

“I worked hard coming out of high school,” Dickson said. “I had a tough coach in Eddie Wilson. He always coached me to be the best I could be.”

The hard work paid of for Dickson and for the men’s basketball team.

Dickson finished the season as the third leading scorer on the team averaging 9.7 points per game. The freshman was also fourth in rebounding, averaging 3.6 boards a game.

Junior infielder Trevor Paine missed most of the season last year from a stress fracture in his elbow. The injury allowed him change positions during from pitcher to infielder and now has a batting average of .390. Not only does he lead the team in batting average, he also leads the team with eight home runs.

“I think it’s a great honor. It just shows how much I’ve come as a baseball player at Sac State,” Paine said. “Even though the last two years I’ve been playing a different position, all around in every aspect I’ve just grown.”

Paine looks to carry the Hornets into the postseason.

Paine said he contributes confidence to his success this season.

“It’s really important to go up to the plate and know that you can get a hit off any pitcher you face,” Paine said. “If you go up there with a mindset that you’re better than them and you have the confidence, good things happen.”

Junior forward Emily Christensen was one reason the women’s basketball team had one of program’s most successful years in its history.

After missing half her sophomore year because of surgery, Christensen came back and was second on the team in scoring average at 14.1 points per game.

“I think it’s pretty cool. I wasn’t expecting it, that’s for sure,” Christensen said.

“I didn’t even know that I would be nominated for anything like this. I think it’s cool that our team is also getting recognized because we did so well.”

Christensen recorded six double-doubles this season, including one in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament. She credits head coach Jamie Craighead for her improvement.

“The change in the coach helped me become a better player and work harder,” she said. “Our system has helped me become a better player. I work better in this system than our last system.”

Women’s basketball head coach Jamie Craighead coached her first season as an interim and led the Hornets to a schoolrecord 10 Big Sky victories and a 15-15 overall record – the program’s highest win total in Big Sky play.

“Any individual award always comes back to being a team award and this is no different,” she said. “My team should be the ones who are proud to see us recognized on campus for our achievements this season. This award speaks to what we all accomplished.”

The team made it to the Big Sky Tournament as a No. 3 seed and won 10 of 11 games during a stretch this season.

“The hard work that we all put in to be our best is what I enjoy most with this team,” she said. “To push these young women beyond what they think is possible and to see them grow and come together as a team is the best reward.

They fought for what they wanted and the hard work paid off.”

THE HOTCAST You know you have thought about it while watching Sacramento State sports. Who are the hottest Sac State athletes? Well, members of The State Hornet have gone one step further by compiling a top-10 list of the hottest female and male athletes. Listen to their top 10’s and hear the men comment on the women’s choices and vice versa today at statehornet.com Photos Courtesy of Hornet Sports

JOSH POWERS

SHELBY VOELZ

JASON NELSON

Reporting by Marshall Hampson, Matt Harrington and Ross Coleman; Photos by Nallelie Vega; Grahpics by Megan Harris

at SACRAMENTO

Sports Updates

STATE OPEN MAY 8 15 SCHOOL RECORDS SET

at DAD VAIL

REGATTA MAY 7-8 VARSITY EIGHT FIRST PLACE

Lizzy Norvell on her performance

“It gives me a lot of confidence for next week. I am really looking forward to the competition. I have been consistent this season and it just gives me confidence for conference next week.”

REGATTA CONCLUDES THE 2009-10 ROWING SEASON

at LOYOLA MARYMOUNT

MAY 8-9

W 4-3, 9-0, 9-6, 12-8 TEAM FINISHES SEASON IN SECOND PLACE IN PACIFIC COAST SOFTBALL CONFERENCE COASTAL DIVISION

at LOUISIANA TECH

MAY 7-9

L 17-11, 27-12, 5-4, 7-2

B4

Wednesday - May 12

Sports Section

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Baseball makes one last push for conference tournament

By Marshall Hampson mhampson@statehornet.com For the Sacramento State baseball team, how well the Hornets play in the final weeks of the regular season determines if the team makes it into the postseason.

