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Anthony SiinoManaging Editor

You’ve heard the budget stories over the sum-mer – 12 percent this, 86 percent that and so on and so on until we’re all dead. What you haven’t heard is just how insanely deep some of these cuts go.

Any freshman unlucky enough to enter Chico State this year may be $14,140 less fortunate than students who started their four-year programs in the 2007-2008 school year.

Good thing most of us already bought our ramen in bulk, because even that’s going to be too rich for our bank accounts if California State University administrators keep picking through our wallets for non-existent scraps.

The cost of a four-year program beginning in this 2011-2012 school year may cost as much as $32,794 for in-state students, according to a projection generated from a National Center for Education Statistics database, the center being a branch of the Department of Education. The cost for four years starting in 2007-2008 was a lot sweeter — $18,654.

Hold your tears for a second, because you still haven’t heard the punchline.

The near-76 percent projected increase in total cost bases itself on an annual tuition inflation rate of about 15.7 percent, leaving the supposed cost for the 2014-2015 year alone at $10,068.

That 15.7 percent annual increase isn’t my number, by the way. That’s just about the num-ber the database’s multiyear tuition calculator uses when you instruct it to use the center’s estimates, indicating that the National Center for Education Statistics has just about as much faith in the CSU as we do.

That’s where you’re supposed to laugh. It’s the only thing you can do to keep yourself from riot-ing, and right now the last thing Chico needs is another “burning couches in the streets” story.

If this projection is anywhere near true, accessibility becomes a sick joke. The median household income in California for 2009 was $58,931 according to the American Community Survey, which doesn’t leave much breathing

room for sending kids to college when each potentially rings up $32,794 in four years, not including textbooks, housing or any other necessities of college life.

The good news is that it’s just a projection, and if we believe that the CSU administration will hold the fort down in the face of a probable $100 million cut in the next year or so, then we should be just peachy.

There’s no way the CSU administrators would spike fees to about 76 percent in the next four-year period, most certainly not like they jumped it up a total of 86 percent from the annual cost four years ago with the summer’s latest 12 per-cent jump.

Even with the doom and gloom, it’s worth tak-ing a moment to recognize what we’re getting. Even at the tremendous cost of $6,882 we’re about to pay for the 2011-2012 year, that includes so much more value than we could ever know.

Chico State graduates net a median salary of $44,648 the first year on the job, according to a study by payscale.com updated as recently as Aug. 15. By 10 years in, the median moves to at least $62,641.

The value of an education is far greater than its cost, and that’s without getting into the ambigu-ous arguments of “knowledge alone justifies the cost” and so on. Plain and simple, being here will get results, meaning that no matter how much it seems like the CSU is screwing with us, we’re still getting a deal that will change our lives for the better.

Be sure to check out the other columns in this special Wildcat Survival Guide to see other ways you can squeeze value out of your student fees this semester.

So, freshmen, it comes to two options: Bite the leather strip of student loans while Doc-tor CSU saws off yet another arm and leg, or actually participate in politics by sending your chancellor, your national representatives and anybody else you can send a very angry letter. Whatever you do, make sure you stay pos-itive — and definitely stock up on full pallets of ramen.

Anthony Siino can be reached at

managingeditor@theorion.com.

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W I L D C A T S U R V I VA L G U I D E 4

The Arts section of The Orion has previewsand reviews of the big shows on campus andaround town. Be sure to pick one up every Wednesday this semester.

#TheOrion

Can’t decide if youwant to see TechN9ne again?

W I L D C A T S U R V I VA L G U I D E 5

Common GroundsLocation: Basement of Bell Memorial UnionHours: Monday-Thursday: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Coffee and cramming often go hand-in-hand at Common Grounds, the largest coffee shop on campus. The shop sells Tully’s coffee drinks, which include iced, hot and blended options, as well as teas and smoothies. Cell phone service can be intermittent in the basement, but that may make it a good place to get work done. The study area next door has computers, a printer and plenty of space.

Marketplace CafeLocation: In the BMUHours: Monday-Friday: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Marketplace Cafe, although pri-marily known for its food, features Green Mountain Coffee, which is both Fair Trade and organic certified.

Butte StationLocation: Between Plumas and Tehama hallsHours: Monday-Thursday: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Friday: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Butte Station, described as “a 7-Eleven that doesn’t sell alcohol” by employee Vincent Newsom, has several coffee options. They brew up to six types of Java City coffee every day, have a cappuccino machine and sell Starbucks and Seattle’s Best bottled coffee drinks. Refills for drip coffee are 75 cents if you bring back the same cup.

