La Voz de Aztlan, October 29 1979
Item
Title
La Voz de Aztlan, October 29 1979
Creator
Associated Students of Fresno State
Relation
La Voz de Aztlan (Daily Collegian, California State University, Fresno)
Coverage
Fresno, California
Date
10/29/1979
Format
PDF
Identifier
SCUA_lvda_00107
extracted text
r
A Special Publication
~f the Daily Collegi!ln
LA VOZ de AZTLAN
Monday
-Oct. 29, 1979
ft
Grass r~ots publications cover ethnic beats
Minority press seeks improved news coverage
by Ricardo Pimentel
La Voz Editor
Sentimientos Magazine, the California
Advocate and the Calj.fornia Courier are
not names that trigger instant recognition in the minds of most Valley residents. The names, however, are instantly recognizable to the thousands of people who read the publications as alternatives to the dominant Anglo media.
The publications· don't pretend to
compete with the Los Angeles Times,
the New York Times or-even the Fresno
Bee in timeliness or in <:omprehensiveness. But the publications, catering to
the Valley's minority communities,
believe they are fulfilling a real need
for coverage of minority events and issues, a need they contend is ignored
by the dominant media.
Sentimientos Magazine covers the
Chicano community, the largest minori-_
ty group in the Valley . The California
Advocate is billed as multi-cultural but
emphasises Black news . The Califor.oia
Courier keeps the Armenian community
up-to-date. Together, they represent
a relatively limited circulation as compared to the Fresno Bee or Guide.
However, they compete for the same advertising dollars.
Les Kimber, publisher of the Advocate, said advertisers employ a double
standard when contemplating advertising in minority press.
"Advertisers
t
Members of the La Raza dance class entertain a large crowd Thursday in the College Union as part of the tenth anniversary celebration of the ethnic studies department. A story and more photos on page 4. (Photo by George Aguirre)
want to look at the minority press '
editorial policies and see if there is a
strong policy of self determination, "
he said . When they look at white media ,
he added ,- they just look at the number
of consumers they can reach . This, more
than anything , is responsible for the
high mortality rate among minority
newspapers, Kimber said .
Kimber said he was told point-blank
by a local department store representative recently that the Advocate is too
radical for the store to advertise in .
Kimber doesn't deny that his bi-weekly
newspaper promotes. self-determination
for Black Americans .
The self-determination theme is
echoed by Tomas Uribes, editor of Sentimientos Magazine. He said if you were
to believe the dominant Anglo media,
"Chicanos are all doomed to stealing
hubcaps, killing each other or working
on farms as cheap labor ."
Dr . Ar:t Margosian, editor of the Califfornia Courier and CSUF journalism professor, wouldn't categorize his newspaper as political. "Our role is to bring
the community together," he said . In
this respect, the newspaper serves a
social function more than a political
one . If the paper has any editorial policy, it is one advocating unity among
Armenians, Margosian said . The paper, he said, will take stands on issues
but shies from being consistently partisan .
"Partisan papers generally
aren't journalistic," Margosian said .
Minority press has always carried the
stigma of being unjournalistic . The argumef'lt centers ·around charges that the
minority press doesn't handle its stories with objectivity . "You use objectivity
when all other things are equal, but to
talk about objectivity while there is racism is stupid," Kimber said .
(continued on page 2)
Co~nselors work to increase Chicano enrollment
This is the fifth in a series of articles
dealing with the wide disparity between
the percentage of Chicanos in the local
community and at CSUF. Those figures
are 30 and 9 percent, respectively.
By Steve Le Vine
La Voz Staff Writer
Three local high schools are having
much success in getting their Chicano
students to attempt college.
Counselors from those schools pinpoint that success to gearing curriculum
and extra-curricular activities to reflect
the special needs of their Chicano enrollment.
The schools -- Hanford, Washington
Union and Parlier high schools -- are located outside the city of Fresno (but still
are considered CSUF *feeder" high - or 43 percent, wi II go on to college .
