There must be no less than 800 things that you could be doing other than reading this paper. At any given time, you could have dropped The State Hornet like it was the hotness. But you kept reading. Why? What is it that you’re looking for? A heart-warming story? An important development in the ensuing faculty strike? Or do you want to see a columnist sound off about relationships, or sex, or the nature of truth? Um. Just kidding about the last one. But seriously.

I have a better idea as to how you can get your news: first-hand, people who have networked with others on campus and, often, hear the on-campus buzz as soon as we journalists do. And now you may ask, “Oh how, great blowhard, shall I go about such business?” Verily, I say, get thee involved with a Sacramento State club.

Clubs are the best way to meet people, to network and to stay active on our campus. In total, there are approximately 243 clubs at Sac State, allowing even the most boring or avant-garde of us a chance to find a niche. There are 11 categories of clubs, ranging from social clubs to professional organizations, from political to religious groups, from womens’ rugby to water skiing. All are filled with members as busy as the rest of us, going to school, likely working, but still, they find time to promote an idea outside themselves and get to know others along the way.

Haven’t gone to church in a while? Feel bad about it? If you answered yes to both of those questions, you can talk with members of one of the many religious organizations on campus. Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Sikh and the Mormon religion are all represented at Sac State as official clubs.

If spiritual enlightenment and a belief in a higher power doesn’t gauge your interest, how about a game of Ping Pong? Oh yes, there is a table tennis club, as well as a Students Cricket Association, for those Yanks who yearn to learn the art of the Old World sport.

Want some more diversity in your life? African, African-American, Hmong, International Student interests and many more are represented among Sac State’s many cultural clubs. The members of these clubs seek to inform and educate others about their cultures, while leaving their doors, and meetings, open to anyone interested in lending an ear.

There are 92 departmental/professional clubs, with more than 1/3 of the clubs focused on helping students progress in their areas of study. So if you want to raise your grades, sure, there’s the 24-Hour Hornet Lounge, but there are also like-minded people going through the same struggles as you who might have enlightening observations to make, who can help you grow as a student and as a member of the community.

Then there are the social fraternities and sororities that all members the chance to form cohesive, often lifelong relationships with each other while committing philanthropic acts throughout their college careers. The sports clubs, the political groups, the stress relief of Yoga and meditation…oh so many that you can join.

I may sound like an advertisement, but if more people joined Sac State clubs, more people would be connected to their academic institution, less people would consider this school nothing more than a degree-granting commuter campus, and best of all: You wouldn’t have to be in this alone.

To all of you struggling to work a job or two and pull off passing grades on a full-time schedule, I feel for you. But if you don’t talk to anyone on campus, yet you’re reading this newspaper right now, then drop the paper and go to the nearest computer lab and get online. You can find a listing of the clubs on campus on the Student Activities website at www.csus.edu/studentactivities. E-mail the contact address for whatever club interests you, then go to the campus calendar at http://www.calendar.csus.edu/ and search for the club’s next meeting.

Even attending just one meeting could result in one contact, one personal connection to the much broader community of Sac State, one pathway to knowing what’s really going on in the lives of your fellow students…by getting to know them, rather than reading about them in the paper.

Frank Loret de Mola can be reached at [email protected]