Issue 1 - Fall 2010

Christina Li, a former Sacramento State student, as-piring journalist and beloved member of The State Hornet college newspaper, died Aug. 19. She was 23 years old.

Li died from complications during heart surgery, a pro-cedure she was not looking forward to, according to her last Facebook post the night before the operation. She was born with a congenital heart defect and had previously undergone two heart surger-ies, the first at the age of 2 and a second when she was 7 years old.

For those who knew her, Christina Li was a wonder woman who excelled in writ-ing, photography, editing and the arts. They will remember her as someone who lived her life to the fullest.

“She packed a lot in her 23 years. She had to know that she might not have a lot of time here with us,” said Holly Heyser, Li’s former professor.

Despite dealing with heart

The Legislative Budget Con-ference Committee recently approved Gov. Arnold Schwar-zenegger’s proposal to provide California State University with a General Fund support of $2.7 billion, which is $373 million above the 2009-10 funding.

The governor, Senate and As-sembly’s versions of the budget include $305 million to backfill one-time cuts made to the CSU in recent years, and $60.6 mil-lion for “enrollment growth.”

“Essentially, in most ways, it restores a little bit of stability and restores the money for ac-tivities that were lost in the last couple of years,” said Provost and Vice President for Aca-demic Affairs Joseph Sheley.

About 8,000 FTES, or full-time equivalent students, would be enrolled to the CSU if the $60 million funding is enacted.

“I think this year’s picture of the CSU is a little less grim than last year with the furloughs and classes being cut left and right,” said Associated Students Inc. President Terry Martin. “The

governor seems to be more committed to funding higher education this time around.”

Since 2007-08, state sup-

After nearly six years of planning and two years of construction, Sacramento State’s $71 million recreational, multi-use facility will have its grand opening Thursday.

The Wellness, Education, Leisure, Lifestyle Center, or The Well, is a 150,000 square-foot facility that combines recreation, fitness and health services.

Building the facility is part of Sac State President Alexander Gonzalez’s Destination 2010 plan to change the commuter-campus reputation of Sac State.

“About every campus has a recreational facility for students. We are

one of the last to obtain one,” said Mirjana Gavric, director of The Well. “We want our recreational center to be available to all and to be a place where students can get away from classes and jobs. Students need a place to relax and take care of themselves.”

The daylong event will begin with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9 a.m., followed by guided tours, demonstrations and a dodgeball game.

“At the grand opening, we are attempting to break the record for the world’s largest dodgeball game and hope to get 1,000 people in-volved,” said Kate Costello, assistant director of fitness for The Well.

The Well includes a fitness center with a cardio room and a weight

The STaTe horneTOne COpy Free September 1, 2010 CaliFOrnia State UniverSity, SaCramentO eSt. 1949

Gonzalez urges optimism for 2010

At his annual fall address Thursday, Sacramento State President Alexander Gonzalez said he will move forward with “cautious optimism” while trying to steady the university’s financial situation.

“The deep budget cuts of the past two years have been a nightmare,” Gonzalez told faculty and staff who filled the University Union Ballroom. “They forced us to make dif-ficult decisions, including enrollment cuts, furloughs and campus-level impaction.”

Sac State is required to lower

enrollment by about 3,000 students this school year. The university also recently declared impaction beginning in fall 2011 after enrollment officials projected more applicants than the university can accommo-date.

Gonzalez, however, said funding for the California State

University “appears to have wide support.” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s January budget proposal includes $365 million for the CSU.

“This includes more than $60 million for enrollment growth,” he said. “And the sooner this budget is signed, the sooner we would be able to let more

students in for spring 2011.”Despite the university’s finan-

cial woes, Gonzalez congratu-lated the campus for its success at softening the blow of the crisis. He said Sac State hit its enrollment target squarely.

“In fact, we ended up the equivalent of only three stu-

By Micah [email protected]

see Address| page A8

HORNETINSIDE

Opinion A9

Where is all the money from the 5 percent fee increase is going? And how does Sacramento

State’s student fees com-pare to other institu-

tions? Find out in News.

5 PERCENT FEE INCREASE

Want to find where the best burgers in town are? Read Assistant

Features Editor Matt Rascher’s review in

Features

Online Newsstatehornet.com

STUDENT AND FACULTY

REACTION VIDEO

What happens when Hornets take baby bees under their wing on the football field? Find out

in Sports.

Sports B4

BEE A HORNET

BEST BURGERS

The STaTe horneTIssue 1 | Volume 63 | No. 1

Features B1

News A3

College is more than just going to class. Find

out why you should build relationships on

campus.

COLLEGE MEANS FAMILY TOO

Watch students and professor’s reaction

to President Alexan-der Gonzalez’s annual spring address. Check out the video by staff writer Cayla Gales on

statehornet.com.

By Lauren Greenwood and Kristine [email protected]

Funding for CSU getssupport of Legislature

Remembering a friend, journalist

By Kristine [email protected]

Source: LegiSLaTive anaLyST’S office graphic by Megan harriS

courTeSy phoTo

Christina Li, 23 graduated cum laude in May with a bachelor’s degree in jour-nalism.

see Christina| page A10

graphic by Megan harriS

By Lauren [email protected]

see Well| page A6

$71 million wellness center to open soon

graphic by Megan harriS

see Budget| page A8

WedneSday - September 1 neWS SeCtiOn StatehOrnet.COmA2

Editor in ChiefLeidhra Johnson(916) 278-6584

[email protected]

Print Managing EditorKatrina Tupper(916) 278-7300

[email protected]

Online Managing EditorDustin Nosler

(916) [email protected]

News Editor Kristine Guerra(916) 278-5567

[email protected]

Assistant News EditorLauren Greenwood


Opinion EditorDaniel Valsilchuk(916) 278-7567

[email protected]

Sports EditorMarshall Hampson


Assistant Sports EditorCassie Kolias


Features EditorMiriam Arghandiwal


Assistant Features EditorMatt Rascher


Photo EditorRobert Linggi


Assistant Photo EditorJulie Keefer


Graphics EditorMegan Harris


Multimedia Editor Sean McCullough(916) 278-5590

[email protected]

Copy ChiefBenjamin R. Schilter


Advertising Manager Diane Kauffman(916) 278-6583

[email protected]

Advertisement DesignerMatt Erickson


Professional Journalist in Residence & Adviser Holly Heyser


The STaTe horneT | STaff

The first copy of this newspaper is free. Additional copies cost $1. All views expressed herein are the responsibility of The State Hornet and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sacra-mento State Journalism Program, the Communication Studies Department, administration, student body or ASI unless oth-erwise noted. The State Hornet is copyrighted, and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the express permission of The State Hornet.

Signed articles, letters and artwork express the opinions of the authors and illustrators. Unsigned articles are the responsibility of The State Hornet. The State Hornet reserves the right to reject or edit all submissions.

The appearance of an advertisement in The State Hornet does not constitute an endorsement by the newspaper of the goods and services advertised therein. The State Hornet reserves the right to reject any advertisements deemed inappropriate. An advertisement is not considered accepted until publication. Fur-ther, The State Hornet shall not be liable for any omission on an advertisement ordered to be published. By written request, The State Hornet will reschedule and run the advertisement at the advertiser’s cost. In no case shall The State Hornet be liable for any general, special or consequential damages. Claims for adjust-ments of any error must be made no later than three days after publication date upon which said error occurred.

NEWS ROUNDUP Sac State’s weekly news briefs and campus events

Baseball players and coaches help local youths

Sacramento State recently hosted the fourth annual New Faze Youth Baseball Camp at the Sac State baseball field. Sac State coaches and players and former professionals taught 150 area youth about baseball, including pitching, hitting, fielding and base running techniques. Participants attended the camp free of charge and received a free lunch and sports bottle.

Sac State to help Sacramento become leader in sustainability

Last summer, Mayor Kevin Johnson held his Greenwise green initiative meeting with leaders from the business industry, academia, nonprofits and government at Sacramento State. The initiative seeks to make Sacramento a leader in green technology and sustainability. President Alexander Gonzalez said he strongly believes that Sac State has a lot to offer making Sacramento a “destination for smart growth and green innovation.” Johnson will continue to hold monthly public meetings through December.

UEI spent funds inappropri-ately, an audit finds

An audit by Attorney General Jerry Brown’s office determined on July 1 that renovations made to Sacramento State President Alex-ander Gonzalez’s kitchen made through the University Enterprises Inc. were not made for

charitable purposes, and therefore should not have been paid for by the university’s chari-table auxiliary organization. The audit noted that the renovations were made for Gonzalez’s personal benefit. The Attorney General’s office advised that UEI be more conservative and careful with spending.

Sac State student’s death sees justice 3 years later David Allen Falls, suspect in the 2007 kill-ing of Sacramento State student, Kebret Tekle, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and gun-related charges. Falls was sentenced to 21 years in state prison last summer. Sac State declares impaction

Sacramento State will be considered an im-pacted campus starting beginning in fall 2011. Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Joseph Sheley and Vice President for Student Affairs Lori Varlotta applied Sac State for impaction status with California state University Chancellor Charles Reed in spring 2010. Applicants outside of the local service area will be subject to additional admissions criteria.

▶◀ ▶◀ ▶◀ Contact Lauren Greenwood in

the News department at (916) 278-7248.

▶◀ ▶◀ ▶◀

WedneSday - September 1 neWS SeCtiOn StatehOrnet.COm A3

Junior biology major Naeim Zamani just quit her job so she could qualify for more financial aid and take on more loans to pay for his increased student fees.

“I have better options that

way,” Zamani said. “I would rather be out of work, but be able to go to school full-time and have a higher GPA than struggling to pay for school and getting bad grades.”

Zamani is one of many stu-dents who are struggling to pay for their tuition this semester. In June, the California State University Board of Trustees

voted to raise student fees by 5 percent beginning this fall.

