Immediate Needs

Managing transportation and -- ugh -- parking

Tips on parking, riding the free bus and getting to CSUS on time

Unfortunately, because CSUS is a “commuter school,” most students commute to campus. Yes, as true Californians, we (all 23,000 of us) insist on driving to school. A car is great to have at school because not only is it a convenient method of transportation, but it can be used as a locker or makeshift napping spot. There are many reasons to drive to school. But there are only so many parking spaces. This creates a BIG problem. Believe us, arriving late to class because you couldn't find a parking space is not an acceptable excuse as far as most professors are concerned. The parking situation never improves despite the best efforts by the university. A new parking lot behind the University Union is open this semester, and that might help a little bit, but spaces are always being taken away from students for things like BASS tickets parking or new buildings. So be prepared to face an ugly scene in the lots when school starts, and follow two simple rules:

Get here early

Buy a parking pass

For $63 a semester, students, staff and faculty can buy a permit to drive around campus looking for a parking spot. We like to take a cue from Sac City College students who call parking passes “hunting licenses.” Of course, buying a pass is much more convenient and economical than buying a daily permit each time for $1.75. Besides being expensive, daily permits are nearly impossible to obtain because on any given day, any or all of the lovely permit machines may be out of order. Carpool and motorcycle permits are also available.

Parking permits are sold at the Cashier's Office in Lassen Hall. Do not count on parking for free in a half-hour parking spot while you run in to buy your permit. The line at the Cashier's Office may be LONG and those parking officers in orange vests are extremely good at what they do, namely causing students much grief, frustration, and money. Each parking violation costs $17. Pay attention to parking signs and don't park in green faculty lots. Maps of parking lots are available in the University Transportation And Parking Services in Sacramento Hall. If you do screw up and get a ticket, you can either pay the fine by mail in the envelope provided or visit UTAPS. Or you can contest the ticket. It can't hurt. Go to UTAPS to fill out your excuse for being an idiot and getting a ticket. You can also appeal your ticket online (for those Internet geeks out there). Just go to www.csus.edu/utaps/ and appeal away. For more information about parking or alternative forms of transportation, stop by the UTAPS office or call its staff at 278-PARK.

Regional Transit is Free!

The J Street entrance to campus happens to be a major hub for the city's buses, as does the University/65th Street light rail station. With RT, students can go virtually anywhere in Sacramento County at any time - at no cost. (And if you live in Roseville or Folsom, too bad; you should have your own car. At least that's how it's set up.)

Pocket-sized bus schedules are available at the information center in Sacramento Hall and at the ASI Student Access Center (now an awesome treasure chest of extremely valuable information staffed by students in the know) on the first floor of the Library. Also, for only $1.25, you can buy the complete Bus and Light Rail timetable book at The Store in the University Union.

Hornet Express

The Hornet Express is a much cozier way to travel; the busses are more like large vans and the student drivers play only the coolest music. Plus, you don't have to worry about meeting any “crazies” on this type of public transportation, unless of course you sit next to a journalism major.

Unfortunately, although it is called “Express,” the shuttle does get stuck in the same traffic as everyone else. So, if your class is at 9 a.m., it is wiser to catch the 8 a.m. shuttle rather than the 8:30.

Shuttle schedules are available at The Store in the University Union, the UTAPS office, the information center in Sacramento Hall and the ASI Student Access Center in the Library. For more information about the Hornet Express, call 278-5483.

Night shuttle service

The Night Shuttle Service operates on campus Monday through Thursday from dusk to 11 p.m. Just dial 7260 from any campus phone and a van will pick you up and drive you to your destination. Remember, it's always better to be safe than sorry.

And while we're on the subject of being safe...

Safe Rides

ASI's Safe Rides program is here to help. If you don't feel secure about your preplanned transportation, call the Safe Rides hotline and a designated driver will pick you up from virtually anywhere in Sacramento and get you home alive and well. Drivers have even been known to take students all the way to Davis or Folsom in order to save their lives.

Safe Rides operates from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday and is staffed by volunteer student drivers. Why call a taxi when you can take Safe Rides for free?

The State Hornet doesn't want to see a decrease in enrollment due to bloody, gruesome deaths. We need all the readers we can get. So please, if your designated driver bends to peer pressure and tips the bottle, call Safe Rides. It may save both your lives.

The Safe Rides hotline is (800) GO-4-CSUS. For volunteering and program information, call 278-7923.

Ridesharing

The UTAPS office has an informational brochure about carpooling perks on campus and the map of the campus parking lots show where the special carpool lots are located. For more info, stop by their office or call them at 278-PARK.

Sacramento Rideshare is one rideshare service you might try. When you call them, they ask you for some info, like where you live and where you're headed. Then they either mail or give you over the phone a list of commuters who are headed the same direction. Calling them up to arrange a ride is then left up to you.

