NATIONAL DEBT: $14.8 TRILLION Source: USDebtClock.org Fresno State sees WAC title slip farther away SPORTS Ron Paul’s plan is the only one that makes the most sense OPINION U.S. CASUALTIES: Iraq 4,479 / Afghanistan 1,817 Source: icasualties.org Meat judging team making a big impact for a small program FEATURES Monday Issue October 24, 2011 FRESNO STATE COLLEGIAN.CSUFRESNO.EDU SERVING CAMPUS SINCE 1922 Budget cuts again affect university By Samuel Cosby get has been affecting us slowly. As pro- The Collegian vost, Covino is a part of the committee that manages the academic budget. Following the trend of the last few “The largest portion of the univer- years, Fresno State is implementing sity budget is the academic budget,” yet another budget cut for the 2011-12 Covino said. “The budget reduction fiscal year, with students and teachers affects us in academic affairs in a big seeing the largest effects. way, because it impacts the library, all According to associate vice presi- of the school and colleges, all of the dent of financial affairs Clint Moffitt, academic departments, our research Fresno State’s budget is being cut by programs, our centers and institu- just less than $6 million for the fiscal tions, etc.” year. An academic affair budget reduction Moffit said the state’s general fund is task force has been set up to maintain $223.8 million. Last year Fresno State the quality of education at Fresno spent $229.1 million. State. Covino explained that the budget “The state has allocated less money was being cut when he arrived at the to CSUs and UCs,” Moffitt said. “All of university in 2009. the schools have taken their respective To make up for the cuts in the bud- amount of reduction.” get this year, academic affairs has cut Alongside this, student tuition has administrative positions, reduced increased as well to make up for the staff positions, reduced funding to cuts. To make up for losses in the bud- academic-funded programs and the get, student tuition has increased by a schools and colleges are all running on total of $22 million. reduced budgets. “[About] 52 percent of our budget “The schools and colleges are trying comes from our general fund, student to decrease the cost of low enrollment, tuition and fees,” Moffitt said. “The low demand courses,” Covino said. state is only providing 48 percent.” “They are putting their dollars into Staff salaries and staff benefits make high-enrollment, high-demand cours- up 80 percent of the school’s budget, es.” Moffitt said. After that, maintenance What this means for students is less and utility charges are the highest per- variety in terms of class selection. centage of spending. “Students are going to need to plan Those most likely to see an effect more carefully and will be faced with from the budget cuts are students and few options for courses that they need,” teachers. Covino said. “Academics is going to take 70 per- Covino said that we won’t see any cent of the cut,” Moffitt said. shifts toward online classes or a reduc- Provost William A. Covino said that students will not see large changes See TUITION, Page 3 over the next year, rather that the bud- Graphic by Dalton Runberg / The Collegian Fresno State department tries to understand a neurodegenerative disease Major university study uses fruit flies to understand Lou Gehrig’s disease By Giovanni Winna Patricia the brain and the spinal cord.” The Collegian Muller said Lou Gehrig’s disease has become a common disease in An interdisciplinary collaboration humans, especially older generations. team within Fresno State’s biology “People who [are] diagnosed with and chemistry department is trying to Lou Gehrig’s [disease] usually have understand neuron degeneration dis- only a few years to live,” Muller said. ease, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, by using “You cannot survive the disease.” fruit flies in a major study. She said that the 10 percent of Lou Fresno State biology professor Gehrig’s disease patients are geneti- Ulrike Muller and Fresno State bio- cally prone to it, while the cause of mechanics student Danial Husain the disease for the other 90 percent are conducting a study to better remains unknown and has become understand the possible cause of a challenge for many researchers Lou Gehrig’s disease. The study around the world. might be published in The Journal To better understand the disease, of Experimental Biology. A poster Muller and Joy Goto from the Fresno presentation at a South Carolina sci- State chemistry department decid- ence conference in 2012 is also being ed three years ago to initiate the planned. research. The study uses drosophila, also Muller explained that in under- known as fruit flies, to record the standing a disease in