Letters to the Editor

Letter to Gov. Davis was good, but needed to be copy edited

I think it is great that the State Hornet and ASI are urging students to voice their unhappiness with Governor Gray Davis not appointing a student trustee. However, my biggest concern is that the letter, which was reprinted in the State Hornet for students to sign and send to the Governor, has a typo in the first sentence. The reprinted letter was printed to encourage students to sign it and send it off, to save students time and offer them an easy way to quickly voice their opinion. Since this is such an important issue, that the State Hornet took the time to reprint the letter and use a quarter of a page, I am upset that no one took the time to proof read the letter. As a CSUS student I am embarrassed to sign this letter, with such an obvious error. I hope in the future, letters are proof read before they are offered to others to sign. If the Governor receives any of these letters it will cause embarrassment to the State Hornet, ASI and al CSUS students.
— Crystal M. Clark
Communications Major

This letter is in regards to the sample letter placed in the Wednesday, October 27th edition of the Hornet. The letter was a sample format to be used when writing to Governor Gray Davis about the lack of student representation on the Board of Trustees of the California State University.

I think it is great that he Hornet staff has made it easy for students to express their concerns to the governor. However, I feel that before such a letter is offered as reference, its format and spelling should first be edited.

Not all members of the student body have taken business-writing classes, and therefore may not know what a professional letter should look like. Governor Davis will probably take the letters he receives more seriously if it looks as though each student cared enough about the cause to take the time needed to create a professional-looking letter.
— T. Stevens
Concerned Student

Rec Center endorsement letters

The Recreation Center is a wonderful idea for students. It would give us a brand-new, state-of-the-art center for a multitude of activities. Everything included in the center will be decided on by the students, for the students. Some possibilities are: free weights, cardiovascular equipment, kick-boxing, indoor soccer, wall climbing, indoor/outdoor pool, childcare center. The possibilities are endless. The new center would also house a food court, and various multi-purpose rooms and gyms for classes and organized athletics.

Overall, the center is a great idea that would greatly improve campus life by giving students a new place to get fit, hang out, and study. Not to mention the new student jobs that would be created. ASI only wants this fitness center if you do. All of us here on the third floor of the Student Union would LOVE if you stopped by with any questions or concerns about the fitness center, or anything else. I hope that this honest insight into the Recreation Center has helped you become more of an educated voter on this important topic happening here on your Capitol Campus.

STUDENTS FIRST!
— Strati Vourakis
Director of Undeclared Students
Associated Students, Inc.

Exercise your right to vote on Nov. 16th and 17th on the Recreation Referendum. Coming here as a freshman, I thought “great Sacramento State, nothing exciting, but since then my opinion has changed. I am proud to say that I go to one of the most powerful campuses in the CSU system. We are the capital campus and I believe that it is our job to set the tone for the rest of the State. I have been a student for three years now and I have seen the campus life increase over the years. A Recreation Center for the students would not only increase campus life, but the prestige of the campus as well.

The recreation facilities would have facilities that are beyond what are offered in a normal gym for half the price one pays monthly to go to a gym off campus. Parking is a concern, but with or without the building of the recreation center the administration is going to have to deal with that issue. I encourage everyone to vote for the Recreation Center. Years from now students will appreciate your long-range vision, in much the same way we are thankful to those who made today’s University Union possible. Vote Nov. 16th and 17th.
— Effie Miller
ASI Director of Campus Life

Rec Center Endorsements

The benefits of a new recreational facility at Sacramento State far outweigh the costs. For instance, the Rec. Center will contain dance and aerobic studios that are in much better shape than the current classrooms in Yosemite Hall. As a student who happens to take a dance class in one of these classrooms, I know the space is not adequate but can be improved as some of the mirrors are chipped and lighting is dark. In addition, the new Recreational Center will contain an indoor pool, unlike the outdoor ones which students utilize during winter months when they are more prone to illnesses being exposed to the harsh elements of a cold climate. Las, but not least, a new weight facility with modernized equipment is planned complete with personal trainers who will teach students the proper way to strength train. This setup not only gives students the chance to improve their health, which contributes to a sound mind in academics, but also creates additional job opportunities for students interested in health sciences.

As a graduating senior, who will not be here when the facility is built, I may not be able to reap the rewards from seeing a recreational center located conveniently on campus, but I will at least leave here knowing that the next wave of students who choose Sacramento State as their post high school educational institution will have a recreational center built like the Student Union.
— Donna Bruins
Senior, Biological Science Major

The Young Democrats at California State University, Sacramento hereby unanimously endorses the Recreation Center that will go before voter approval on November 16th and 17th.

We discussed the proposed Rec Center in detail and came to the conclusion that the center is well thought out, will enhance campus life, foster healthy living, is affordable with a mere starting cost of $15 per semester, and will give Sacramento State additional prestige and admiration.
— Devin Cook
President of the Young Democrats at CSUS

Too many problems surround Rec Center propsal

I have watched and listened to the pros and cons about the recreation center/arena issue for thee semesters. I’ve waited to see what would happen and if a student vote would support the issue. The voters said “no.” Where are we now?

I have read articles in this campus paper that make reference to the Cox Arena at San Diego State. I AM FROM SAN DIEGO STATE and can give you a true view of the Cox Arena and what it has done to the students of that university. Cox Arena was built on a historical site that few wanted to see destroyed. The project proceeded despite that fact. Cox Arena opened in the fall of 1997 to much fanfare and hoopla.