The Hornets are 16-29-1 overall while posting a 5-11 record in the Western Athletic Conference. Last year, Sac State had a record of 27-27 and finished last in the WAC by two games with a record of 8-14.

In the preseason polls, Sac State was predicted to finish last in the conference. This season has been filled with good and bad streaks. At the beginning of April, the team won three of its first four games. At the end of April, the team lost five straight games after winning the series against the University of Hawaii.

Associate head coach Reggie Christiansen said he and the rest of the coaching staff are concentrating on the rest of the season and have not been dwelling on the games from earlier in the season.

“With so many new players, our expectations were to be a little bit better than we are right now,” Christiansen said. “But we can’t change the past so we need to just move forward the last three weeks of the season.

We put ourselves into a situation to make the conference tournament. Not only make it, but to get a No. 2 or 3 seed if we

play well the next two or three weekends.”

Sac State is in last place in the WAC and needs to be in the top six teams of the conference to make the tournament. Even though the Hornets missed the WAC tournament last year, junior infielder Trevor Paine said he believes the team can go far in the postseason.

“In order to make a regional, we have to win the WAC tournament,” Paine said. “I mean, our goal right now is to be one of the top six teams. When we get there, hopefully we can bring our best baseball of the season, get on a hot streak like Fresno State did two years ago and hopefully make a name for Sac State.”

Paine has arguably been one of the best storylines this year for the Hornets. Paine switched positions during the offseason from pitcher to infield due to an elbow stress fracture. He leads the team in batting average at .390, 57 hits, eight home runs and a slugging percentage of .616.

Despite his success this season, Paine said he feels the team can still play better.

“We haven’t been as successful so far as we’d like to be, but we got a lot guys out here with a good work ethic,” Paine said.

“We have a good team chemistry and once we get our things back on track after these last two losses, there’s no reason why we can’t start playing our best baseball right around the

WAC tournament.”

First baseman Josh Powers leads the team in runs scored with 37 and said the team got off to a slow start at the beginning of the season.

“It took awhile for the team, with so many new guys, to figure out who everybody was and starting playing together as a team,” Powers said. “I feel like we’re finally starting to do that more and hopefully we get on a roll.”

The team lost All-American Tim Wheeler to the Colorado Rockies, as he was drafted No. 32 overall in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. Despite Wheeler’s absence, the Hornets started the regular season winning five of their first 10 games, including wins against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Gonzaga University, St. Mary’s College and UC Davis.

Powers said splitting the team’s first 10 games came from getting acquainted with the team in the preseason games.

“We started out with a pretty tough preseason conference schedule and I think it helped us as a team,” Powers said.

“Once we got to conference, we started to play better.”

As the end of regular season gets closer, Powers said the team still has areas for improvement.

“It’s just going to take consistency,” Powers said. “It doesn’t have to be awesome offense and pitching, it just has to be good offense and pitching. What we

Nallelie Vega State Hornet

Senior infielder Josh Powers (center) leads the team in runs score. He, along with the rest of the team, is attempting to qualify for the conference tournament. struggled with at the beginning was that we had great pitching and no defense and hitting. We had terrible pitching and all kinds of offense. It will come through having trust in the system that we have here and our teammates getting the job done.”

Pitching has been hit-andmiss for the Hornets. The team has received some good individual performances from freshman Brandon Creel, who threw eight innings of one-hit ball April 3 against UC Santa Barbara in his first start as a Hornet, and sophomore Jesse Darrah, who threw a complete

game March 13 against No. 16 UC Irvine. However, the staff has a 5.94 ERA on the season.

Head coach John Smith and the Hornets have six more regular season games left to improve their conference record as the May 27 tournament approaches. Christiansen said Smith’s expertise will help get Sac State to finish strong.