humans, she effect of the consumption of neuro- needed an animal model. Muller and toxin glutamate, also known as Beta- her team of researchers use fruit flies methylamino-L-alainine, or BMAA. because they have a relatively short BMAA might have an effect on the life cycle. This makes it easier for the motor ability of an organism. BMAA research team to observe their growth has been found in some foods. and eventually death. The goal is to understand the symp- “It is a nice and fast organism,” toms of Lou Gehrig’s disease or spe- Muller said. “Because an organism cifically amyotrophic lateral sclero- usually catches the Lou Gehrig’s dis- sis/parkinsonism-dementia. ease quite young.” The Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis The syndrome progresses more rap- Photo Courtesy of Danial Husain Association, also known as ALS asso- idly “when you are reaching pension Fresno State researchers use fruit flies to find the connection between BMAA and neu- ciation, describes Lou Gehrig’s dis- rodegenerative syndrome. High resolution pictures, such as the one above, are used to ease as a “progressive neurodegenera- See RESEARCH, Page 3 observe the effect of BMAA by documenting the flies’ walking patterns. tive disease that affects nerve cells in The Collegian THAT’S WHAT THE PEOPLE ARE SAYING... ur troops in Iraq will definitely be home for the holidays.” Opinion “O – President Barack Obama PAGE 2 OPINION EDITOR, TONY PETERSEN • [email protected] MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2011 Paul solves the debt crisis LETTER TO Last week, Ron Paul released his recession,”American Enterprise THE EDITOR “plan to restore America,” which Institute economic policy director would cut $1 trillion in his first year Kevin Hassett said in the Washington Dear editor: as president, achieving a budget sur- Post. And on Meet the Press, host I feel the urge to express to the plus by 2015. Dr. Paul would abolish David Gregory had a tough time world my love affair with the Occupy five cabinet departments — Energy, understanding how the Paul plan Wall Street protesters. I love what Housing and Urban Development, would not hurt Americans. they are doing, I love what they stand Commerce, Interior and Education — None of these concerns take into for and I love what they write on end corporate subsidies, stop foreign account the dire consequences of their signs. aid, end all foreign wars and return Americans if immediate action is not I love that they are standing up for most spending to 2006 levels. taken. If the United States continues themselves by defecating on police As for entitlements, Paul would to fall deeper and deeper into debt, a cars, openly sharing narcotics and allow young people to opt-out of recession isn’t merely in our future — engaging in sexual acts in public Social Security without touching our stagnation or a full-blown depression parks. I love how some want to bring seniors’ benefits. He would block grant would be likely. down capitalism and United States. Medicaid to the states, freezing the And, Dr. Paul says, Americans, I love that they want to return the program’s spending allotment. And under his plan, would be just fine. world to primitivism where we all he would do all of this while reducing Comparing his plan to the spending rely on a hunter-gatherer system The Right Tone the corporate tax rate to 15 percent and cuts the American government enact- with little simple farming. I love TONY PETERSEN extending the Bush tax cuts. ed following World War II, Paul said, how they are OK with the billions of This is now the standard to which “the resources aren’t diminished, the deaths it would result in. I love that uring last Tuesday’s GOP all Republican candidates must com- resources are put back into the econ- they openly admit they do not know presidential debate, just about pare themselves to. omy and the people spend the money. what “credit” or a “stock” is. Devery candidate touted their Paul’s plan doesn’t just set us on the Now all we do is give them debt. We plan to solve the United States’ debt path to fiscal solvency — it takes us all tax, we borrow and then we inflate, crisis. the way there. and then we distort the economy and Herman Cain’s now infamous 9-9-9 “Ron Paul’s plan is the only one that destroy production because the gov- plan, which includes a 9 percent busi- seriously addresses the economic and ernment takes over the economy, and love that even though [the ness flat tax, 9 percent individual budgetary problems our nation faces,” that’s the negative.” “I Occupy Wall Street pro- flat tax and 9 percent national sales Paul campaign chairman Jesse Benton Ron Paul is right. Government testers] have no actual knowl- tax, was pilloried by the rest of the said.