The student news site of Sacramento State University

The State Hornet

Student news without fear or favor
The student news site of Sacramento State University

The State Hornet

The student news site of Sacramento State University

The State Hornet

Student news without fear or favor

Jon Ortiz, Author

All content by Jon Ortiz

The good, the bad and the graduating

Jon Ortiz
May 14, 2003

The face staring back at me is 100-years-old, but it looks a lot like me when I was a teenager. "That's your great grandpa when he was a boy," my mom says. "He was a drunk." That was how I was introduced...

CMS scandal: Back to the future

Jon Ortiz
April 30, 2003

"We're fighting for our lives." That's what CSU Chancellor Charles Reed said last week in a Capitol hallway while waiting for lawmakers to convene the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. Reed was waiting...

Charlie, next time try being prepared

Jon Ortiz
April 9, 2003

CSU Chancellor Charles Reed couldn't pass muster in any of the classes I've taken recently, at least based on his stunningly bad performance last week before a legislative committee about Reed's $662 million...

There’s no accounting for Charlie

Jon Ortiz
March 26, 2003

Imagine that you want to buy a new Ford Explorer. You're a student, your parents are putting you through school and you don't want them to object to how you spend their money--they're on a tight budget,...

Significant Others: New cars, scrambled brains

Jon Ortiz
March 26, 2003

The man standing before us with the tie and the cheesy grin is not trying to sell us a car so much as he is trying to scramble our brains. That much is obvious. He is telling stories about his kids, about...

Big tree, bigger lesson

Jon Ortiz
March 12, 2003

No sense telling my wife Devonne that it took three guys and a fork lift to get this tree onto the pickup truck. What good would it do anyway? None, because the tree I picked out at the tree store is the...

Our link to Columbia

Jon Ortiz
February 5, 2003

As Saturday's Columbia tragedy reminded us, when people seek knowledge, no sacrifice is too great for them to bear to find it, even when no one is watching and support wanes. The events of last weekend...

Our cheatin’ hearts

Jon Ortiz
January 29, 2003

The professor caught his student cheating, plagiarizing part or all of her political science term paper. The following is a snippet of their conversation, overheard as they spoke in the professor's Tahoe...

Daft draft idea

Jon Ortiz
January 29, 2003

What a concept-calling for a return of the military draft of 18- to 26-year-olds as an anti-war tactic. That's exactly what happened three weeks ago when Rep. Charles Rangel (D-New York), a staunch anti-war...

Self: ‘I’ll bet a fee increase is coming’

Jon Ortiz
December 11, 2002

Sacramento State is likely to see fee increases, higher student-to-faculty ratios and slowed student services once the Board of Trustees charts the course for the California State University system in...

Controversial Friday classes a success

Jon Ortiz
November 6, 2002

Nearly a year after Sacramento State administrators unveiled a controversial plan for a 5-day per week class schedule that started with this semester, Vice President of Budget and Planning Paul Noble said...

Crime reporting law ambiguous, according to critics

Jon Ortiz
October 23, 2002

Counting college crime isn't always as easy as 1-2-3. Although some form of federal mandate for reporting campus crime has been on the books since 1991, reporting standards still vary from school to school,...

Clery crime report released

Jon Ortiz
October 16, 2002

Underage drinking, drugs, burglary and motor vehicle theft continue to be the biggest law enforcement problems confronting Sacramento State police and administrators, according to a federally mandated...

Details about Clery disclosure

Jon Ortiz
October 16, 2002

Federal law requires colleges and universities to annually report their crime statistics, security policies and programs for safeguarding the campus community. Some details about the law, the Jeanne Clery...

CSU honored with safety award

Jon Ortiz
October 16, 2002

Campus safety advocates honored the California State University system with its Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Award for moves it made last year to insure that campus crime reporting adheres to federal law,...

Smoking, Gerth’s replacement top trustee meeting

Jon Ortiz
September 25, 2002

The California State University Board of Trustees last week named a search committee to find the successor to Sacramento State's President Donald Gerth, one of three campus presidents to announce plans...