Holt StationLocation: In front of Holt HallHours: Monday-Thursday: 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday: 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Holt Station is a mini version of Butte Sta-tion that also sells Java City coffee and bottled coffee drinks, along with a smaller selection of snacks and supplies.

Wildcat WakeupLocation: Wildcat Store, convenience section Hours: Monday-Friday: 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

New to Chico State this semester, the Wild-cat Wakeup kiosk sells Peet’s Coffee & Tea drinks, including espressos, blended beverages, teas and hot chocolate. They also have gourmet doughnuts from Doughnut Rising and smoothies. The convenience store section of the Wildcat Store also sells drip cof-fee and bottled coffee drinks.

Selvester’s Cafe-by-the-CreekCommonly referred to as Creekside CafeLocation: Behind Kendall HallHours: Monday-Thursday: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Selvester’s Cafe-by-the-Creek offers the same Tully’s coffee drinks as Common Grounds, in a smaller but more social environment. The staff usually has the radio tuned to popular music in the shop portion of the building, which some might find distracting, employee Kate Berglund said. But the adjoining room serves as a quiet place to study. Another attraction is the out-side plaza, which was renovated last spring and offers seating in the sun and shade.

Campus Coffee GuideSurvive the semester with this guide to where convenient coffee is sold on campus

- Compiled by Kacey Gardner

W I L D C A T S U R V I VA L G U I D E 6

Ben Mullinopinion Editor

Imagine navigating the shifting staircases in Hogwarts by the light of a dinky cellphone while wearing beer goggles at 2 a.m. — you now have a picture of my quest to find my first class last year.

As a freshman, you somehow have to cram 15 units worth of academic knowledge into your brain while memorizing a litany of new names and places.

Is your new friend’s name Ivy, or did you just stumble past 685 Jeff Street? And if we’re being real, the possibility that you’ve already con-sumed some kind of disorienting substance is far from low.

When you add Chico State’s addiction to construction that trans-forms campus annually, you have the perfect storm of confusion.

I don’t remember much about my struggles last semester, and of what I do remember, very little is fit to print.

What’s left of that is listed for you below, accompanied by graphics that can be read by sunlight, moonlight or neon, depending on when and where you are in this beatifully chaotic city.

Avoid Holt HallThis building gets more than its

fair share of verbal abuse around campus because it boasts a wacky room-numbering system that would perplex even Rain Man. But the truth is, Holt Hall is actually a work of genius on the part of its architect, John Carl Warnecke.

In his career, which lasted about 40 years, Warnecke designed numer-ous buildings in the tradition of contextualism, a style that puts the design of buildings within the con-text of their environments.

If you want an example, look no

further than Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Fallingwater,” a multiple-story house which had smooth, geomet-ric walls that looked as if they could have been polished by the river over which the house was built.

If that’s too far to check out, just take a trip over to Holt Hall, where you can find the math-ematics department — if you’re willing to fight a long and exhaust-ing battle with its complicated numbering system.

If you can’t avoid taking a class there, I recommend you travel in pairs, remember which of the four entrances you came from and pack rations for at least three days. People have been eaten. Bidwell Park is really big

To a guy like me who comes from a postage stamp-sized town, Bidwell Park is mind-bendingly large.

But even if you’re used to navi-gating Los Angeles, I still advise

caution while exploring any of Bidwell Park’s 3,670 acres, espe-cially at night.

To give you an idea of scale, Warner Bros. decided Bidwell Park was big enough to stand in for Sherwood Forest when they filmed “The Adventures of Robin Hood” there in 1937. Plus, a mountain lion was spotted in Upper Bidwell Park two weeks age.

Enjoy Chico’s natural beauty, but make sure it doesn’t enjoy you. Street or Avenue?

When someone tells you non-chalantly that they live on “East Fifth,” stop the conversation as jarringly as possible and demand that they clarify.

Numbered roads in Chico are two very different animals that have their own habitats and never see one another. There are the ave-nues, which all run west to east in

parallel grids north of Chico State, extending up to West 12th Avenue.

And then there are the streets, which start with East First street just south of Chico State and extend in a grid all the way down to East 22nd Street. If you suffer from chronic carelessness, then getting street names mixed up at 1 a.m. could be an apocalyptic scenario. Your Wildcat ID can get you any-where … except into the bars.

