Extended Hours

Starting this quarter, the Walter Stiern Library at CSU Bakersfield has later hours, now closing at 1 a.m. on Sundays through Thursdays.

So far, students are responding favorably to this change, and the number of students using the library at night is expected to increase throughout the quarter.

The later hours are a response to an idea put forth by Associated Students Incorporated and the Academic Senate, and this initiative has been funded for two quarters.

If students continue to respond favorably, the library may make these later hours permanent.

“The cost is significant, but we feel that the value to students that the hours add to the library makes it worthwhile,” said Curt Asher, who is the dean of the library.

The costs, according to Asher, have been solely economical. A temporary night librarian has been hired, and part of the campus budget for the library goes toward that paycheck. In the future, the library will try to make it a permanent position.

“It’s very difficult to hire a person for a job like this at night to work until 1:00 a.m. with no job security at all,” said Asher. Some of the budget also goes toward providing night security, although, according to Asher, the later hours have not increased criminal activity like theft and vandalism.

So far, keeping the library open later has benefited students.

“We’re grateful to ASI for their interest in the library and their efforts to improve,” said Asher. “[We] listen to what they say, and we try to carry out their wishes when we can.”

— Heather Simmons

Whiteboard Update

Two of the blackboards in the third and fourth floor study rooms of the Walter Stiern library at CSU Bakersfield have been replaced with new dry-erase whiteboards. The decision to replace them was made last year, but the funds for this project were unavailable.

“We were hoping to get help to purchase those from ASI, but that wasn’t possible last year, so the library went ahead and paid for two,” said Sandra Bozarth, the first-year-experience librarian. The two blackboards that were replaced were the most worn and unusable in the library, so the upgrade is expected to benefit students.

“I think that, if you look around the library, and you see how often people use those to solve math problems and things like that in a group, they’re heavily used,” said Asher.

As funds become available, the library will pay to buy the new white boards and have them installed.

“We’re going to steadily replace [the blackboards], so we expect they’ll all be gone by the end of the academic year,” said Asher.

According to Bozarth, the new white boards are expected to be “much cleaner and easier to maintain.”

— Heather Simmons

Student Leaders Reception

CSU Bakersfield President Horace Mitchell and his wife, First Lady Barbara Mitchell, hosted the President’s Student Leaders Reception at their home on Sept. 24.

Sporting a masquerade theme, the evening was a chance for student representatives from chartered student organizations to get to know their fellow students.

After dinner and refreshments were served and a group photo organized, each club had an opportunity to discuss their goals and events planned for the upcoming year.

As Vice President of Student Affairs Thomas D. Wallace said that night, “we have the best students so we should have the best student organizations.”

The organizations presented an impressive list of community service activities ranging from free health screenings and fundraising to mental health awareness and hosting academic discussions.

These chartered organizations and their specific activities can be found on the newest platform RunnerSync, hosted on Orgsync.com.

— Patricia Rocha