September 9, WedneSdayb1 tHeStateHOrnetFeatures

W W W. S t a t e H O r n e t . c O m | Fa l l I S S u e 2 | S a c r a m e n t O S t a t e

The Meaning isSkin Deep

Jeff Musser, a local artist, shows Sacramento State that tattoo art can be displayed onto a canvas.

Musser, who began painting tattoos after meeting a Japanese tattoo artist, will be displaying his work in an exhibit titled,

“Messages in Flesh” at the Uni-versity Union Gallery from now through Oct. 31.

Musser, who always had a love for painting, originally de-cided to pursue graphic design.

“I loved (painting), but I realized that I’ll probably want to make money when I gradu-ate, so I put painting aside and majored in graphic design,”

Musser said.When Musser finished

school he landed a job at an advertisement agency that he referred to as “a sweet deal” at first. He worked with McDon-alds and created designs for happy meal boxes, bags, and inside promotions until he became unhappy.

“It’s a ridiculous amount of

hours and I slowly grew to hate my job because I wasn’t paint-ing at all. Then the economy tanked after Sept. 11. I got laid off and took that as a sign to paint,” Musser said. “I lived off my savings and unemployment and literally did the ‘starving artist thing’ with food stamps and was skinnier than I was now, but I was happy.”

It was around the year 2000 after Musser saw his friend’s tat-too when he began to see them as a kind of art form.

“He (Musser’s friend) told me that he got the whole thing in a 12-hour session and I thought, ‘why would you sit there and do something like

By jennifer siopongcojsiopongco@statehornet.com

see Tattoo| page B2

The State Hornet sought to find out what students’ first im-pressions are of the Sacramento State campus, so we sent out a Features writer to find out.

Students who were inter-viewed mentioned things like the amount of diversity, the club booths in the library quad, the gigantic trees - but nothing about the amount of squirrels we have jumping out of trees and stalking us for food.

The students who were interviewed also told us what they didn’t like on campus. We thought it would be nice to include these as well.

As you read these students’ quotes, many of you will most likely nod your head in agree-ment, or what they had to say might spark your own impres-sion of Sac State.

Does the chalk-covered walk-ways suit your fancy? Or what about the sandwich man?

We would love to know what you notice about Sac State or find interesting about the campus.

We want to hear from you, so contact us at: features@state-hornet.com or comment online at: www.statehornet.com

By State Hornet Stafffeatures@statehornet.com

Students give impressions of Sac State

Photo by mia matsudaira and courtesy art From jeFF musser

Arj Barker performsArj Barker, famous for act-

ing in “Flight of the Conchords”

and co-creating, writing and performing in “The Marijuana-logues,” hadn’t thought of becoming a comedian until he tried stand-up.

“I tried it for fun, didn’t really decide to become a comedian,” said Barker, a Bay Area native. “I just gave it a shot and it was so fun that I just kept going back to it.”

Barker, who will be having a free comedy show on campus Thursday, became better known after his appearance on a 1997 episode of Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend,” a show that uses short clips of different comedians’ routines.

Following this, Barker was given his own half-hour show, “Comedy Central Presents: Arj Barker,” in 2000 and a second

episode in 2006. Barker has also appeared on multiple late-night talk shows, meeting with David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel, among numer-ous others.

More recently, Barker has taken the role of Dave Mohumbhai, a worker in his family’s pawn shop and friend to main characters Bret and Jemaine on HBO’s “Flight of the Conchords.”

“Jemaine Clement and Bret McClegnie are friends of mine. We worked together on tours in Australia and New Zealand before they came to the states,” he said. “In the States a few years later, they were offered to make a show for NBC. They

see Arj | page B2

By Cole Mayercmayer@statehornet.com

courtesy oF arj barker

rePorting by amber Wertman and graPhics by megan harris State Hornet

Arj Barker known from “Flight of the Conchords”

Barrio Art Program and community help center

Despite facing hard economic times, the Wash-ington Neighborhood Center, in downtown Sacramento, is still one of the main sites for Sacramento State’s Barrio Art Program.

