WHAT YOU MISSED Find out what went down in town this summer.
LONG DISTANCE? Get relationship advice from the sex columnist.
CHICO GLOSSARY Stay in the loop with Chico State vocabulary.
WILDCAT SURVIVAL GUIDE
CONTENTS #chicostate
3
What you missed
5
Bicycle basics
6
Long-distance love
7
Chico glossary
8
Physical activity
9 #CHICOSTATE PAGE 3
CONTRIBUTORS Kevin Lee
Ben Mullin Ben is a junior majoring in English and journalism with a passion for teaching and storytelling. He believes in keeping students informed in every way possible — through in-depth print articles, multimedia presentations and rapid-fire tweets.
Kevin is returning to The Orion’s staff for his fifth semester as a photographer. This semester he will also make his writing debut as a member of the sports staff. He looks forward to learning and growing alongside his peers this semester.
Kjerstin Wood
Juniper Rose
Kjerstin is a senior journalism major and fall 2012 is her third semester working for The Orion. Involved in many other campus organizations, Kjerstin has a passion for the Chico State campus and loves having the opportunity to give students a voice through the ideas discussed in the Opinion section.
Juniper joined The Orion in fall 2011 as a news writer and worked as assistant news editor for spring 2012. The Orion awarded Juniper with the Best News Writer award both semesters, and Juniper wrote for a news series that won third place in the California College Media Association in 2012.
Aubrey Crosby Aubrey is a junior majoring in history and journalism. She joined The Orion in fall 2011 as a staff writer for the news team. She still writes for news along with the sex column. She aims to inform the community by bringing them up-to-date, well-reported news. Her postcollege goal is to write for the San Jose Mercury News.
The Orion encourages letters to the editor and commentary from students, faculty, staff, administration and community members.
• Letters and commentaries may be delivered to The Orion, Plumas Hall Room 001. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. Letters are also accepted by e-mail and go directly to the opinion editor at opinioneditor@theorion.com
“I talked to accused murderers, Tennessee-based financial experts and one veteran congressman, just so I could report it all back to you.” BEN MULLIN, NEWS EDITOR PAGE 5
CHICO STATE FACTS FOUNDED: 1887 PRESIDENT: PAUL ZINGG ASSOCIATED STUDENTS PRESIDENT: JAYPINDERPAL VIRDEE SCHOOL MASCOT: WILDCAT SCHOOL COLORS: CARDINAL AND WHITE
THE ORION • COVER ILLUSTRATION BY LIZ COFFEE
• Commentaries should be limited to 500 to 700 words and are subject to editing for length and clarity. Please include your phone number.
SOURCE • CSUCHICO.EDU
• Letters to the editor should be limited to fewer than 300 words, must include writer’s name and phone number (for verification) and are subject to condensation. Please include your year in school and major, or your business title.
• The Orion does not publish anonymous letters, letters that are addressed to a third party or letters that are in poor taste. The opinions expressed by The Orion’s columnists do not necessarily reflect those of The Orion or its staff.
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• • • • Fall 2012 Events: Internship Fair: Wed 8/29, 6pm GSEC office Queer Week: 10/8-10/12 Take Back the Night: 11/8 Women’s Conference: 12/8
FREE!
Tampons Condoms Dental Dams Lube
The Women’s Program and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) Program is dedicated to promoting education and safe environments for people of all sexual and gender identities.
We have student parking available
NOW TAKING RESERVATIONS
BMU 005 (Across from Common Grounds) Monday-Friday, 10am - 4pm (530) 898-5724
Located at 878 E 20th Street 530.343.7166
We Also Accept:
Mon-Fri: 8am-12pm, 1pm-4pm Sat: 8am-12pm Sun: closed
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*NOTE: Call ahead for appliances Directly across from Sierra Nevada Brewery Also located at NorCal Recyclers - 1855 Kusel Rd. in
Oroville & at 766 Chico Oro Hwy in Durham.