“The board’s decision to limit the student fee increase to 5 percent is based on the Assembly budget proposal that provides additional state rev-enues. It will allow us to move forward with adding classes and sections this fall,” CSU Chancel-lor Charles Reed said in a state-

ment issued after the decision.The Assembly’s proposed ver-

sion of the budget includes an additional $75 million for the CSU to limit the fee increase to 5 percent, instead of the 10 percent proposed by the Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The state university fee for full-time undergraduate stu-dents is now $4,230 per year,

an increase of $204. Together with other campus fees, such as transportation and recreational sports, undergraduate students are now paying $5,194 annually to attend Sacramento State.

Credential program and graduate students are paying an additional $234 and $252 every year, respectively.

Alejandra Fuentes, graduate education counseling student, said apart from her grant, she has to take on a larger loan to pay for her tuition.

“I am a student full-time and cannot be in the master’s program if I am a part-time student,” Fuentes said. “Either way, tuition is going up, and we might as well finish our educa-tion now and be full-time.”

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Joseph Sheley said the revenue from the fee increase, coupled with state funds, will be spent on classes, services and facilities.

However, even with a pro-jected $50 million in revenue from the fee increase and the Assembly’s proposed budget increases, funding for the CSU is still roughly $14 million short

to restore resources to 2007-08 levels, according to a CSU press release.

The governor, Senate and As-sembly’s versions of the budget all include $305 million to restore one-time cuts and $60.6 million for enrollment.

“It’s sad that we have to pay student fees in the first place, let alone student fee increases,” said Terry Martin, Associated Students Inc. president. “We just have to face the fact that we’re not being completely invested in.”

CSU fees have continually increased in recent years to backfill budget cuts, but still remain low compared to other public universities.

Over the last four years, the state university fee for CSU full-time undergraduate students has increased by $1,506, or 60 percent, according to an analy-sis by the Legislative Analyst’s Office. At Sac State, tuition has nearly doubled, from $2,334 in 2004 to the current $4,230.

However, CSU fees are the second-lowest among 16 other state universities in the country, according to analyst’s office.

By Kristine Guerra and Lauren [email protected]

Sac State students struggle as fees continue to increase

Source: caLifornia STaTe univerSiTy graphic by Megan harriS

Plans for housing project on hold because of economy

Specific development plans remain unknown for a $2.3 mil-lion property that Sacramento State purchased in 2005 to build Ramona Village, a faculty and staff housing community.

University Enterprises Inc. provided funding to purchase the 25-acre site, located at Power Inn Road and Ramona Avenue, spokeswoman Kim-berly Nava said. The site was formerly occupied and owned by the California Youth Author-ity, a correctional facility for underage offenders.

Funds from campus business operations, like the Hornet Bookstore, provided the fund-

ing by UEI, said Gloria Moraga, associate vice president for pub-lic affairs. She said the economy is the reason for postponing the project.

“There was a time when the economy was booming and it fell off,” Moraga said.

The property, which used to have 21 buildings, has faced two fires within the last three years. One of which happened in June and the other in 2008. Nava said the first fire was arson-related, and the cause of the recent fire is still unknown.

For safety reasons, Moraga said demolition of the Califor-nia Youth Authority buildings is ongoing and will be completed in October.

Today, the buildings are

marked with graffiti and sur-rounded by litter. Ashes from the June grass fire are still noticeable.

Nava said there are no plans for the style of the homes and the amenities that would be included with a faculty and staff housing project.

Mary Reddick, head of user services in the university Li-brary, said that faculty and staff housing can be a positive aspect to working at Sac State.

“I know many faculty and staff who would be interested: newer faculty and staff whose salaries are not as competi-tive, who are just starting their families, or have not started,” she said.

By Michelle [email protected]

aShLey neaL State Hornet

Left: Two fires have occurred at the site. The most recent one happened in June. Right: The former California Youth Authority property is now filled with litters and graf-fiti. The site, now owned by Sacramento State, has been vacant for five years.


WedneSday - September 1 neWS SeCtiOn StatehOrnet.COm A5

Professors get $1.5 million to study effects of program

A Sacramento State econom-ics professor and two colleagues were granted $1.8 million in federal funds this summer to study college readiness of Cali-fornia State University students.

Jessica Howell, UC Davis education professor Michal Kurlaender and University of Minnesota sociology professor Eric Grodsky’s research will focus on the effectiveness of California’s Early Assessment Program. The program offers a voluntary exam to all public high school juniors in Califor-nia to test their readiness in college level English and math. Students who aren’t ready can take additional courses their senior year.

The goal of the program is to lower remediation, the lower-level college preparatory classes that do not count toward a degree, Howell said.

“We need to know if EAP works to achieve its goal,” How-ell said. “If we know how well it works, and also have some good quantitative evidence for how it works, then policy mak-ers are much better informed about where California’s scare resources should be directed, and how EAP could be tweaked toward the goal of increasing academic preparation.”

The professors began collect-ing data for the study earlier this summer, Howell said.

“When we have more infor-mation we can pass it on to policy makers and the educa-tion community,” said Kurlaen-dar, who’se heading the four-year study. “If we show that EAP works, we can encourage teachers to encourage students to participate.”

The professors applied for the grant in October 2009 through the U.S. Department of Educa-tion’s Institute of Education Sci-ences. The money will be used primarily for hiring research

assistants, and for reducing the professors’ teaching loads to allow time for research, Howell said.

In 2007, the trio did a study of the effectiveness of the program at Sac State. They found that students who took EAP English had a 6 percent lower probabil-ity of needing remediation, and students who took EAP math had a 4 percent lowerprob-ability.

Now the professors want to see if results of this study hold true across the 23-campus CSU system.

“If those results hold across the whole CSU, then the Sac State results would scale up to an estimated system-wide im-pact that implies roughly 3,000 fewer remedial students in Eng-lish and 2,000 fewer remedial students in math,” Howell said.

In addition to testing for high school juniors, the program involves instruction for high school seniors who want to be better prepared for college, and professional development for 12th-grade English and math teachers, according to the CSU website.

Their research will focus on three questions: Does partici-pation in the program reduce the probability that a student needs remediation upon enter-ing CSU? Does the effect ofthe program participation vary with student characteristics like gender, ethnicity and academic achievement? Do students who participate in the program use their senior year in high school to become better prepared for college?

The research is a little bit personal for Howell, who has taught Introduction to Mi-croeconomics since 2003, and has seen many of her students struggle with both math and reading.

“If these students had a little wake-up call just a few years ago, they would be able to tackle the material in front of

them,” Howell said.Howell and her colleagues

will likely be sharing their re-search results with California Community College profes-sionals, she said.

This year, 32 state commu-nity colleges began accept-ing EAP scores from high schools as a way of exempting students from remediation courses, Howell said.

About 50 of the state’s 112 community colleges could begin accepting scores by the end of the year, said state EAP coordinator Sonia Ortiz-Mercado.

“The more prepared we can get them as they come into our system, the better they’re going to do once they get here,” Ortiz-Mercado said.

The professors also plan to share their research with college chancellors, school districts, superintendents and the state Legislature, Howell said.

“Our findings will probably be useful to a wide array of policymakers, all looking for ways to increase academic preparation going into college and, thereby, student success,” she said.

By Ken [email protected]

JuLie Keefer State Hornet

Jessica Howell and two colleagues received $1.8 million for EAP research.

Vote Impact members able to keep elected positions

After a series of hearings held over the summer, the Associated Students Inc. Elections Appellate Council decided the three ASI election winners, who were recom-mended to be disqualified by the Election Complaints Committee, will retain their positions this school year.

Shortly after the election, complaints were filed against ASI Executive Vice President Rylan Gervase, ASI Vice President of Finance Chris Smith and Director of Busi-ness Blake Menezes, all of whom are members of Vote Impact.

The Appellate Council decided to overturn the com-mittee’s decision because the evidence presented against them was not clear enough, according to a letter sent by the council to Lori Varlotta, vice president for student affairs.

The disqualification was based on complaints filed and evidence presented by former ASI presidential candidate Vince Vicari against Gervase, Smith and Menezes.

Vicari testified at a hearing held in May that Gervase, Smith and Menezes wore their campaign shirts while par-ticipating in the Family Feud event, hosted by KSSU and UNIQUE, on election day in the Univer-sity Union. Vicari considered this active campaigning and is against the Election Code.

The Election Code defines campaigning as “...making public speeches, displays, or demonstrations in support of...any candidate.’”

“The materials pre-sented by the charging

parties to the ECC do not set forth sufficient evidence that the University Union was an absolute ‘no campaign zone,’” according to the letter from the Appellate Council dated July 21.

Menezes said he was ecstatic about the Appellate Council’s decision.

“Something that had been going on over a course of about two months was finally over and done. It was exciting to know that I was not in jeop-ardy of losing my directorship anymore,” Menezes said.

Fifteen complaints, including Vicari’s, were filed shortly after the election held in May. Six were against Vote Impact mem-bers and eight were written by members of the party against other candidates. All but five of the complaints were deemed without merit and were not heard by the committee.

“I felt like I was obligated to file a complaint,” said Vicari, who presented video recordings and photos from the Family Feud event.

The other complainants were former ASI presidential candi-date John Arndt, former ASI Vice President of Finance can-didate Sandra Gallo and former ASI Vice President of Academic Affairs candidate Yeimi Lopez, all of whom filed complaints against Martin.

Lopez said Martin had unjustly taken advantage of his vice president of finance office

to hold Vote Impact meetings and store campaign materials.

Gallo also testified that Martin used his office for campaign purposes and wore his Vote Impact shirt inside the ASI office, which is a violation of the Election Code. Arndt said Martin had misappropri-ated funds from the Dollars for Organizations and Clubs, which he chaired.