The Barrio Art Program was established in the early 1970s by a retired Sac State art professor emeritus, Jose Montoya.

Jose created the program to give Sac State art students an opportunity to design cur-riculum and to teach in the community hands-on while earning their 40-hour teaching prerequisite for the Sac State credential program.

Tomas Montoya, Jose Montoya’s son and president of the Washington Neighbor-hood Center, said the course is a 40-hour commitment to one of the program centers focusing on linking the university and the community. He said that nearly 40 years later, the Barrio Art Program continues to open doors for Sac State students who want to experience an ur-ban, multicultural and multilin-gual teaching environment.

Gia Moreno, senior art edu-cation major, said the Barrio Art class is more than a three-unit class.

“It is a class that impacts the community on many different levels and teaches students how to teach in different environ-

ments,” Moreno said.Students participating in

the Barrio Art Program have been teaching at the center, a non-profit organization and community-run center.

Tomas Montoya said funds for the center are provided through private donations and United Way Worldwide, a lead-ership organization.

The center, which has been struggling financially, has been required to make staff cuts to avoid shutting down. Board members and community volunteers have taken on the staff ’s previous responsibilities including running the office, teaching classes, and maintain-

By Vanessa Garibaldivgaribaldi@statehornet.com

see Barrio| page B3

WedneSday - September 9 FeatureS SectIOn StateHOrnet.cOmB2

The One Book Program encourages literacyLast year, Sacramento State

began a program called The One Book for expanding lit-eracy in the community.

Sheree Meyer, One Book faculty coordinator and Sheila Macias, director of the Com-munity Engagement Center are the program coordinators of the One Book Program. Meyer said the attempt to promote wide-spread literacy was aimed not just at reading and writing, but also at literacy in the broader world.

Meyer said one book is chosen annually by a book selection committee, composed of faculty, staff, students and community members. Macias said the program targets fresh-man students, so that students’ literacy may be encouraged early and thereby continue to flourish.

Meyer said that incoming freshmen should have received a copy of this year’s One Book during their new student orien-tation this semester.

Macias said last year’s novel was more humorous than the selection this year. She noted that faculty are anticipating loaded emotions and involve-ment with their newest selec-tion, Julie Otsuka’s “When the Emperor Was Divine.”

John Kanemoto, sophomore mathematics major, said Otsu-ka’s novel deals with Japanese-American internment camps and said that many readers may be affected by the book due to current events surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the idea of segregation and discrimination in internment camps.

Kanemoto, who is very involved in this year’s program, said that although freshmen are being targeted by the program,

it is still open and any commu-nity member can participate.

In 2007, the inspiration for the One Book Program came about when Sac State hosted Wangari Maathai, a 2004 Noble Peace Prize winner. Maathai specialized in sustain-able resources and the subject of woman’s rights within her community in Africa. Meyer said that on the day of Maathai’s lecture, more than 400 people came to hear her speak.

“We were delightfully shocked when we not only had enough students, faculty and staff to fill the Redwood Room, but they were out the door. And this was a Friday morning. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many people in one place at the same time on this campus,” Meyer said.

Up until that point, Meyer, Macias and other faculty members had been trying for years to establish a One Book

Program at Sac State. Macias said that after the response to Maathai’s lecture, the amount of activism and awareness on campus seemed evident and faculty felt that the time was right to make an attempt with the program.

Meyer approached Sac State President Alexander Gonzalez with the One Book blueprints. In response, Gonzalez recom-mended they seek funding from the Wells Fargo Founda-tion. It took a month to write up the grant proposal, Meyer said. Wells Fargo accepted and offered $100,000 for the first 18 months of Sac State’s One Book Program.

Meyer said that even in the first year of the program, around 1,200 community mem-bers attended the author day when Firoozeh Dumas lectured and shared her experiences on campus.

“We figured we’d have some

smaller building years, but the fact that we were working with the first year programs and getting that kind of buy-in was phenomenal,” Meyer said.

Last year’s program centered on the memoir “Funny in Farsi” by Firoozeh Dumas, which educated the community about Iranian culture.

Meyer said the program intends to have a similar impact this year, but instead will focus on the Japanese-American culture.

