For the students who take recorded lectures and other educational videos for granted, a news story published 95 years ago to this day by The Wildcat weekly student newspaper at Chico State will make them think twice.
“Illustrative education through talking pictures was the theme of the lecture given Tuesday morning at the general session of the Teachers’ Institute held at the Senator Theatre,” reads the lead of a front-page story.
Talking pictures were set to revolutionize the motion picture industry, according to the article, and that would “naturally carry over to the educational world.” Films covering the subject matters of social science, physical science, physical education and health, vocational guidance, literature and drama, music and art were being prepared.
Foreshadowing the reactions and concerns of the California State University community today after the Chancellor’s Office announced an initiative to turn the CSU into an AI-empowered university system, the speaker on this topic in 1930 emphasized that the talking pictures “are intended to enrich and broaden, not to supplant the work of the good teacher.”
Before The Orion was established in 1975, The Wildcat was published by the Student Body of the Chico State Teachers and Junior College, and student staff from the publication later chose to create the Chico News and Review publication off-campus.
Jumping forward to 1987 — 38 years ago to this day — The Orion published its seventh weekly issue of the Fall 1987 semester. That same year, Chico State was rated the No. 1 Party School by Playboy Magazine, the first year rankings were released.
In the 36-page issue of The Orion, the news dominating the front page included new mandates for evaluating student teacher candidates and the topics of debate at a California State Students’ Association (CSSA) conference on campus.
In the first story, the Chancellor’s Office mandated judging personal integrity and other characteristics consistent with teaching potential when screening for student teacher candidates, though it appears not to have been so easily accepted by those at Chico State. The then-dean of the College of Education (now the College of Communication and Education) explained that not everyone thought faculty should be put in such a position, and the associate dean noted that “questions have been raised as to the possibility of libel suits.”
In the second story, a major issue discussed in the conference was the proposal that employers may pay full-time students under the age of 21 a subminimum wage. “The Industrial Welfare Commission, a 5-member governor-appointed panel empowered to adopt wage orders fixing the minimum wage, voted three to two in favor of the idea,” according to the article. The CSSA was not in agreement with this and considered carrying out information and letter-writing campaigns and direct lobbying in Sacramento to reverse the proposal.
Additionally, a parking fee increase was set to go into effect in Fall 1988 to pay for the parking structure system-wide, meaning students would pay $96 — up from $45 — for annual parking fees. Adjusted for inflation, the equivalent cost is $274.
This year on campus, a general student parking permit costs $130 each semester.
The week of Oct. 19-25 was also National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, and The Orion dedicated page four to the topic. One story by the editor-in-chief covered how 2,500 red ribbons were distributed to the Chico State community to represent support for alcohol awareness.
Archives of The Wildcat and The Orion can be found online and in the Meriam Library on campus.
Raquel Frohlich can be reached at [email protected].