After reviewing the com-plaints and the evidence pre-sented, the committee recom-mended that Smith, Gervase and Menezes all be disqualified from their positions and be replaced by the candidates with the second-highest votes.

The committee also recom-mended that Martin be fined $100, which would go toward the Tanton/Lara/Ramo scholar-ship fund. This was in addition to presenting a workshop about Election Codes to spring 2011 ASI candidates, and serving as a guest speaker at Sac State government classes this fall.

On July 21, The Appellate Council reviewed the evidence from the committee hearings and concluded there was not enough evidence to diqualify the Vote Impact members.

The committee’s recommen-dations on Martin, however, remained intact.

“At the end of the day, the right decision was made with the Appellate (Council),” Smith

said.Vicari said he

acknowledges the Ap-pellate Council’s deci-sion and accepts that it is a “done deal.” He, however, stressed that students need to know what is going on at ASI.

“It is in every student’s best interest to keep track of ASI,” Vicari said. “Their decisions affect everyone. They’re

held accountable. Stu-dent’s should know that.”

By Cayla [email protected]

fiLe phoTo

ASI Vice President of Finance Chris Smith testifies at a hearing last summer.

room, rock climbing walls, an indoor track, fitness areas, an indoor multi-activity center with stadium seating and big courts that can accommodate up to four games of basketball.

Peak Adventures and Student Health Services are also housed in The Well.

The Well provided the space for the health center to expand and update its facilities. The health center now has an op-tometry center, rooms for phys-ical therapy, immunizations and lab services, a pharmacy and 22 exam rooms where students can see physicians.

Costello said wellness goes beyond physical exercise, and The Well promotes Sac State’s seven dimensions of well-ness: intellectual, emotional, environmental, physical, career/financial, spiritual and social/cultural. She said inclusion of the health center and Peak Ad-ventures help give students an overall picture of what wellness and healthy living mean.

Students pay $118 a semes-ter to cover the upkeep of the facility, custodial maintenance, and programming costs for The Well. However, in order to have access to the facility, students need to turn in a registration form and sign a waiver, Gavric said.

Because The Well is funded by student fees, the facility is pri-marily for the students. Alumni who paid the fees for The Well when they were students between 2004 and 2010 care called “pre-paid” alumns and are invited to return and use the facility, said Leslie Davis, execu-tive director of The Well, in an interview with KCRA 3.

Davis also said members from the outside community cannot use The Well because the facil-ity is a nonprofit corporation whose affiliates are directly related to the campus.

Faculty and staff can use The Well at a fee slightly more than the student fee.

However, everyone is invited to use The Well for free during the opening week from Sept. 3 to 10.

Other services offered are equipment training, kinesis equipment training and circuit training to help familiarize stu-dents with the different equip-ment and exercise regimens.

Students will also have access to Mindbloom, a free gaming software that focuses on well-ness and goal setting. It allows students to work on healthy lifestyles in a fun, interactive way, Costello said.

Moving into the spring semester, Costello and Gavric said they hope to offer more op-portunities to students. Gavric

said she is working with the kinesiology department and the recreation and leisure studies program to set up internship opportunities in the spring.

“We hope that the students take advantage of all of the opportunities at The Well,” said Tad Mackey, coordinator of information recreation and facility.

HOW THE WELL STARTED

The idea of The Well was cemented in spring 2004 when students approved a measure to update Sac State’s recreational facilities by building a new Wellness Recreation Events Center to provide recreational activities, health care and facili-ties for events.

Gonzalez promised to raise $25 million for the center, and the remaining costs would be funded by student fees.

The measure increased stu-

dent fees to fund The Well. Fees went up by $10 the fol-

lowing semester, and then once construction began in 2008, student fees went up by $110 for each subsequent semester.

When the students voted on the measure in 2004, they were told the facility would have basketball courts, an indoor pool, a fitness center, a bowl-ing center, child care facilities, a multi-purpose arena and a movie theater.

It would also have a health service center that provides physical therapy, dental and optical care and therapeutic massages.

The Well has most of these features except for the indoor pool, bowling center, child care facilities and a dental care center.

The Well originally partnered with the athletics department, Student Health Services, the university and the University

Union, but as time passed, it lost the athletic partnership.

This resulted in a smaller budget.

“We had to cut back on some of the features, staff and servic-es, like child care, that we were going to offer, due to budget cuts. The university’s decision to cap enrollment made us cut back on a lot of the program-ming,” Gavric said.

Gavric said the university board of directors and The Well advisory group, both of which have student representatives, were consulted before making the changes.

Even though The Well faced some setbacks in funding, Gavric said The Well admin-istration did not cut of the employment opportunities set aside for students.

The facility employs 200 students and might have a few openings mid-semester, Gavric said.

The entire project ended up costing $71 million instead of the original $73 million, Gavric said. The Well received no pri-vate or corporate funds, and the actual construction costs were $52 million.

The remaining costs were paid for through the issuance of bonds.

Spokeswoman Kim Nava said Gonzalez promised to raise $25 million for the Alex G. Spanos Sports and Recreation Complex, which includes a field house and The Well, but could not comment on how much money has come in and how much has gone toward The Well.

Senior interior design and biology major Bebe Keonongtes said she is excited about the opening of The Well.

“We’re so stoked,” she said. “They’ve been building it for years and it better be worth all of the wait and money.”


Well: Health, fitness, recreation together under one roofContinued | page A1

becKy beLL State Hornet

A view from the back terrace of The Well, located on the second floor, shows the Hornet Stadium. The Well, a 150,000-square-foot facility will have its grand opening Thursday. It now houses the Student Health Services and Peak Adventures.

becKy beLL State Hornet

The Well includes clinics for students and rock climbing walls for fitness and recreational purposes.

roberT Linggi State Hornet



Address: Plans to make Sac State a destination campusdents above target,” he said.

Gonzalez said if the proposed funding for the CSU is not signed and finalized soon, the campus is preparing to make sure that the least damage is done to the students and faculty.

Some of these preparations include not filling vacant positions, delaying equipment purchases and maintenance and transferring employees to non-state funding when possible.

“The worst-case scenario is happening right now, and we will still persevere,” Gonzalez said.

Throughout his speech, Gonzalez talked about the prog-ress of Destination 2010 and thanked everyone behind the project.

He said because of the physi-cal improvements at Sac State as part of Destination 2010, there will be more students staying on campus throughout the day, “… creating a vibrant campus life that belies the commuter campus perception.”

“In other words,” he said, “stu-dents will live here, study here and succeed here like never before.”

He said Sac State’s transfor-mation into a destination cam-pus has provided community support and private funding for the university.

Not everyone was as en-thusiastic as Gonzalez about Destination 2010.

Kevin Wehr, president of the Capitol chapter of the Califor-nia Faculty Association, said Destination 2010 has misplaced priorities, such as the construc-tion of The Well, a multi-use facility, which he said focuses too much on recreation.

“We have a new fitness center, but where are the new class-rooms?” Wehr said. “That’s what they need to be spending money on.”

Wehr also criticized Gon-

zalez for not mentioning the recent 5 percent fee increase that was passed in June by the CSU Board of Trustees, or the furloughs and layoffs that have affected faculty and staff.

“I now have students falling asleep in my morning classes because of these fee increases forcing them to pick up second jobs with late shifts,” he said. “I think he’s really out of touch with student life.”

Stephen Garcia, vice president for administration and business affairs, said otherwise.

“He’s made a vision to im-prove student life on campus,

and he’s met that vision very well,” Garcia said.

Gonzalez said the Legis-lature will ultimately decide how much students will have to pay for higher education.

Gonzalez and Wehr en-couraged students, who are unhappy with the budget cuts, to inform the Legislature by assembling at the Capitol as soon and as often as possible.

“Nothing is easy about this,” Gonzalez said. “To you stu-dents: please bear with us and remain in good spirits about things to come.”

Continued | page A1


A limping President Alexander Gonzalez chats with members of the audience before his spring address.

Budget: Funding could open more classes for students

port for higher education has declined by $1.6 billion, or 14 percent. Public universities, whose share of the General Fund has declined by about 20 percent, absorbed most of the reduction, according to a Legislative Analyst’s Office report.

CSU’s share of the General Fund, for instance, decreased from $2.9 billion in 2007-08 to about $2.2 billion the fol-lowing year.

Kevin Wehr, president of the Capitol chapter of the Cali-fornia Faculty Association, said the governor’s proposed budget is “not really enough.”

“But it’s a very important step forward,” Wehr said. “It’s brings us back to a point where we can start thinking about offering a reasonable amount of classes that are hopefully enough for students to graduate on time, and hiring back faculty who have been laid off.”

In a statement issued after the budget committee’s approval of the governor’s proposal, CSU Chancellor Charles Reed said timely pass-ing of the budget would open doors to an additional 29,000 students.

The budget, however, is not likely to be passed anytime soon.

“They haven’t sent a signal that they’re ready to pass the budget.” Sheley said.

Meanwhile, the CSU will remain conservative in admit-ting students for spring 2011 and assume there will be no increase in state support until a final budget is passed.

A memo sent by Reed to campus presidents stated that each campus can exceed its enrollment targets for spring 2011 by no more than 2 percent.

LEGISLATIVE ANALYST’S OFFICE SAYS PROPOSED

INCREASES ARE TOO MUCH

In its report on the budget published in February, the Leg-islative Analyst’s Office recom-mended a $148 million increase in state support to the CSU.That is roughly half the amount proposed by the governor.

Steve Boilard, director of higher education for the ana-lyst’s office, said the governor’s proposal is a “pretty significant increase in state funding” dur-ing a year when the state has cover a $20 billion budget hole.

The analyst’s office’s recom-mendation would also save the state $298 million, Boilard said.

“We need to find a reason-able place to restore some of the services on campus, and at the same time be more careful about how much money we spend,” Boilard said.

