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“Willy Wonka Jr.” comes to the Blue Room Theatre. Story C3
VOLUME 67 ISSUE 16
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 14, 2011
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Motorcycle crash kills man
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A $100 million midyear budget cut to the California State University system was realized Tuesday when Gov. Jerry Brown announced that California had not met its projected revenue goals. California will see about $1 billion in automatic spending cuts in total. The “trigger-cut” means a $4.1 million reduction in state support for Chico State this academic year, Chico State President Paul Zingg said previously. The CSU will not raise tuition for the spring semester, according to a press release from the CSU Chancellor’s Office. The $100 million reduction comes on top of a $650 million cut in state support already enacted.
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He was, and will always be, my angel. We said forever, and I will love him forever.
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CHELSEA PASQUINI Christopher Bonifield’s girlfriend
nor the driver’s major accident and two passengers that someone was suffered injuries. trapped under a car, While Chico Chico police Sgt. police are still Billy Aldridge said. investigating “When we got the cause of the there witnesses had accident, witalready pulled the ness accounts motorcyclist out from and initial underneath the car,” police investiAldridge said. CHRISTOPHER gation point to Bonifield was BONIFIELD speed as a factor transported to Enloe Butte College in the accident, Medical Center student Aldridge said. with major injuries, Bonifield had Aldridge said. The car involved was driven been studying at Butte Colby Jack Levey, a 22-year-old lege for the past year and from Mount Chico State senior, he said. graduated Neither the driver of the car, Shasta High School in 2009.
Kjerstin Wood Juniper Rose THE ORION
A Butte College student died Monday, two days after suffering serious injuries in a motorcycle accident at the intersection of West Fifth and Walnut streets. The motorcyclist, Christopher Bonifield, 20, was ejected about 150 feet after striking a car, according to a press release from Chico police. The Chico Police Department received numerous 911 calls at about 2 p.m. Saturday saying there was a
n o i t a p s u u c t c O kes hia ta
Sources: CSU Chancellor’s Office and President Paul Zingg
He is survived by his parents Lance and Barbara Bonifield, brother Larry Bonifield and his girlfriend, Chelsea Pasquini, a journalism major at Chico State. Pasquini didn’t know what the words true love meant until she met Bonifield, she said. “He was, and will always be, my angel,” Pasquini said. “We said forever, and I will love him forever.” Bonifield was very smart and loved to live life to the fullest, said Kaleb Fitzgerald, Bonifield’s roommate and a Chico State environmental >> please see CRASH | A7
Class cuts for Butte College has Chico State brainstorming Griffin Rogers STAFF WRITER
Check out A3 for continuing Occupy Chico State coverage.
Chico State’s last monthly blood drive before break will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today in the Bell Memorial Union auditorium. Students should be generally healthy and drink plenty of fluids before giving blood.
Read Chico State President Paul Zingg’s take on the group.
Source: Campus Calendar
THE ORION • AARON DRAPER
UNOCCUPIED Michael Coyle, assistant professor of political science, speaks to members of Occupy Chico State, which decided to end its occupation on campus until next semester. In spring the group plans to resume rallies in eff orts to raise awareness regarding state cuts to higher education.
The Banana Slug String Band will present “Slugs for the Holidays,” a fun-filled, educational performance, tonight in Laxson Auditorium. Through interactive music and live performances, The Slugs educate children and families about the environment and earth science. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 for students and children. Source: Chico Performances
A Google webinar, “Extending Your Search Skills: Staying Relevant in a Changing World,” will be shown at 9 a.m. Friday in the Center for Continuing Education Room 107. The webinar is part of a series developed by the Google Education Search Team for faculty members, students and other California State University community members. This webinar will explain how to remain a proficient search engine user as the underlying technology changes. Source: Campus Calendar
Viability of competing coffee shops brews trouble for one Sam Kelly STAFF WRITER
After the Chico State Wildcat Store opened its own coffee shop, Wildcat Wakeup, this semester, a drop in sales at Common Grounds has raised questions of the shop’s future. There are now two coffee shops in the Bell Memorial Union, said Evan White, a senior physics major and Common Grounds barista. Recent cuts to Common MORE ON Grounds COMMON include GROUNDS fewer working hours Story A3 for employees and no more aprons, but the most pressing concern is if Common Grounds will stay open. “They are holding a gun to our head and they don’t even know it,” White said. At the last Associated Students business committee meeting, it was learned that there was a decrease in Common Grounds sales, but more information is needed to determine if that drop in sales is due to Wildcat Wakeup, said Daniel Etheredge, A.S. vice president of business and fi nance. In November, there was more than a 24 percent
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THE ORION • FRANK REBELO
COMMON RIVALRY Gina Gibbs, a Chico State graduate student studying English, orders coffee from Matt Dring, a senior health administration major, at Common Grounds in the Bell Memorial Union. reduction in sales at Common Grounds, and it is estimated about 16 percent of that drop can be attributed to the addition of Wildcat Wakeup, said Corrine Knapp, A.S. Dining Services retail manager in an email interview.
“The main vision for the A.S. is to supply these services to students and make sure that it is a special experience for everyone,” Etheredge said. “I defi nitely think they can coexist, and >> please see BREW | A7
Unable to turn students away and teaching some of them for free, Butte College has cut hundreds of courses in its curriculum, delaying graduation and transfer to Chico State. In order to cope with a lack of funding from the state, Butte College cut 125 courses this year and plans to cut about 100 more next year, said Allen Renville, vice president for student services. The college has also canceled the 2011-2012 winter session for the first time. The many cuts in the academic schedule are necessary, because enrollment has greatly exceeded the capacity of students the state is willing to pay for, Renville said. State funds cover 10,900 Butte College students, but there are 11,900 students currently enrolled. “It used to be come one, come all,” Renville said. “But the reality is we can’t be everything for everyone now.” Without being offered the crucial classes needed to transfer, students will have to sit out of college until the courses are available, he said. The wait could last up to a year, and then students will have to hope classes aren’t full. Reprioritizing registration could help fix this problem, he said. “We’ve never been in a situation where we can’t accommodate everyone who walks through the door,” Renville said. “So, the question becomes, ‘Who’s first?’” Enrollment numbers for the spring 2012 semester show Butte College at 85 percent capacity, he said. Math, science and reading classes are 90 percent full. MORE ON That number doesn’t CHICO STATE include the additional 700 ENROLLMENT students projected from new student registration See story A3 over the next month. “That’s how serious it is,” Renville said. “We are looking at a capacity we’ve never seen in history.” Chico State is being significantly affected by Butte College’s situation, a problem experienced by most community colleges across the state, said Kathleen Kaiser, a statewide senator on the Academic Senate. While Butte College doesn’t need any more students, Chico State can’t get enough, she said. “We don’t get enough students completing minimum requirements for admission to Chico State,” Kaiser said. The system is set up so that Chico State takes transfer students from the six community colleges in its service area: Butte College, Yuba College, College of Siskiyous, Lassen College, Feather River College and Shasta College. Considering the distance between each of the six community colleges, Chico State has a wide area to pull transfer students from, Kaiser said. However, because Chico State wants highly qualified transfer students so badly, it >> please see CUTS | A7
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The sports staff picks fall’s top five athletes. Check out the selections on B1
Features Learn to make fast finals meals with these soup and mushroom burger recipes. Food column D4
Opinion A tribute to The Orion’s longest-running adviser. Editorial A8