Recent mismanagement of Peak Adventures, an Associated Students, Inc. recreation program, has led to some serious questions from students, especially after the $42,000 dollar bailout passed by the ASI board earlier this month. Student John Jakes writes, “How the hell do you lose $28,000 to the move of the challenge center?”

Jakes is referring to the moving costs and loss of revenue the program incurred several years ago when it moved the ropes course to its current location near Yosemite Hall. This raised the eyebrows of ASI Director of Post Baccalaureate Studies Mohamed Hamada who said, “The $28,000 that cost them to move the Challenge Center years ago should not be a part of the deficit this year; that was a problem of the past.” This was a sound point that fell on deaf ears at the Nov. 7 board meeting.

However, the Challenge Center may not be the only problem from the past. Former ASI Executive Director Carol Ackerson apparently underestimated the amount of funding Peak Adventures would need when this year?s budget was composed last spring.

“She knew all about this; we even had a dialogue regarding this issue,” Peak Director Jael Barnoske told The State Hornet.

As tomatoes fly back and forth on the issue, the biggest question is over the missing $20,000 allegedly given to Peak Adventures by the University to assist with the moving of the Challenge Center. It should be noted at this point that all of the bales of money flying around belong to us, the students.

“Nobody really knows what happened to the $20,000,” Barnoske said. “It?s something of the past and we now have other things to consider.”

Yes, Ms. Director. Let?s start with bookkeeping?

?We?re getting ever closer to registration for next semester, and the professor from hell awaits many of you. That?s because Sacramento State still does not have an adequate professor evaluation system. When the popular ASPECT Internet evaluation system was nixed last year after some students posted offensive remarks, a void was left that has yet to be filled. Sacrate.com has been around for a while and still lacks comprehensive analyses on professors. The moderated site can also take weeks to post student remarks. Something better is needed. As our representative body, ASI is the organization to provide it. ASI?s ASPECT system was very effective before students began libeling professors. It?s time to bring the system back again, only this time with a few part-time moderators?

?The attacks of Sept. 11 and the war in Afghanistan have brought changes and stresses to the country that few of us have seen in our lifetimes. This, combined with a teetering economy, makes for very stressful times, especially after the unprecedented prosperity of the 90s. One way of dealing with stress: food. Said Family and Consumer Sciences Professor Susan Algert, “You can influence your moods with what you eat.”

Here?s the catch for many college students: “The foundation of your diet should be fruits, vegetables and whole grains,” Algert said. According to Algert, a protein-rich diet during the day produces a brain chemical called dopamine, which makes us alert and energized. At night, we should shoot for carbohydrates, which help produce the relaxing chemical, serotonin. A proper diet can actually be used in place of psychological drugs, Algert said.

Although these findings may not conform with the average college student?s diet, eating junk food can have an adverse effect.

“I think people are probably changing their diets for the worst,” Algert said. “Fat and sugar can make us feel good if we?re stressed.”

Ultimately, however, they leave us feeling run down, she said.

Algert concludes, “People may feel depressed or down because they?re not getting enough vitamin B6 or Magnesium.”

If Algert?s research is correct, a serviceable diet is important to campus life. Hopefully she will present her findings to one of the two Burger Kings on campus?

?English professor Ronald Tanaka is distributing past articles of mine to his English 20 students. Thank you, professor, for the exposure.

Hopefully my old work will be of use to you and your students. I am also willing to do guest appearances and birthdays for a minimal fee.