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Tutors cope in smaller office after fire destroyed room in Lab School
Life is slowly turning to a “new” normal at the Learning Resource Center Program at the temporary location, after arsonists burned down their operation center at the Fresno State Lab School Sept. 8. According to Ray Sanchez, the tutorial coordinator and learning specialist at the center, the transition has not been easy but they are coping well. “ We haven’t missed a beat. We are pushing forward, we are getting things organized,” Sanchez said. “We are trying to be as effective and efficient as possible with such little resources.” The facility loss has forced the center, which has about 50 tutors, to humble it operations and adjust to the reality of lack of facilities and manual data collection. “ We don’t even have a printer. We just have a copier that takes probably several minutes a page to print things out,” Sanchez said. “So we are running to make copies over at Joyal Building—Academic Enhancement Services. It’s difficult.” The relocation of the center has also affected students who need tutorial services but have been unable to track down the center at its new location. “ For the students, it’s been tough,” he said. “They don’t know where we are at—for some students we are a little out of their way.” Sanchez, who got a chance to get into the building just after the fire, described the damage caused as “extensive” and “beyond repair.” He could not see a reason for someone to burn the lab school, which was built in the 1950s. “ It seems to me that it wasn’t someone who was trying to burn down the lab school, because that just doesn’t make sense,” Sanchez said. Jason Queen a Computer Science major was disappointed that anyone would want to burn down the Learning Resource Center. “ I’m really disappointed,” Queen said. “It’s not like the place was hurting anyone, it was actually there to help the students.” The center has received computers donated by the Health and Psychological Department. Fresno Fire Department investigator, Rod Russel, Sept. 19, officially declared arson as the cause of the fire. No arrests have been made. “ We are still following up on a couple of leads,” said detective Gilbert Washington of Fresno State’s police department. The early morning Sept. 8 fire affected more than 1,500 students. The police are asking anybody with information to contact University Police Investigator Gilbert Washington at 278-2132. |
