Time to rally around Cal State Bakersfield and President Horace Mitchell in the face of budget troubles

 * ... MOVE ON: Let's all hope that the recent changes out at Cal State Bakersfield will repair any feelings of ill will between supporters and the administration. CSUB  is facing its greatest budget crunch ever, and it needs the full support of our community and its leaders to continue to provide the best education possible to our local students. President Horace Mitchell has made some tough calls in the face of severe cutbacks, and he now deserves our support. It's time to move on.

 * ... CSUB:  One of the effects of the reorganization at CSUB  is the return of fund raising to the Athletic Department. This is good news for many long-time supporters of CSUB athletic programs, who groused when the University Advancement department under Beverly Byl took over all fund raising, including athletics, several years ago. Supporters complained that funds raised for sports were sometimes used for other purposes. None of this is illegal, of course, but it rankled supporters who didn't like the idea that money raised for a sports program may have been used for another project, however worthy. With the changes, fund raising for sports now reverts to the office of Athletic Director Jeff Konya.

 * ... MOTOR CITY: General Motors has recognized Motor City GMC as one of the top dealerships in the nation. A GM representative was at the dealership Thursday to present the "Dealer of the Year" award to Richard Stricklen, owner of Motor City, and his team. The award recognizes the top 2 percent of GM dealers by region. This is a high honor and - at least from my experience buying two cars there - certainly well deserved. 

 * ... Y MEMORY: Today's memory of growing up with the YMCA comes from Jennifer Marble Howes, who recently moved back to Bakersfield after being gone for 20 years. Her father was a YMCA camp counselor in Pasadena and she grew up at the Bakersfield "Y," camping in the mountains and singing songs around the camp fire. "I remember learning how to row a boat and ride a horse and appreciate wild life," she said. "Singing around the camp fire and everyone yelling Y-M-C-A hoping that we could be heard clear down in Bakersfield. I would recommend utilizing the YMCA to anyone who has children."

 * ... CSUB BASEBALL: Tom Dyer wrote to commend the CSUB Roadrunner baseball team for pitching in to help the 12-year-old All-Stars from the Bakersfield Southwest Baseball team. He said pitcher Mike McCarthy along with teammates Cael Brockmeyer and Oscar Sanay came out and worked with his team for almost three hours. It was all around the time that McCarthy was drafted and "he still made time to make a lasting impression on some of Bakersfield's youth," Dyer said. "Go Southwest baseball and go Roadrunners!"

* ... BAKERSFIELDISM: Gene Bonas says you might be a Bakersfield old timer if you "can remember the logo used by Frank and Marie Amestoy to advertise their On the Hill bar and grill. It was an outhouse set on a hill!"