A year full of accomplishments

By MOLLY FAGUNDES / Guest letter

It has been almost a year since I began my term as Fresno State student body president. My year representing both students and the campus has been most eventful and fulfilling. I have been honored to serve in a variety of ways at many different meetings and events. From a student perspective, here are many positive accomplishments that have recently occurred on campus:

• Students dedicated to community service combined their efforts and approximately 200,000 hours of service to the community. Fresno State students as a group were the number one fundraiser for Valley Children’s Hospital through Kid’s Day. The winning group was a male fraternity — Sigma Nu.

• An exciting goal was finally achieved when Fresno State broke ground on Friday, Oct. 29 for the construction of the West Complex, a 90,000-square foot recreation facility for students. This was only possible because students passed the initiative through a student vote in the fall of 2000.

• Literacy and knowledge are power and Fresno State is committed to building life-long learners. With that goal in mind, students can now receive up to three free newspapers on weekdays: USA Today, the New York Times, and the Fresno Bee.

• Student involvement is an important element of building school spirit. Fresno State allocated over $100,000 to over 100 different club events and special projects. These extracurricular clubs and organizations welcomed Hmong refugees to the Valley with a campus-wide clothing drive in the fall semester.

• Building healthy bodies adds to healthy minds and students embraced this philosophy by passing a referendum for a health fee increase in February, as well as supporting several efforts to promote responsible drinking at major campus events.

• Finally, Fresno State students understand the importance of civic consciousness and being involved in our political system. Several have been lobbying on a local level as well as in Sacramento to share budget issues, concerns, and solutions with our legislative representatives.

I would like to thank my fellow students who afforded me this incredible opportunity to serve. I am very proud to be a Bulldog. But I’m most proud to be associated with a student body that has attained so many positive achievements throughout the year.

—Molly Fagundes is a senior ag communication major and president of Associated Students