“My biggest passion about this is that it helps us all stretch a bit and get out of our comfort zones,” Macias said.

This year, Meyer feels that the program did a better job of planning ahead, mostly because there was a better sense of focus throughout the program.

“We don’t want the One Book Program to be a one-shot deal. We want the events and focus to last throughout the

year,” Meyer said.First-time freshmen will

have access to the first lecture at 10 a.m. on Oct. 5 in The Uni-versity Union Ballroom, which will then be opened up to the public at 7 p.m.

Information regarding this can be found on the One Book Program’s website: http://www.csus.edu/onebook/.

By Katrina Tupperktupper@statehornet.com

courtesy Photo

Alysson Satterlund, new director this fall

Alysson Satterlund is the new director of Student Activi-ties this fall.

As director of Student Ac-tivities, Satterlund said her first goal is to limit the impact the budget may have on students. In doing so, Satterlund said she and the Student Activities staff have worked together to coordi-nate which furlough days they

will take during the semester in order to offer the same level of support for students daily.

“(We are) also trying to secure grant money so we have some flexibility to augment some of the cuts we have to take,” Satterlund said.

Last year, the Student Activi-ties department was without a director. Tom Carroll, assistant Student Activities director, said that beginning this academic year, a fully staffed depart-ment will help it move forward. Carroll said that a full staff will allow the department time to create new ideas and act upon them.

Carroll said Satterlund will have the opportunity to work one-on-one with students while also advising student organiza-tions.

Satterlund, who encour-ages students to get involved in something that interests them in order to enjoy campus life, said there are more than 200 clubs.

“You name it, we have it,” Satterlund said.

Those who have gotten a chance to speak with Satterlund

think she is a nice person.“She is an approachable

and very friendly woman,” said Jasmine Greer, senior envi-ronmental studies major and president of the Environmental Studies Organization.

Nicole Scanlan, English and psychology major and co-co-ordinator of the PRIDE Center, said Satterlund’s enthusiasm is shown in the way she greets students.

“She is always willing to help students when they come to her,” Scanlan said.

Satterlund is not only directing the Student Activi-ties department, but she is also the temporary director of the PRIDE Center. The PRIDE Center supports the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer, Question-ing and Ally community.

“One of the great things she has done so far is she has put a lot of effort behind work-ing with the PRIDE Center,” Scanlan said.

Currently, Satterlund is help-ing the PRIDE center launch support groups, which they have not had before this year.

By vanessa garibaldivgaribaldi@statehornet.com

mia matsudaira State Hornet

Alysson SatterlundDirector of Student Activities

CLUB CORNER | CHORAL CLUB

Singing brings unityInterested in singing? If so,

Sacramento State’s Choral Club, consisting of more than 125 members always has room for more.

With three different choirs there’s a niche for every singer. These choirs include the Uni-versity Choir, Concert Choir, and Chamber Choir, which all meet on different days and times.

While the club may seem intimidating, it is not only for professional singers or music majors. The club would like stu-dents who can sight-read and have an ear for music, but Don Kendrick, director of choral ac-tivities, said students can learn the essentials and grow through the club. After interested stu-dents meet with Kendrick, he will discuss with them which choir is best for their voice.

“They meet with me and I listen to their voice to find out what part they would sing in the choir (soprano, alto, tenor or bass),” Kendrick said. “You just have to have a good choral ensemble voice and be able to read music enough to keep up

in class. We help the students to learn their music and to be-come successful in the class.”

Tina Breshears, a member of the club, said she loves how the Choral Club is a place “not only to work hard, meet people, grow individually, and gain great experiences and oppor-tunities,” but to also have fun doing something that all of the members are passionate about.

Club meetings are held according to a set schedule. Members attend these meetings as they would any other class.

“We begin with a warm up consisting of vocalizing and stretches and then go to work on the pieces we are currently working on, taking breaks to discuss items of business,” Bres-hears said.

Ramsey Kouri, another member of the club, said that there are other aspects covered during the meetings.

“We also leave time to ad-dress issues as well as some of the club goals,” Kouri said.