The analyst’s office’s analysis of the budget proposal was based on per-student funding at the CSU. According to data compiled by researchers, per-student funding actually went up from $11,289 in 2007-08 to $11,722 under the 2010-11 budget proposal, a 3.8 increase.

The analyst’s office recom-mended that the state should restore per-student funding rates to 2007-08 levels instead of increasing them as proposed by the governor.

“Rather than saying we’re going to give all the money that the governor proposes, let’s in-stead come up with some kind of target and see how it would cost,” Boilard said.

The office also recommended that the Legislature reject Schwarzenegger’s proposal to provide $60.6 million for “en-rollment growth.”

Boilard said calling it can be misleading because the gover-nor’s budget proposal actually calls for reduced enrollment for 2010-11. The money would instead fund students who were previously turned away from the CSU due to budget cuts.

“The governor includes money in there for enrollment growth, but it doesn’t really fund new students,” Boilard said.

Sheley agreed.“I wouldn’t call it enrollment

growth,” he said. “The $60 mil-lion opens doors to the number of students that we haven’t been able to accommodate.”

Continued | page A1

Source: LegiSLaTive anaLyST’S office graphic by Megan harriS


Christina: Former Hornet’s passion leaves others inspired

complications since an early age, Li never let her health problems prevent her from obtaining her goals, said Vicki Li, her older sister, in an e-mail to The State Hornet.

“She would accomplish any-thing she set her mind on. She was strong, determined and had a beautiful spirit,” Vicki Li said.

Christina Li, who gradu-ated cum laude in May with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, worked as a writer and editor for The Hornet for two semes-ters. She wrote for Sacramento Magazine and freelanced for San Francisco neighborhood newspapers like The Por-trero View and The Richmond Review. After she graduated, she was offered a copy editing position at a paper in the town of Visalia.

Vicki Li said her sister was not only a brilliant writer who could capture the essence of stories through her words, but she was also a talented photog-rapher.

“It was in 2009 when I first picked up a Nikon D40. Little did I know what to make of such a thing considering the package never came with a manual. I have always had a love and passion for art and self expression. I guess you can say my burst of creativity drew me

into this world full of imag-ery,” Christina Li wrote on her website where she was selling her photos.

She was donating 10 percent of the proceeds of her sales to the American Heart Associa-tion.

“For someone who’s never taken photography classes, she’s taken amazing photos. She’ll take a shot of something ran-dom she happened to see and turn it into an amazing photo,” said her friend Mitchell Wilson.

Those who who have worked with Christina Li said she had an impeccable eye for capturing beauty and she was capable of seeing the beauty in everything.

“She was very clear about her heart condition and did not let it stop her. She showed her determination and strong work ethic at the Hornet,” said Leidhra Johnson, friend and former colleague. “She found the beauty and shared the beauty.”

In her blog, she wrote about the need to recognize beauty and opportunities at all times.

In one of her entries, Chris-tina Li wrote about taking a 30-minute study break to ap-preciate her surroundings.

“At the end of the block I saw some sprinklers going off. Since I wasn’t able to get photographs of the rainbow last week after the rain, I decided this was my

chance,” she wrote.After capturing the rainbow

in the sprinklers, she just had one question: “Where is that pot of gold?”

Close friends and family spoke about Li’s writing and passion for the arts and what a good person she was.

Wilson said when he and Li worked as editors in fall 2009, she always supported and en-couraged him, reminding him of how hard he was working and what he was accomplishing.

Benjamin Schilter, who worked with Li as the copy chief during her time at The Hornet, said he will always remember the time Li befriended him when he felt that no one else would. It was during the paper’s annual spring banquet when Schilter was sitting by himself at his table and Li, who barely knew Schilter at that time, joined him.

“Before she sat down at my table, I definitely wanted to leave. When she came by, I started mulling over it again,” Schilter said. “When she told her friends that she was fine sitting where she was, I figured that maybe staying wouldn’t be so bad after all.”

Schilter said that kind gesture changed his perception about working for the campus paper.

“Christina touched many lives while she was here with us. She was a wonderful daughter, sis-ter, and friend,” Vicki Li said.

On Sunday, more than 100 family and friends remembered

and celebrated Li’s life at her funeral service.

They are sure she is in a better place and she has found that pot of gold.

Continued | page A1

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State Hornet Classifieds

courTeSy phoToS

Bottom left: Christina Li poses for a friend at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Top right: Christina Li, who immediately developed photography skills, takes a picture of the Ocean Beach while wearing a San Francisco Giants’ hat, her favorite baseball team.Bottom right: Christina Li, sits at her desk at The State Hornet. She worked as a features writer and features editor for two semesters at the paper.

“Christina Li touched many lives while she was here with us. She was a wonderful daughter, sister,

and friend.” - Vicki Li, Christina Li’s sister

September 1, WedneSdaya9 W W W . S tat e h o r n e t . c o m | F a l l I S S u e 1 | S a c r a m e n t o S tat e

theStatehornetOpiniOn

Need less fees, more educatioN

Fee increases, which deep-ly and negatively impact Sacramento State students’ lives, were not directly men-tioned Thursday at Sac State President Alexander Gonza-lez’s annual fall address.

In his spring address, Gonzalez had said that there would be another in-crease later in the year. Fair enough, but he should have mentioned something that affects the students so much in the fall address as well.

The State University Fee was increased once more in June, by 5 percent, accord-ing to a California State University Public Affairs press release.

Student fees, which are already ridiculously high, are expected to jump even higher in the midst of an unapproved state budget and a rising demand for university funding.

The governor is required by the state constitution to submit a budget to the Legislature in January. The Legislature then works to approve the budget by June.

Gonzalez said education at the CSU is still afford-able, despite the rising fees. Gonzalez also said there is a solution to stop the fee increases.

“California has to make a decision to support higher education,” Gonzalez said.

Even if the current pro-posed $365 million budget is approved by the Legisla-ture, the students might not get their old, relatively low fees back.

In 1979, the fees amount-ed to only $144. With the recent increase, these fees are nearly 3,000 percent more than what they were in 1979.

Gonzalez said if the fund-ing keeps falling through, it will have to be reconciled somehow.

“More of the financial responsibility for quality instruction will fall to our campus, our supporters and our students,” Gonzalez said.

A greater financial burden can only mean further cuts to faculty and more fee increases, which decreases the quality of our education

experience.Kevin Wehr, president of

the Capitol chapter of Cali-fornia Faculty Association, said because of fee increases students often need to get second jobs and work late-night shifts. It is unac-ceptable that in times of financial hardship the CSU forces fee increases upon its student population.

Many students end up sleeping in class and doing poorly on their homework assignments. While in-creases in fees do help the campus fund its processes, the students end up suffer-ing.

Because of second jobs, students have less time available for homework and studying. This leads many students to lose sleep in order to finish up assign-ments.

Wehr said while it is great that Gonzalez’s focus during the fall address has largely been on Destination 2010, that focus should also have been somewhere else.

“Sure, we have the new athletic center and book-store,” Wehr said. “But can we have new classrooms?”

We not only need new classrooms, we need them to be bigger and “smarter.” It would be nice to see the fee increases go toward remod-

eling these aging rooms, or building new ones.

The classrooms are often overcrowded and some students have to sit on floors at the beginning of each semester due to small classroom sizes.

We need more class sec-tions. We need more of everything that would make this institution conducive to a better educational experi-ence.

It is probably not a bigger gym or a hangout location that would make our edu-cational experience the best it can be. Commuter school or not, most of us enjoy the campus the way it is, without its fancy add-ons.

“We’re here for the minds, not just to get our students buff,” Wehr said.

Most of us are here to get ahead in life. We are here to get a good education. Yes, the campus may look nice, but the appearance is canceled out by us having to spend so much money on fees.

Wehr said it is important for students to go to the Capitol and rally against the fee increases. The only way the administration is going to know that we are hurt is if we show that we are. Fee increases are ridiculous.

Make your voice heard.

By Daniel [email protected]

EDITORIAL

While it has become somewhat of a State Hornet tradition to write our first editorial in the form of a response to the university president’s address every semester, certain recent cir-cumstances have prompted us to take a different route this time around.

The recent death of a former editor, Christina Li, has made all of us here at the Hornet realize just how important friendships and relationships are, especially during the college experi-ence.

Li, who died Aug. 19 due to complications during surgery, worked on the Hornet in spring 2010 as a features writer and fall 2010 as the features editor. She was a gifted journalist,

a hard worker and most im-portantly, a great friend and member of the Sacramento State community and Hor-net family.

While losing a friend can seem unbearable, those of us here at the Hornet have agreed that we would rather feel the pain of loss than to have lived life without ever meeting such an amazing human being.

The death of our friend has urged us to encourage the community of Sac State to reach out, find friends and find a family here on campus.

Yes, Sac State has a very large student body and is a commuter campus full of diverse students with different lifestyles, but it is also home to thousands

of people with at least one common goal: education.

A college education is not easily achieved. For those of us lucky enough to be here, we constantly face the challenges of fee increases, budget cuts and impaction. However, if we work to-gether to create an educated mass, we are all more likely to succeed.

As part of Destination 2010, Sac State Presi-dent Alexander Gonzalez has made it clear that he would like this campus to be a place where students choose to spend their free time. He would like stu-dents to feel like this cam-pus is another home. By building a friend base, we are all more likely to help Destination 2010 become a

reality.One of the more obvious

ways to find a school-based family is by joining a soror-ity of fraternity. Sac State sororities and fraternities can be easily explored dur-ing the first couple weeks of school as they urge and re-cruit students to participate in Rush from Sept. 10-14.

Our campus also offers a number of different clubs and organizations. From major-related organizations to hobby- and interest-focused clubs, something is available for everyone.