into
Summer headlines give glimpse of news to affect students this fall Ben Mullin NE WS EDITOR
After many students left town this spring, I worked as a reporter in the wood-fired convection oven that is Chico during summertime. I inhaled smoke while covering wildfires. I had to coax my legs back to life after City Council meetings. I talked to accused murderers, Tennessee-based financial experts and one veteran congressman, just so I could report it all back to you. So if you’re new to Chico State or just an old-timer who needs a refresher course, here’s a quick primer on summer news that will shape events in Chico this semester. Taxing troubles The fate of higher education hangs in the balance this November. Over the summer, lawmakers, student representatives and the governor FOLLOW @BENMULLIN ON TWITTER
continued to debate a ballot initiative that would raise sales taxes by a quarter-cent and impose a progressive income tax on the wealthy. Proposition 30 would raise about $6 billion in revenue over five years, according to an analysis from the California Legislative Analyst’s Office. Here’s the kicker: If voters don’t approve the tax increases, higher education gets a serious cut, to the tune of $250 million. If that happens, the California State University system — the system that governs 23 public universities in California — has said it may have to reduce enrollment, cut course sections or raise tuition. Maybe all three. So far, advocates for and against Brown’s proposition have been split into two camps. Those in favor of the increases say they’re a small price to pay for the continued quality of higher education. Those opposed say that allowing the state a way out through
the pockets of taxpayers will only encourage them to spend more recklessly in the future. Either way, I can’t remember a time when voting had a more immediate impact on my own future. Strike one The union that represents all of the professors in the CSU system threatened to go on strike a few times during the negotiation of its new contract last semester. Covering the strike vote was like watching Bugs Bunny taunt Yosemite Sam by drawing lines in the sand every few feet. Press releases announced that 95 percent of California Faculty Association members voted to authorize a strike, while professors announced that the strike was really going to happen this time, really, really. About two months after school got out, the CSU reached a tentative agreement with the CFA that had no new salary increases but allowed the
union to reopen the contract in fiscal year 2012-2013. The contract is due to be ratified in mid-September, but with the opportunity for renegotiation so near, the CFA could be a few months away from demanding higher salaries. The silent debate One of the driving forces of news in Chico is the sometimes turbulent relationship between the permanent, older residents of the city and the younger, temporary residents. The debate surrounding Chico’s changing noise ordinance makes that clear. For about a year now, the city has been trying to come up with a new law that changes how police deal with noisy parties. Currently, police are only allowed to fine the host of a noisy house party within 72 hours of delivering a written warning for a previous noise violation. Seventy-two hours after the first written warning is issued, another written warning must be given out
before the host can be fined. This limitation has led the Chico Police Department to request that the City Council amend the current noise ordinance to allow police to issue fi nes to noisy neighbors at their discretion, supposedly to cut down on noise citywide. On Aug. 7, the council directed the city attorney to come up with a new noise ordinance that allows police to issue a fine anytime within six months of issuing a written warning. However, that new law isn’t going into effect before Chico State students have another opportunity to speak their minds at a City Council meeting. Students interested in addressing the council can do so when the noise ordinance comes up again, probably sometime within the next month. Ben Mullin can be reached at newseditor@theorion.com
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Biking basics keep freshmen from causing accidents, getting tickets Kjerstin Wood OPINION EDITOR
As you have probably already learned, biking is a pretty big deal in Chico. With our campus’ green image and relatively condensed college area, biking is often the best way to get to and from class or just around town with friends. But many incoming freshmen, and even those who have been here for some time, may not know that driving rules also apply to biking. That’s right, stopping at stop signs and riding on the actual street rather than the sidewalk are required of bikers. Remember these simple tips to be a more courteous and informed Chico biker, while also avoiding the fines that come with biking tickets. Kjerstin Wood can be reached at opinioneditor@theorion.com
DO: — Stop at all yields, stop signs and traffic lights, just like you would in a car. This can prevent you from getting hit by a car or from seriously injuring a pedestrian. — Get your bike registered with University Police, especially if you are living on campus. This isn’t just a Chico State thing — the California Department of Motor Vehicles requires all bicycles to be licensed, according to University Police’s website. You can get this done for $10. — Be respectful of other bikers, pedestrians and cars. Nobody wants to be the person who cuts someone off. — Park your bike correctly in the bike racks. If it falls over as soon as you turn around to walk to class, don’t ignore it. Fix it. — Buy a bike lock. This should go without saying, but you need to lock up your mode of transportation. Bike theft happens, and broke college students are better off investing in a $20 or $30 lock than having to replace a $200 bike.
