New Age Limit at Starline in the Tower District
Starline in the Tower District has changed its age limit from all ages to 21+. Fingers were pointed at the club after reports from the July 22 car accident involving three underage girls in which two showed high alcohol levels.
The girls were at the club the night of the accident attending an all ages dance where they allegedly had been served alcohol despite not being of age.
Although others at this event boasted the security at Starline, city officials demanded a change in the age limit.
This change doesn’t only affect the 20-year-old and younger of Fresno County. Local artists are running out of venues to hold shows for their younger audience.
“It’s hard enough to be heard in the local scene, and now it’s going to be even harder for fans under 21,” says Steve Tran, bassist of Fresno band Down Word. “There was a significant drop in audience numbers on our Aug. 14 show compared to one we just had in July.”
Starline officials deny the women were drinking at the club, but have agreed to change the age limit to 21+, hoping this will only be a temporary change. But, there is no news on how long this will be.
FAX Route Change Now in Effect
If you’re wondering why you see less FAX buses around Fresno, it is because the new routes are now in effect. This might be an inconvenience to some Fresno City College students, make sure you have a new bus schedule to get to your classes on time. Changes include more time between buses and no service on some holidays.
Services now run every 15 minutes on Route 28, 30, 34, and 38 during the peak times of 6:30am-9:30am, and 2:30pm-5:30pm, and at a 30 minute interval all other times.
Route 28 no longer services Clovis but instead turns south on Willow Ave. Route 9 now provides services to Sierra Vista Mall every 30 minutes.
On weekdays, fixed-route service ends at 10:00pm. After 7:00pm, frequency changes to every 60 minutes.
The south end of Route 34 has been adjusted. The bus now travels to Elm St. and Church St. turning right into Jensen Ave., and loops back to Elm St. from Jensen Ave.
There will be no service on Thanksgiving and Christmas day. changes are available on the City of Fresno website under the public transportation link
Fresno City College Stops Using Personal E-mail Accounts for Students
Fresno City College has stopped using students’ personal e-mail as a means of communication. Students are required to activate their student e-mail account through the State Center Community college District. It is a free e-mail account that is accessible from any computer. If you’d like to receive your correspondence through the postal service there is an online form titled “Change Your Correspondence” available on web advisor or in the records web room.
The e-mail address will be your last name and student ID number (e.g., [email protected]). Step by step directions for setting up your e-mail account are available on the FCC website or talk to an advisor in the web room.
Classes Filling Up Fast at Fresno City College
If you procrastinated getting registered for your classes this semester, you might be out of luck in getting into the classes you need. Budget cuts and an increase in students is making it difficult for students to enroll in classes.
“In the past, students could come the first day and get a full schedule”, said John Cummings, vice president for admissions and records and institutional research at the State Center Community College District that doesn’t happen anymore.
Every campus in the district has made cuts with Fresno City College (the largest campus) making 3% in cuts. With less classes comes longer waitlists. At the start of a semester, the district has an average of 18,000 names on waitlists. The start of this semester had a staggering 24,000 names waitlisted for classes. With competition for seats so high, college President Cynthia Azari has said “If you are enrolled and you don’t show up to your classes, you may be dropped”
SCCCD schools aren’t the only ones seeing a rise in enrollment. Colleges all over Fresno County are filling up due to the poor economy and never ending lay-offs. More valley residents are looking to learn new job skills and further their education. “We’ve seen the number of students enrolled rise greatly from the beginning of the year,” said Rita Huerta, admissions counslor at ITT Technical Institute in Clovis, CA. Fresno Pacific University has also seen a major increase of 20% in enrolled students, 1,100 new students.
Community Center in New York causes Trouble in Madera
“No temple for the God terrorism at ground zero” read a sign found on the property of a Madera, CA. mosque. Backlash from the controversial community center in New York, which have the top two stories of the 13 story building serve as a Muslim prayer space, has hit close to home.
Muslims in the community fear that some radio talk show hosts fuel the flame by openly expressing, and letting listeners call and openly express, their anger about the community center in New York. Some radio personalities such as Ray Appleton, host of a radio talk show on KMJ (AM 580), try to calm the situation “The audience is pretty much whipped into a frenzy. I’ve done my best to hold the rhetoric down,” he says.
This sign was not the first attack on the Islamic Center on Road 26. A brick nearly smashed a window after being hurled at the center, and another sign had previously been seen on the property reading “Wake up America, the enemy is here,” allegedly placed there by a group called the “American Nationalist Brotherhood.” The Madera County Sheriffs department knows little of this organization and is treating these attacks as hate crimes. “Hate crimes victimize the direct target and the larger community,” said Fresno-based Assistant U.S Attorney Mark Cullers. “They are intended to destroy the peace, harmony, and unity of the community and we are determined not to let that happen”
Law enforcement officials, and other community members joined Muslims at the Islamic Center to show unity.