Thursday’s opening of The Well will also offer a way for students to interact and bond as students are welcomed and encouraged to become healthier and happier together under one

roof.Even for commuter stu-

dents who do not choose to join organizations, Sac State is set up in a way that students tend to take their major-related classes in one general area so that they are close to others in the same field. Something as simple as finding a study partner within a major can mean the beginning of a friend-ship.

While college system may seem to fuel competition, we should work harder to compete as a whole rather than as individuals. We should all work together to make Sac State a better col-lege – to make us all better students.

This should not be a competition to outdo each

other, but rather a common fight to make our genera-tion successful and the col-lege experience better for each of us.

If you have an interest in journalism and are looking for your niche on campus, the Hornet does not close enrollment or its doors to anyone.

Also see the article about Christina Li in

NEWS

fiNd a support system oN campus

Walking around campus this semester, students may recognize the ongoing con-struction projects.

With the recent fee in-crease, one might question why Sacramento State is spending money on remod-eling at a time when faculty is getting cut. And the first guess might be that funding for these projects is coming from our fees - it is not.

Let us back up a bit. Cali-fornia, along with the rest of the nation, is in the midst of difficult economic times.

Sac State recently declared impaction for the fall 2011 semester, meaning the uni-versity could not financially provide for the increased number of applicants. While Sac State is suffering at least the campus looks more inviting to everyone and, thankfully, at no in-creased cost to the students.

General library funds provided for the remodeling in the library, and Java City fully funded the construc-tion of its new coffee shop in the University Union.

Setting the financial situ-ation aside, beautifying the campus and creating more accessible amenities to stu-dents can attract students to spend more time here, at Sac State - which is the idea behind Gonzalez’s Destina-tion 2010.

Destination 2010 is an initiative designed to transform Sac State from

a commuter school to a welcoming campus bustling with student activity.

Remodeling activity is certainly helping promote that destination campus im-age to the community and to current students.

Java City remodeled its Union station, and the library received a facelift, in addition to other projects.

Brett Zugnoni, director of marketing for Java City, said the Union coffee shop remodeling was funded entirely by the company.

“Java City wanted to provide something new and exciting for students,” Zu-gnoni said, referring to the new Eco-Grounds in place of the old Java City. “Sac State had no part in provid-ing funds for this project.”

The Eco-Grounds coffee shop provides regular cof-fee and organic coffee, and features an improved water process for decaffeination.

Kimberly Nava, interim director of news services, said the remodeling proj-ects in the library were all undertaken to benefit the students.

“The library received no extra funding for the proj-ects paid for with general funds, and implemented them via the normal bud-get,” Nava said.

A new air handler unit was installed on top of the library, and Mary Reddick, department head of user services, said the library’s first floor now consolidates patron services to a single desk, called User Services.

Projects such as this make the campus more user-friendly and easier for the public to navigate.

Sure, we might not enjoy these changes right away, but future generations of students will definitely ap-preciate a this good-looking campus.

Remodeling right on track

Marcy Hendricks state HOrnet

rObert Linggi state HOrnet

Before and after images of the new Eco-Grounds coffee shop in the University Union.

By Matt DeStefano and Daniel Vasilchuk

[email protected]

We need your opinion, we know you have one. Give us your best shot!Please send your letters to the editor to [email protected]

To read more about Sac State clubs and organizations, check

outwww.isacstate.com

Fasting for an entire month, all month, from sunrise to sunset does not seem easy and for many Muslim and non-Muslim students at Sacramen-to State; it is not. Students are taking it upon themselves to hold Iftar dinners to break fast for the holy month of Rama-dan in the University Union.

According to the website History.com, Ramadan is the most holy time of the year for Islam. It is the ninth month of the Islamic year when all Mus-lims over the age of 13 years old fast for the entire month. During Ramadan, Muslims fast beginning from the rising of the sun and breaking fast at sunset.

Iftar dinners, which are daily rituals to break one’s fast for the day, will be held Monday through Thursday until the end of Ramadan near Burger King in the University Union.

Sabil Khan, senior business marketing major, said he is like most Muslims and enjoys having meals with family and friends. Potlucks and dinner parties are in abundance dur-ing Ramadan, he said.

Saman Tariq, junior biology major, said students hold these dinners every night to break

fast with the company of other students observing the holiday on their own accord and non-Muslims are welcome to observe and join in.

“I find (Ramadan) a time to test my own self,” said Sonum Saeed, a Cosumnes River Col-lege student and president of the Muslim Student Association for the Los Rios Community Col-lege District. “It is also a time for self-discovery, we spend most of our time praying and reading the Quran ... A time to test one’s self-control as well.”

IslamiCity is an educational organization dedicated to ad-vancing the understanding of humanitarian and social justice issues. According to the orga-nization’s website, the month of Ramadan is when Allah

revealed the first verses of the Quran, the Islamic holy book, to the prophet Muhammad.

In honor of this revelation, one-thirtieth of the Quran is read each night of Ramadan, so by the end of the month, the whole Quran has been read, ac-cording to the organization.

Before the first fast, Muslims look for the new moon. If it is sighted, Tariq said it marks the beginning of Ramadan. She said Muslims who participate in Ramadan begin fasting the next day for 30 days.

Ramadan ends by looking for the new moon in the last couple days of the holy month, Tariq said.

“In my opinion, Ramadan is when Muslims prove to God that we are not selfish and un-

derstand how it feels to not be able to afford food or water for long periods of time,” Tariq said.

Khan said the holy month is more than just a time for abstaining from food.

“Muslims refrain not only from foods but also from all the bad habits they may have,” Khan said. “Instead, they perform good deeds in abundance for the blessings that are multiplied for this month. That is what I try to do as well.”

According to IslamiCity, bad habits include vices like smoking, or simple things such as gossip. Muslims also try to perform good deeds like donat-ing money as a means of giving back and growing spiritually.

There are some mental and physical struggles with fasting for Ramadan. However, Saeed said, through the struggles the outcome is worth facing the challenges.

“I am always running around so (it) can become a challenge,” Saeed said. “It is always worth it to know I didn’t give up or give in to my temptations.”

Khan said he likes getting the opportunity to see relatives he does not see often.

“Ramadan is a time where family is your best friend,” Saeed said. “Usually everyone is busy, but Ramadan lets us break fast together everyday at the same time.”

The University Union’s UNIQUE Program works hard to produce entertainment and educational events for Sacra-mento State students. Despite the organization’s hard work, one of its more frequent events, “Nooners,” tend to go unrecog-nized by students on campus.

Since 1980, UNIQUE has regularly held Nooners, which are small one-hour concerts. The concerts take place at noon on Wednesdays inside the Uni-versity Union.

Justin Randle, senior psychol-ogy major and student assistant for UNIQUE, said a Nooner usually showcases a musician or band, but is not limited to just that. Nooners can also showcase plays or comedy stand-up acts, he said.

Zenia LaPorte, UNIQUE programs adviser, said Nooners offer a chance for students to see the bands they would otherwise see at local clubs. However, at local clubs, students are likely to pay a cover charge and many places do not welcome all ages. At Nooners, anyone can watch them for free, she said.

“Usually people don’t know the artist playing too well, so there is not a big turnout at first,

but as people walk through the Union, they stop by,” Randle said.

Shaina Sanchez, senior psychology major, said she has not heard of the Nooners.

“I love all types of music, and Nooners definitely sound like something that would be of interest to attend,” she said.

LaPorte said she believes the majority of students do know about Nooners but choose not to attend because they are not personally familiar with the band.

“That’s part of the point of going to these shows; get-ting to know new music for free,” she said. “Unfamiliarity with the band is just another reason why students should go, though.”

UNIQUE focuses their recruitment on acts that are appealing to students. Randle said members at UNIQUE do this by searching for local and upcoming artists that have some sort of following or a connection with students on campus.

LaPorte said when Noon-ers first started, bands used to send in or drop off their press kits, which consisted of a CD or cassette, a photo

Leaving their homes and com-fort zones behind, students be-gan moving into their dorms for the fall semester as Sacramento State opened its residence hall doors Friday morning.

Traffic in the residence park-ing lot started early as students arrived in heavily packed cars, along with their families and friends.

They were greeted by mem-bers of various Sac State campus clubs, who stood by in uniform shirts. The volunteers were ready to help by directing par-ents to the right halls and lend-ing a hand in unloading cars.

Lauren Wagner, freshman ki-nesiology major, was one of the new faces on campus who ar-rived to settle into the residence hall on Friday.

Wagner drove 400 miles the night before from Camarillo, a small town in southern Cali-fornia.

“Lauren grew up in a very quiet town,” said Lauren’s

mother, Mary-Lynn Wagner. “She’s been in school with the same kids since preschool till she graduated.”

Lauren Wagner said one reason she is looking forward to living in the dorms this semes-ter is because it will be a change of scenery for her.

“I’m excited just to be some-where where no one knows me, I’m looking forward to living with someone I don’t know and learning to be with different people and coping with different attitudes and opinions,” Lauren Wagner said.

She chose to live the dorm life because of the opportunities that it offered.

“I want to be involved in sports and clubs on campus, and living in dorms makes that easier because I can just walk down to campus,” she said.

Mary-Lynn Wagner said although she is happy for her daughter, moving day was still an emotional roller coaster.

“She’s our first child moving out, and while we’ll miss her to death at home, we’re still very

excited for her,” she said. “She wants this more than anything, so we want it for her.”’

Lauren Wagner and other students who moved in spent the majority of their morning checking in, receiving park-ing passes and situating their belongings in their new rooms.

After saying goodbye to their families, students went to the Dining Commons for their first dinner together.

Rachel Ripley, sophomore English major and student assis-tant to the university’s Housing Department, assured living in the residence halls is an experi-ence that will offer students something that cannot be found living off campus.

“Students living in the resi-dence halls not only experience individual freedoms from family and close relatives, but they also get to meet other students from different backgrounds,” Ripley said.