THE ORION • ILLUSTRATION BY CHELSEA ROSS
DON’T: — Ride with headphones in your ears. One ear may be acceptable, but you can get a ticket for riding while jamming out to Kanye West. It’s dangerous, because you can’t hear cars or people around you. — Ride on the sidewalk. You may be scared to ride on the sketchy Chico streets that don’t always have bike lanes, but running over those walking on the sidewalk is just rude.
— Ride on campus. The walkways on campus get crowded and busy, especially between classes. You aren’t going to save yourself any time if you have to constantly swerve in between students who are in just as much of a rush as you. — Bike against traffic. You have to bike the way the cars are going. Not doing so is another great way to earn yourself a ticket from the friendly neighborhood police officers.
FOLLOW @KJERSTINWOOD ON TWITTER
RESPECT The Community The River Each Other
Lets make this a safe Labor Day Weekend
CHICO POLICE DEPARTMENT
THE ORION • ILLUSTRATION BY CHELSEA ROSS
How to keep love alive despite distance is about as long distance as it gets — she is in San Diego, while her boyfriend is in Germany. She mostly sticks to communiAubrey Crosby cating with him through Facebook every STAFF WRITER day, but differing time zones make the five There are few things in a relationship or so messages per day seem inadequate. If you are in a similar situation, trying harder than being apart for an extended to stay up late on a weekend night may period of time. When I first moved to Chico last year, my boy- help. If you’re up late into the night to talk friend went to UC Irvine, and we struggled every to your significant other, you’ll be happy day to find the time to talk to each other between that you got a good amount of social interaction but grumpy from the lack of sleep. classes and our social lives. You may alternate doing this to spare Long distance relationships are tough. Throw college into the mix and they become yourselves the sleep deprivation. If one of you wakes up early, the just downright hard to other in the opposing time maintain. But it is posDepending on the zone can stay up late. It sible, depending on your seems like a hassle, but a relationship. mood you’re in, worthwhile relationship I was far too clingy to you can even work merits the effort. ever have a successful long something out to feed If you can’t find any distance relationship, and I your sexual appetite time to talk outside of the understood that. So I cut it occasional text, you can off as soon as I could. If your without physically still make it work. relationship relies on physibeing with your Trust is the main ingrecal affection or sex, long partner. dient for any successful distance will not be the easrelationship. If you trust iest thing for you. But there that your significant other are ways to work around it. My current boyfriend and I lived on is faithful, thinking about you and trying opposite sides of the state during summer to contact you, a long distance relationvacation, and I could hardly afford a trip to ship may end up successful. It will still be difficult to go without see him, so we used Skype. It’s a great way to see and hear your partner if you can work communication, but you should be able around each other’s schedules. Depending to rest assured that things will be fine the on the mood you’re in, you can even work second you’re back together. Don’t throw your relationship out the something out to feed your sexual appetite without physically being with your partner. window now that school has started unless Then there are texts and phone calls. you absolutely cannot handle it. There are While this seems a little slower and less many ways to help you get through it, and rewarding than Skype, it is the easiest way in the end, your relationship will be stronto talk to your significant other throughout ger because of it. the day, because, let’s be honest, most of us text even when we are busy. Aubrey Crosby can be reached at My best friend is in a relationship that sexcolumnist@theorion.com FOLLOW @AUBREYCROSBY ON TWITTER
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GLOSSARY The Aves The area directly north of campus, beginning at First Avenue and extending to Eighth Avenue. Home to students much like downtown, but less frequented by partygoers.
The Bear The restaurant/bar on West Second and Salem streets. Officially named Madison Bear Garden, in Chico it is universally known as The Bear.
BMU The Bell Memorial Union, near the Performing Arts Center and the Student Services Center, houses the Wildcat Store, Associated Students, Common Grounds coffee shop and various campus organizations. Chico feet Grubby, black-bottomed feet acquired from walking around Chico in sandals, flip-flops or barefoot. Creekside May refer to the on-campus coffee shop formally called Sylvester’s Cafe-by-the-Creek near Colusa Hall and behind Kendall, or could refer to Creekside Manor Apartments, a complex popular among students on 11th and Ivy streets.