If this sounds good to you, call Sacramento Rideshare at (800) 266-6883. At least you'll stop bugging your friends.

Bicycles

First, you can't ride on sidewalks or pathways. You're stuck to those few roads you find on campus. Yes, there are a few of them, and sometimes you can tell a road from a pathway by whether it's covered with asphalt or whether there are any sidewalks nearby. In general, if there's one of those mean-looking pictographs of a bike with a red circle and line through it, it means you can't ride your bike there. It's supposedly against the Motor Vehicle Code to ride bikes or drive cars down pathways on campus. (Somebody tell that to Facilities Management.)

Second, you can't bring your bike into any building.

Third, you can park only in bike racks or in bike compounds. There are a few blind or visually impaired students on campus (that's why they have all those raised yellow lines all over the place) and occasionally, blind students could maim themselves by accidentally walking into a bike that someone inconveniently chained to a tree.

If campus police find your bike parked illegally, they'll cut your lock and impound your bike. As if that isn't bad enough, you'll have to pay $5 to get it back.

Your best bet is to park in one of two bike compounds: one right next to the CSUS side of the Guy West Bridge, and one behind Amador Hall, next to the baseball diamond. The compound next to the bridge has an attendant on duty from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on school days.

You can get a locker for $25 a semester with a $20 deposit by going behind Lassen Hall, across from the Hornet Bookstore. Lockers are also available from Peak Adventures for $10 a semester.

There's also a campus speed limit of 25 mph. Stick to it.

Dealing with the OneCard is essential

OneCards also double as Library cards and have a handy calling card option on them. You must have a OneCard - besides, they also get you cool discounts around town and free bus rides.

Like all good deals at Sac State, first you must shell out the cash and wait in line to partake in the bounty. For $5 the helpful staff at the OneCard office will take a fairly decent picture of you and hand over a nifty ID card that is your ticket to the campus.

The OneCard office is located in a malignant growth on the South side of Brighton Hall, and will process your application and have you out the door as fast as possible, considering that the line usually has about 100 people in it.

It also acts as a debit card, allowing you to make photocopies on campus machines, and buy products from Pepsi vending machines once you have deposited money into your OneCard account.

Any questions regarding the OneCard program can be answered by calling 278-7878.

Don't let the bureaucracy get you down

Maximum Load

We don't really know why you'd want to take more than 17 units. If you take 17 units per semester, you should graduate in five years.

Actually, you can take 21 units in one semester - but you have to add four of the units through CASPER Plus or by using an add slip. To take any more than 21, you need to have a 3.25 GPA or better, a recommendation from your advisor and you must enjoy pain.

If you are truly into suffering and have a general disregard for both your health and the overall quality of your education, you may enroll in more than 21 units only after both your department chair and the dean have signed your petition. And yes, you must have an overall GPA above 3.25. Don't worry; after taking 27 units your GPA will have taken such a dive that you will be prevented from ever taking more than 21 units again.

Paperwork

If you're a veteran, remember that all vets are required to submit their Veteran's Information Cards each semester or they don't get their benefits. Pick them up at the Veterans Service Center in Lassen Hall, room 111A. (Check in at the admissions counter.) The Veteran's Service Center is closed on Fridays. And by the way, the Hornet extends our thanks to student Veterans.

Probation

By accepting you as a student, CSUS took the chance that you'd actually be a good student and get decent grades. But students who wind up with less than a 2.0 GPA can get into some serious trouble. There's an in-depth, bureaucratic description of what it means to be on probation in your catalog. Rest assured, it isn't pretty. See your adviser about it.

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees is the absolute, preeminent, maxim governing body for the university. Trustees are appointed for eight years by the governor, so ultimately, it's Gray Davis who's at fault for everything (and he used to be a trustee, too, so it's definitely all Davis' fault).

If you want to yap at the trustees, go right ahead. They actually do listen to students. You may direct all your complaints (or compliments) to one address:

c/o Trustees Secretariat
California State University
400 Golden Shore, Ste. 322
Long Beach, CA 90802-4275

Folios and flashers in one location

The Library

The best way to quickly get in and out of the Library is to know exactly what you are looking for. EUREKA is the best place to launch your quest for knowledge.

EUREKA is a computer catalog with the unnerving tendency either to tell you exactly what you need to know, or to send you in circles until you canít tell which way is up. The catalog lists the call numbers of books and their location in the Library. It also tells you whether or not a book has already been checked out.

From EUREKA, there is a Gateway to periodical databases such as InfoTrac, FirstSearch and Carl UnCover. In these databases, you can find articles on topics ranging from the latest environmental issues to the popular fashions of the1960s.

