FRESNO STATE COLLEGIAN.CSUFRESNO.EDU SERVING CAMPUS SINCE 1922 FRIDAY ISSUE | NOVEMBER 1, 2013 Fresno State helps develop community plan By Erica Heinisch Ashley Swearengin’s priority proj- The city, she said, hired consul- Jane Addams, Southwest, Lowell, pedestrian shed. So in a five to 10 The Collegian ects, particularly Downtown revi- tant group Moule & Polyzoides to Jefferson, Southeast, South Van minute walk from your residence, talization. help canvas neighborhoods and Ness industrial and Downtown. you should be able to have access Fresno State students and fac- Quan said the community plan create policies. The city aims to make neigh- to transit, a school, a park or open ulty are taking part in advanc- is a broader policy document than “The plan is 7,200 acres of borhoods more pedestrian friend- space and a grocery store.” ing the development of Fresno’s the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan, Fresno’s urban core, which ly and active to create a stronger Together, the city and consul- Downtown Neighborhood a detailed plan involving Fulton includes the Downtown triangle,” sense of community, Quan said. tant group conducted community Community Plan, which is expect- Mall that will return two-way Quan said. “The goal of the plan is to outreach in each neighborhood to ed to be adopted in 2014. through traffic to the mall. Together, the city and Moule & make sure that people have easy get feedback about the wants and Fresno urban planning special- The community plan has been Polyzoides divided that area into access,” Quan said. “We talk ist Wilma Quan manages Mayor under way since 2010, Quan said. seven different neighborhoods: about a five-minute to 10-minute See PLAN, Page 3 Professors Fresno State gets freaky write Valley health report By Careen Wong The Collegian A recent health report dis- closed that the San Joaquin Valley received less public health funds despite having higher rates of poverty and diseases compared with other counties in California. The report, “Operational and Statutory Capacity of Local Health Departments in the San Joaquin Valley,” was written by Dr. John Amson Capitman and Dr. Marlene I. Bengiamin. The report is from the San Joaquin Valley Public Health Consortium. Capitman is executive direc- tor of the Central Valley Health Institute, a program under Fresno State’s College of Health and Human Services. He is also a pro- fessor of public health. Bengiamin is the research director of the institution. The information was gathered Khlarissa Agee / The Collegian through the eight county directors LEFT: Megan Calvin (Bat Woman) Celina Mouanoutoua (Police Officer), TOP CENTER: Chadd Anderson (Turkey Head), Chris Ritter (Turkey Head) TOP RIGHT: Chau Ngo of public health and also graduate (Little Red Riding Hood), William Lauder (Cowboy) BOTTOM: Danika Sandoval (Munchkin), Cheryl Jackson (Witch), Kathie Reid (Dorthy), Katie Dyer (Glinda the Good Witch), students. Andrea Magdaleno (Cowardly Lion) The study was made by com- paring the funds that all eight counties in the San Joaquin Valley received against other counties of similar population sizes in California, Bengiamin said. FDA proposes rules for animal food The two main sources of the sta- tistics gathered are the National By Matthew Jimenez The announcement comes as Association of City and County The Collegian the FDA continues to grapple Health Officers (NACCHO) 2010 with a case of potential poisoning and the National Profile of Local The Food and Drug linked to jerky treats manufac- Health Departments data for Administration is proposing new tured in China that is believed to California. rules to regulate the safety of pet be responsible for nearly 600 pet Despite the lack of funding, food and animal feed for the first deaths since 2007. The agency Capitman and Bengiamin found time. has yet to determine what is caus- that the Valley’s public health The regulations call for produc- ing the deaths. departments were still doing as tion guidelines that would mini- Michelle Ganci, a Fresno State much work as other counties. mize risks and prevent outbreaks animal science professor, said “The report found that the of foodborne illness. They would food manufacturers already have Valley’s counties are doing a lot,” require that animal food manu- systems in place to ensure the Capitman said. “They are doing facturers develop a written plan to safety of the animals that eat the more services than their peers. prevent foodborne illnesses that food products They’re responding to challenges can kill livestock. “The biggest thing is that there with less.” The regulations are designed are already a lot of systems put in Bengiamin said that the to keep animal handlers safe from place,” Ganci said. “People have Valley’s counties are “overextend- Roe Borunda / The Collegian contamination