Downtown The area south of campus extending from West First Street to West 12th Street from north to south and Salem Street to Oak Street from east to west. Home to most sorority and fraternity houses, many big parties are thrown in this area. “Downtown” may also refer to the shops and restaurants around Main and Broadway streets. Five and I Where West Fifth and Ivy streets meet. Popular among partying students, Five and I is home to Riley’s bar and Franky’s Pizza. May also refer to Five and Eye Island Grill, also at West Fifth and Ivy streets.
Pedicabs A bike-drawn carriage taxi service that blasts music while waiting on downtown street corners to give students rides back to their homes or dorms late at night. Usually runs off tips.
Floating Traveling down the Sacramento River in an inner tube. Thousands come to Chico State to float on Labor Day, and many students flock to the river with their tubes as summer approaches at the end of the school year. The Gauntlet/Breezeway The broad cement pathway between the library and Glenn Hall where student groups set up tables — or “table” — to promote events or raise awareness for causes. Tip: Avoid this area if you don’t want to be solicited for change or handed fliers.
Tacos de The Mexican restaurant called Tacos Mary, located at West Fifth and Ivy streets. Formerly named Tacos de Acapulco, many students still refer to it by its nickname of “Tacos de.” Trinity Commons Formerly the Free Speech Area, and still called that by many, it’s the grassy area in between the BMU and the library near Trinity Hall that has served as a venue for demonstrations, entertainment and debate throughout Chico State’s history. Despite the change in name, it is still used for those purposes today. — Compiled by Juniper Rose and illustrated by Chelsea Ross
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THE ORION •ILLUSTRATION BY LIZ COFFEE
Chico offers ideal indoor, outdoor activities Kevin Lee STAFF WRITER
The smoky skies and tripledigit temperatures of a Northern California summer are finally showing signs of waning. Returning students and herds of lanyard-toting freshmen have arrived again, and one thing is clear: Students are ready to step outside and enjoy the many outdoor activities and facilities that this great town has to offer. Aside from front yard games of beer pong and the occasional Frisbee toss, new students may not have taken note of the beautiful spots Chico has to offer. Almost all are free of charge and just a quick bike ride away. Whether it is the awe-inspiring beauty of Upper Bidwell Park or the state of
the art Wildcat Recreation Center, the resources available to students are all too often ignored. If you’re hoping to avoid the Freshman 15 or simply wish to explore Chico, there are plenty of places to go and things to do. Bidwell Park is the third largest municipal park in California and is within walking distance of most student residencies. The park is divided into two main sections that together offer nearly every sporting activity there is. The park’s easy-to-use trail system makes biking, walking and running a pleasure. The trails primarily follow the path of Big Chico Creek. Lower Park is close to campus, and its paths are paved and mostly shaded by a dense canopy of trees, making it a fabulous place for the aforementioned athletic activities. In addition to these trails, there
is also the One-Mile Recreation Area, which is the home of Sycamore Pool. While it seems to be a
Whether it is the aweinspiring beauty of Upper Bidwell Park or the state of the art Wildcat Recreation Center, the resources available to students are all too often ignored.
typical public pool at first, you’ll quickly realize that it is actually a portion of the creek that has been dammed up and made into an ideal place to cool off after a day in the sun. Aside from the pool, Lower Park contains well-maintained baseball and softball fields, as
well as large grass areas perfectly suited for capture the flag or soccer. Expect crowds on the weekends, however, as this longstanding Chico favorite is known and beloved by many. For those slightly more adventurous and looking to escape the crowds, venturing higher and deeper into Upper Bidwell Park provides an unbelievable setting that sits quietly in the middle of Northern California. The terrain is advanced and only accessible via dirt roads, but mountain bikers and serious hikers are rewarded with majestic views when climbing every peak. Also, remember that vehicle access is closed to the public on Sundays and Mondays. While Chico’s climate and natural beauty create an ideal outdoor playground for nearly any sport, many still prefer the consistency
and structure a gym can offer. Thankfully for students and faculty, the WREC offers modern sports facilities. The WREC provides nearly all of the major indoor sports equipment desired by students at a quality unparalleled in Chico. In addition to regular pickup games for all the major sports and premium weightlifting equipment, there are more uncommon activities such as rock climbing and badminton. Bad weather, niche interests, empty wallets and a lack of teammates are no longer valid excuses to avoid getting out and getting active with all these incredible opportunities. Summer is ending and the smoke is fading, so put down the Keystone, lace up your sneakers and go play. Kevin Lee can be reached at klee@theorion.com