Creating Sparks in a Man's World A.S
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MUSIC, NO LIFE SJSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 111111.1 SCHOLARS Music with meaning is hard SPARTANS THRASH AGGIE Chinese university AiNOto find today sisu holds New Meco Stath administrators learning at SJSU to 21.2 terccnt shooting OPINION 2 vs, NEWS 6 SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934 SPARTAN DAILY VOLUME 121, NUMBER 67 MONDAY, DECEMBER 8,2003 WWW.THESPARTANDAILY COM Creating sparks in a man's world A.S. manages By David Weinstein Daily Staff Writer more than Been there, done that. From flying C141s to Guam in the U.S. Air Force to selling animal balloons at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf in the 1970s, San Jose State University employ- ee Deborah Aiono has seen it all. $6 million Aiono, a metalworker for SJSU's Facilities Development and Operations department, said she learned- to work in a IDEA world- the hard way and By Janet Pak through the instruction of her father. Daily Staff Writer Aiono said she came from a mechanical background. "My father didn't have any sons and I was the oldest As students prepare to register and pay for their next daughter," Aiono said Thursday. "I just followed him semester's classes, on their tuition bill will be several fees around and he taught me all about electronics and tools." that total $73.50 fee that go toward an organization A native of San Jose, Aiono said her father and moth- known as Associated Students. er met at SJSU, and her father graduated from the A.S. is an elected body of government representing College of Engineering. students and providing more than 400 different services. After 12 years, Aiono said she and her father moved The board is run like a nonprofit corporation with a to San Francisco. chief executive officer, chief financial officer and a chair- "My father was the bohemian type, so we moved into person who are elected by the students of San Jose State a hippie, artist community in San Francisco," Aiono University every March. A separate board of directors is said. "We used to make animal balloons at Fisherman's made up of 14 students; some are elected and the others Wharf back when it wasn't crowded." appointed by the CEO. Aiono said her mother was the type who wanted her Alfonso De Alba, executive director of AS., is not an to be a debutante. elected student member of A.S. and said he was hired "My mother always used to tell my father that he was after a search process with about 108 candidates in 1993. going to ruin me," Aiono said. At the time, he was serving as interim executive director The 46-year-old served in the Air Force for 12 years when he applied for the position. as an airplane engineer and mechanic. He said his main responsibilities are to run the day-to- Aiono said she used to dream of flying and having day operations of A.S. and all managers report to him. out-of-body experiences about airplanes growing up. De Ala said he then reports to the board of directors on "I had this thing about Peter Pan and flying, Aiono activities of the A.S. staff said. "I always wanted to be in an airplane and I loved AS. is a student auxiliary, which means it's independ- heights, so I decided to join the Air Force." ent of the university and operates off of student fees and When she entered the Air Force in 1975, she said they generates its own revenues. didn't allow women to be pilots, so she became one of A portion of that $73.50 fee students pay is divided into the earliest female airplane mechanics. revenue for different services A.S. provides such as gov- Aiono said she was like a gas station attendant, filling ernment, child care, transit solutions and a recreation fee. up the airplanes, making needed repairs and sending Fees in each category go toward paying for services them on their way. those departments provide, said A.S. Controller Rachel She said she waited four years to get her flight engi Greathouse. neer degree and then became one of the first airplane "This is something that's totally different from other engineers (pilots) for women. student government organizations across the country," She was first stationed in Athens, Greece, and has also said Greathouse. 'They're just student organizations, served at Kirkland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, not Associated Students incorporated." N.M., and Travis Air Force Base in Northern Each year, A.S. controls a little more than 86 million, California, where she flew C141 cargo transport planes. which is the total revenue that comes from enrollment, "It was like a 'semi' in the sky," Aiono said. "We used revenues from services and grants from the state. to go to the Philippines, Guam, over the Indian Ocean Each A.S. fee students pay, whether it's for the child and Saudi Arabia. center or for transit solutions, is a restricted budget item, An SJSU employee since 1997, Aiono received her De Alba said, and money can't be transferred from one metalworking certificate from San Francisco City department to another to make up for shortfalls. College (SFCC) and spent 12 years in the Air Force Associated Students' budget pays for numerous doing mechanical work before coming to San Jose. expenses including a copyright fee to play music on In an industrial welding class at SFCC, she said she campus, legal counseling and financial custodianship, took an interest in gas and electric welding. which safeguards the financial health of the company. "Then I took machine shop, blueprint reading and "It's a system in place to protect students' money" he said. total quality management," Aiono said. "There (are) just "The university charges for financial custodianship and we a bunch of classes that help you run a shop like this one." have a responsibility to spend your money appropriately." The SJSU welding shop, located in the northeast cor- Greathouse said the A.S. budget hinges on enrollment, ner of campus, is where Aiono teams up to perform a and in times when enrollment falls short, their budget variety of jobs with Facilities Development and does also. Operations metalworker Wilfredo Luna-Pulido. "Tuition is a set amount ... the one thing that affects us Pt university employee for four years, Luna-Pulido is enrollment growth," Greathouse said. "If the university said Aiono has an easy-going personality and is a solid is not accepting more students, but students are graduat- co-worker. ing ... that's when we start to lose money on services." "She's one of the best I've ever worked with because Other factors that affect the A.S. budget are expenses she's not afraid of anything," Luna-Pulido said. "She's so such as insurance and how long A.S. has gcnc without a open-minded and comes up with new ideas for our jobs." fee increase on services they provide, De Alba said. Together, he said they make good team. Insurance costs, he said, have become more expensive "We do a lot of chain-link building and repairs," August Patterson / Daily Staff since Sept. 11,2001. Aiono said. "We weld rain gutters, air condition ducts Deborah Aiono, a metalworker for Facilities Development and Operations, welds a field drag for the For example, students pay an $8 child development but facilitv and child care costs have and build gates, fences, handrails and stairs." women's softball field, a tool used to level off infield dirt. While growing up. Aiono said her mother center fee, the See WELDER, page 3 wanted her to be a debutante. She chose instead to be an Air Force engineer and mechanic. See BUDGET, page 3 Event Center Venues available for court dedicated late-night finals studying By Jenny Shearer reserved, she said. One student was pleased the lower level of the to former coach Daily staff Writer King Library would remain open until mid- night. By Ian Ross Take heart, late-night study fans. "I think it's Bleat that they leave it open for The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Joint Library people to study because it's hard to study at Daily Shy) Writer and the Student Union will have extended hours home, it's distracting," said Jody Shaw, a senior from Dec. 9 to Dec. 16 so students can prepare business major. During a halftime ceremony Saturday afternoon, the for their final exams. Solomon Norman, a senior computer science Spartans basketball court was officially renamed during the On most weeknights during this time period, major, said he wished he could have access to men's game against Cal State Northridge. the lower level of the King Library will be open the upper floors of the King Library until mid- Written in big blue letters along from 10 p.m. to midnight. night because that's where all the tables are for each sideline were the words "Walt "We hope to accommodate as many students group work. McPherson Court." as possible," said Julie Kowalewski Ward, uni- "I don't even know what's downstairs. I've McPherson coached the San Jose versity library head of access services. never been down there," Norman said. State University men's basketball Kowalewski Ward said the lower level of the "Between this and the Student Union, I'd prob- team between 1940 and 1960, King Library, which is one floor below the main ably use the Student Union because I feel like amassing a 264-208 career record.