Juan Villa / The Collegian

Driving in off Clovis Avenue from Highway 99, the campus seemed to rise out of vineyards and dust as a young Terry Miller approached Fresno to sample the heat for the first time.

It was the summer of 1969, and Miller, fresh from UC Berkeley, was coming to meet his colleagues in the theatre department. This was his first real job. He knew nothing about Fresno, nothing about Fresno State.

In the nearly 40 years since that day, so much had changed: the physicality of the school, the administration, the faculty, the students and athletics.

What hasn̢۪t changed is Miller̢۪s buried perch inside the Fresno State theatre department. No teacher has put in more continuous years than Miller. With his easy smile, thin build and self-deprecating manner, he is Fresno State̢۪s longest-tooth professor.

Spend a warm February afternoon as he traces the path of Fresno State from the eras of the Vietnam War to Iraq War.

But even though the campus has changed over the years, his story reveals that some things will always stay the same –– namely the nature of students, including some who can’t seem to make it to class on time.

But for Miller, punctuality is not merely important; it is essential to make sure everything runs smoothly. Rehearsals for the drama students are six weeks long. Every weeknight, 15 or 20 students practice. Even so, students come late. That̢۪s the way it was in the 1960s and that̢۪s the way it is today.

Miller recalls a cast a few years back where they couldn̢۪t get to rehearsal soon enough. Not one cast member was late. Then, Miller went through another cast without having anyone late. And another. All the way for three years. Miller holds onto the memory, grasping at it wistfully.

“We don’t have that streak going right now,â€Â he said, but the streak was recent. “My last group, the cast of “Cellestinaâ€Â last semester, was very punctual and very businesslike, but I can’t say we never had anyone late for a call.â€Â

Miller is torn between his opinions of students. But he contends that throughout the years, collectively, Fresno State students have always been “amazing and great.â€Â

But still, there is no question that the students of the 2000s are different than those of the 1960s and 1970s. The students of the past 20 years seem more career-oriented to Miller. Get in and get out as quickly as possible.

“In the 60s and 70s, people were happy to be in college for a long time. They weren’t necessarily in a hurry to get out and apply a trade. I’m sure you’ve heard that people used a lot of illegal substances in the 60s and 70s and that’s accurate,â€Â Miller said.

But Miller knows that having direction is important. He said the rushed approach does not give students a chance to discover interests that might be life-long interests.

Miller was not surprised when a building at Fresno State was burned down in the 1970s.

“I had been a student at Berkeley as an undergrad, so in comparison, the events at Fresno State were a little smaller scale for me. They were still distressing for a lot of people,â€Â Miller said. “There’s a place for a powerful idealism among the students that I think that a lot of us through the ‘me me me 80s’ kinda missed on campus.â€Â

The student rebellions in the 1960s and 1970s were not handled well by the administration in Miller̢۪s viewpoint. He said he admired the strength of their convictions, even though it didn̢۪t always lead to positive change.

The quality of students at Fresno State has never been low for Miller.

“Because it’s the Valley, students don’t have a lot of ego to go with their ability, so they’re very easy to work with,â€Â Miller said. “Another thing is that — none of this is across the board, it’s a very diverse group of students — Fresno State students are really pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. They’re not getting a huge amount of money from their families to go to school.â€Â

Miller has noticed that his students are working more hours because of increasing fees. It̢۪s why he believes many students focus on graduating quickly. The quick turnaround has also made it difficult on the faculty because they are not able to pursue topics courses that are interesting, but don̢۪t really connect to any particular degree objective or career goal.

Even without the chance to pursue the topics courses, Miller has been enormously proud to work with the talented students in his department –– although that doesn’t mean he understands them completely.

“There’s things I don’t get, like why a lot of the young people want to change their hair color, I just don’t get that,â€Â he said. “I can remember one of my favorite students showing me this spike she got put through her tongue and I said ‘you freak!’ I can’t get used to that.â€Â

Miller said that he wishes students would master what they learn in high school before coming to college. Many times, he said, the faculty is stuck teaching students skills they already should have learned. It hasn̢۪t always been that way for Miller.

He wishes students would stick in school a little longer to find new interests and hone new skills. That basic need to take time to invest in a well-rounded education is something that technology hasn̢۪t changed, according to Miller.

“E-mail and cell phones have made my communication with students more efficient,â€Â Miller said. “The Internet, it seems to me, is a mixed blessing. Information is easily accessible, but on the other hand, much of it is inaccurate.â€Â

Even with his mixed review of the current emphasis on rushing education in this generation, Miller is as exuberant as ever about the state of things in Fresno.

But he still cringes at the sweltering heat of the Fresno summer.