Student’s feelings about mov-ing in vary immensely, Ripley

September 1, WedneSdayb1 tHeStateHOrnetFeatures

W W W . S tat e H O r n e t . c O m | F a l l I S S u e 1 | S a c r a m e n t O S tat e

Residence halls welcome students foR fall 2010 semesteR

Students endure fasting to gain appreciation, empathy

UNIQUE offers free concerts in between classes

By Miriam [email protected]

By Miriam [email protected]

By Jamie [email protected]

see Nooners | page B2

see Dorms | page B2

Iftar dinners will be held inside the University Union dur-ing the holy month of Ramadan. Above: Artist represen-tation of mosques, which are holy places for worship.

robert Linggi State Hornet

FiLe graphic

Megan harris State Hornet

Student volunteers, parents and friends helped incoming students move into the resident halls on Friday. Right: Student volunteers from the Greek system as well as other student organizations lifted miniature refridgera-tors and bins of clothes up flights of stairs.

The Squeeze Inn is a Sac-ramento staple for burgers. It has been awarded “Best Dive” by Sacramento Magazine for five straight years. The reason for the accolades? The “Cheese Skirt.” Oh yes, a halo of heav-enly cheese surrounds the one-

third pound beef patty. When they cook the burger, they pile on a ton of cheese and the por-tion that hits the grill hardens to form the crunchy and heart-stopping cheese skirt. I was in burger nirvana. Definitely check this place out.

WedneSday - September 1 FeatureS SectIOn StateHOrnet.cOmB2

said. From her observations, she said it appears that fresh-men students anticipate the move more so than transfers or returning students.

“Older residents may be excited, but they also know how the semester will feel and, for better lack of terms, ‘how the system works,’” she said.

One returning resident, Ally Lodwig, sophomore speech pathology major, seemed just as excited as the new freshmen.

Lodwig lived in Jenkins Hall her freshman year where she made friends quickly.

“I made a promise to myself on the first day that I would go and introduce myself to four girls in my hall and today I consider all those girls my best friends,” Lodwig said.

The Housing Department set up an ice cream social and ac-tivities in the quad and offered music and dancing to ensure other students would make new friends, she said.

Students from every hall par-ticipated in the quad activities but as the day came to an end,

they reported back to their own halls for their “in-hall events.”

Lodwig lives in the American River Courtyard residence halls, which Ripley said are in high demand.

“The dorms are more like apartment style suites where each resident has their own room and connecting living rooms, a kitchen and a bath-room,” Ripley said. “The other halls share bathrooms, kitchens and living room areas.”

Lodwig said her old dorm had one bathroom that was placed in the middle of the hall.

“It’s exciting not to have to share a shower with like 28 other girls this year,” she said.

The ARC’s in-hall events consisted of root beer floats, dancing and air hockey.

The agenda for the next two days would follow the same routine as students continued to move in, and other activities such as making s’mores and scavenger hunts are still lined up for the students.

Lodwig enjoys the time she has spent with her hall mates. She said they encouraged her to do things she would not nor-mally do, like join the Salsa Loca Club and campaign for ASI.

“Last year for the first football game of the year the entire dorm gathered and walked down to the game together,” she said. “That’s what’s great about dorms, if you’re ever scared to socialize or participate by your-self, they kind for force you - so, it’s a great way to meet people.”

Lodwig said movie nights, Fri-day night journeys to clubs and midnight snacks with a friend were some of the few things that make dorm life special to her.

“You’re meeting strangers who are just as scared as you to meet new people and try new things, and you go through it together,” she said. “I definitely recom-mend dorm life to everyone..”

Dorms: Encourging students to build new relationships

Continued | page B1

JuLie Keeper State Hornet

Lauren Wagner (holding boxes) unpacked items for her new dorm room on Friday with her father.

Nooners: Bringing new talent to campus

and a biography. These days, UNIQUE gets electronic press kits through e-mails, she said.

It also get electronic press kits through a site called SonicBids, which is a way for bands to see local promoters and venues and send their kits that way, LaPorte said.

Randle said UNIQUE then pays the artist through funds it receives from the Union.

“They’re not expensive, if an artist has a strong following they will cost a little more than other Nooners; it varies between bands,” he said.

Randle said UNIQUE tries to bring different types of artists to Sac State.

“Two semesters ago we had a band that played with an electric xylophone and that was some-thing new for a lot of people to see,” he said. “Mostly we focus on what students would want to see.”

UNIQUE has booked a Con-cord-based rock band named Stomacher for the first Nooner of the semester. The band will perform today at noon in Serna Plaza, outside the Union.

Stomacher, which was previ-ously known as In Reverent Fear, has been together for 10 years, said Ryan Thornberry, the group’s manager. He said the band is familiar with playing at small venues like Sac State.

Nooners are also opportuni-ties for artists to build their

followings.“The band definitely picks up

fans from these kind of things, we get a lot of new sign ups for our email listing,” Thornberry said. “We get new fans from every show we play in.”

Living up to UNIQUE’s mis-sion to bring new sounds to Sac State, Thornberry said Stom-acher offers students a musical performance unlike any they have seen before from a band of this size.

LaPorte said UNIQUE is constantly evolving the way it promotes events to students, so bands like Stomacher do not go unnoticed. Over the past year, UNIQUE has used Facebook and Twitter to send out invita-tions and reminders.

Both networking sites have given UNIQUE positive results, she said.

Bands like Deftones and Cakes were among past per-formers who also became com-mercially popular.

“That’s a great reason to go, you might be seeing a band just before they blow up and you can say you ‘knew them when..’,” Laporte said.

If nothing else, LaPorte said Nooners were a great way for students to take a break and enjoy themselves for a while.

“We sometimes have outdoor Nooners, where students can bring their lunch, hangout under the sun and just chill out between classes listening to music,” she said.

Continued | page B1

MATT ABOUT FOOD | HAMBURGERS

Burgers taste better with cheese skirts

There have been many great eaters in the history of mankind. From Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, who ate 68 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes to Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas, who ate 62 Krystal Burgers (palm-sized burgers) in eight minutes. Not all of us decide to embrace our more gluttonous side, but food is something I am a pretty big fan of. I do not claim to have the most refined palette or the biggest appetite, but one thing I do know is where to find good food in Sacramento. I have lived here for 22 years and enjoyed more than my fair share of delicious breakfasts, snacks, lunches, brunches and dinners, and maybe a few more meals in between.

This column will provide some weekly insight into three of Sacramento’s best restaurants

- whether it be burgers, Ethio-pian or Chinese food. I will span the city limits looking for the best of the best. And while I can’t reasonably visit every burger shack or sushi place in a week, three of the best, based on word of mouth recommenda-tions, will be chronicled here. For this week’s mouth-watering marathon I decided to indulge in a classic: the hamburger. This staple of the American diet has been featured in backyard barbecues and fine dining alike and has taken on many interest-ing variations over the years. The burger has been placed in between everything from lettuce to a Krispy Kreme doughnut, and through it all the burger has maintained its place in our hearts and in our stomachs.

Now onto the competition! This week’s participants offer bountiful proportions and interesting takes on the tradi-tional burger.

By Matt [email protected] Scott’s Burger Shack is exactly

what it sounds like, a shack. Don’t let the small building fool you though. Scott’s offers some big burgers including my choice, the Triple Fat Boy. You heard

me, a three-patty, one-and-a-half pound burger covered in toppings and awesomeness. I downed the behemoth, I was breathing heavier afterwards too, but I would visit again.

SCOTT’S BURGER SHACK

WILLIE’SSimply known as Willie’s,

this downtown eatery offers delicious burgers and more. The reason anyone comes to Willie’s though is for the Hammer or the Slammer. The Hammer is a burger that you can get with up to three patties. The Slammer however, is where it’s at. With

Willie’s famous Slammer Sauce (a chili-cheese concoction), a thick tomato, mustard, pickles and onions, this burger will leave you in a food coma. Add on a mammoth side of chili cheese fries and a thick milk-shake and worry about hitting the gym tomorrow.

SQUEEZE INN

And our winner is…The Squeeze Inn! If I could attach a cheese skirt to all of my food I would do it. Do yourself a favor and get the “Squeeze with Cheese,” and prepare for your life to be changed. This isn’t the end all or be all of burgers in Sacramento, so write in and let me know what I’m missing. If you know of a great place to eat or want to see a certain food covered write in and tell me.

WedneSday - September 1 FeatureS SectIOn StateHOrnet.cOm B3

There are Mountain Lions taking over Sacramento and those same giant cats are tak-ing over Hornet Stadium at Sacramento State.

This year the school will play home to Sacramento’s pro-fessional football team. The up-and-coming professional football league, the United Football League, rooted its lat-est franchise in Sacramento and is bringing some well-known names to the campus including former NFL quar-terback Daunte Culpepper.

The fans turned out in doz-ens to a meet-and-greet on Aug. 20, held at Hornet Stadi-um to buy their season tickets, buy Mountain Lions gear and meet the players and coach Dennis Green.

The UFL is an independent American league that started in October 2009. The UFL has five teams, and each team consists mostly of players that have been in the NFL at one point or another in their ca-reers.

“They are going to non-NFL cities and building up fans,” said Mountain Lions Fan Club President Andrew Skwara. “And for me I want to go out

and watch my team play, and when the Hornets aren’t playing here, guess what? I can watch the Mountain Lions.”

One of the Sac State’s greatest former football players, wide receiver Otis Amey, will come home for the season and play for the Mountain Lions. Amey made appearances with both the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons, as well as in the Canadian Football League be-fore joining the new league of

Senior quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson is still carry-ing momentum from last sea-son despite an array of changes throughout his college career.

Bethel-Thompson, who at-tended UCLA his freshman year, will start the season as the starting quarterback for the Hornets on the road at Stanford University on Saturday. Thanks to an excellent finish to his ju-nior year, Bethel-Thompson earned the job as he threw for 635 yards and four touchdowns in his final three starts.

