Before entering the University Ballroom to see Sacramento State University President Alexander Gonzalez take the stage to deliver his fall address for 2007, I had to navigate through the tables belonging to the California Faculty Association that contained buttons, pamphlets, calendars and other assorted propaganda.

It was clear by the hats worn by the CFA members that brashly displayed the words “We Won!” that they are quite pleased with themselves for securing a new contract.

They should be pleased. Faculty have to put up with outrageous workloads, bloated class sizes and an indifferent student population that could not care less about its own future.

And while no one likes a sore loser, you can bet the CFA’s new pay increase, they like a sore winner even less.

The reaction to the Gonzalez address was surprisingly subdued. Maybe it was the fact that no one could be militant when the temperature outside is hovering around 100 degrees at 10a.m., but it appeared that the majority of the hostility toward Gonzalez that permeated last semester and led to the vote of no confidence in him was greatly diminished by the summer break.

When Gonzalez mentioned in his conclusion that the first of his five priorities was to promote academic excellence for the university, the audience broke out in genuine applause.

What does this all mean?

It means that the students might actually be able to go to class and not be pressured by being asked to join the faculty in a potential walkout.

It means that we could be attending a college where the faculty and administration coexist.

There are no winners right now at Sac State. The CFA says it still has more goals to achieve such as reducing faculty workload and class sizes while opposing student fee hikes.

Good luck with that one. Let me know how improving quality without raising prices works; I must have been hung over for that economics lecture.

The administration is still trying to tell itself that “Destination Tax and Spend” can happen on the projected time line despite the fact that the much of the money necessary has not been raised yet, and they can’t say whether or not Sac State will meet its enrollment projections and secure funding from the state budget.

Gonzalez said that “enrollment drives the operating budget” and that our retention rates and graduation rates are in the toilet.

Okay, he didn’t actually say “toilet,” but they are in the bottom half of the CSU system. He said that steps such as mandatory advising for incoming students and orientation should help raise retention rates.

Maybe it will, but all of the sports complexes, dorm halls and lofts in the world will not change the fact that no one wants to come here.

The education students receive here is fine, and while the sports programs may not be nationally recognized, neither of those are the reasons that Sac State does not pull more students in.

Sacramento itself is not a sexy destination. You never hear, “Hey Bob, I’m taking the wife and kids to Sacramento for our vacation. We always wanted to see Sutter’s Fort.”

You would think that the capital of the world’s seventh largest economy would have more drawing power, but it doesn’t.

The damage done last semester will take time to repair. Gonzalez acknowledged that there are people on campus who disagree with him, and he encouraged open dialogue in future town hall meetings that will be held later this year.

The test of this semester will be to see how everyone, from students to faculty to administration, deal with letting the past be the past.

Last semester was one to forget and hopefully the incoming students and faculty will not be exposed to what could only be described as a toxic environment at Sac State. All of us need to learn from last semester, move on and not look back.

Jordan Guinn can be reached at [email protected].