Holiday cutbacks - The Collegian - California State University, Fresno

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Holiday cutbacks
Moses Harris wants
to break stereotypes,
Page 4
November 30, 2009 | Monday
CSU board
member
named
Australian
ambassador
By Kristin Berquist
The Collegian
Pat Shannahan / McClatchy Tribune
Some shoppers have planned to reduce the number of gifts they purchase this holiday season and many are looking to the clearance racks for gifts.
Recession-plagued economy prompts thrifty shopping
By Yosimi Santoyo
The Collegian
habits and have instead sought out considerable incentives from retail giants
like Nordstrom's and Aéropostale
where advertisers have slashed prices
up to 50 percent.
To save even more money, some people
have turned to making homemade gifts
and other penny-pinching techniques
to make it through the holidays.
For Gutierrez, additional sacrifices
had to be made in her household in
response to the current economic condition.
begun shopping for gifts, but this holiday season I haven’t shopped at all,”
said Jessica Vera, a California State
University, Fresno graduate.
The holiday season is just around the
Vera said she will have to follow a
corner and consumers are not shopstrict shopping budget this year.
ping like they used to. In fact, many
“My family decided this Christmas
people concerned about the economy
to draw names amongst my siblings,
and employment are cutting back on
brothers and sisters-in-law, uncles,
the holiday shopping.
aunts and cousins,” Vera said.
According to the National Retail
Similarly, senior Carmen Bravo said
Federation, the 2009 holiday sales have
that she cannot afford to spend a lot on
been projected to decline one percent
gifts, because she has other bills that
this year to $437.6 billion, a far cry
need to be paid. To cope,
from the ten-year average
Bravo said that she plans
of 3.39 percent holiday seato only purchase gifts for
son growth.
hen I go to the mall now, I look at the clearher parents.
“I haven’t been to the
ance racks or wait for sales, because it's very
Bravo, who works as
mall in quite a while," said
a
sales
associate at New
hard
to
shop
when
I
only
work
part
time
and
I
have
to
senior special education
York
&
Company in the
major Jessica Gutierrez. “I
put myself through school.”
Fashion
Fair Mall, said
just can’t afford to go shopshoppers do not appear to
ping anymore because they
— Jessica Gutierrez,
be affected by the econocut back on my hours at
my.
Special education major
work.”
“I have seen customers
Gutierrez said she used to
spend so much money on
go shopping twice a week,
“This holiday I will not be buying
items that can be purchased at lower
but now makes a trip to the mall once
gifts for everyone,” Gutierrez said.
prices at stores like Ross, Marshalls
a month and only when it is necessary
“Instead,
my
family
and
I
have
decided
department stores or TJ Maxx,” Bravo
for her to go.
to do a gift exchange so that we can save
said.
“When I go to the mall now, I look at
money
and
only
buy
a
single
gift
rather
Although mall parking lots may be
the clearance racks or wait for the sales
than many.”
filled with cars and stores buzzing with
because it's very hard to shop when I
Gutierrez, however, is not alone in
shoppers, this holiday season may sigonly work part-time and I have to put
this situation. Other shoppers have
nal a shift in spending habits and giftmyself through school,” Gutierrez
resorted
to
gift-giving
alternatives
with
giving practices for consumers across
said.
the intent to cutback on spending.
the country.
Like Gutierrez, many consumers
“Last
holiday
season
I
had
already
have reduced their holiday shopping
“W
Herbert L. Carter became the
new chair of the California State
University board of trustees last
week following the resignation of
board chair Jeffrey Bleich who was
named as ambassador to Australia
by the Obama Administration.
Carter has been a member of the
board since 2004 and has served as
vice chair since 2008. He has been
affiliated with the CSU for more
than 35 years in a variety of administrative positions and served as
acting president of California State
University, Dominguez Hills in 1998.
“We’re sad to see Jeff leave us,”
said board member and student
trustee Russel Statham. “He’s been
an asset to the board and brought
strong leadership to the CSU.”
“On the same token, we are excited for Herbert Carter and trust he
will bring effective leadership to the
board,” Statham said in a telephone
interview with The Collegian.
In addition to his educational
career work, Carter has served in
many community service organizations and is widely recognized for
his contributions to the community.
Carter has a bachelor's degree in
sociology from the University of
Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and a Ph. D.
in public administration from the
University of Southern California.
Statham said the board of trustees will select a vice chair at its
next meeting in January. Typically
the chair serves a two-year term,
Statham explained. At the end of
the term the vice chair usually takes
the chair position.
“Jeff’s case was special,” Statham
said of last week’s resignation.
A litigation partner in the San
Francisco law office of Munger,
Tolles & Olson LLP, Bleich recently served as special counsel to
President Obama. He was confirmed
by the United States Senate on Nov.
10 as ambassador to Australia.
“We understand he will have an
impact as the ambassador and thank
him for his service to his country,”
Statham said.
