1995_03 Insight March 1995

              MARCH 15,1995
In Focus
T-shirts
promote
political
beliefs
By Stephen Walsh
Staff Writer
A Republican is easy to spot at ihe
beach. He's the only one wearing a
suit. It's a stereotype that's not easily
forgotten. But if three local entrepreneurs have their way. every conservative from Fresno to D.C. will bum
their ties and trousers in favor of Conservative Sportswear.
Conservative Sportswear is thc
brainchild of Pete Nicholson and
CSUF graduates Mike Handorf and
Paul Doyle. The T-shirt company was
formed about a year ago and had one
goal.
"We're in it for the money."
Nicholson said.
"If ihe Democrats wanted us to design a shirt with an elephant with a
target on its bull, we'd do it."
Sold for S12 each, their six designs
are tongue-in-cheek insults hurled al
Democrats. "Kick Ass." their first
design and bestseller, is a cartoon of
a donkey with a largel on his rump.
Based on ils popularity, it seems to
have become the unofficial symbol of
the fledgling company.
Nicholson, former editor of "The
Edge." a conservative on-campus
newsletter, says Conservative Sportswear is not out to bash liberals.
"It's not like we prim Liberals go
die,' and it doesn't put down thc presidency. They're in good taste... fun and
light-hearted." he said. "Some people
don't even know what it means."
Nicholson said.
High school kids have approached
him because they like the "Kick Ass"
logo, but Nicholson said he feels obligated to tell them thai the shirts arc
political salirc.
Conservative Sportswear is not all
Nicholson and his partners do for a
living. "Wc all have our respective
talents," Nicholson said. "It comes
down to desire, talent and hard work."
Nicholson, a graphic artist, and
Handorf. a banker, have limited time
to meet with Doyle aboul business.
"We meet an hour a week." Nicholson
said. "That's all it takes to brain-
While the shirts are mcanl lo make
people laugh, some liberals hale lo
admit ihey get ihc joke.
Mona Llamas, president of University Democrats won't be wearing a
"Kick Ass" shirt anytime soon. "I'm
kind of torn about it." shc said. While
shc thinks thc shirts are funny, she
doesn't like thc fact thai ihey are aimed
at Democrats. She dws, however believe in Ihe First Amendment. "Republicans should have ihe right to wear
what ihey want to wear." she said.
Llamas said making money from the
shirts was an attractive hook. "I'd do
il too. but I'd be donating some of the
Courtesy photo
Conservative Sportwear T-
shlrts are becoming popular
among the not-so-politically
correct.
money lo very liberal causes."
Fellow Democrat David Mirhadi
said cashing in on the plight of the
liberals is a clever idea. "What if the
Republicans win [the presidency) in
'96?" he asked. "They are promoting
fear of change, fear thai thc Democrats may succeed."
Political science professor Alfred
F.vans said both liberals and conservatives are taking pan in forms of insulting criticism of the other side.
"The fabric of political discourse is
becoming strained. The level of civility is lower." he said.
"There is a fine line between good-
natured, numerous kidding and being
insulting and lowering thai quality of
discourse."
livans said each side is trying lo
impose ihcir own SCI of ideals on the
rest, sometimes crossing the line of
With ihe Republican landslide in
Congress last fall. Conservative
Sportswear has plenty of ideas for
future shirts Their first, to commemorate ihe demise of ihe Democratic
majority, showed an elephant stomping on a saxophone. The caption:
"November 8. 1904 —The Day the
Music Died."
Conservalive Sportswear's latest
creation is a cartoon of a Clovis cowboy pointing to ihe fulurislic Fresno
City Hall. He says. "Clovis isn't the
end of the world, bul you can see it
from here. It's called Fresno."
So far. the company markets its
shirts on a small scale. It sold several
at last month's California Republican
convention and their next stop is the
national convention in San Diego. The
bulk of sales is from ihe Republican
Central Committee, which huys shirts
to sell al fund-raisers.
"We've advertised in newsletters.
Republican newspapers up and down
the stale." Nicholson said. "I'd like lo
sell more on a mail-order basis."
Conservative Sportswear has also
gotten free advertising from some lop
politicians. Among their biggest customers arc Gov. Peic Wilson. Dan
Lungren and Republican Central
Committee Chairman Mark Johnson.
Dan Quayle got his shirt al a recent
enveni at the Fresno airport. "He was
in here and ihen out —jusi like a lot
of people when they come lo Fresno."
Nicholson said.
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Truck Driving Academy
turns amateurs into pros
ByStefanieHard
Staff Writer
It was an average day in the classroom.
Students were waiting for thc 1 p.m.
class to begin and were discussing the
answer to question No. 2 of the homc-
The instructor entered and began
going over the homework, covering
such topics as the center of gravity
and centrifugal force.
But these students were not in a
physics class. They were learning
about truck driving.
