Mark your calendars now for the 9th annual spring Community Service Opportunities Fair. The fair will take place Wednesday, January 25, from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. in the Satellite Student Union.

The event is sponsored by The Jan and Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning.

During the Community Service Opportunities Fair students will have the opportunity to learn about volunteer, service-learning, internship and career opportunities offered through area nonprofits.

Students who are interested in community service or who are required to do service as part of a class assignment will benefit from attending this event.

For more information, please contact Renee Delport at 278-7079.

Last day to ADD without permission is Monday, January 30.

Beginning Tuesday, January 31 through Monday, February 13 all ADDS will require a permission number. Last day to ADD a class for the spring 2012 semester is Monday, February 13.

Last day to DROP a class without having to use a drop form and obtain any approvals is Monday, February 13.

Beginning Tuesday, February 14 through Tuesday, April 17 all DROPS must be of a serious and compelling reason and must have supporting documentation and the approval of the course on a drop form.

The drop form must be submitted to the Admissions and Records service windows. Drops submitted during this time frame will have a “W” grade appear on the university transcript.

The Bulldog women’s hoops team is looking to add another ring to their collection and you can watch the final run for what would be a last WAC championship when Fresno State hosts San Jose State on Thursday (Jan. 26) and Hawai’i on Saturday (Jan. 28). 

Both games start at 7 p.m. and all Fresno State students are free with your student I.D.

 The Fresno State men’s basketball team, who are playing hard under new head coach Rodney Terry, will be featured on the WAC Sports Network when the Bulldogs travel to play at LA Tech on Thursday (Jan. 26 at 4 p.m. PT) and NMSU on Saturday (Jan. 28 at 6:30 p.m. PT).

WSN can be seen on KAIL (7.1/53/Comcast 13) and online at www.espn3.com for free.

Fresno State will be honoring local heroes on Saturday, February 4 when the Bulldogs men’s hoops team hosts long time WAC rival Utah State for the last time at 7 p.m. at the Save Mart Center.

All Fresno State Students are free with your student I.D. It’s one of the biggest games of the year and you won’t want to miss it!

Also on Saturday, February 4, but earlier in the day starting at noon, the Fresno State swimming and diving team will host its Senior Day to honor the seniors that helped rebuild the program and open a brand new pool. 

The Bulldogs host San Jose State and all fans receive free admission.

University Student Union Recreation Center will be hosting an Open House on Thursday, January 26 from 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Win Target gift cards, Universal Studios Tickets and more!

Bring your valid Fresno State student I.D. and receive a DISCOUNT CARD for the semester!

For more info, please call (559) 278-2015.

Congratulations to Melisandi Raya and Melissa Watkins. Raya and Watkins went on a wild SAFARI and won great prizes!

Melisandi Raya won a 14.1 megapixel digital camera and Melissa Watkins won a $ 50 gift card!

Associated Students, Inc. at Fresno State will host a special online bylaw referendum vote Tuesday from 9 a.m. - Wednesday at midnight.

ASI is proposing a change to Article 4 and 5 of its bylaws which effectively changes the representation of the board by removing the Senator of Legislative Affairs and the Senator of Activities, as well as adding a Vice President of External Affairs officer.

This means that the ASI Senate would have 15 Senator positions and 4 Executive positions. The Vice President of External Affairs would be elected by the student body just as the President and Vice President of Finance are elected.

 All eligible Fresno State students have been provided with a unique username and password from Votenet Solutions via their Fresno State email account to be used for voting.

Fall 2011 grades will be available to students via their Student Center on a rolling basis beginning Monday, December 12.

The deadline for faculty to enter fall grades is Tuesday, January 3, 2012.

Open Registration begins Monday, December 12.

Also, beginning with Open Registration, the 16 unit enrollment limit for undergraduates will be lifted!

The Fresno State women’s basketball team will host Oklahoma on Thursday at 7 p.m. to wrap up a two-week December Madness. Join us at the Save Mart Center for the big-time game

Admission is free for all Fresno State students.

The holiday season is here and the Bulldog men’s basketball team will be back in the Save Mart Center for a non-conference contest against Cal Poly Saturday, December 17.

Bring a Teddy Bear or stuffed animal for the annual Teddy Bear Toss that will be donated to a Valley child in need. Also, be on the lookout for when head coach Rodney Terry takes off his jacket in the first few minutes of the game.

Admission is free for all Fresno State students. 

To always stay connected with your Bulldogs, make sure you follow and mention @FSAthletics for a chance at great prizes, behind-the-scenes access and the latest info on Fresno State Athletics. You can also follow the men’s basketball coach @RodneyTerry.

Fresno State Vintage Days is looking for STUDENT crafters!

Celebrating its 37th year in 2012, the Vintage Days Crafts Faire is a marketplace for over a hundred vendors specializing in handmade items including jewelry, children’s toys, home decor, and much more!

This year, we will be opening up tables for STUDENTS to showcase and sell their crafts. For more information, please contact us at vintagecraftsfaire@gmail.com or visit USU 306.

To download an application, please visit our website at www.csufresno.edu/vintagedays.

Hope to see you there!

Go on a virtual SAFARI through Saturday, December 10, watch ALL videos, and be eligible to enter a drawing for a $400 Target gift card!

A virtual SAFARI is an online, “Student Affairs Fair and Resource Information.

“Going on a SAFARI will help you learn more about all the departments within the Division of Student Affairs!

Go on a SAFARI today!

Everyone is buzzing about the Academic Affairs Budget Advisory Task Force’s proposal to cut $2 million from our university’s budget. From Facebook pages to meetings, students and faculty are sharing their opinion on parts of the proposal.