More than a game for us

Jon Ortiz
September 25, 2002

A chill hawk wind and a steaming hotdog. An expanse of emerald grass and a thundering crowd. A $5 genuine imitation jersey and the awe of classmates as I regaled them with stories of 49er quarterback John...

Bookstore computer woes halt sales

Jon Ortiz
September 4, 2002

A mysterious computer malfunction is plaguing the Hornet Bookstore, intermittently shutting down its entire cash register system and making purchases impossible at a time when students are clamoring to...

Light rail to extend into Elk Grove

Jon Ortiz
May 15, 2002

Students in the south city region will have another option to driving to campus by the end of next school year. Sacramento Regional Transit District crews have started constructing three new light rail...

ASI budget largest in history

Jon Ortiz
April 17, 2002

The good times are rolling for Associated Students, Inc. as they look at how to spend $8.08 million for the coming financial year at today?s board meeting. The proposed 2002-03budget is the largest in...

Chevy’s liquor license in jeopardy

Jon Ortiz
April 10, 2002

Fallout from the death of a Sacramento State student continued last week as state officials announced that they plan to suspend the liquor license of Chevy?s restaurant on Howe Avenue for serving alcohol...

Dutra denies guilt

Jon Ortiz
April 10, 2002

Sacramento State senior Sarah Elizabeth Dutra pleaded not guilty to murder and accessory to murder in San Joaquin County Superior Court last week. The art major?s arraignment was also continued until April...

Gerth: ‘I’m not retiring’

Jon Ortiz
March 13, 2002

President Donald Gerth said he will not announce his retirement during this morning?s meeting of the California State University Board of Trustees, despite persistent rumors to the contrary. Gerth, 73,...

CSU board comes to Sac State

Jon Ortiz
March 11, 2002

A computer industry pioneer will visit the University Union this week when Sacramento State hosts the California State University Board of Trustees. The trustees usually meet at the Chancellor?s offices...

National Notions: The Heaphy graduation speech

Jon Ortiz
January 27, 2002

Nearly everyone had an opinion about the controversy surrounding SacramentoBee publisher Janis Heaphy's Dec. 14 commencementremarks. A sample from newspapers across America: Sacramento News & Review Ultimately,...

Commencement plans unchanged after Heaphy uproar

Jon Ortiz
January 27, 2002

Sacramento State officials say that they have no plansto change commencement ceremony policies despite arecent controversy that placed the university in thenational spotlight. The logistics of hustling...

10 ways to handle the holidays

Jon Ortiz
December 12, 2001

1. Simplify, simplify, simplify. If the holidays have you feeling overwhelmed, stressed and wondering howyou can possibly manage family, job, home, school plans and othercommitments, make a decision to...

Gerth nears decision on schedule

Jon Ortiz
November 27, 2001

President Donald Gerth is nearing a decision whether to continue Sacramento State?s flexible class scheduling after the Faculty Senate voted Nov. 15 to recommend a set of controls aimed at avoiding a rigid...

Faculty counters Gerth’s schedule proposal

Jon Ortiz
November 13, 2001

A plan that preserves scheduling flexibility and compels tighter oversight by college deans could solve Sacramento State?s overcrowding woes, according to a report by the Senate Work Group on Class Scheduling...

Schedule debacle 10 years in the making

Jon Ortiz
October 29, 2001

Sacramento State President Donald Gerth didn't wake up last month deciding to create a furor by forcing schedule changes for fall 2002, despite how things may seem to his most ardent critics. While Gerth's...

ASI meets to discuss MWF

Jon Ortiz
October 24, 2001

Alternatives to a controversial class schedule change from Monday-Wednesday to Monday-Wednesday-Friday top the agenda of the Associated Students, Inc. board meeting today at 1:30 p.m. in the University...

Image: ASI hints at Plan B if not taken seriously on MWF plan:Students raise their hands to show ASI officials how many will be affected by MWF schedule. Photo by Andrew Duong/State Hornet:

ASI hints at “Plan B” if not taken seriously on MWF plan

Jon Ortiz
October 18, 2001

Associated Students, Inc. officials said Wednesday they have a "Plan B" if Sacramento State President Donald Gerth ignores the recommendations of an ASI task force charged with providing alternatives to...

