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Monday, Nov. 20, 2017
THANKSGIVING
Fresno State’s Award-Winning Newspaper
DIVERSITY
Happy Thanksgiving Edition
Students Colorful event celebrates express Fresno State’s ‘global citizens’ gratitude By Razmik Cañas | @Raz_Canas
F
all is upon us. The trees on campus are turning a bright gold and a crisp wind fills the air. The line at Starbucks grows for warm beverages and final papers make their usual appearance. And with the change in season, students are getting ready for the highly-anticipated holiday season. With Thanksgiving just a few days away, many look back at what has happened in their lives throughout this year. The Collegian went around campus and asked students, in one word, what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving.
Daniel Avalos • The Collegian
“Life”
Performers at the International Student Night in the Satellite Student Union on Nov. 19, 2017. The event was a showcase of different arts and fashion from cultures around the world. Arturo Delgadillo, Dietetics
By Christian Mattos @chisssymattos
“Family” Frankie Maldonado, Biology
Fresno State students and guests celebrated diversity Sunday night through music, dance, food and fashion at this year’s 34th annual International Culture Night. The theme of the event was “global citizens and the generation of the future,” said Shady Nicolas Misaghi, a senior and lead coordinator for the event
The multicultural event took place at the Satellite Student Union and was organized by the International Student Services and Programs Office (ISSP). The event was the finale of International Education Week, celebrating the university’s international student community. Nicolas Misaghi said the theme was chosen primarily to give a voice to the arts and to highlight how technology has lead the way for easy communication around the world.
DRUG ABUSE
‘Never seen anything like’ US opioid addiction By Michael Ford @MFordCollegian
“Fresno State” Khalid Aochaoaf, International Student
“Friends” Emily Zurliene, Public Health Administration Photos by Alejandro Soto • The Collegian
An alarming 66,000 people died in the United States in 2016 from opiate drug overdoses. That number of fatalities is higher than the death tolls in the worst years for HIV/AIDS, gun violence and the Vietnam war. Those alarming numbers were part of a presentation on Opioid addiction by Robert Pennal, former task force commander of the Central Valley High Intensity Drug Traffic Area (HIDTA). Opiates are substances that act on brain receptors to release chemicals that produce euphoria and pain relief. They can be highly addictive. Pennal’s presentation at Fresno State last week to discuss the crisis detailed the rampant abuse of opiates in
the U.S. and California. He said the abuse of the drug is the single greatest drug epidemic in the history of the U.S. “We have never seen anything like this in America.” To illustrate the concerns, Pennal turned to news clips that shed light on the opiate crisis. He showed a “60 Minutes” clip that showed how the pharmaceutical industry has pushed doctors to overprescribe painkillers to patients, leading to the addiction. “The pharmaceutical companies are so powerful and have so much money. It’s all about making money,” Pennal said. “This world of synthetics is a nightmare and we are not sure what we are going to do about it.” Pennal said that some experts estimate heroin made from poppy plants will not exist in five years because most of the drugs being abused are becoming synthetic.
“Especially in this moment in history, I feel like coming together to celebrate different cultures and be all together and celebrate unity and diversity is a big deal,” Nicolas Misaghi said.
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And although Oxycontin has become the most commonly abused prescription pain medication in the country, the most powerful medications include Fentanyl and Carfentanil, Pennal said. Fentanyl is an opioid that is 50 times more powerful than heroin. Carfentanil is 50 to 100 times more powerful than Fentanyl, Pennal said. Carfentanil is especially dangerous, Pennal explained, because it is not made for humans – rather, it is a tranquilizer made for large animals typically found in zoos, like elephants. And when people overdose on carfentanil, it is difficult to revive them because of the potency of the drug. “We’re talking about amount as little as grains of salt that can kill you,” Pennal said. Pennal pointed to the Mexican and Chinese drug cartels as sources who have brought the drugs into the U.S. and led to purchase by American consumers. The drugs are mostly bought on what is called the Dark Web, the seedy underbelly of the internet in which most illegal and illicit business activities take place.