“Coach Smith does a great job of motivating our guys and making sure they play one game at a time,” Christiansen said.

“We’re just trying to play the best that we can and get them to make the necessary adjustments that need to made.”

Christiansen said the Hornets would have to improve in the final two series against UNLV and Fresno State before they have a shot at getting into the tournament.

“Everybody’s goal is to win the WAC tournament,” Christiansen said. “That’s way down the line and we just need to focus on having a good practice.

We need to be more focused and more prepared both offensively and defensively. Our pitching has been pretty good, so if we can continue to get the same pitching as we have been week in and week out, I think we have a good chance.”

Sports Briefs TENNIS TEAMS WIN MULTIPLE POSTSEASON BIG SKY CONFERENCE AWARDS Sacramento State’s men’s and women’s tennis head coaches Slava Konikov and Dima Hrynashka on May 3 were both named Big Sky Conference coaches of the year.

Sophomore Tatsiana Kapshai and junior Kiryl Harbatsiuk on April 29 were named Big Sky Conference tennis Most Valuable Players. It is Kapshai’s first MVP and Harbatsiuk’s second consecutive Big Sky MVP.

TENNIS DRAWS PAC-10 SCHOOLS IN FIRST ROUND OF NCAA TOURNAMENT The men’s and women’s tennis teams will face Pac-10 schools in the first round the NCAA Tennis Tournament.

The women, making their ninth consecutive appearance, face off Friday againt USC in Berkeley.

The men, who made the tournament for the seventh time in 12 years, take on No. 9 UCLA on Saturday in L.A.

DESIREE BELTRAN LEAVES SOFTBALL TEAM FOR REASONS UNKNOWN Sophomore Desiree Beltran, who set records as a freshman last season, has left the softball team for undisclosed reasons.

When contacted by The State Hornet, Beltran declined to comment on the situation.

Beltran has not played since March 7 due to injury.

Wednesday - May 12 WEST COAST BIAS

NBA MVP voting: Where amazing stupidity happens

By Ross Coleman rcoleman@statehornet.com I am a fairly knowledgeable NBA fan. I would say even above average. But even the most casual fans would know that LeBron James was without a doubt the best player in the NBA this season and by far the most valuable to his Cleveland Cavaliers.

But there were seven so-called experts who thought there were other players more deserving of the award than King James.

Three of those first-place votes went to Dwight Howard.

Dwight Howard? Really?

I would be willing to say that Howard wasn’t even the most valuable player on his team.

That would be point guard Jameer Nelson.

But in order to understand why Howard got three firstplace votes, you have to understand who is voting.

Since the 1980-81 season, the MVP award has been given based on the voting of sportswriters and broadcasters. If my

reputation as a sportswriter grows enough, I could be the idiot who gives Stephen Jackson a fifth-place vote.

Now I am not going to say that Jackson didn’t have a case, because that is too easy an argument to make. But I will say there is no way members of the media or broadcasters who watch one specific team 82 times a year should be able to select the best player.

The three people who voted for Howard were John Denton of orlandomagic.com, Orlando Magic broadcaster David Steele, and Tim Povtak, who writes for America Online and is a former Magic beat writer for the Orlando Sentinel.

If the Magic win the title this year, Denton and Steele will both be given championship rings because they are employed by the Magic. It’s only natural for your opinion to be skewed toward a certain player if you cover him 82 times a season.

Prior to the 1980-81 season, the players voted on the MVP. What was wrong with that?

I would be willing to say the people who know the most about the NBA are the people who play the game.

I mean, it’s their job. It’s what they do for a living. They should have a more meaningful opinion than the play-by-play guy for the Chicago Bulls.

One could argue that players

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Sports Section

would vote for the guys they like over the guys they don’t, and that is a valid argument. So how about this: Teams elect one guy to give an MVP vote. They aren’t allowed to vote for guys on their own team. That would be 30 teams, 30 votes.

