2008 Woodie Awards
It's funny how life comes at us so fast. One minute you're hanging out on cloud nine, the next you're stranded on the side of the road with a broken cell phone.
On the Saturday of the weekend before Memorial Day, while visiting a friend out of town, I totaled my only source of transportation because I fell asleep behind the wheel.
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The passing of Assembly Bill 32 in 2006 ushered in a new position for California making the state the forefront on the fight against global warming. The passage of AB 32 in 2006 created a mandate for California to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to pre-1990 levels by 2020.
AB 118 is another bill running in the same vein as AB 32. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez's AB 118 was passed by both houses and was sent to Gov. Schwarzenegger for signing Thursday just before the legislature adjourned for the year. Nunez also authored AB 32.
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Something must be slowing down the graduation process. An editorial cartoon by Paul Rios. (0) comments
Last school year, President Alexander Gonzalez grappled with many different challenges ranging from compromising with disgruntled faculty members to addressing necessary changes to an evolving campus. It's no secret that he didn't make many friends among Sacramento State students and faculty in the process. (1) comment
Summer time withdrawals have all worn off. Students are making their way through the first of their assignments shuffling to and from their classes, late registrations are all but filled out, that obnoxious guy sitting in the back row is already pushing that last nerve and another week at Sacramento State goes by.
The routine of school is back and students are returning to robot-mode, but that doesn't have to be the case.
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Men's sports have dominated the media and our consciences from time immemorial. Men's sports get coverage on the major television networks, especially ESPN, and women's sports often are relegated to ESPN2.
There is the belief that men's sports are more exciting, more fast-paced and more entertaining. Is that really true?
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Welcome back everyone to another semester at Sacramento State - "A premier metropolitan university and a destination campus…a university of choice for prospective students and employees throughout the West." At least that is what the school administration would like everyone to think. The Recreation and Wellness Center is currently under construction. The new bookstore is open for business - all 53,000 square feet of it - which is almost double the size of the old bookstore. Where are the newly built classrooms to relieve the overcrowding of current classrooms? (0) comments
Over the years, Sacramento State has played host to the likes of Dr. Drew Pinsky of Love Line fame, feature film director Oliver Stone and bands which included Flogging Molly, Hieroglyphics and De la Soul. Like Barbara Streisand said, that's the way we were.
UNIQUE Programs is a volunteer group that brings innovative, quality entertainment to campus. Student volunteers work hard each semester to plan, promote and produce all UNIQUE events. At least, that's what it says on its website.
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TODAY
In another universe, we are still using CasperWeb and it's as though we never developed the proverbial opposable thumb. The symphonic thump you hear is the sound of the student body bashing heads on keyboards, hoping against reason that a registration page might actually load.
Those muffled sobs are the sound of working students unable to reach a computer in time to add that last minute class. And that faint burning smell?
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Jordan Guinn's column in this space last week was ostensibly a report on the President's Fall Address, but Mr. Guinn could barely control himself until he got to his real story - his opportunity to announce to all who cared to listen that "no one wants to be here (at Sac State)." I have heard this message from these pages before. In the past, I have let it go unchallenged but I cannot let it go this time.
I am not sure what kind of event in Mr. Guinn's personal history triggered the kind of self-loathing that seeps from his column. I am sorry that perhaps the whole Berkeley or Stanford thing didn't work out for him. Apparently the really hip people, the people in the know, the cool kids, have to declare to everyone that the appropriate attitude to strike is that no one wants to be here at Sac State.
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Anyone in need of a cold beer will be happy to know that Hula Dog, located in the River Front Center, has added a bar to their facility. They now offer beer and wine and eventually plan to serve margaritas. There is nothing like a tall glass of courage before that speech or to forget about that midterm you just bombed. However, the bar has imposed drink limits. Much like The Hive at Round Table, there is a three drink maximum per person and the person must wear a bracelet that gets marked each time they purchase a beer.
The River Front Center housed a bar called The Pub in the past, but it was closed. Why bring one back now?
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The Women's Resource Center remembered the sixth anniversary of 9/11 on Tuesday. The message of the day: Show people what the world would be like if people focused on peace instead of war and violence. The intention and nobility of the day's events were broadsided by the lack of interest from the campus population. (0) comments
College is an environment more casual than most, where new freedoms bring new challenges and responsibilities. The casual environment of college puts students in a position to easily fall into uncensored conversations with friends and sometimes with professors.
In some cases though, students and professors can cross the line. The countless unpublished credos on what is, and what is not, acceptable on campus make it more difficult to determine what really is acceptable when a complaint is filed. The idea of being sexually harassed by another student or a professor is a scary thought, but it is a reality some face.
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Which supplies are the hardest to find at the new bookstore?
An editorial cartoon by Paul Rios.
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What effects have enrollment figures had on Sacramento State?
An editorial cartoon by Paul Rios.
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Talking on a cell phone is as impairing as being legally drunk, or so psychologists at the University of Utah believe, after conducting a study.
"People are as impaired when they drive and talk on a cell phone as when they drive intoxicated at the legal blood-alcohol limit," Frank Drews, a co-author of the University of Utah study, said. Drews and his colleagues also concluded from their study that drivers using a cell phone are four times more likely to get in an accident than those who are not.
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Given the amount a student invests in preparation for higher education, huge novice expectations are reasonable. But these hopes are the windmills of a social and careerist knight-errant. Parties, internships, booze, sex and connections - if only it were so simple.
Freshmen arrive at Sacramento State with boundless optimism, and it's enough to warm the cockles of a cold, cynical heart. But any sympathy stems from lived-through naivety. The reality is that college life is one subtle complication after another, a balancing act that requires some finagling for the best results. Mistakes are inevitable.
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Before entering the University Ballroom to see Sacramento State University President Alexander Gonzalez take the stage to deliver his fall address for 2007, I had to navigate through the tables belonging to the California Faculty Association that contained buttons, pamphlets, calendars and other assorted propaganda. It was clear by the hats worn by the CFA members that brashly displayed the words "We Won!" that they are quite pleased with themselves for securing a new contract. (3) comments