Let me tell you about the real problems associated with such a huge arena on SDSU’s campus. The arena is rented to groups for events, often during daytime hours when students are in classes.

As a result of the arena being rented during the day to religious groups, large political gatherings, private enterprise, and others, to conduct mass meetings, SDUSU students are displaced from a 7-story parking structure adjacent to the arena. Often that displacement goes on for days.

Cox Arena also contains a recreation center for students, alumni, faculty, and staff use. The numbers using that center are rather low, considering that the student body is very large. Like CSUS, San Diego State is a commuter school. There are many fitness centers and health clubs within a reasonable distance of the campus.

None of the negative effects of Cox Arena have been provided to the students of Sac State whenever a reference is made to SDSU’s project. Why not? The use of a consulting group to force this issue clearly shows that the administration of this university believes that we are uninformed and can be easily swayed.

They believe that no one could ask some of the hard questions. The collective intelligence of the student body is insulted and devalued by the people at CSUS who are trying to take our money to build the arena/rec center.

Yes, there’s a certain sense of apathy on this campus, and I find that a lot of it emanates from the administration’s ivory tower. I need my $200 to purchase groceries or pay for my utilities over a semester and no one is going to take my $200.

Fee increases should be used to set higher standards for incoming students so that we don’t have people who can’t spell or write in our university classes. Why must they spend a semester or more in remedial classes before they can tackle “real” university work?

Fee increases should be used to enhance programs that provide the best education for teachers who can then raise the educational standards in California’s school districts.

I am a middle-aged woman who is a full-time graduate student. I work part time because time and age are not on my side in the grander scheme of midlife career transition.

I don’t have a lot of years left to finish my master’s and get on with being productive again in the real world.

I am self-supporting (one or two part-time jobs, sometimes three), and cannot afford to have $200 of my money taken to support the construction of a boondoggle.

I have my own solution if Gerth and his consultants and a few pandering ASI individuals succeed in this vote. I spent many years as a legal secretary and paralegal while I raised my children as a single parent. I know the ins and outs of the legal system and what legal remedies exist. If the rec center/arena issue passes,

I WILL file a temporary restraining order and request a permanent injunction to prevent the university from usurping my money. Each of you can do the same thing. Court filing fees are waived for people on tight budgets. I’m up to the challenge, are the rest of you?
— Trish Hogan
Graduate Student

Fighting the ‘good fight’

Thank you for supporting the students’ right to select their own representatives to University Committees. The specific case is that of the $55 million gouging machine called the FOUNDATION. The bad food in the dorms, the high cost of books, and the outrageous catering prices in the Union are all brought to by the FOUNDATION. This supposedly independent board is now chaired by a university employee handpicked and answerable to President Gerth. And now he is afraid to give me a voice on this committee. What is he hiding? Only time will tell.

On the Rec. Center — I ask for your support. It is a good plan and makes a lot of sense. The fee increases over five years and provides us with a great facility. Pools, workout facilities, new gyms, new fields, indoor track and soccer field, sand volleyball courts, and a rock-climbing wall are all included in this project. Today we have the worst facilities in the state — we deserve a new facility. Do not forget to vote on Nov 16 and 17.

And finally, on the recent campus protests. The Latinos and others who have gathered to protest their treatment in the Hornet and their general treatment on our campus are fighting a good fight. Racism lives within our society and it lives within the walls of our university. I have joined them as a member of United Students for Action (USA). I urge you to join and help fight the good fight. If you are interested in getting any more information on any of these issues, please feel free to call me anytime at 278-4866 or 402-9741 or e-mail me at south@csus.edu.
Sean C. South
Vice-President of University Affairs/ASI

Rec Center not worth extra fees

Apparently not. Okay, then. Here are some other questions.

An article in the State Hornet on Sep. 22 seemed to imply that the need for a special election was based on the small turnout at last spring’s election. If this small turnout is the basis for the special election — and not simply the fact that ASI board members and CSUS administration were unhappy with the results — then why not do the entire election over again?

Or is it that the ASI board has determined that their elections were somehow valid whereas the rec center referendum must have been a mistake?

Does anyone seriously believe that B & D would have been called in (to the tune of $50,000 paid for by the “University” whoever that might be) to find out what students really think, had the vote last spring been affirmative?

Exactly where did that money come from? It has been alleged that it was donated by CSUS Foundation — a non-profit agency supported largely by the exorbitant cost of students’ textbooks. If that is true, I question Foundation’s involvement in trying to sway an election.

While it may be within the letter of the law, clearly such use of tax-exempt dollars fails to meet the requirements of the spirit of the law. Of course, unlike Foundation or the “University,” I do not have legal counsel, much less an extra $50,000 to hire a truly independent research firm.

Why doesn’t the committee give us some real information? Exactly what are the other universities in the system getting in terms of similar rec center?

What PERCENTAGE of the people forced to pay for them actually use them on a regular basis? How many times have the fees been increased? How much healthier or more fit are the student populations as a result of these extravagances?

How have these non-educational centers impacted the parking situations on those campuses? Who really benefits?

For that matter, why don’t we look at the history of the CSUS Union? What was the original referendum back then? When and how much have those expenses increased over the years? Is it paid for? Or is most of our $71 going toward interest, etc.? Who’s really cashing in here?

While I am certainly no whiz at numbers, it seems to me that the proposed referendum asks students to agree to what will be a 44 percent fee increase. How often does that sort of thing happen?

Well, those are just a few of the questions for now. I have plenty more. Let’s look, next, at the actual referendum and see how many loopholes we can find.