Wherever you want to go in Butte County, you can get there for free. The Butte Regional Transit bus system, known as the B-Line, loads up several times a day in front of Madison Bear Garden and leaves for loops that cover most of the streets in Chico. You ride for free – just swipe your Wildcat ID when you step onto the bus.

Ben Mullin can be reached at

opinioneditor@theorion.com.

Need-to-know Chico facts for fresh students

www.garthstudios.com

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Check out our thumbs in the Opinion sectionof The Orion every Wednesday this semester and submit your own via Facebook or Twitter.

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W I L D C A T S U R V I VA L G U I D E 7

If you’re new to Chico...Enjoy all the things that make this communityso special.

Please be a responsible partof this community. It’s what we expect from you.

If you’re having a party be responsible for your own actions and those of your friends.

• Keep it Small • Obey all Alcohol Laws • Zero Tolerance for Fighting • Keep it local

BE AWARE

• Zero Tolerance for Underage Drinking• Increased Law Enforcement• DUI Checkpoints• Parking Restrictions

Be SafeBe Responsible

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W I L D C A T S U R V I VA L G U I D E 8

“The Breakfast Club”

(1985): Five teenagers,

each from a different high

school clique, bond during a

Saturday detention, learning

to look beyond their stereo-

types. Everyone can relate.

“Easy A” (2010): Emma Stone charms the screen in this comedy as she’s caught in the biggest high school whirlwind of rumors that pays off in the end.

“Napoleon Dynamite” (2004): Vote for Pedro and save the tots. Jon Heder stars in this awk-ward and hilarious film of friendship and family ties.

“American Graffiti” (1973):

A group of friends spend

their last summer hurrah

cruising downtown finding

trouble and love all before

they leave to college.

“Say Anything” (1989):

This quirky love story stars

John Cusack, whose charac-

ter falls for the high school

valedictorian and spends

every day with her until she

leaves for college.

“Harry Potter” (any of the

eight movies): I’ve never seen

any of the “Harry Potter”

series or read the books, but

they’re in a magic school,

flying around. It’s good, clean

fun.

“Brick” (2005): Joseph

Gordon-Levitt plays a high

school loner who investi-

gates the disappearance

of his ex-girlfriend and

finds himself mixed up

in a very dangerous drug

ring.

“Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion” (1997): This ‘90s comedy starring Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino follows two 28-year-old women who lie to impress at their high school reunion.

“School of Rock”

(2003): Wannabe rocker

Dewey Finn, played by

Jack Black, poses as a

substitute and teaches

his prep school students

how to rock.

“To Sir, With Love” (1967):

Sidney Poitier stars as the

strict, no-nonsense teacher

who comes into the slums of

London and straightens out

a group of students,

“Pool Party,” The Aquabats“School Day,” Chuck Berry“Welcome to the Working Week,” Elvis Costello

“Mahna Mahna,” The Muppets “Daylight,” Matt and Kim“Oh, You Pretty Things!” David Bowie

Our “500 Days of Summer” are over and it’s time to get back in gear for this semester’s white board jungle.

If you’re not feel-ing the school spirit just yet, take a break from weekly doses of “Jersey Shore” and “Dance Moms” with these class-room standard films that are sure to offer all the scholastic mojo any student needs to start off fall semester.

Download these fun tunes to rev up any morning routine:Movie, music honor roll

Leila Rodriguezarts Editor

W I L D C A T S U R V I VA L G U I D E 9

Allie Coloskysports Editor

Whether it’s “Butts ‘n’ Guts” at the Wildcat Recreation Center or exploring every swimming hole in Upper Bidwell Park, Chico offers more than its fair share of ways to keep active. That “fresh-man 15” won’t weigh on you at all.

Summer vacation might be ending, but the warm weather will stick around long enough to have an outdoor adventure that will make the gym the last place you want to be. My most recent sum-mer adventure was a rock climbing, waterfall-exploring hike near Feather River.

A 45-minute drive up to Rock Creek Road off Highway 70, Feather River is full of tunnels, swimming holes and a sneaky rock climb that leads up behind a cascade of water that is quite possibly the most exhilarating place I’ve been in North-ern California. The views are astonishing and the bugs are

non-existent. After hoisting myself up and down rocks all day and a ten-minute hike uphill, my body felt as though I had been to boot camp.

If you can’t make the drive to Feather River or Feather Falls out near Oroville, there are plenty of local swimming holes in Bidwell Park that you might have already heard of. The pride and joy of Chico, Bidwell Park has so many trails, hikes and swimming holes that you may not even get the chance to see them all between classes and extra curricular activities.