In arguably one of the most exciting games in Sac State foot-ball history, Bethel-Thompson threw the game-winning touch-down pass to wide receiver Brandyn Reed with 20 seconds remaining in last year’s Cause-way Classic against UC Davis.

“It was a great game; pretty much a tale of two halves,” Beth-el-Thompson. “We all just came out and played well. Everything just kind of fell together. It was a little bit of magic and a fun night.”

He went 19-29 passing for 223 yards and two touchdowns against the Aggies in the Cause-way Classic.

Bethel-Thompson attended Balboa High School in San Francisco, a school at which the football team had little funding.

In his senior year, he finished the season with 22 touchdowns and threw for 2,100 yards. Beth-el-Thompson attended UCLA in 2007 to play football for the Bruins, which had a lot more funding for the football pro-gram.

“It was absolutely amazing,” Bethel-Thompson said. “Com-ing from that and then going to UCLA was an absolute shock. I was loving the whole experience and kind of amazed at it all the

same time.”In his first year after being

redshirted as a freshman, he played five games as quar-terback and got the start in the Las Vegas Bowl against Brigham Young University. Bethel-Thompson threw for 154 yards and a touchdown, but the Cougars edged out UCLA 17-16.

The Bruins dealt with a head coaching change at the end of the 2007 season and UCLA made changes. Rick Neuheisel became the new head coach

B4 THESTATEHORNETSportS SEpTEmBER 1,WEdNESdAy

W W W . S TAT E H O R N E T . c O m | F A l l I S S u E 1 | S A c R A m E N T O S TAT E

NCAA SportsUpdates

VOLLEYBALL

vs. ILLINOIS STATEAUGUST 27

L 2-3

MEN’S SOCCER

See how Janelle Currey is already making an impact for

women’s volleyball as a sopho-more. More on B5

CROSS COUNTRY

vs. EXHIBITION MEET SEPTEMBER 4

vs. SANTA CLARASEPTEMBER 1

7:00 P.M.

vs. OREGON STATEAUGUST 28

W 3-2

vs. PORTLANDAUGUST 28

W 3-2

at SAN JOSE STATEAUGUST 27

W 2-1 2OT

vs. PACIFICAUGUST 29

L 0-1

at DUKESEPTEMBER 5

11:30 A.M.

vs. UC DAVISAUGUST 20

L 0-1

at STANFORDSEPTEMBER 4

3:30 P.M.

Kids swarm Hornet stadium

Causeway Classic QB returns as a starter

City embraces new UFL team


Mountain Lions players greeted a Sacramento crowd at Hornet Stadium.

see UFL| page B7

By Cassie [email protected]

photoS by: robert Linggi State Hornet

Kids ranging in age from toddlers to eighth grade were able to meet and do drills with Sac State’s football team on Aug. 21. This “Bee a Hornet” event was held at Sac State’s new terf field. Above: One determined kid takes his best shot at a tackle dum-my during drills. Right: One youngster prepares for the sprint drill. Far right: Kids getting auto-graphs from their favorite Hornet players after the drills.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

vs. SAN DIEGO STATEAUGUST 22

L 1-2

vs. CAL BAPTIST (EXHIBITION)

AUGUST 21L 1-2

vs. FRESNO PACIFIC(EXHIBITION)

AUGUST 28W 3-1

vs. NC STATESEPTEMBER 3

2:00 P.M.

at SAC STATE INVITATIONALSEPTEMBER 3-4

FOOTBALL

Which college football team will be crowned the BCS Champion?

Find out who we picked. Will Alabama repeat? Will a team

from a non-BCS conference win it all? More on B6

Kids dream big and the Sac-ramento State football program made some dreams come true on August 21.

Hornet Stadium hosted the first Bee a Hornet event, which gave the youngsters in atten-dance a chance to play with their favorite Hornet players before the season begins.

The event started off with Sac State football’s first scrimmage, followed by kids rushing out of the stands and out onto the new turf field to do drills with the Hornets.

Dozens of kids participat-ed with the players in drills throughout the afternoon as Hornet alumni, parents, coaches and Hornet Girlz dance team cheered them on.

Keith Lombard, 6, said he was out there with all the football players in hopes of fulfilling his dream of playing professionally.

“I’m gonna play football,” Keith said. “I wanna play for the Raid-ers!”

One of the kids, Hayden, at-tended the event because he used to play football a few years ago.

“We’re just kids running around on a turf football field. It’s fun to hold the football again,” Hayden said. “I’ve played football before and I think it’s really fun.”

In previous years, the football program had a meet-and-greet

session after the first scrimmage, but with the new turf field and new facilities like surrounding Hornet Stadium, this year was an expansion of what the pro-gram has done in years past.

Center John Taylor said he wished he had an opportunity in his youth to be on the field with players he looked up to.

“I never really had something like this as a kid,” Taylor said. “My father actually pushed me to do football. But I never had any outside support from the community.”

When the drills came to an end, the kids were able to get autographs from their favorite Hornets and left with an auto-graphed Sac State sports poster for the kids to put up on their wall.

Holly Macriss, wife of Deputy Athletic Director Bill Macriss, said she was thrilled how com-fortable the children felt with the players and dancers during the event.

“The coaches are so great at getting the young kids involved,” Holly Macriss said. “But the players are really cool and will always come over and try to help the kids and bond with them. It’s a great family feel with this event and I appreciate this.”

Her son, John Macriss, 13, par-ticipated in the drills and said he enjoyed being with the players even though we does not want to become a football player.

By Marshall [email protected]

see Bee| page B7

Senior quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson throws a pass in a scrimmage during training camp.

AShLey neAL State Hornet

see QB| page B8

By Marshall [email protected]

Optimism is the word sur-rounding Sacramento State’s men and women cross-country teams this year.

At the Big Sky Championship last year, the women finished in fourth place and the men fin-ished sixth.

Kathleen Raske, director of track and field/cross-country, is entering her seventh year with the program and is excited to see how the men’s team comes together.

“I’m pleased with the develop-ment of the men’s team,” Raske said. “The men’s team has a lot of key runners that were freshmen last year and the improvement they make will greatly influence this upcoming season.”

Junior Myko Lucas is one of the few upperclassman on the men’s team and said he needs to establish himself as a leader.

“Our team is extremely close and that’s something we use to our advantage,” Lucas said. “Al-though we are young, I feel I can

lead this team to a successful 2010 season.”

Lucas has Raske’s support on the matter.

“Myko has been here the lon-gest and knows that it’s his turn to step up and he's trying to do so,” Raske said.

Assistant coach Scott Abbott said he is pleased with the up-side his youthful men’s team shows.

“We are very young on the men’s side, and obviously that is exciting in terms of project-ing forward,” Abbott said. “The question mark, however, is whether some of this potential will rear itself this year, and I be-lieve that it can and will.”

Freshman Reesey Byers from Santa Rosa High School has caught the attention of his coaches and teammates as someone who will make an im-mediate impact on the men’s team.

“Reesey is a very special athlete with a very determined work ethic,” Abbott said. “We were so excited that he made the de-cision to come to Sacramento

State and we are excited for him to kick of his career as a Hornet.”

The men’s team is eager to show everyone the strides that have been made and cannot wait for the season to start, Lucas said.

“This team is full of guys who have high hopes and are very en-thusiastic,” Abbott said. “There is a very ‘fresh’ feeling to start this year, kind of a clean slate, and it appears that our men don’t really have expectations or limitations right now, they are just excited to get after it and see what kind of team we can be.”

Unlike the men's team, the women have plenty of leaders for the upcoming season.

“Seniors Renisha Robinson, Erin Lewis and Lea Wallace are all proven leaders,” Raske said.

Last year at the Big Sky Cham-pionship the three women fin-ished eighth, 23rd and 28th.

Even with the leaders estab-lished on the women’s team, other variables will determine this year’s success.

“We are only going to be suc-cessful this season if we can get some significant contributions

from some of our younger women.” Abbott said. “The ex-perience and leadership of our veterans will definitely provide a solid framework that should create a comfortable and pres-sure-free environment for the younger runners to really go for it.”

There is a high level of con-fidence surrounding both groups as they approach the season’s first race.

“Our main goal is to get bet-ter as a team everyday and to put ourselves in a competitive position in every race to give ourselves the opportunity to have a good result,” Abbott said. “We have the opportunity to have one of the best cross country seasons in a long time for this program.”

The season opens with an ex-hibition meet in Davis on Fri-day. The following weekend is the Hornet Jamboree and will be a great measure of where both teams stand.

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High expectations for cross country Currey spices up volleyball team

Janelle Currey's last name is fitting.

Watching her eyes and her demeanor on the volleyball court, the spiciness is evident - and no doubt she's got kick to her game.

As the co-captain of Sacra-mento State's volleyball team, the only thing more savory than Currey's skills is the fact she is only a sophomore.

The reign of Currey, who has already set Division I records, begins this fall; coaches are licking their chops anticipat-ing what is in store.

“I don’t even know how I would equate it,” said head coach Ruben Volta. “She is going to continue to get bet-ter and better. She had a really good first year. I think it’d even be hard to put a limit on (what she can do). And it’s so cheesy to say the ‘sky is the limit’ but (it’s true).”

Currey, a math major, comes from a family that lives and breathes volleyball. It came as no surprise when Currey picked the sport up for her-self in the seventh grade and continued her volleyball ca-reer at Rocklin High School. It seemed inevitable.

Her mother, Jana ten Pas, played high school volley-ball, and her younger brother picked up the sport as well.

“They are really happy (about her playing at Sac State),” Cur-rey said. “They like that I’m close, so they can come to a lot of games.”

Currey not only spent all four years playing at Rocklin High School. By her senior year, she was a captain, earning herself a full-ride volleyball scholar-ship to Sac State.