As a student government, we are always happy to see students speak up, share their opinion and lobby the university. We are committed to breaking through some of the misconceptions that are floating around regarding the proposal, so you can make helpful suggestions and give informed feedback to our university’s leaders.

Myth No. 1: Students can’t be involved. 

This is not the case. There are many forums available for students to access information, ask questions, make suggestions and get involved.

You can find the entire proposal on the Academic Senate’s website at www.csufresno.edu/senate. When you go to the website, you’ll find two links: the first is to read the proposal and the second is to leave anonymous feedback regarding the suggestions made. Students can use this website to share their thoughts, questions or alternative suggestions. There will also be a student-wide forum, hosted by Associated Students, Inc., regarding the proposal on Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, from 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. The forum will be held in the Satellite Student Union. Everyone is welcome and members of the task force will be available to answer questions and hear suggestions.

Myth No. 2: Even if we give feedback, it’s too late, the decision has already been made. 

The task force proposal is in no way final, it is just a draft. It is being circulated for the purposes of collecting feedback from faculty and students. The task force will review the feedback and potentially make adjustments to the proposal before it is passed. The administration has indicated it expects to make a final decision next semester, in March.

Myth No. 3: The proposal gets rid of science and math. 

While the proposal suggests eliminating the overhead cost of the College of Math and Science, the idea that the proposal gets rid of science and math altogether is a misconception. The proposal suggests removing the organizational infrastructure of the college by shifting departments into new colleges, but retains all of the faculty members, class sections, majors and departments.

Additionally, the departments are shifted into merged colleges. So, for example, biology wouldn’t be housed in the Jordan College of Agriculture but rather in the Jordan College of Agriculture and Sciences. Plus, there is no suggestion of reducing or removing classes from buildings, so the biology department and chemistry department would still be found were they currently reside.

Myth No. 4: The proposal attacks the College of Science and Mathematics. 

The proposal makes six major suggestions in areas where the task force felt that money could be saved. Some of the suggestions don’t focus on colleges at all but on enrollment efforts, low-funded programs or more efficient funding methodologies. While the College of Science and Mathematics is included in the proposal’s suggestions, so are all of the other colleges on campus. The proposal suggests that the colleges of Agriculture, Engineering and Education merge with other colleges, adopt additional departments or some combination of the two. Additionally, the proposal suggests merging between the College of Social Science and the College of Arts and Humanities.

Myth No. 5: If we don’t accept the proposal, nothing changes. 

There seems to be this idea that simply refusing the proposal will preserve Fresno State as we know it now. That is not the case. The state budget has reduced funding for higher education, and Fresno State must find a way to keep its doors open with $2 million less than we’ve had in previous years as a result of the state’s budget decisions.

This year, one time dollars, like reserve funds, were used to supplement the state’s funding. One time dollars do not provide a steady source of income for the university, so some way or another we must account for the money we will no longer be receiving from the state. The proposal’s goal was to suggest ways to save $2 million without increasing tuition or cutting the amount of courses, number of majors or programs offered to students; however, these are viable alternatives. Suggesting ways to cut or save dollars in areas that you believe will least impact students will be more helpful to the task force than simply opposing the proposal.

These are some of the major misconceptions regarding the proposal that ASI has become aware of, but there may be others, so please make sure you read the proposal and get your questions answered. Once you are informed, ASI encourages you to make full use of the student forums and online feedback options available to share your opinion with the task force. We also encourage you to join ASI’s effort to lobby the state. Let’s show our legislature what universities have to do in order to run on a severely reduced budget and the impact that it’s having on our education.

California State University (CSU) student leaders have launched The Bucks Start Here campaign, an effort to convince Governor Jerry Brown to reinvest in public higher education after dramatic cuts in recent years. During the campaign, the CSU’s 23 student body organizations are holding campus rallies that provide students accurate information on the CSU budget decline and ask them to write the Governor a message on a $650 million bill. The bills represent the amount of money reduced from the CSU’s 2011-12 budget, and amount that is expected to become $750 million in coming months due to lower than anticipated state tax receipts. The bills will be placed in a fake ballot box, and after the box has traveled throughout the 23 campuses like the Olympic torch, the messages from thousands of students will be delivered to Governor Brown on March 5, 2012.

“This reduction constitutes 23% of the CSU’s state appropriation. The result is a decrease in quality and affordability, with students paying more tuition, absorbing more debt and delaying their graduation,” said Sean Richards, Vice President of Legislative Affairs for the Cal State Student Association, and organizer of The Bucks Start Here campaign. “We recognize that leaders in Sacramento have their priorities wrong, and we are focusing our advocacy on them. We want to encourage them to look at California’s long-term prosperity,” Richards continued.

Richards and other members of the Cal State Student Association are gearing up for multiple advocacy efforts now and through spring 2012. In addition to The Bucks Start Here campaign, students will conduct Capitol and in-district lobbying efforts with the CSU administration, bring thousands of students to the Capitol for its annual March for Higher Education on March 5, 2012, and demonstrate the CSU’s workforce impacts through its annual Made in the CSU public relations campaign.

• Wednesday, November 23 - no classes, offices open
• Thursday, November 24 - Friday, November 25 - campus closed

Don’t miss the Bulldog’s last home football game of the season on Saturday, November 26 at 5 p.m. The ‘Dogs look to beat the Spartans on Senior night as we bid farewell to 15 seniors including Devon Wylie, Logan Harrell, Kevin Goessling and Kyle Knox. 

Student tickets will be on sale for $5.