when handling the to understand that we’re taking ing themselves” because even Fresno State student Elizabeth Steele said they give their swine high-energy, high- animals. See FDA, Page 6 protein feed that has corn and soy-bean meal. See REPORT Page 3 Construction class Volleyball team puts concepts to sweeps Wolf Pack work on the road [Page 3] [Page 8] GOT OPINIONS? We want to hear them. [email protected] OPINIONPAGE 2 COLLEGIAN.CSUFRESNO.EDU FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 01, 2013 1 Keeping the fundamentals, Letter to the Editor These past couple weeks an array of creative and clever Halloween costumes were flourished onto the Internet via pictures. And with those costumes, deeply buried and ignored societal realities came to the surface. I am writing about one and enjoying picture in particular. In it, there are two roughly 25-year-old men and one roughly 20-year-old woman. One of the men is wearing a sweatshirt with the words “Neighborhood Watch” across it while holding his hand like a gun against the other man's head, the others who is wearing blackface makeup and a sweatshirt with what looks like a gun- By Haley Lambert shot wound to the chest. When asked by friends why they chose this costume Opinion Editor one of the men later commented to the effect of “anything for a laugh.” The other day, I saw one of the public evangelists yell- These people--these Florida residents--took a national criminal case in which ing in the Free Speech Area. He held a sign that mentioned a 17-year-old lost his life and made it comedy fodder for their Halloween party. something about the Christian underworld known as hell. Fairly typical of this person and his comrades. The point: there is a word for this kind of behavior: wilding. The awareness of Not so typical were the students, or more appropriately, and indifference to the fact that ones' behaviors are hurting others, and doing so the lack thereof. only for the sake of personal advancement. In weeks (and semesters) past, a band of students would surround the Free Speech stage, where stand the evangelists. The students would begin challenging the Somewhere during these people's lives they were made to believe that this preacher’s speech. sort of thing is okay; that mimicking a scene in which a child died and using Some challenges were vapid and obviously ill planned blackface makeup can somehow be funny. as they purposely contradicted the convictions (rather than the philosophies) of the fiery preacher man. He might These are the kinds of things we like to ignore and pretend don't actually quote the Bible on the evils of drunkenness. Some banal happen. These are the kinds of behavior that we, as society, would very much crusader would say, “Hey! Jesus loves when I party!” like to believe we are beyond. But when people are able to do this and take pic- Very silly. tures of it and share them as though it is nothing at all to be alarmed about, it Sometimes a scholarly soul might question the ethics certainly seems time to admit that we are not where we should be and that indi- of the minister’s thunderous monologues. Or they might produce evidence refuting theism and the divinity of Jesus vidual work must be done. Christ. All these seem intelligent and coolly respectable. I know some Christians would walk past, blushing with -- Joe Koutny, Fresno State student shame and frustration. It apparently bothers them that he growls like some roadside attraction from Depression-era Arkansas. It’s understandable; they don’t want their non-Chris- tians contemporaries assuming they too subscribe to this “God’s full of wrath” school of thought. I, on the other hand, always get excited when I see the “crazy preacher guys” on campus. My instincts as a social scientist/journalist become heightened with the prospect of goofy one-liners, intriguing debate and angry diatribe. Call me apathetic and unrighteous, but the whole scene—sweat-drenched middle aged men ranting with the good book in one hand and cardboard sign in the other, students puffed up with bravado and anticipation—the whole thing turns a bland, boiled chicken kind of day into a proverbial feast of sound and fury. In fact, the people I wonder at most are those furious in the aftermath of this performance. Not the ashamed Protestants walking by, but rather, the ticked-off atheists and non-theists (that also means “agnostic,” it just has more of a ring to it, don’t you think?). As these individuals vocalize their disgust with the evangelist and his wanton display of judgment, they show weakness of principle. It’s disconcerting when I hear my irreligious friends seethe with anger at the nameless, campus preacher man. Why are you mad? You don’t believe this man’s dribble, do you? In times past, you’ve made it crystal clear you find religiosity ridiculous and laughable.