The Choral Club has many goals set in hopes of benefiting the group. Although the club must address topics such as funding, they never lose sight of the passion that brings the

students together.“The basic goals of our club

are based around the unity and musical growth of the indi-vidual ensembles as well as the choral department as a whole,” Breshears said.

Breshears said that the club’s immediate and long-term goals coincide with each other and they mainly focus on their love of singing.

Those interested in joining the club can contact Kendrick at: kendrick@saclink.csus.edu.

By Kayla Macielkmaciel@statehornet.com

mia matsudaira State Hornet

Sacramento State Choral Club receives direction.

Tattoo: Musser’s exhibit shows tattoos as new art

mia matsudaira State Hornet

Magrit Boen, Sac State art student takes in Musser’s exhibit, “Messages in Flesh”

Arj Barker with castmembers of “Flight of the Conchords.”

courtesy oF arj barker

Arj: Sacramento area is interested in free showcontacted me, and wanted to have a plug in the show for me. They said it was a sure thing. It wasn’t a difficult decision for me,” he said.

However, plans fell through with NBC and the show never aired.

“It didn’t work out,” Barker said. “They went to HBO, cre-ated ‘Flight of the Conchords,’ and wrote a character, wrote a part for me. It was considerable luck, being at the right place at the right time.”

When not filming, Barker tours the world performing his stand-up routine, with a type of comedy he finds a bit hard to describe.

“I over think it, but I’d say

observation seen through the lens of stupidity. Not straight observational, my take on things that we all can relate, but the way I perceive it is ridicu-lous,” he said.

Mike E. Winfield, a Sac State alumnus and one of Barker’s opening acts, is also a fan.

“He’s one of my favorites. Easily one of my favorites to watch,” he said. “It’s very interesting where he takes you. One entirely straight path, then takes you 180 degrees in the other direction. He’s one of the (comics) who will make you cry. He’ll pull tears of laughter out of people.”

UNIQUE was given a chance to host Barker and jumped on it.

“Members of UNIQUE have

been talking about ‘Flight of the Conchords,’ and UNIQUE represents a good sample of stu-dents on campus,” said program supervisor Zenia Diokno.

Interest in the show is not just limited to campus.

“Lots of students are happy he is coming. We’re also sending the press release to the media and around town and the area is showing interest,” Diokno said.

Barker said touring the country and visiting places such as campuses is fun.

“I’m fired up to get (to Sacra-mento). I love the area.”

Barker will be performing on campus with opening acts Mike E. Winfield and Alex Koll from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Thursday in the University Union Serna Plaza.

Continued | page B1

Continued | page B1

that?’” Musser said. “I always knew about tattoos and their history, they’re almost as old as writing, but I didn’t get into it until I saw my friend with one and I thought ‘there had to be more to this.’”

When Musser created his first two tattoo paintings, he no-ticed that people enjoyed them and that tattoos were becoming even more popular.

“I would see tattoos every-where and it’s always been such a strong presence within my age group,” Musser said. “(Tattoos have) become more prominent in mainstream legitimate art forms.”

Since Musser has always believed that tattoos are magnificent, he became more

engrossed in painting them and it became his niche.

“It’s a language that I fell in love with two years ago. I think it’s a beautiful language. It is worthy of fine art. It is fine art,” Musser said. “Not many people have brought it to the fine art area and brought it into painting.”

Musser’s career as an artist has not only been to master the art and craft of painting, but to also deal with issues that he’s experiencing in his life and whatever else the rest of the world is struggling with.

“To make a connection with people, that’s what art is about - good music, art, sculptures, any artistic medium. Let them know that despite everything that’s going on in the world, life is still worth living,” Musser said. “As an artist, that’s what you’re supposed to do and if that’s not your goal as an artist, what are you doing? You’re just wasting your time.”

Musser has taken what he has learned in life and has made up his own symbols as a form of iconography - images and symbolic representations that are associated with a person or subject, to tell a story.

“If I’m going to do a painting about a relationship that went bad, how am I going to find someone that looks like my ex-girlfriend?” Musser said. “I can tell stories about tattoos and not overwhelm the viewer with too many images.”

