Issue One

Hey everyone- this will serve as a place for updates outside of publication, and a place for us to store our articles.
October 27, 2009



Serenity Paved, Progress Forced

There are a lot of things at Cal that bother me, but this issue hits an emotional core. Cal’s campus has never been one of great character in nature of the constant renovations and construction. Regardless of how useful or not useful the Natali Student Center, New Duda, and the future convocation may be, they lack a quality that is at best intangible. The quality that they lack is a quality that can be found on campuses of Ivy League schools, old buildings, and old houses. A certain ambiance, or “feel” to them, a certain character that builds up in a place after years. It’s a quality that tells you much about the history of a place just by entering its space. This is not a “useful” quality, per say. And old buildings are inefficient, their electrical circuitry is worn, the pipes are made of lead, the floors creak. Old main, for example, has a bit of it. The president’s office used to be the library, and if you walk up the wooden staircase with wooden banister, the floor is shifting slightly to one side. Old main, in contrast to much of the rest of Cal, HAS character of a sort. Meanwhile, in New Duda, professors get flustered with the “new tech” designs, which include a giant glass wall not nearly as heat efficient as it could be, and poor design of the light fixtures that gets in the way of seeing the projector. Why geeze, it’s not like we NEED to see what the professors are choosing to put up, right? It’s not as though this is a school, and that’s why (I) we’re here, to learn. This concept of progress is damaging. In the rush for newer and better things, we lose character, we lose opportunities to learn, we forget that we are a university and instead become a four year degree institution, a four year track to a greater aim of money, and more progress. It’s a cyclical progress that in the end leaves me dizzy and feeling a bit cheated out of what I want in life. To the point that spurred this article: Cal, in an attempt to address the atrocious parking condition they have created, is increasing the size of the river lot. To do this, they expanded beyond what was the leveled, paved surface of the campus. They cut down a ton of trees and are in the process of building a retaining wall along the river past Eberly. I’m not a crazy tree hugger crying about some trees. I’m upset because there is a little spot by the river nestled behind the train tracks just down from the California Public Library. This spot includes a bench, a fire pit, a swinging rope, and a lot of memories. It used to be a place where I could escape from Cal’s oppressively progressive feeling and just relax or be with my friends, some of whom have since graduated. There was a path that lead into the woods, where a spot was bare by the river. If you ignored the giant pipe where California Borough used to dump sewage into the Monongahela, you could peacefully sit in a solitary place, and watch the leaves float down the river, or the snow accumulate, or hear the cicadas shrilling in the warm evening air. Guess what Cal? You paved away my solitude. Again. Nobody asked me, or any other students, if this was okay, though I’m not sure we could have stopped it, just as the Billiards Club couldn’t stop Cal from taking away half of their space, THEIR solitude (although, of course, Cal Times writes how happy the Billiards club is now).
Once again I feel confronted by a school that just doesn’t get it. It’s not going to stop, there will be a maglev, a river amphitheater, and plenty more attractions to win California University awards (like the best kept lawn award), and get California University money, and increase California University’s enrollment. All the while people like me sit quietly in the background. So here’s a question: Do YOU think Cal has Character? Do YOU feel disgusted by the constant renovations? And more importantly, are there any places that YOU would be upset losing? If there are, you had better get a voice, because they might be gone tomorrow, renovated for a more efficient, more progressive, more productive California University.
-Lizzy D. Ira




Gold Rush Café Plus: brilliant Option?

Price of admission into Gold Rush $8.50
Price of new ‘Café Plus’ Average of $7.00
Knowing your getting a healthy meal with high quality ingredients = priceless (15.50)
I’ll just get right to the point. WTFx up with ‘Café Plus’? The new scheme of AVI to rip you off. Café Plus is the idea that you can pay to get into the Gold Rush and then pay more to upgrade to better food. That’s all well and good, but shouldn’t better food be standard??
We shouldn’t have to pay to upgrade to better food options. It should be standard. We pay enough!
-Matilda Jeffries




Breaking Student Unity (BSU)

The Black Student Union has as its mission, “Building Student Unity,” though by its sheer existence it does quite the opposite. The BSU states according to its website it is dedicated to the “simulation and development of cultural diversity.” Membership is open to all students, this is made quite clear; however, on the executive board of the BSU there is not one white student. The link on the BSU web page to other student organizations is simply entitled, “Other Minority Clubs.” A group designed to include all students under the umbrella term of “minority?” The club is an agent of inequality and it does not exist to build student unity. The black flag that the BSU displayed at the organizational faire even had depicted a red line drawing of Africa, and a fist rising up therein. This is a provocation, a symbol, and a threat. This problem extends far beyond this campus; it is in fact a nationwide calamity. BET, the NAACP, and the CBC come immediately to mind. I cannot think of any television station more able to cement negative stereotypes about black people than “Black Entertainment Television.” How can one summon support under the banner of equality, and focus on the “advancement of colored people,” and not of all people? The society in which we live is struggling to break free from a racial dichotomy that is outdated, and hijacked to meet a divisive agenda. Celebrating difference and embracing the visible distinction of skin color, then labeling it “cultural diversity” is not going to bring equality. If only people would recognize that all too famous proclamation about the conduct of one’s character, rather than the color of one’s skin. The current manifestations of social “equality” movements are an example of racism, the same racism they sought to fight originally. I would call for all people, regardless of color, to shed the label of race. Let us move on, the color of one’s skin is irrelevant be it, black, white, brown, yellow, or red. What would happen to a White Student Union? What would come of a Congressional White Caucus? Black is not a synonym for diverse, it is a label of racism. We are all people, instead of screaming persecution, and gathering in groups emphasizing differences in skin color, we should stop supporting organizations that maintain racism..

- Edge Casey



Parking Complaints Remain Unresolved
I know that everyone complains about the parking. The thing that bothers me most is that Cal is not even taking care of the faculty and staff, as demonstrated by the proposition to make them pay for parking - essentially a pay cut. I think it is bad enough that they are screwing all of the students but to screw your staff too? Where is the loyalty? I know that up until this year I have recommended Cal: It was a cheap place to get a good education. I enjoy most of the professors and I had few complaints about them. This whole parking crisis has changed my opinion. I now tell people not to come here because Cal does not care about its students or its staff. If we cannot change their mind about the parking situation then at least give us an effective way to express our opinions. Many students drive straight from class to work. Not having enough available parking on campus forces us to take unpredictable busses. This makes those who drive straight to work not be able to reliably get there when they did before. And then we have to change our work availability. Because of the need to change work availability, people have to stay later at work to make up the time and then have less time to do their homework. This is causing us undue stress and makes students unhappy, unhappy enough to tell prospective students not to come here.
-Sammie Happlie