Parlier, he said, in a phone interview,
schools). Their Chicano enrollments are
25 percent, 40 percent and 98 percent of is a community made up to a good degree of Chicanos who are fairly new here
total enrollment, respectively.
The counselors said that the very fact -- migrant farm workers and first or sethat Chicanos do make up much of their cond generation immigrants -- and "are
enrollments changes the emphasis given very traditional.
"Their-culture gives them more disciin designing their programs .
Their schools, they said, naturally em- pline. Most of the students don't date/
phasize a good deal of their curriculum
to the special needs of the Chicano stu✓cSUF's EOP one of
dent. Other schools must gear their programs to their individual -- and possibly
finest in state/
much different -- demographic makeup,
so may not fulfill as well the special
needs of the Chicano.
Gregory said. He said that discipline is
Dennis Gregory, the sole counselor to much of the reason behind their graduParlier High's 461 students, expects ates' high college enrollment rate.
that of 80 seniors at Parlier, 35 students.
In addition, "better communication
with Fresno State has improved" the college enrollment to a great degree, he
said .
Many students at Parlier must depend
on financial aid for college. Without that,
he said, most would not be able to afford
to leave home.
"There has been more funds for financial aid. The (CSUF's) EOP (Educational
Opportunity Program) program is one of
the finest in the state," he said . The support programs are what is helping."
And a key- factor, Gregory said, is a
curriculum that includes two "intensive"
English classes . In one, students go
everday for two class periods. The other
is geared especially to the migrants.
In addition, bilingual classes and the
(continued on page 3)
•
Page2
Oct. 29, 1979
La Voz de Aztlan
Charity under scrutiny
One of the country's largest charity
drives, the Combined Federal Campaign, was the subject of four days of
congressional hearings beginning Oct.
11, to .determine whether charities are
unfairly excluded and the' rights of donors violated.
The campaign, which raises more
than $80 million-a-year from nearly
2.5 million federal employees, has become an "exclusive club consisting of a
few long-established charities, with
admission to it being controlled by
bureaucrats in Washington,• according
to Robert Bothwell, Executive Director
of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, which has been trying to bring attention to campaign problems.
Bothwell added that the campaign
not only excludes many worthy charities (especially those that are newer
and locally-based), it severely limits
the choice of federal employees . He
explained that acc~ss to workplace fund
raising is important because it is the
most lucrative and efficient means of
raising money ever devised.
How the funds are distributed was
one of the topics of the hearings, according to Rep. Patricia Schroeder, 0-Colo.,
chair of the House Subcommittee on
Civil Service, · who became concerned
about
the campaign in part because
of three recent lawsuits challenging
it, she said.
At present, all the funds go to four
national fund-raising groups, including
the National Health Agencies (which
include charities such as the American
cancer Society), the International Service Agencies (such as CARE), the
American Red Cross and the United Way
(which received more than 70 percent
of the total) .
To become a part of one of these
groups, a charity must be approved by
an eligibility committee in Washington .
The criteria include having fundraising
and administrative costs under 25 percent and being national in scope,
criteria that Bothwell said excludes
the vast majority of charities.
"The national-in-scope requirement
automatically makes most of the country's charities ineligible and prohibits
federal employees from making gifts
to most local charities," Bothwell said.
He pointed out that this violates one of
the guiding principles of the campaign,
"true voluntary giving,• and is contrary
to what the federal government is supposed to be encouraging with its local
decision making programs.
Minority press offers alternative to Anglo media
(continued from page 1)
"The object of our stories is to get the
· story told," Kimber said. He does not
feel compelled to bend over backwards
to give the white perspective . "If objectivity is what we were all about, we
would be as useless as white papers in
terms of minority concerns," he said .
Uribes said it is difficult to label any
publication as objective, which, he said,
"is a subjective term. "
"The magazine presents a positive •
side of the community , so it is open to
accusations of being biased," he said .
He added, howevever, Sentimientos
provides the same sort of direction as
any newspaper--"to inform, entertain
and interpret."
Sentimientos grew out of the belief
that "maybe we could provide a place
where Chicanos could turn to express
themselves, " Uribes said. "A lot of
Chicano youth like to write on walls.