I would be willing to bet my life that 29 teams would have voted LeBron as the MVP. At the very least, the voting needs to be made public. I know we have identified the guys who voted for Dwight “Foul on you” Howard, but I want to know who voted Stephen Jackson as the fifth-most valuable player in the NBA this season, because that person should never be allowed to watch an NBA game ever again.

Public voting would force people to defend their decisions.

Plus, you could televise it. I mean pull Jeff Probst off the “Survivor” set, put him in a room with the MVP voters and the MVP candidates. It would be must-watch TV. I would be glued to the TV just to see how much guys like Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant care about winning an MVP. Any chance to see professional athletes act candidly and without a censor is something I’d be all for.

It certainly wouldn’t be the worst sporting event televised.

Right, NHL fans?

McClatchy Tribune

LeBron James (left) and Dwight Howard (right) fight for a rebound and MVP votes during the 2009-10 season. James finished in first place while Howard finished in fourth.

B5

Superstitions at the root of success for baseball players

By Matt Harrington mharrington@statehornet.com From time to time, baseball fans will see players do some strange things. Baseball is a sport rooted in superstition – everything from jumping over the foul line to adjusting equipment are present.

Some superstitions are easy to spot. For instance, when the pitcher has a perfect game or no-hitter, his teammates will not speak to or sit by the pitcher or even mention the feat in progress. The belief is if someone bothers the pitcher, he will lose his focus and the history-making bid will end.

Superstitions are not just for younger players, either.

Former Major League Baseball player Nomar Garciaparra adjusted his batting gloves several times before entering the batters’ box and tapped his toes four or six times as he stepped into the box. This would be quite the chore if he did it once in an at-bat, but Garciaparra did it after every pitch.

While none of the baseball superstitions at Sacramento State are as extreme as Garciaparra’s, they are still present.

Freshmen infielder Carter Loud said he feels having routines and superstitions help the mental state of mind of a baseball player.

“When coming out of the dugout, I feel like jumping over the foul lines,” he said. “You see big leaguers do it. They jump over the foul lines, adjust their batting gloves, wear sunglasses and even use eye black. It is all a part of, ‘If you look good, you feel good, you play good.’”

He said the game of baseball is all about trial and error.

“I feel the reason that baseball players are so superstitious because baseball is a game of failure. And every time you do succeed, you feel something went right. Then that makes you want to repeat it over and over again,” Loud said.

Junior infielder Derrick Chung is an example of one Hornet who has a set routine when he comes to the plate.

Chung said the reason he performs his routine is to get in tune with the pitcher.

“For hitters, we have a routine that we do before every at-bat,” Chung said. “For example, before I step into the batters’ box I will take a deep breath, then I will dig a hole into the box, then I look at the pitcher, swing my bat around, and then I face the pitcher. That just gets me in rhythm with the pitcher.”

Yana Yaroshevich State Hornet

Junior outfielder Jake Chilton shakes dust off his bat as part of his routine before stepping up to the plate.

For junior catcher Brent Hottman, his routine helps to keep him organized before the game.

“It’s a type of thing where you get into a routine of doing certain activities in specific order,” Hottman said. “For me, I put my jersey and socks on the same way every time. I have an order of what pieces of clothing go on first. And what I do before games is always the same.

Among the most superstitious - and routine-heavy positions is the pitcher. Sophomore pitcher Zach Morgan said when he was younger, he would write the name of his grandmother on the back of the pitchers’ mound before every game.

Morgan said one of his teammates at Shasta Junior College had an interesting superstition before every at-bat.

“There are people that I have played with who have some crazy superstitions,” he said. “Some worked and some didn’t. There was a guy I played with last year at my junior college who had the superstition of having the need to hit himself on the helmet as hard as he could before every pitch. He said that it helped him knock out the ghost from his brain and allowed him

to concentrate.”

Hottman said superstitions can get players into bad routines if they rely on them too much.