Truck Driving Academy on Blythe
Avenue near Shaw Avenue is teaching people lo become professional
truck drivers.
Thc post-secondary technical school
offers eight-week day classes and 16-
week afternoon and evening classes
Monday through Friday.
For $3,990. the academy will teach
anyone to drive a truck.
The tuition covers a $75 registration
fee, a S35 physical examination
charge and a $20 book, plus the cost
of ihe Department of Motor Vehicles
truck driving exam.
Instructor John Marfia, who has
been in the industry 32 years, said a
person does not necessarily have to
be mechanically-inclined to leam to
drive a truck.
"We've had some come in that
couldn't drive a car and we laughi them
to drive truck," hc said.
Marfia said attending a school trains
people to be professional truck drivers.
an important factor in gelling hired.
Marfia explained lhat without special training, truck drivers can be a
hazard to others.
"1 would venture 1 could lake you
oul to Klein's [truck stop] and take a
driver and tell him to do a pre-trip [inspection] and he wouldn't know what
you were talking about," he said.
"Some drivers are professional, bul
most would just as soon run you over,"
he said.
The first half of thc course is classroom instruction. The second half
consists of hands-on training at a
"lab" near Herndon Avenue and Highway 99.
Thc "lab" allows students to lesi
their knowledge.
Alan Vega, a former cook, was laid
off from Castle Air Force Base and is
attending ihe academy through the
base's job re-training program.
"It's kind of neat to actually be in
there and sec what we've been talking about." he said after being in the
(ruck for lhc first lime.
Thc three women in Vega's class
travel daily from the Visalia area.
They are being trained as truck drivers through Job Training Program
Assistance, part of Visalia's Private
Industry Council. The program allows women to gain training in fields
where they represent 25 percent or
less of the work force.
According lo Marfia, C.R. England
and Sons. Inc.. are already interested
in thc three women.
Julie Garcia, one of the program's
participants, said she chose truck driving because of thc middle-management downsizing in the private sec-
"There's a better opportunity [in
trucking]," she said.
"Everybody's just fighting for work    graduates.
and there's nothing there," Vega said.
Job opportunity was not the only
reason these individuals decided to
become truck drivers. Money was also
a factor.
For those who can't afford to pay thc
equivalent of two year's tuition at
CSUF for a two-month class, financial aid is available.
According to the Truck Driving
Academy's 1995 catalog, students can
apply for a Pell Grant or Federal
Stafford Loans.
The academy is able to provide financial assistance because it's accredited by the Professional Truck Driver
Institute of America.
It also provides academic and drug
abuse advising to its students, as well
as job placement assistance to its
'Junk' funds scholarships
By Manny Fernandez
Staff Writer
On any given day on campus,
hundreds of items could be lost or
forgotten.
Sometimes they arc backpacks
left in classrooms. Sometimes they
arc books left on benches and
tables. Other times there's sunglasses left by someone somewhere.
And eventually, students' losi
items end up in the University
Police's lost and found storage areas.
"It all comes here eventually."
says Deanna Billing, a police dispatcher who oversees die lost and
found.
Students lose books, daily planners, keys, purses, wallets, necklaces, notebooks, computer disks,
umbrellas and student ID cards, to
name a few items says Billing, who
has worked as a dispatcher for eight
years.
When students or janitors find lost
ilems. Billing and other staff members look for a name.
"We do our best to try to identify the
owner of the properly," Billing says.
If identification is not on die item,
it gels logged in lhc police's lost
and found book.
Most of the small items turned in
are kept in a lost and found closet
al ihe police station for three
months.
The closci is noi as full as it used
to be. Billing says. In recent months,
students have not lost as many ilems
on campus.
In September 1994,65 items were
turned in. In October. 72 items were
turned in to the station.
After three months, the items are
transported to a storage area behind
ihe station for six additional months.
Bicycles and other bulky objects are
also kept there.
After six months in the storage area,
lhc items are given to Disabled Student
Services and used to raise scholarship
money in an annual auction.
During each spring semester at the
Free Speech Area, lost items are
auctioned to die highest bidder. Proceeds are put into a scholarship fund
and awarded to disabled students.
Nearly $500 is raised every semester, according to Stan Todd, coordinator of die Resource Center for students with disabilities.
"It's a great process." Todd says
of auctioning lost items. 'Talk about
recycling. One person's junk is another person's scholarship money."
Some items — like calculators and
sunglasses — are sold at tremendous bargains, from 10 cents to $3.
Billing says the process of turning losl items into scholarship
money is beneficial to the campus.
"It's a lot of work." shc says. "But
it's nice to be able lo tum something
back."
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Photo by Dan Hclmbold/lnsight
CSUF juniors Vang Yang and Lisa Mova take advantage of the
computer lab in the McKee Fisk Building.
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