THE COLLEGIAN FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 9/11 FRESNO STATE'S STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1922 FRESNOSTATE.EDU/COLLEGIAN IN A&E NATIVE AMERICANS New campus community helps Native American students ‘reconnect with the culture’ dian students, and as far By Karina Vargas as I know, any particular @TheCollegian ethnicity,” said Dr. Ken- neth Hansen, a political sci- The new Native Ameri- ence professor who teaches can scholars learning com- American Indian Studies. munity culturally engages Dr. Charles Ettner, Amer- American Indian students ican Indian studies coordi- through lectures, classes and nator, said the association experiential activities. is a place where faculty can The learning communi- come together and not only ty, initiated this semester have some camaraderie but by the Fresno State’s Native also a place to discuss class American Staff Association, development, consult on dif- consists of five courses and ficulties they are experienc- currently has 22 members. ing and to develop outreach Members of the associa- opportunities for indigenous tion teach a number of the students. courses. There are a number of “This is the first one service learning opportuni- Darlene Wendels • The Collegian ties that are related to the Interior design students Carly Grote and Sarah Anderson admire the intricacy of the brushes from Richard Shaw’s ceramic piece at Fresno State that’s ever “Tabouret with Figure” during the “Still Life in Ceramics” reception in the Conley Art Gallery, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015. focused on American In- See HERITAGE, Page 6 MARINE CORPS AIR QUALITY Student to become one of the youngest officers in Marine Corps By Myles Barker @TheCollegian Samuel Dawson was never one to follow the pack, he always want- ed to be the one who leads, finds solutions to problems and helps others have a brighter future. The 18 year old will get to do just that when he graduates from Fresno State with his bachelor’s in Wildfire wrecks local air quality classical studies in May and starts his career as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. Dawson was one of the young- Courtesy Photo • U.S. Forest Service est officers candidates in his pro- The flank of the Rough fire on Sept. 1, 2015. The Rough fire has burned through more than 110,000 acres since July 1 and is the largest wildfire in California. gram at the Marine officer candi- date school and trained alongside other candidates in their early to ward into the Valley. mid-twenties. By Troy Pope The Rough fire, which was started by a Dawson, who was born in Har- @troycpope lighting strike on July 31, has scorched more rogate, England, to an American than 110,000 acres across California and is mother and an English father, Unhealthy An alert is in effect Friday that warns peo- only 29 percent contained. spent most of his childhood in ple to be wary of the poor air quality in Fresno, More than 2,100 firefighters are working Chico, California, with his parents the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control tirelessly to extinguish the blaze, but it con- and two sisters. Not long after he District said. tinues to grow. The Rough fire is the largest was born, he and his family moved The warning previously only affected peo- wildfire in California. to Fresno County. air quality ple with lung ailments like asthma, but that The combination of the particulates in the “I want to make the world a lit- changed Friday to include all people in the air from the fire and the high temperature has tle safer for a few people,” Dawson Fresno area. created a mix that is unhealthy. said. There have been reports of some teachers The high temperature for Friday will be 105 Growing up, Dawson loved alert in canceling classes due to the poor air quality degrees. proving to people that he was and visible smoke, and many students have Sheriff’s deputies are distributing manda- worthy of their respect and would complained of headaches and other allergy tory evacuation notices for certain residents do anything to ensure that others, issues. in Dunlap Friday morning and are urging res- and especially his loved ones, were The cause of the unusually smoky air is a idents to be out by noon, the Fresno County safe. The thought of becoming an effect for wildfire burning roughly 50 miles from Fresno Sheriff’s Office said. FBI agent, working for the CIA or State. Fire officials said evacuation warning notic- being a Marine all seemed to fit a “There is a high pressure system over the es continue to be in place for people living in guy like Dawson, a guy who is un- West Coast,” said Carlos Molina, meteorol- the communities of Pinehurst and Miramonte. afraid of anyone who breathes the ogist with the National Weather Service in Locally, the air quality alert is in effect until Friday Hanford. Molina said that the air that normal- at least midnight Saturday morning. See MARINE CORPS, Page 3 ly flows west to east is now being pushed west- OPINION FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 2 POLITICAL POSTURING Sarah Palin: ‘Speak American’ The Americas: ‘Which one?’ But if she is referencing any of Megan Bronson the Canadian dialects, can we de- @Bronsosuarus mand that poutine comes with the language? Eh? During an interview with CNN Or if she is referring to the na- on Sunday, Sarah Palin stuck her tive language of Americans, which foot in her mouth yet again. Palin tribe is she referring to? English was asked to comment on Donald is not native to this part of the Trump’s negative remarks about world, either. Jeb Bush regarding his bilingual- What happened to those peo- ism and speaking Spanish during ple and their native languages, his campaign. land and rights, again? Please re- Palin sided with Trump and fresh us on the last time one soci- remarked that immigrants in ety forced language and traditions America should “Speak Ameri- onto another. can.” Before we discuss the bril- If we make the assumption that liant rhetoric behind that state- Palin was referring to English, ment, let’s first ask ourselves what there are still a multitude of issues “American” is. with her statement. Demanding Well, the first and most ob- that everyone in the United States vious observation of all is that speak English is hegemonic. It is “American” is not a language. It is using brute force to expel some- a continent. In fact, it is two conti- one’s native tongue. Language nents. For your geography lesson is one of the biggest associations of the day, North America encom- with culture that there is. passes the United States, Canada, To ask someone to discard his Mexico and 20 other sovereign or her language and use a new one Joe Burbank • Orlando Sentine/TNS nations. South America includes is another way to hegemonically Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin addresses the Republican Party of Florida Victory Dinner at Walt Disney World in Lake Brazil, Chile and 10 other coun- bury that person’s original back- Buena Vista, Florida, Thursday, November 3, 2011. tries. ground in the conglomerate of grants will become bilingual any- speaking fluent English. being seen, not as a facet of cul- So which America were you re- cultureless America. ways. They will grow up in an En- So then what are Palin and tural identity but as a selling point ferring to, Palin? Her statement is also xeno- glish-centered education system. Trump afraid of? of candidacy. Language is boiled This is not to mention there phobic. It assumes that other lan- There is no threat to English Maybe they are afraid of the down to politics. are countless languages spoken guages are a threat to English, as when immigrants’ children will be appeal of a bilingual candidate. Or maybe they are just afraid among these countries. Every- if English could possibly die out in speaking it within a decade. The Bush could capitalize on his fluen- that someone will say something thing from English to French and the United States. only thing dying out is the rich cy in Spanish to appeal to voters mean about them in Spanish, as Spanish are spoken on both con- We cannot expect that a nation culture and language of migrant in Texas, California, New Mexico if beating piñatas of Trump’s like- tinents. There is not one unifying of immigrants all speak the same minorities settling in the United and Florida. ness isn’t a clue enough of how language between the two conti- language fluently. Learning new States. Palin agreed in the interview one faction of non-native English nents. languages gets more difficult the Within just a few generations, that Jeb Bush’s ability to speak speakers feels about the GOP. Speaking “American” can be older a person gets. The children immigrants are acclimated to liv- Spanish was a political gain for Te escuchamos, Palin. On s’en speaking hundreds of languages. of non-English-speaking immi- ing in this society – complete with him. And that is how language is fiche. Paul Vieira • The Collegian Letters to the Editor ([email protected]) Editor-in-Chief Troy Pope Design Editor Khlarissa Agee All letters submitted to The Collegian must not exceed News Editor Paul Schlesinger General Sales Manager Laura Maciel 250 words in length, must be type-written, and must be Assistant News Editor Diana Giraldo National Sales Manager Mollie Gillman THE COLLEGIAN Opinion Editor Megan Bronson Special Projects Brittany Arnold accompanied by a full name and phone number to verify content. The Collegian reserves the right to edit all material for length, Arts & Entertainment Editor Khlarissa Agee Special Projects Jose Gonzalez The Collegian is a student-run The Collegian content, spelling and grammar, as well as the right to refuse Sports Editor Daniel Leon Art Director Tim McAtee publication that serves the Fresno California State University, Fresno publication of any material submitted.