Sometimes an article or book you are looking for won't be where the computer says it is. In situations like this the most important thing is to remain calm, breathe deeply and run, don't walk, to the nearest librarian.

There used to be a reference desk on each floor of the Library. Now all the librarians are eagerly awaiting your questions at a central reference desk located on the second floor. The CSUS librarians are a great bunch with the skill and knowledge to help you with just about any question you may have.

Library Tours

The Library also has a great Web page that has a virtual tour as well as a wealth of information about materials in the Library. What did you expect from a bunch of librarians! Go to www.csus.edu/csuslibr. In our opinion, librarians are so damn organized that they should rule the world.

How It Works

The smaller stuff can grab you by the throat

CASPER

CASPER is, however, the name given to the touch-tone registration system at CSUS.

Whether you love it or hate it, the Registration God who is CASPER doesn't care.

Sooner or later, you will have to surrender to his wishes and register for your classes.

If you experience problems, see visions or become confused while using CASPER, call the CASPER Helpline at 278-8088, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on registration days.

For more information, consult the schedule of classes. If all else fails, consult a Ouija board.

Textbooks

Looking to avoid the Bookstore? Online books! Students tired of waiting in line can now go on-line. Besides the time-saving appeal of Internet shopping, many sites offer large discounts on their textbook selections. Amazon.com, for instance, advertises discounts of 15 to 40 percent off suggested retail prices, and flat rate shipping costs, regardless of the number of books that are ordered.

More directly related to the college textbook market is VarsityBooks.com. Founded only last year by students at George Washington University, VarsityBooks.com bases its stock on listings of the books required for all of a university's courses, and offers those selections at competitive prices. Currently the textbook lists for over 50 universities are available at VarsityBooks.com. Chances are that many of the required textbooks from CSUS are available on VarsityBooks.com this semester. New to the Internet textbook market is www.bigwords.com, which also advertises a large discount on a wide variety of college textbooks. For those students wanting to remain true to their school, the Hornet Bookstore has recently launched its own internet site at www.bookstore.csus.edu.

You can often find the best prices through a book dealer off campus; make a few phone calls. Consider stores that sell used books, such as Beer's Books on L Street. There's also the Book Depot on La Riviera Drive, which deals in used textbooks at lower prices.

Used textbooks or not, the Bookstore still manages to soak you at the cash register. Textbooks are almost always expensive. When they're new, it's the publisher's fault; when they're used, it's the Bookstore's fault. So assign the blame accordingly. At the end of the semester, the Bookstore, generous entity that it is, will buy back your textbooks for about a third of the original price - and, you, the cash-strapped student, will thank them for it. The Bookstore will then sell them back to other students next semester for about 80 percent of the price.

Some instructors never refer to the textbook at all; they require you to have a book simply because it's expected of them. By the first week, you should figure out whether you'll ever open the book; if not, return it to the Bookstore before it's too late.

Grades

If you just want to take a course for credit, there's a pass/fail system of CR (credit) and NC (no credit) grades that aren't averaged into your GPA. It's an option only if the class is designated as such in the course code book or if you're using it in courses that you'll never want to use for General Ed, your major or your minor (e.g., jewelry making).

Then there's U, I, SP, W, RD and AU. Contrary to popular belief, these are not abbreviations for elements you'd find on the periodic table.

U means that you dropped without using a drop form; they're the same as F's.

It means you didn't finish everything in the course; if you never get around to finishing the work, you'll eventually get an F.

W means you dropped late; it stays on your transcript and doesn't influence your GPA, but if you have too many of them, it makes you look like a flake.

SP means your class was still in session when the grades were printed and, although you have not yet passed the class, you have made satisfactory progress. RD means your professor hasn't turned in the grades yet. AU means that you are considered an auditor and you will not be receiving degree credit for the course.

If you want to have your grade changed, you have to talk to the professor as soon as possible. The deadline for working out grade problems is the end of the fourth week of the subsequent semester. For example, if you get a U and it's your first semester here, CSUS will probably be nice and allow you to remove it from your transcript. But after that, the university expects you to have learned your lesson.

The Academic Standards Committee may allow you to remove grades provided a) you were deathly ill and you have a note from your doctor saying so, or b) your department messed up and you have a note from said department.

Adding and dropping classes

At that point, the instructor will probably go through the roll, and then ask if there's anyone whose name wasn't called. Of course, here's the point where you will be told the class is FULL, there's no more ROOM, and that they're not accepting any add slips at ALL. PERIOD. Ignore this; it's also meant to drive away people who can't handle personal confrontations.

Ask these professors if you can at least sit in on the class. If they're hesitant, tell them that you want to take this class eventually and that you at least want to see what it's all about. Or appeal to their egos and tell them that you want to watch the best professor at Sac State do what he or she does so well.