The chilly water at Brown’s Hole is worth taking a dip in after a few hours in the sweltering Chico heat. Be careful jumping off the rocks when you are peacocking for the bikini clad crew — you can’t get her number and hike out with broken bones at the same time.

If you are looking for more long-term outdoors activities, check out Adventure Outings. One visit to their office and you could leave with rented camping equipment or a planned raft-ing trip down the American River. Most of the excursions cost a fee, but the natural high you get from the great outdoors is very much worth it.

If you’re not into the whole nature scene — but keep in mind you are now in the City of Trees, so you might want to rethink that — there are always classes at the WREC. Sweat it out at a spin class. Trust me, you will sweat it all out. Pump iron in the man cave with the rest of the puffy-chested men, enjoy busting your booty in “Butts ‘n’ Guts” and walk funny the next day or just engage in a pick-up game of basketball.

We’re not all varsity athletes, but we can all still enjoy the games we grew up playing. Sign up to play kickball, flag foot-ball or dodgeball on a co-ed team, just like on the playground at recess. You can get your blood flowing at the pool playing water polo or just work on your tan after a long day on the elliptical.

Whatever your interests, you can find hundreds of ways to stay active in Chico. Work off those meals at Sutter Hall by getting up and doing something, even if it’s just the walk downtown every night or day. Get up and move.

Allie Colosky can be reached at

sportseditor@theorion.com

Ally DukkersFE aturEs Editor

Four years ago as a freshman at orientation, I was handed a little white Wildcat Card. This card was my means for getting inside my dorm and receiving my meals. I still have that same card with the same picture from freshman year.

Even though many things have changed in my life since the day that picture was taken, I still use my ID quite frequently both on and off campus.

With the hike in tuition prices, it is nice to be rewarded with dis-counts on different things from food, hair cuts, sunless tanning, printer ink, tattoos and even lin-gerie, just for being a student.

At the nail salon when the man-icurist tells me how much I owe them for making my Chico feet look pretty I flash my Wildcat Card and instantly my foot bath and pamper fee has gone down by 10 percent.

At the Wrectacular event I was handed a college-coupons.com packet filled with deals,

giveaways and discounts for busi-nesses throughout Chico. As it is at the end of the month, my bank account is getting low due to my serious shopping addiction. And so the student version of extreme couponing shall begin.

If you’re in a similar situa-tion and you are in need of a free meal or two, the beginning of the semester is a great time to grab

some free pizza. Many clubs and organizations hold meetings dur-ing the first couple weeks and use free pizza to increase attendance. Who knows, you might even meet some new people and find that you are interested in joining their club.

I spent a majority of my summer laying at the Wildcat Recreation Center pool. Even though we paid for the facility through tuition payments, it’s nice not to have to pay every time we want to work out or lay by the pool.

If that were the case my tanning habits would have pushed me deep into debt.

Another great advantage to attending Chico State is that the Student Health Center is much cheaper than most doctor’s offices. Also, if you get hangovers like I do, buying Advil at the Student Health Center instead of at a drugstore is a frugal option.

Last semester, when I lived farther from campus, I used my student ID everyday to take the B-Line to and from school.

While college is expensive, at least we are awarded with some perks in our daily lives thanks to that little Wildcat Card. Fresh-men, hold on to that thing, you’ll be using it a lot. Take advantage of your student status and get your free things and discounts.

Ally Dukkers can be reached at

featureseditor@theorion.com

Keeping active proves easy, enjoyable around Chico State

Save some money through student statusDISCOUNTS

Forbay Aquatic Center Student SpecialsEvery day in August Two for one sail-ing courses. Students receive 10 percent off on facilitated events for Chico State organizations.

September 6, Labor Day Free hour long rental with Wildcat Card, one per student. September 10-11 Free rent-als with Wildcat Card.

Every day in September Two for one windsurfing and rowing courses. Stu-dents receive 20 percent off on facilitated events with Chico State organizations.

Every day in October Two for one equipment rental. Students receive 10 percent off on facilitated events for Chico State organizations.

WIlDCaT CaRD

Chico State’s student identification card, the Wildcat Card, is their means to elec-tronic transactions. Both parents and students can add money to the Wild-cat Card and add money to their Wildcat Dollars account. Students may use this credit for many on-campus purchases.

use the Wildcat dollars For:Purchasing books and other items at the Wildcat Store and its online store

Printing in many computer labs and some department labs

Copying in Meriam Library

Food at various campus locations

Tickets for Chico State events at the University Box Office

Communication Network Service payments

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