1997_11 The Daily Collegian November 1997

              THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Thursday, November 6,1997
Opinion
Telephone: (209) 278-5732
Community service
benefits students too
By Chris Fiorentino
Recently I read with great inter¬
est two articles published in The
Daily Collegian. Both articles dealt
with community service, but did not
completely cover the entire story
surrounding service in higher edu¬
cation.
As the coordinator of a univer¬
sity-based community service pro¬
gram. I would like to help provide
a perspective on the benefits stu¬
dents, faculty, staff and community
members receive when we increase
our involvement in service based
activities.
First, it is, important to under¬
stand that our institutions of higher
education, and our communities,
are in a rapid and seemingly con¬
tinual state of change. Ever diver¬
sifying demographics, decreased
funding for education and social
services, and a marked increase in
the amount of knowledge and skill
demanded by business and indus¬
try all mean that the academic ex¬
perience of today's college student
is radically different than that of
students only 15 years ago.
The Board of Directors of the
American Association for Higher
Education stated that higher edu¬
cation had "two great tasks: im¬
proving the quality of instruction,
and becoming more engaged as
'part ofthe solution' in addressing
America's many problems"
(Edgerton, 1995). This challenge to
improve education and serve the
community is a daunting one.
Isadora Duncan once said,
"What one has not experienced one
will never understand in print." Our
students, our business sector and
our community all demand much
morejhan a student who can recite
. important points about science, art,
communication and technology.
The world today demands a student
who can apply the theory and learn¬
ing that takes place in the classroom
to the world beyond the "ivory
tower". Today's students must learn
to master and apply an increasing
number of skills. Competence in
these areas will never come solely
from ^ textbook or lecture. They
will, however, come from a careful
pairing of practical experience and
academic learning.
The field of experiential educa¬
tion is growing throughout this na¬
tion.
Practical field experience has
been valued since the days of me¬
dieval apprentiships. Recently,
however, practical experience is
often matched with academic
course-work to assist students in
gaining academically, personally
and professionally.
Alexander Astin recently pub¬
lished the results of two extensive
studies showing the incredible
power of involving students in ser¬
vice activities.
Astin studied the effects of un¬
dergraduate involvement in service-
learning or volunteer service. He
looked at 34 outcome measures fall¬
ing into three general areas: civic
responsibility, academic develop¬
ment and life skills development.
The results showed that every one
of the 34 outcome measures were
positively, affected by undergradu¬
ate involvement in service, Some
of the areas positively affected by
service involvement include stu¬
dent persistence in college, interest
in graduate studies, critical think¬
ing skills, career development, lead¬
ership skills, and commitment to
promoting racial understanding.
Another piece of research pub¬
lished by Dr. Astin in 1997 looked
at the long-term effects of
volunteerism during the under¬
graduate years. This study showed
that the undergraduate student in¬
volvement in service was positively
associated with a number of impor¬
tant outcomes including: student
perception of the value of their un¬
dergraduate education; aspiration
for advanced degrees; increased
•     Please see SERVICE, page 4.
SIGNE
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Execution should be quick
for ruthless street gangsters
By Manuel Annear
Writing this column is usually
cathartic. I vent my frustrations or
inform my readers of some injus¬
tice I perceive -1 unburden my soul.
Today is different. I cannot write
enough to rid myself of the help¬
lessness and white-hot rage I feel.
What follows is blunt and graphic.
The conclusions I reach will be con¬
sidered draconian by many. If you
are easily offended or .meek of
spirit, do yourself a favor and read
a fluff piece, this column's not for
you.
I'll bet that just like any other
six-year-old, May Ka Lee woke up
last Thursday ful' of energy, ready
for another day of adventure and
discovery. Like other six-year-olds,
she was loved deeply by her par¬
ents and siblings. Like other six-
year-olds, she tagged along with her
dad when he went to pick up her
brother at the Melody Park Com¬
munity Center. Unlike other six-
year-olds, she ended up a cadaver
instead of a kindergartner; writhing
on the Community Center floor, her'
brain turned to mush by a stray bul¬
let and her body cooling in an ever-
spreading pool of blood, another
victim of indiscriminate gang vio¬
lence.
Why were bullets flying that
deadly night? We'll find out when
the gang-bangers are brought to
trial. I'm sure there will be excuses
about how they're disadvantaged
youth and couldn't help them¬
selves; society made them do it. Or
maybe they'll tell about how they
were "dissed" (disrespected, for
those of you who are not familiar
with cool street lingo) by some
other gang so they "had to teach
them some respect." Or maybe
they'll talk of some arcane notion
that the park was their property be¬
cause they tagged it first; they were
just protecting their turf. All this to
deflect responsibility and shield
themselves from facing the conse-
quences-of their actions. Truthfully,
they are no more than craven, ver¬
minous scum who draw their only
courage from the barrel of a gun.
They should receive no mercy from
the citizenry they presently hold
' hostage.
There arc solutions. One is to
empower thcpolice and military to
roust these thugs out and disperse
them; if they resist, all the better lo
take them out permanently. This can
be done easily because all of them
are known and most have criminal
records. We know where they hang
out. Another even more effective
solution: move trials for these
crimes up to first place on the court
docket. Try them quickly and if a
conviction is won there should be
but one sentence - death. Only one
appeal should be allowed within 90
days. If that appeal is not filed or
fails, execution should be public
and immediate. Additionally, the
convict's "homies" should be
rounded up and forced to attend.
They should hear sizzling flesh,
smell burning hair, and witness a
life blown away by thousands of
volts of electricity. They might have
a change of heart.
The ultimate responsibility for
Please see DEATH, page 3
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The Daily Collegian is pub¬
lished five times a week for and
by die students of California State
University, Fresno.
Opinions expressed in the
Collegian are not necessarily
those of the entire Daily Colle¬
gian staff. The editors reserve the
right to edit letters for length and
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