“Superstitions I have heard can get you into bad habits,” Hottman said. “If something doesn’t go right a certain day and you do one thing different then you will be thinking about that and then your whole other set of routines or superstitions might be thrown off. They will then affect you on the playing field.”

B6

Wednesday - May 12

Sports Section

Track star Robinson thrives after redshirting last season

By Marshall Hampson mhampson@statehornet.com For sophomore Moira Robinson, boredom in her childhood led to being involved with track and field at Sacramento State.

The kinesiology major started running track when she was in middle school. Robinson said her hometown was not active city.

“I started running track at my middle school in Visalia because there was nothing to do in the city,” Robinson said. “I was bored and I decided to run track.”

Robinson played basketball and ran track during her four years at Mt. Whitney High School. But she said she never took track seriously until the end of her sophomore year.

At Mt. Whitney, Robinson competed in the triple jump, high jump and pole vault.

In her senior year, she earned All-American honors because she finished third in the state in the high jump and finished fifth in the triple jump at the 2007 California Interscholastic Federation Track and Field Championship.

Robinson said after her senior year, she chose to go to Sac State because of the team unity and the other athletes.

After making the decision, Robinson said transitioning to college track was more difficult

Robinson’s Marks l Ran the 60-meter hurdles in 8.64 seconds; third-best in school history l Fourth-best long jump in school history on May 5 (19-10 3/4 feet) l Sac State-best 3,603 points in the pentathlon in her freshman year l Eligible for 2010 NCAA outdoor championship

than she expected.

“It was different because I just did jumps and pole vault in high school,” Robinson said.

“I remember it was really hard.

We had to do eight 50-meter sprints in practice and I wanted to stop after No. 3.”

The coaching staff made her try new events like the 100-meter hurdles and the 800-meter run so she could compete in the pentathlon. During her freshman year, Robinson set the school record for pentathlon with a score of 3,603.

“I love my coaches,” Robinson said. “They know how to push you just right in everything.

They are big on making athletes compete in multiple events without pushing you harder than you need to be pushed.”

Junior Lea Wallace said having Robinson on the team is allowing the Hornets to perform better at meets.

“She definitely has added a lot to the team dynamics,” she said.

“She has a lot of spunk, a lot of personality and keeps everybody excited about what they’re doing and about the sport.”

After her successful freshman year, Robinson redshirted the 2009 season due to personal reasons. In that year off, she knew she had to come back a stronger, faster athlete.

“I knew I had to work harder,” Robinson said. “I spent the whole season not participating but I knew I had to come back next year and do better than what I did my first year.”

As she entered the outdoor track and field season, Robinson came ready to compete.

Head coach Kathleen Raske said she was happy about Robinson’s return.

“It’s great because she’s physically much more mature,” Raske said. “She’s also growing as an individual and maturing as an individual, which is so very important in handling herself better, handling competition better, handling her training better and becoming more coachable.”

Robert Linggi State Hornet

Track and field star Moira Robinson sprints toward the bar during the high jump Saturday at the Sacramento State Open.

In the 2008 Big Sky Indoor Track and Field Championship, she earned All-Big Sky Conference honors for her top-five marks in the 60-meter hurdles, high jump, triple jump and long jump. She said her success in jumping comes from having fun with the events.

“My favorite event is the triple jump,” Robinson said. “Well, it was almost a tie between triple and high jump. But when you do (the triple jump) right, it feels amazing.”

Even in other events, Robinson is climbing up the school record books. With her time of 8.64 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, she ran the third best time in school history. On May 5 during this outdoor season, she set the fourth-best long jump in school history with 1910 3/4 feet.

“We’re hoping that she’ll continue to improve as we begin the tapering process for her to run faster in hurdles; break 14 seconds in the hurdles; jump over 43 feet in the triple jump; jump over 5 feet 9 (inches) in the high jump and jump 20plus feet in the long jump. She’s certainly capable of doing all those, even today,” Raske said.

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