Deterioration of student language examined by Nick Pike >> OPINION, A8
Student athletes combat social pressures >> SPORTS, B1
Take a look inside StandA StandAlone Mixed Martial Arts Academy >> OONLINE VIDEO Wedn Wednesday September 1, 2010 Sept Volume 65 Volum Issue 1
Students make a splash at Forebay ay >> FEATURES, D2
C h ico Stat e’s I n de pe n de n t St u de n t Ne wspa pe r , si nc e 1975
Majority of charges involve alcohol, fights Mexican border patrol funds increased by $600 million >>The first of 532 National Guard troops assigned to the Mexican border reported to their posts on Monday, officials said. A bill signed by President Barack Obama on Aug. 13 provides $600 million to aid in securing the border. The bill also provides for 1,500 new law enforcement agents, unmanned planes, bases of operation and more. The group of more than 30 troops that reported for duty Monday and the rest arriving by then end of October will not have law enforcement powers, said Lt. Valentine Castillo of the Arizona National Guard. Source: CNN.com
California News
Bill to force motorcyclists to display federal labels >>Senate Bill 435, written by Sen. Fran Pavley, passed through state Senate with a 21-16 vote. If signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the bill will require motorcycles built after Jan. 1, 2013 and sold in California to display federal noise control labels from the Environmental Protection Agency. Tickets for violating the bill cannot be written unless the owner is pulled over for another offense. Tickets that are written can be voided with proper correction. source: The Sacramento Bee
Julia Vazquez STAFF WRITER
Police responded to 252 calls between 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20
Number of uninsured in Butte County on the rise >>Reports from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research indicate that 24.7 percent of Butte County residents went without health insurance for all or part of 2009. The number of uninsured residents in Butte County increased 3.6 percent from 2007, according to the report. Butte, Sutter and Humboldt Counties kept the lowest percentages of counties north of Sacramento – all below 25 percent. source: The Chico Enterprise-Record
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and 2 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 21. The first weeks of the fall semester are the busiest for Chico police, Merrifield said. During the early weeks of the semester, the Chico Police Department frequently calls in officers that had the day off. A total of 46 arrests were
made in that time, according to a Chico Police Department press release by Sgt. Rob Merrifield. On Saturday, Aug. 21, officers broke up two parties that resulted in attendees throwing bottles at them, he said. There were 10 arrests for outstanding warrants, 13 arrests
for being drunk in public, seven for driving under the influence and five for battery, according to the press release. “People get so pumped up when they drink and are ready to fight for any reason because their judgment is impaired,” Merrifield said.
REPAIRING THE ROCK >>
Six Chico State students and seven Butte College students between the ages of 18 and 24 were arrested over the weekend, he said. “It’s a combination of many things,” Merrifield said. “The weather is warm, people are please see CRIMES | A7
Furlough days saved money, faculty jobs Lindsay Woychick STAFF WRITER
Chico State students
captured by history of
Alcatraz PHOTOS COURTESY SAM JOHNSON (ABOVE) AND ZACHARY FERNANDEZ (LEFT)
Five concrete industry management students spent their summer weekdays restoring the 150-yearold island prison.
WORK RELEASE Laborers pour cement into a trench on the historic island as part of a renovation effort. Concrete industry management students worked on the project with various professionals in their respective fields.
Turn to D1 for full story
Despite not having furloughs for the fall 2010 semester, officals say the program did save money. Chico State saved an estimated $10 million in salary and benefit costs as a result of the furlough program, said Stacie Corona, assistant vice president for University Budget and Resource Management. “So, yes – the furloughs defi nitely saved faculty positions, which was essential to keeping the campus operating,” Corona said in an e-mail interview. An 11 percent loss in Chico State faculty occurred between spring 2009 and 2010, according to a CFA faculty headcount analysis for the CSU system. During the same academic year, 50 to 60 percent of furlough savings were related to faculty, Corona said. Under the furlough program, $7.5 million connected to Chico State Academic Affairs was saved, said Sandra Flake, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. About $2.5 million of the $7.5 please see LAYOFF | A6
New lights to provide brighter, safer nights Walter Ford
WEATHER,, A2
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Crime spikes as semester begins
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STAFF WRITER
After more than a year of effort to get the streets of Chico brighter, new bulbs added to existing power poles will bring the goal of better lighting a step closer to completion. Members of the Chico State administration, Chico City Council, Associated Students, leaders from the Greek community and Butte College student leaders came together to discuss the lighting initiative at a Town and Gown meeting Aug. 25. From that meeting came a three-goal plan to create better lighting around Chico State, said Chico Mayor Ann Schwab. The first goal is to create and maintain a well-lit sidewalk and roadway corridor leading from the major student housing complexes to the Wildcat Recreation Center, according to the City of Chico Town-Gown Strategic Lighting Initiative 2010. With the opening of the WREC at Second and Cherry streets, students were using Cherry Street much more, Schwab said. The second goal is to use existing Pacific Gas & Electric power poles that are not currently active and purchase street lights for them in areas where the 2010 survey indicated
there is a need for more light, according to the initiative. “The most cost efficient way to improve the lighting was not to install new city poles, but to look for PG&E poles that didn’t have lights in them already and put lights in,” Schwab said. The empty PG&E poles that have been targeted are on the 200 and 400 blocks of Cherry Street, the 1000 and 1100 blocks of Ivy Street, the 100 block of Warner Street, the 700 through 900 blocks of West Fourth Avenue and the 1000 block of North Cedar Street, according to the initiative. The third goal is to request trimming of the tree canopy to maximize lighting along the sidewalk and roadway corridor, according to the initiative. “Priority for the tree crews is to go through those areas where they can trim them without hurting them,” Schwab said. “Chico is the city of trees, but sometimes they pose problems with lighting.” A.S. President Amro Jayousi, who has been working on the lighting project since taking office and thinks it’s important that the city used the student surveys for placing those lights, he said. Crime statistics were considered, but the surveys were the please see LIGHTING | A7
THE ORION • ELI MAY
BREAKING DOWN Chico State junior Joey Wright, a recycling assistant, empties a bucket of compost into a waste bin. A.S. Recycling ended its compost relationship with the University Farm.
A.S. Recycling ends compost arrangement Teresa De Luz STAFF WRITER
The A.S. Recycling program is no longer taking its compost to the University Farm, opting instead for a private disposal company. A.S. Recycling had been trucking its waste in small loads to the farm six days a week, said Jason Harsha, safety and operations supervisor for the recycling program.
“We had to use our labor to take it there and grind it up,” Harsha said. “We are saving money and time by working with Recology.” Recology, a waste collection company, comes to pick up the food and paper waste acquired by A.S. Recycling at its warehouse facility on the corner of Fourth and Cherry streets. Recology takes more waste at a time and has the facilities to take the paper waste as
well, said Eli Goodsell, recycling operations coordinator for A.S. Recycling. Within the week, Associated Students will add compost bins to the Marketplace Cafe where consumers will have the option to compost paper cups, plates and napkins as well as food scraps, Goodsell said. “In the 2009-2010 academic year, we recycled 175,000 pounds of food waste,” please see COMPOST | A6