Recent shooting reveals divide
A lesson in how social class impacts educational experience at Fresno State
Subtle Exclamations
Philip Porras |
SIMPLY SAYING THAT you’re “from Fresno” is a nebulous description- — the real question is: which Fresno are you from? Just in case you live with blinders on and you’ve never noticed it, allow me to clue you in on something: there is more than one.
The unofficial dividing line that separates the “two” Fresnos is generally considered to be Shaw Avenue.
Leaving from this starting point, if you were to progress further and further north, you would find that the neighborhoods become increasingly more affluent; if somehow you got lost and ended up heading south (which is the direction I travel each day after school), you would find (no surprise here) the exact opposite.
It’s no big secret that crime is more prevalent in areas where there is a higher rate of poverty, and Fresno is no exception. Although our university is situated directly on the borderline between “good” and “bad” Fresno, most students still assume that our campus is a part of the “safe” side of town.
When we arrive on campus, we’re oftentimes distressed over the reading assignment that we couldn’t get around to, or we’re keeping our fingers crossed that a professor doesn’t hand out a quiz that we’re unprepared for.
The last thing that should be on the mind of a college student is whether or not there are going to be guns going off at 8:30 a.m.
The shooting near campus last week was one of those rare occasions where people who are mostly familiar with the “good” Fresno suddenly became witness to the sort of events that typically occur in the “other” Fresno.
The usually serene morning environment of the university was suddenly the setting for an action packed movie as a car carrying two bank robbery suspects careened recklessly through campus as bullets flew without regard.
Inside classrooms, students were lazily taking notes and trying in vain to keep their eyes opened when the unmistakable sound of gunshots startled everyone back to reality.
That poor statue of Gandhi must have been shaking its head and plugging its ears.
It is quite likely that the measure of shock you may have felt last Tuesday was heavily influenced by which Fresno you are most familiar with.
Certainly, there were a number of students who were frightened and unnerved by the fact that such a bizarre situation could unfold on our campus.
I can imagine that there were some parents of freshmen who may have called their children to find out exactly what had occurred, if they were okay, and if it was still too late for them to consider transferring out of Fresno.
However, there were probably an equal number of students (myself included) who, as a result of spending their entire lives surrounded by and desensitized to Fresno’s violence, had only the following reaction to learning about the shooting: “How is this going to affect the parking situation?”
No matter what sort of neighborhood you may have grown up in, the fact is this: we’ve all ended up at the exact same university. We are all here in an attempt to enrich our lives and establish some sort of positive paths for our future.
Okay, so our campus may not be listed as one of the ten safest in America, but it is still a damn good university packed with professors who are more than qualified to share their wisdom.
Being located in a city such as Fresno only makes our education that much more rounded.
We are not isolated at some remote private college out in the middle of nowhere — we attend classes right in the heart of a real city where real things happen, and this is going to help shape us into real people.
At the very least, remember this: the degree you attain from Fresno State will work wonders in preventing you from ever having to rob a bank and shoot at police officers.
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