Image: ASI hints at Plan B if not taken seriously on MWF plan:Students raise their hands to show ASI officials how many will be affected by MWF schedule. Photo by Andrew Duong/State Hornet:

Controversial plan draws more than 120 to ASI meeting

Jon Ortiz
October 17, 2001

Associated Students, Inc. officials said today they have a "Plan B" if Sacramento State President Donald Gerth ignores the recommendations of an ASI task force charged with providing alternatives to his...

MWF plan under fire

Jon Ortiz
October 15, 2001

A memo disputing a university study that reported switching from a Monday-Wednesday to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule will maximize lecture space received little attention from administrators--even...

Government probes student files

Jon Ortiz
October 10, 2001

Federal investigators are requesting ? and getting ? student information from California State University and schools across the country as they follow leads related to the deadly Sept. 11 terrorist attacks...

Computer, engineering students face uncertain future

Jon Ortiz
October 8, 2001

Sacramento State engineering and computer science students ? formerly snapped up by company recruiters ? will likely struggle to find jobs when they graduate this year. A tech wreck began earlier this...

Student follows call of duty

Jon Ortiz
October 3, 2001

Sometimes a phone call can ruin a meal. That?s what happened to Sacramento State student Narrmayet Taonus last Thursday morning when she found out she had been called to report for active duty with the...

Monday-Wednesday classes cut

Jon Ortiz
October 2, 2001

Monday-Wednesday classes will be dropped in favor of Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes according to a memo outlining the plan from President Donald Gerth. The Sacramento State Faculty Senate offered little...

Sac State reservist called to duty

Jon Ortiz
October 2, 2001

Sometimes a phone call can ruin a meal. That's what happened to Sacramento State student Narrmayet Taonus last Thursday morning when the she found out she has been called to report for active duty with...

Students say no to Friday classes

Jon Ortiz
October 2, 2001

Sac State students are overwhelmingly opposed to a proposed scheduling change that would do away with Monday-Wednesday classes and return the University to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday class schedule, a system...

Faculty Senate in favor of M/W/F schedule

Jon Ortiz
September 30, 2001

The Sacramento State Faculty Senate offered little objection Thursday to a plan presented by Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs Paul Noble that eliminates "prime time" Monday-Wednesday classes...

Monday-Wednesday class format under fire

Jon Ortiz
September 27, 2001

The Sacramento State Faculty Senate will discuss a plan to eliminate Monday-Wednesday classes in favor of Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes at its meeting today, 3 p.m. at Foothill Suite in the University...

One student prepares to be called upon

Jon Ortiz
September 26, 2001

Her bags are packed and sitting by the door. Every time the phone rings she wonders if it will be the call she expects but hopes doesn?t come. Every appointment is tentative. After Narrmayet Taonus heard...

Evening childcare stable after rocky year

Jon Ortiz
September 26, 2001

Following a year of sometimes heated debate over evening childcare at Sacramento State, parents, administration and staff are pleased with the new 6-10 p.m. Children?s Center program though concern remains...

Threat of war has one student on alert

Jon Ortiz
September 24, 2001

Her bags are packed and sitting by the door. Every time the phone rings she wonders if it will be the call she expects but hopes doesn?t come. Every appointment is tentative. After Narrmayet Taonus heard...

Many students unaware of Sac State?s student government

Jon Ortiz
September 12, 2001

Associated Students, Inc. remains an obscure organization to many students at Sacramento State, even as they hope that someone will address pressing issues that affect their quality of campus life and...

Parking, retention issues top ASI semester wish list

Jon Ortiz
September 12, 2001

Sacramento State?s high student dropout rate, inadequate parking facilities, shortage of student housing and financial management top the list of concerns that Associated Students, Inc. will address during...

Faculty administration locked in standoff over contract

Jon Ortiz
September 4, 2001

The California State University system and the California Faculty Association reached an impasse in their negotiations over the summer for a new faculty contract, triggering a mediation process set to...

New Health and Human Services dean looks forward to change

Jon Ortiz
August 27, 2001

Change is good. That?s what Marilyn Hopkins, the new Dean of Sacramento State?s College of Health and Human Services, wants students and faculty to understand. Hopkins, who served as the interim dean at...

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