Some professors will at this point relent, which means you can hang around long enough to get in just before the add/drop deadline (Feb. 12). After the first exam, students will drop the class at an alarming rate anyway. When this happens, you're home free.

Other professors -- the ones with the souls sucked out of them long ago -- will repeat that they're not taking any more add slips and that's it. Some will actually demand that you leave. In those cases, it's probably best that you do leave before somebody pours water on them and melts them.

Financial Aid

The first step in applying for aid for this semester (it's kind of late but it never hurts to try) or for fall '99 is to submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid called the FAFSA to the financial aid office. There are two ways of doing this. First, you may pick up a FAFSA at the financial aid office, fill it out, and drop it in the financial aid drop box located outside the office. You may also find the FAFSA online, and the turnaround time is much quicker. See the financial aid office for the Web address.

The FAFSA is your ticket to receiving large sums of money from Federal Ford Direct Student and Federal PLUS (parent) Loans. The CSUS financial aid office uses them as well to determine if you're eligible for aid.

These forms must be filled out accurately, if you want to avoid an unpleasant experience with federal agents and starve to death. Mail FAFSAs to the requested address and DON'T LIE. These are federal forms and you could get jail time for screwing with them. If you filled out the forms correctly, about three to four weeks later they will re-appear on your doorstep or e-mail with a list of mistakes you need to correct. Don't be alarmed; the federal government has a real knack for producing forms that no human can complete correctly on the first attempt.

After you have returned these forms for the second time, the financial aid office will step in and request more documents.

After the cannons fall silent and the smoke clears, the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes “Prize Patrol” will show up at your home to hand you an award notice from financial aid. This is your notice that you have completed the quest and are ready to handle college-level problems.

If you're interested in free money, then scholarships and grants are the way to go. Get thee to the financial office and take a gander at the “Wall o' Free Money,” write down stuff you may qualify for, gather up all the appropriate paperwork, and get ready to sell yourself. Remember, “You're MONEY, baby!” You know you're wonderful and deserving of loads of money; now you just have to convince them.

If at any time you become confused, the financial aid office is on hand to provide further confusion so don't be afraid to ask. Be aware, it is nearly impossible to talk to a human over the phone. The best way to get those unanswered questions taken care of is to visit the office in person. There's always a mile-long line, so be sure to hit the CSUS homepage or a C@SPER.NET kiosk first. Individual financial aid information can be found at both sites.

Career Center

Here's what the center offers:

Don't know what you'll be doing? The center will help you decide your future career through its career library and computer-based career decision-making process.

The center offers sessions either individually or in small groups to teach you decision-making skills and self-awareness. It also offers career awareness activities, class presentations and other programs to help you plan a future in your chosen field.

The Cooperative Education program allows students to get college credit for career-related, paid professional employment. Counseling, referral and placement in the program are offered.

Referrals for internships in local agencies are available; part-time jobs are also available through the Student Employment Program. Current job listings are posted outside the office daily. Jobs range from professional to temporary.

In addition, more than 300 local employers hold interviews on campus with graduating seniors. Special workshops are available to prepare candidates for interviews and resumes.

For more information, call the Career Development and Placement Center at 278-6231 or stop by the office at Lassen Hall, room 2000.

Here a lab, there a lab ... computers for all

• Amador Hall 218: 14 Macintosh II SI computers
• Library 2000: 80 IBM Pentium II multimedia computers
• Mendocino Hall 2003: 55 IBM Pentium II multimedia computers, 12 Macintosh computers
• Mendocino Hall 2004: 55 IBM Pentium II multimedia computers
• Mendocino Hall 2007: 61 IBM Pentium II multimedia computers
• Mendocino Hall 2008: 31 IBM Pentium II multimedia computers
• Solano Hall 2001: 31 IBM Pentium II multimedia computers
• Solano Hall 2003: 31 IBM Pentium II multimedia computers
• Tahoe Hall 1006: 16 IBM Pentium II multimedia computers
• Tahoe Hall 1007: 32 IBM Pentium II multimedia computers

Hours of operation for each lab vary. The lab in Tahoe 1007 is a 24-hour lab, so you can stay up all night feverishly writing overdue papers. .Information about hours or any questions in general can be answered by visiting the User Services Counter in Sequoia Hall, room 322, or calling the Lab information line at 278-7337.

WPE -- Weally Purfict Engloosh

Don't panic if you don't pass it the first time; only about half of CSUS students pass on their first try. Take the WPE as soon as you can. If you fail it twice then you must take English 109, and this is a time-consuming and annoying class. So rest up the night before the test and brush up on your composition skills. The test will consist of one essay question that usually deals with personal morals and opinions. Be prepared to form and then support your opinion. The WPE evaluators look for well-written, logical essays, and they will cut you no slack, Jack.