She went from being at the top of her game in high school to a being a record-setting col-

lege freshman.“I always knew Janelle would

be successful in college vol-leyball,” said Dave Muscarella, Currey’s high school volleyball coach. “She has an extremely high volleyball IQ and is very competitive. However, I never imagined she would be this suc-cessful this early.”

Last year, Currey set Divi-sion I records with 385 kills and 429 digs. Currey started in all 32 matches and all 129 sets last season. She was named co-captain, which makes it the first time in recent history that an underclassman has earned the title.

Currey will share the captain-cy with senior Maddison Thiv-ierge, and is one of only three players with a locked-in starting position.

“She is just such a model play-er for us,” Volta said. “She has such a great attitude. Her team-mates really like her, she’s really funny and fun to be around. But yet she’s really intense and re-ally competitive. She’s just really well balanced.”

It’s pretty easy to see there is more spice and kick to Currey than just her last name.

By Brad [email protected]

By Cassie [email protected]


Sophomore Janelle Cur-rey was named co-captain of the volleyball team this season.

grAphic by MegAn hArriS State Hornet

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On Second Thought: Next BCS Champion

wHicH team will win tHe Bcs national cHampionsHip game? tHe ncaa college footBall season Begins sept. 2.

will alaBama repeat? memBers of tHe sports staff cHime in.

It’s all about the Broncos. Boise State University is going to win the BCS Championship this sea-son.

Aside from the fact Alabama is atop the preseason polls and won the National Champion-ship game last season, Boise State is ranked third in the AP Preseason rankings behind Ala-bama and Ohio State.

Plus, the Broncos have a blue field. How can you not be a champion when you play on

Smurf turf? That stuff is seri-ously legit.

The Broncos finished their last season with a win in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl against Texas Christian University, and made them the second team in major college history to finish a season 14-0.

With quarterback Kellen Moore leading the team, they can’t lose. In 2009, Moore was named first-team All-American by CBS Sportsline, and in his

first two seasons as a starter, he didn’t lose any regular season games.

Moore also finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting and in July, Moore was named West-ern Athletic Conference’s pre-season Offensive Player of the Year. Moore is a total stud.

There is no doubt in my mind that Boise State will win it.

In the recent 2010 AP Pre-season College Football poll, Alabama is ranked No. 1.

Although this might lead peo-ple to believe that Alabama will become the Bowl Champion-ship Series National Champion-ship again, I am not swayed so easily.

Don’t get me wrong, Alabama has a great team.

That being said, my prediction for the winner of the BCS is Tex-

as Christian University. With TCU fine-tuning in the

offseason and the majority of its players returning from last sea-son, the team is ready to step up.

If the No. 6-ranked Horned Frogs can go undefeated in the Mountain West Conference, they will definitely have a shot at the title.

This is the school’s best ranking overall and the first time it has been in the top 10 since 1958.

Quarterback Andy Dalton led TCU’s offense with 23 touch-downs and threw for over 2,700 yards while maintaining a 151.83 passing rating in 2009.

If that’s not motivation, then I don’t know what is.

The Horned Frogs are worthy of the BCS attention.

So look out for this strong con-tender. We will see a new BCS winner other than Alabama.

It is time that we give Boise State University the respect it deserves.

Boise State has won more games than any other team in the country over the past 10 years and expectations are as high as ever coming off a huge year last year.

Boise State returns 21 of 22 starters from the team that a year ago achieved a Fiesta Bowl victory with an undefeated sea-son.

The Broncos are led by junior

quarterback Kellen Moore. Moore is 26-1 as a starter and

threw for 3,536 yards, 39 touch-downs and had only three in-terceptions last year. Moore has never lost a regular season game in his career.

The No. 5 Broncos will face the No. 10 Virginia Tech Hokies at a neutral site in their season opener.

Due to Boise’s highest pre-season ranking in school his-tory, a win against Virginia Tech would give the Broncos great

leverage in the argument of get-

ting into the National Champi-

onship game.

History shows that the stars

must align for a non-BCS con-

ference member to get into the

National Championship game.

However, if Boise runs the

table, I see them getting a title

shot and winning the 2010 BCS

championship game.

cassie Kolias

[email protected]

alyssa HusKinson

[email protected]

Brad scHmidt

[email protected]

will tHe san francisco giants maKe tHe postseason? tune in neXt weeK.

football.“It feels great to be back

home, especially with last year being in Canada,” Amey said.

The Mountain Lions will play their first home game at Hornet Stadium on Sept. 25 against the Florida Tuskers.

“On Saturdays when Sac State has an away game, we have a home game,” Amey said. “So, it gives students the opportu-nity to come every Saturday and see some football. They are going to see a professional brand of football play at a high level with some big name play-ers that they have seen before.”

Culpepper will be leading the Mountain Lions, along with former NFL head coach Den-nis Green.

“We look forward to it,” Green said. “I think that Las Vegas plays at University of Las Vegas, Hartford plays at the University of Connecticut, so a lot of the colleges programs are having the pro teams. We are excited about it. We think the field is ex-cellent, it’s new. It’s going to be good.”

Green is encouraging students to come out and watch.

“I think (the students) will like to see some exciting football,” Green said. “College football is exciting, but we are bringing a brand of excitement in pro foot-ball too. I think that we have the best quarterback around in Daunte Culpepper, and I think we’ll play exciting football.”

“It was nice out there trying to be a football player,” John Macriss said. “On the third time around, I actually made a field

goal. It was fun.”While Bee a Hornet was all fun

and games, the football team had work to do on the field ear-lier in the day.

The offense racked up six touchdowns throughout the 72-play scrimmage, while the defense ended the day forcing three turnovers and had several sacks.

Head coach Marshall Sperbeck and the coaching staff rotated players every few series so they had a chance to look at every-body during the game.

“The first scrimmage for us is just the kids’ first test,” Sperbeck said. “They get to get out and be evaluated for the first time in a live environment. There was good and bad and we have a measuring stick now to work from.”

Senior quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson went 14-27 passing for 140 yards and threw the first touchdown of the scrimmage to wide receiver Chase Deadder.

“The offense did a great job and the defense did a good job holding us down,” Bethel-Thompson said. “It was overall a great scrimmage. I mean, both sides were competing and it was the first time live going at each other.”

With leg injuries to receivers John Hendershott and Brandyn Reed, Morris Norrise, Ronald Richardson and Chris Broadnax filled in and combined for 14 catches for 193 yards and three touchdowns.

“We realized we had a lot of things to work on. We did well with our snap counts,” Taylor

said. “We just have to practice on coming out faster. We had a really nice passing game going on with a lot of deep balls and nice catches. We obviously set our expectations high and we always strive for the best.”

As the team looks ahead to the season opener against Stanford, the Sac State com-munity was able to share some fun, lighthearted time with the football program.

“We figure it’s a good time to get the kids out here and get the community involved,” Bethel-Thompson said. “And for the kids, hopefully they’ll be coming here when they get older.”

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Continued | page B4

UFL: Alumni plays again at Sac State


Kids participate in a throw-ing drill to the Hornet wide-receivers.

Continued | page B4

Bee a Hornet: Coaches evaluate players and get prepared for season opener

and things ended up not work-ing out for Bethel-Thompson.

“He was re-evaluating every-body in the program and un-fortunately there wasn’t a place for me,” Bethel-Thompson said. “I played in the bowl game and I did well in the bowl game. I earned so much and worked so hard for two years to get myself established in the program that I didn’t feel comfortable restart-ing at the same place.”

After the season ended and Neuheisel did not keep Beth-el-Thompson’s scholarship at UCLA, head coach Marshall Sperbeck went after Bethel-Thompson and he was given a scholarship.

His sophomore year was a year that no athlete wants to deal with. After playing four games, he injured his knee and added on to his already crazy college experience.

“My whole career has been a huge roller coaster,” Bethel-Thompson said. “Going from an inner-city school to UCLA was a spike up and then not play-ing so well was a downfall. Then getting back to playing well was another spike up and then having to transfer was another downfall. Then I got hurt again, lost my starting job and then last year ended the season well.”

However, Bethel-Thompson’s life is steady in the classroom. As a student-athlete, he’s also shining in both areas. He took advantage of an opportunity to become a legislative assistant and a member of the state As-sembly.

“I want to do everything after Sac State,” Bethel-Thompson said. “I started out as a math major at UCLA and then moved to a history major when I came here. I actually had an intern-ship at the state Capitol this last semester and it inspired me to do law school. It all depends on how the season goes, of course. I’d love to keep playing football if I can.”

Athletic Director Terry Wan-

less said Bethel-Thompson is a role model for the other athletes to follow.

“He represents what we re-ally feel a student-athlete should look like,” Wanless said. “If you combine the energy he brings into the classroom and the en-ergy he gets from the field, it’s exactly what you want to see happen.”

Being a senior quarterback, Bethel-Thompson also is a lead-er on the field. His teammates have somebody to rely on to command the offense.

Junior running back Curtis Shaw said he appreciates how his experience coming from a bigger conference is helping the team.

“He’s a leader,” Shaw said. “He takes pride in leading the team in the right direction. He steps up and takes control like a quar-terback should.”

Bethel-Thompson said he has grown throughout his experi-ences and is looking forward to a great senior year.

“I’m ready for this season to play 11 games and keep enjoying it,” Bethel-Thompson said. “It’s been a long road and I’m ready for it to pay off this season.”

WEdNESdAy - SEpTEmBER 1 SpORTS SEcTION STATEHORNET.cOmB8

QB: Bethel-Thompson proves to be star on and off the turf

Continued | page B4

McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw for 140 yards and one touchdown in the Hornets’ first scrimmage. His first start this season will come at Stanford on Saturday.

AShLey neAL State Hornet

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Issue 1 - Fall 2010