Newly elected ASI board plans for 2012-13 

The newly elected Associated Students Inc. board has begun planning for the next semester in order to fulfill the plans they established as candidates.

“I challenge all of you to stay involved and committed no matter what the outcome is,” Gonzalez said before announcing the winners. “We’re going to need each of you.”

Although the positions do not go into effect until the end of the semester, some of the new board members plan on getting a head start on their responsibilities.

“My primary promise during campaigning is that I wouldn’t disappear after the three weeks,” Cassidy said. “I plan to speak with students about their opinions on what ASI is doing for them, what they would like to see from the board and most of all, how they would prefer to have information provided on what’s new and happening. I have high hopes to make my time in this position successful from day one.”

Psychology department lacks faculty despite impaction 

The faculty count for Sacramento State’s psychology department has reached the lowest level in five years, creating challenges for both the department and students.

Total faculty count for the psychology department decreased from 42 to 28 members between 2008-10 according to the fall 2011 Office of Institutional Research Fact Book for psychology.

“Right now we have 17 full-time faculty and approximately 1,600 majors,” said Marya Endriga, professor and chair of the psychology department. “The amount of part-time faculty shifts per semester depending on the budget.”

Sac State provost to fill in as interim president at CSU Stanislaus

Sacramento State Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Joseph Sheley is leaving his position to become the interim president of CSU Stanislaus, the university announced May 10 in a press release.

Sheley said he was asked by Chancellor Charles Reed to serve as the interim president of CSU Stanislaus, replacing Hamid Shirvani, who had been president since 2005.

“I took the time to consider it and talk it over with my wife; it’s a really good opportunity to do something exciting and important,” Sheley said. “Once I did some homework, I actually felt very fortunate to have that opportunity. So, at this point in my career, it’s an opportunity I want to pursue.”

University Police confiscate wide range of weapons at Sac State 

Everything from a grenade, guns and 10-inch blades can be found in a case of confiscated weapons located in the Sacramento State police office.

The glass case is located in the hallway of the public safety dispatch center, giving those within the department a visual representation of the weapons confiscated over the years.

Ken Barnett, retired police chief, said the items collected were to function as an educational training piece within the department, enabling those in public safety to visually comprehend the weapons involved in their field of work.

The weapons in the case have been collected both on and off campus and are not all linked to a specific case, Barnett said.

U-Nite

More than 1,700 faculty, staff, students and members of the Sacramento State community joined together at the Crocker Art Museum for the first U-Nite on April 12.

The faculty arts showcase included live music, dance and theater performances, photography, design, art, film presentations and improvised haiku poems written on the spot.

Creator of U-Nite and assistant professor of communication studies and journalism Elaine Gale said the purpose of the event was to showcase the faculty arts at Sac State and to build a strong collaboration with the Crocker Art Museum.

“I’ve been really taken lately with a West African proverb: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,’” Gale said. “That quote was the seed of this event. U-Nite is the embodiment of that idea.”

CSU Board of Trustees freeze spring admissions

In response to a looming cut in state funding, California State University’s Board of Trustees put a freeze on admissions for spring 2013 across all of the system’s campuses.

The trustees will also examine the possibility of downsizing faculty, staff and services if a voter initiative is not passed.

Sac State’s target admission was 27,500 students for the 2012-13 academic year. Around 800 fewer students, or 3 percent, would be admitted if the CSU’s board is forced to close fall 2013 admissions.

These cost-cutting solutions come in response to Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2012-13 proposed budget, which does not include immediate changes in state funding to the CSU but does rely of the passage of a tax measure by voters in November.

Settlement reached in Quran Jones trial

After more than 30 hearings and four rescheduled trial start dates, District Attorney Jan Scully announced a negotiated settlement April 12 in the prosecution of former Sacramento State student Quran Jones, who was accused of murdering Scott Hawkins.

Jones held a “dual plea” – not guilty by reason of insanity for the murder of Hawkins and guilty for several charges of assault on police officers. Included in the agreement is a sentence of confinement to a state mental hospital on murder charges, and a term of 18 years, along with an additional four months for the remaining charges.

Jones was on trial for the murder of Hawkins, his former roommate, with a baseball bat at their American River Courtyard suite at Sac State on Oct. 21, 2009.