Fresno State prof swims for books

FRESNO
May 30, 2007 11:31am

Fresno State Professor Albert Valencia plans to swim among the sharks of San Francisco Bay next month so some of his students will have the books they need to study.

Mr. Valencia is wrapping up six months of intensive training so he can swim the mile-and-a-half from Alcatraz to San Francisco’s Aquatic Park during the annual Sharkfest on June 10.

"I view the swim as a metaphor for going to college, where students are swimming in a body of water that is new and scary. Yet, with faith and discipline, pulling themselves through the water one stroke at a time, inhaling and exhaling like a slow metronome, and keeping their eyes on the prize, it can, and it does, get done,” Mr. Valencia says.

He notes that textbooks cost $70 to $80 on average and classes often require more than one book.

Mr. Valencia has set up a committee to receive donations to his “Swimming for Books” program, both to be accountable and to ensure funds are distributed as intended.

Joe Parks, a professor of education, chairs the committee, which will devise guidelines for assistance and post them on the Mentoring Institute Web site. Funds will be tracked and audited by the California State University, Fresno Foundation, a tax-exempt organization.

As director of the Mentoring Institute at California State University, Fresno, Mr. Valencia says he has seen firsthand how the need to buy a new tire, fill a prescription or fix a computer – inconvenient expenses for most people – “can appear to be devastating for many students.”

Should a shark venture into his path, woe to the fish. Mr. Valencia will be making his third such swim in the chilly bay waters. He played football and ran track in high school, played basketball in Los Angeles city leagues and had a season of Class A baseball. He also has trained to a black belt in martial arts, has run competitively for 12 years, competed in triathlon (swim, run, bike) 14 years, enjoyed skydiving, trekking the John Muir Trail through the Sierra, surfing and, now, rough-water endurance swimming.

Sharkfest 2007 is the 15th annual re-enactment of an escape in 1963 by three inmates of Alcatraz Island, a federal prison from 1934 until it was closed in 1963. The escape by Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin was popularized in the 1979 Clint Eastwood movie, “Escape from Alcatraz.”

The three prisoners were not accounted for, although the FBI listed them as “presumed drowned,” and a legend was born.

About 1,000 swimmers participate in Sharkfest each year, paying $120 to take the morning swim. This year’s event was sold out more than six months ago.

(Donations may be sent to the foundation with checks made out to CSUF Foundation Swimming For Books, 5245 N. Backer, M/S PB137, Fresno, CA, 93740)