Let's get it down on paper. It' II last
longer and have more impact."
Part of the aim of the California Courier is to show that there is "more to
Armenians than shish ke-bab and pilaf,"
Margosian said .
"We don't buy the melting pot
theory ." This doesn't place Armenians
at the periphery of American society,
however . "For being good ArmenianAmericans you' re even better Americans . You can be both," he said .
Is the lack of minority coverage
in the Anglo press deliberate? "Some
racism plays a part," Kimber said.
"But it's not someone at the top saying
' I don't like Blacks. '"
" If there were minority businesses
that spent millions of dollars in advertising , The Fresno Bee would see fit
to cover the minority community,"
Kimber said .
Uribes agreed . "I don't think the Bee
has any sort of awareness of what's
out there . In a figurative sense, they
don't have a pulse on the Chicano
community," he said. "Are they out
there pounding their Chicano beats?
They' re out there covering ·the Clovis
City Council.
Why not El Concilio
(a Chicano advocacy group)?"
Part of the problem , at least in Fresno,
Uribes said, is that the Chicano community has not been recognized as a viable
economic factor.
Each of the publications is doing
its best to reverse the misconceptions
and stereotypes they perceive are being
aired in the Anglo media. Kimber said
he sees no immediate relief from this
type of coverage.
"For the next 2,000 years there will
be a need for minority media," Kimber
said. "In terms of reversing racism,
that will take a long time."
Neither Uribes, Kimber nor Margosian are working in the minority media
with dollar signs in their eyes. Margosian volunteers all his efforts. Uribes
receives little or no money for his work
and Kimber acknowledged that he does
not receive · a great deal of money
for his efforts either. "It's not like a regular business per se . You don't go
into it to make money . You need the dedication to serve the aspirations of the
minority community," he said .
"I dare say," Kimber added, "most
minority newspapers would love for
there not to be a need to exist. But the
needs are not being met by the major
newspapers and will not be as long as
newspapers are run by white folks
who view the white community as being
the most important thing to cover.•
MEChA·.restating objectives, says Haro
by Cin.t Holguin
La Voz Staff Writer
What is the major problem of Chicano students on campus? According
to Silverio Haro, recently elected
MEChA chairman, the main problem is
"gettmg more Chicanos on campus.
We get them in, but retaining them is
the problem."
Haro is a junior majoring in public
administration and minoring in La
Raza studies and history. MEChA
is a political, cultural and social organization aimed at confronting issues that
affect Chicanos on campus.
The organization confronts issu·es
through committees , each specialized
in different fields of interest. For instance, some of the s eparate committees focus on health, law, business,
mass media and education, according
to the organization ' s statement of
purpose.
The objective behind the different
committees is to encourage Chicano
students to voice their opinions and
become involved in issues. Through
the formation of committees, Haro
said, "students also get practice in
development of organizational skills."
The Plan de Santa Barbara, the
founding articles of MEChA, stress
that the organization is not only meant
to provide a social setting, but to "use
the strengths, weaknesses and talents"
of each member.
Haro said some of his goals as chairman are to "realize and restate MEChA
goals, objectives and structures."
He plans to establish a relay system
with the community . He also said he
hopes to get more MEChA input into
the student government.
Haro encouraged all Chicanos to become more involved with MEChA and
learn what issues are facing Chicanos
and to help solve problems.
Silverio Haro
u Voz de Aztlan
.
.
Pagel
hicano Youth Conference planning underway
by Scott ufee
La Voz Staff Writer
In Ill effort to boost the relatively
le Chicano population at CSUF
other universities, high school stufrom across the state will gather
~ s to discover and discuss the
es of higher education.
The Chicano Youth Conference.
led for Jan . 19, is sponsored
MEChA. The all-day meeting is
to attract more than 1,300
from 60 high. schools, ranging
East Los Angeles to Porterville.