He has put hidden messages into his paintings, while also creating an easy way of telling a

story without spoiling it. “I don’t think an artist

should give away all of the story. There should always be some kind of mystery there.”

The painting titled, “In-spired,” by “Horiyoshi III - Tattoo Study No. 2,” is one of the many paintings displayed at the exhibit. It is a portrait of a woman sitting with her back to the viewers. Her back is drenched in intricate tattoo artwork and Asian characters.

“I think the paintings are really unique. I’ve never seen anyone paint this in detail about tattoos. It’s so high quality,” said Timote Loketi, junior chemistry major.

Some Sac State students who are visiting Musser’s exhibit are beginning to see how painted tattoos can represent a type of art form.

“Using oil on canvas makes this static-clean view that depicts them beautifully as what tattoos can be, rather than an ‘I love Mom’ tattoo,” said Nancy Healy, junior art studio major. “His ability at realism is phenomenal. Everything is in proportion. It almost looks photographic, but better.”

A poster of Musser’s artwork titled, “Madre” will be sold for $25 at the opening reception.

Check out a video of the Arj Barker show at www.statehornet.com on Friday.

Messages in Flesh

Opening reception: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday;

University Union

Entire Show: Open through Oct. 1

WedneSday - September 9 FeatureS SectIOn statehornet.com B3

Continued | page B5

Barrio: Art Program not affected ing the center.

The center’s financial stand-ing, however, has not limited what it offers, including tutor-ing sessions, English classes, dance classes, and boxing. The center also provides many edu-cational and athletic opportuni-ties taught by Sac State students from previous Barrio Art Pro-grams, UC Davis students and community organizations.

Recently, the center has hosted various fundraisers - one including the hip-hop artist

KRS-One who participated in a benefit concert.

“We are struggling, but the community has come together by picking up the slack and we will not be shutting down,” Tomas Montoya said.

Moreno, who was involved in the Barrio Art Program for more than a year and taught Barrio Art for one semester, said the Barrio Art Program has not felt the financial trouble. In fact, it helps the center by do-nating a portion of a grant that was given to the program. The grant helps the center pay for electricity bills. The program

also leaves unused art supplies for the center to use during summer or winter breaks.

The center’s board members said Jose’s focus when creating the Barrio Art Program was to create access to art for the His-panic residents in the barrio.

“A barrio is a largely Latino and immigrant-populated neighborhood,” Moreno said.

Catherine Turrill, assistant chair of the art department at Sac State, said that through-out the years, the barrio has evolved into a multicultural en-vironment and now all cultures benefit from the program.

The four components of the Barrio Art Program show the different age groups Sac State serves during the semester.

The Children’s Component serves children from kinder-garten to sixth grade. The Anciano Component supports adults and senior citizens. The Cultural Component is Danza Azteca, that teaches the com-munity about pre-Colombian indigenous and cultural dances. The mural project component centers on mural paintings in the tradition of the Mexican Mural Movement. One example of the mural project is the mu-ral at Sac State on Lassen Hall by Ed Rivera, according to the

Barrio Arts Program website.Beginning this fall, faculty

member Steven Ciampaglia will teach the Barrio Art course for the first time.

“I am honored to be part of a program that has a long tradi-tion at Sac State,” Ciiampaglia said. “I hope I can live up to the standards set by previous instructors of the course as we take this program into the future.”

The Barrio Art Program gives art classes to the com-munity from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Washington Neighborhood Center.

Moreno said children from the community who do not re-ceive art education at school are receiving it at the center. Their mothers and fathers also have an opportunity to learn several artistic styles.

“It is very family-based at the center,” Moreno said.

Tomas Montoya said the center could always use more help from the community.

Volunteers do a variety of things from seeking donations, tutoring, teaching, outreach, and more.

For questions, call the Wash-ington Neighborhood Center at (916) 444-6833.

jP ryan State Hornet

Continued | page B1

This mural is currently the most recent one finished by the Barrio Art Program during the Spring 2009 semester.

FeatureS SectIOn StateHOrnet.cOmB4 WedneSday - September 9