C
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The Collegian • Opinion
Opinion Editor, Haisten Willis • [email protected]
Monday, November 30, 2009
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The daily crossword
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis
Los Angeles Times
ACROSS
1 Vikings quarterback Brett
6 Recipe amt.
10 1960s-’70s NBA center
Thurmond
14 Former Apple laptop
15 Eurasian boundary river
16 Expel
17 Marsh grass
18 Italia’s capital
19 “I’ll be there in __”
20 Shed some pounds
23 City square memorial
24 Suffix with Gator
25 Some NFL blockers
28 Begins
31 Woodsy route
33 Bear: Sp.
36 Logger’s tool
37 Either of two Modestobased vintner brothers
38 Divide earnings equally
43 Fella
44 Charlotte of “The Facts
of Life”
45 Fireplace residue
46 Ancient Indo-European
47 “Blue” evergreen
50 Fish-to-be
51 Topeka is its cap.
53 Mariner
57 Talk to the answering
machine
61 Post-shower powder
63 Move, to a Realtor
Puzzle by Pancho Harrison
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64 Scatter, as seed
65 Impressionist
66 Former Lacoste partner
67 Draws closer
68 Ashram advisor
69 Caustic fluids
70 __-craftsy
DOWN
1 Dukes in boxing gloves
Page 3
2 Pound __: cover one’s
route, cop-style
3 Screwdriver liquor
4 Classic thesaurus
5 Barely make, as a living
6 Gang land
7 Often furrowed facial feature
8 Identical to, with “the”
9 Checkered pattern
10 Biblical helmsman
11 Koala’s home
12 Prufrock creator’s monogram
13 Abbr. covering unlisted
items
21 Famine’s opposite
22 Beginning, informally
26 Leans to one side
27 Wade through the shallows
29 Pep rally yell
30 Insignificant one
32 WWII Brit. fliers
33 Schindler of “Schindler’s
List”
34 Former veep Agnew
35 Classic boy-and-dog
Disney film
39 Actress Lupino
40 Big name in little trucks
41 Golfer’s goal
42 Put into service again
47 Dwarf who needs tissues
48 Big name in small planes
49 Day to put all your eggs
in one basket
52 Pop singer Lavigne
54 French Revolution journalist
55 Golden __: senior citizens
56 Full of the latest happenings
58 Stocking hue
59 Shaving gel additive
60 Stylish ‘60s Brits
61 “You’re it!” game
62 “The Simpsons”
Squishee seller
C
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Word of the Day
Man chair
A man chair is the chair that men sit in
while their partner is shopping for long
periods of time. They can be found in
almost any clothing or shoe store. What can
we, as men, do while our girlfriends or wives
are shopping. We can sit in a man chair.
Source: UrbanDictionary.com
Sports
The
Page 4
Collegian
Sports Editor, Logan Hopkins • [email protected] • Monday, November 30, 2009
This day in sports history
November 30, 1996
Michael Jordan became the 10th player
in NBA history to reach 25,000 points.
Jordan reached the plateau after 782 games,
second fastest to reach the mark. Wilt
Chamberlain did it in 691 games.
Source: nba.com
All business
Goal-oriented and motivated, senior strong
safety Moses Harris has graduated and is
pursuing his MBA and possibly the NFL
By Shannell Smith
The Collegian
Although he considers himself a man of strong conviction and a dutiful Christian
who aims to “give God the
glory” both on and off the
field, Moses Harris said that
faith is not his only motivating factor.
He said that success is what
drives him to work as hard as
he does, and to accomplish all
of his goals.
“I came to Fresno State to
be a student-athlete,” Harris
said. “It’s important to me to
do both equally well. I have
two duties – football and academics.”
Harris has been the starting
strong safety for Fresno State
for the past three years, totaling 187 tackles in his three
years as a starter. While he
has been a steady contributor
on the field, Harris has other
things on his mind besides
football.
“I want to break the stigma
that surrounds the stereotyped
black athlete,” Harris said.
“We’re often seen as promiscuous, or not smart, or only good
at the game. I want people to
look at me and say, ‘man, this
dude excels in the classroom
and he can ball.’”
Since the last feature
on Har ris was printed in
September of 2008, he has
received his bachelor’s degree
in business administration
with an option in finance, and
graduated with Academic AllAmerican honors.
In addition to his reception
of Fresno State’s Bulldog
Spirit Award and his selection to the Academic AllWestern Athletic Conference,
Harris has been nominated
for the Lowe’s Senior Class
Award and is a finalist for the
Campbell Award.
T h e N a t i o n a l Fo o t b a l l
Foundation & College Hall
of Fame (NFF) gives the
Campbell award, which is
an $18,000 scholarship, to the
best and the brightest college
football player, selected from
a pool of 154 semifinalists
nationwide. Harris is one of
the 16 finalists now awaiting
the final decision.
He said that he has a passion
for business and for under-
standing the intricacies of how successful
businesses operate. He also says that he
feels a responsibility to take advantage of
all the opportunities that have not always
been available to African-American’s in this
country.
“I really want to take care of my family, and
I know that it is in my hands,” Harris said.
“My goal is to eventually start a successful
family business.”
Although Harris is currently working on
his Master’s of Business Administration
(MBA), he said that he has plans to try to
play for the NFL.
“There is only a small gap, a window of time that I can play football,”
Harris said. “School will be here,
and I’m not worried that I won’t
finish. I figure that I made it this
far, so I might as well try.”
He also said that if everything
goes as planned, he will be a
quarter of the way done with
his MBA after this semester.
Between practice, games,
school and various other factors, not many studentathletes have the time
to take time away from
their sport. However,
Harris found a way to
experience something
that he felt would be
extremely beneficial
and an opportunity of
a lifetime.
In the summer of
2008, he traveled to
Hong Kong to study
business.
“It was the best
experience because I
learned so much about
myself and about the
world. It was my first
time leaving the country,” Harris said. “It
took me a little while
to adjust, but I learned
so much about China’s
business practices,
their culture and their
value systems.”
Har ris said what
makes him who he
is and what sets him
apart is his focus.
“I strongly believe
in goals, that’s why I
write my goals down
everywhere,” Harris
said. “I believe that
what you read is what
you say, what you say
is what you hear, and
what you hear is what
you do. That’s why
you set goals.”
Photo Courtesy of University of Hawai’i Athletics