According to chairman Jay Sepulveda,
lack of Chicano -students at the
· level is a chronic problem .
tation at CSUF, for example,
around nine percent while the
's Chicano population is approx30 percent. The conference,
in its seventh year, is designed
ease this disparity by recruiting
· school students .
The conference will consist of guest
, workshops and a fair with
covering everything from how to
financial aid to evaluations of
I schools.
The event is free, with MEChA and junior high schools and high schools atCSUF.
CSUF, however, will not be the only
the Associated Students picking up were invited but with more than 250
this year's expected $5,000 expense tab. · additional students showing up each school represented . Recruiters from
This is the second year the Associated year, it soon became a problem of universities like Stanford and UCLA
·
will also attend .
Students and the university have pro- where to put everybody.
Consequently, only the upperclass"We make sure students with the povided partial funding and assistance
for the conference. In the past, MEChA men and women in high schools will tential to go to Stanford or UCLA are told
attend, accompanied by counselors and about the opportunities ." said Sepulhad assumed all the costs .
veda.
.
Sepulveda said the only expense teachers .
The scheduled program, still in the ; The conference will not dwell entirely
to students will be transportation to
Fresno.
Something that continues planning stages, will feature workshops on education-:- The conference committee
on subjects as diverse as law, business, will provide a free lunch with possible
to be a problem .
*The biggest problem is getting the Chicano culture, the Chicano move- , entertainment and a disco in the evehere,,, said Sepulveda. The schools ment and where to go to school. Coun- ning .
Registration begins at 8 a .m. in the
won't always provide us a bus . How- selors will be available to discuss
ever, clubs on campus sometimes raise financial aid and service programs Residence Dining Hall .
enough funds to hire a bus for the day .
*It's kind of unfortunate . Everything
else is free . It's the only thing we ask
them to do .*
Transportation
problems
aside,
the conference has grown in popularity.
.. Counselors at the high schools just
(continued from page 1)
in the education.process .
wait for us to send them the letter saying
Warren Short, community liaison for
Fresno
Economic
Opportunity Center -when to come," said Sepulveda. This
Hanford
High, said that "the primary obwhich
sends
out
representatives
to
help
·
has created an overcrowding problem
stacle is that the curriculum doesn't rethat forced Sepulveda to limit the con- the students fill out applications for colflect the total society . The schools don't
ference invitations to sophomores, jun- lege and financial aid -- "help a great
have the curriculum to meet the particuiors and seniors .
Previously, both deal," Gregory said.
lar needs of minorities ."
Ed Dorn, Washington Union's head
At Hanford, he said, much of the procounselor, thinks that his relatively high
blem of getting Chicanos into college has
counselor-to-student ratio (1 to 242) aids
been alleviated by curriculum changes .
in getting kids to go on to college .
Particularly he cited bilingual educa"We have a much greater one-on-one
tion classes , a Mexican dance class, and
relationship than other schools, and that
a cultural history class that "covers the
helps , .. Dorn said.
contributions to America of Blacks, ChiWhat troubles Dorn , he said, is not
to make' life more comfortable for stu- getting his students into college, but getcanos and Native Americans."
dents,,, she said. "I have found that ting them to stay there once they do enIn addition, Fresno's Mobile Guithe services offered by the center are roll .
dance Center -- which goes from high
not fu!ly utilized by the ethnic students
school to high school to counsel students
"It alarms me that they seem to flock
on campus ."
· out of the schools," he said. "There 's
on college possibilities -- helps tremendously ,Short said in a phone interview,
just no one riding herd on them there ."
J ust three years ago, Chavez was
Washington Union also has a migrant especially in getting financial aid infordirector of the Educational Opportu- program, which started this year, and a
mation to the students .
nity Program at the University of CaliShort said that part of the problem "is
bilingual
lab.
fornia, Santa Cruz. She was appointed
cultural . Depending on where in Mexico
The
lab
is
used
most
periods
during
to the post after only six months as a
the parents came from , they' may not
the day, Dorn said. It is a small room, fitcounselor for the EOP program .
place a high value on higher education,
ting
perhaps
15
students
around
a
large
She was the first Chicana to hold
, but instead on supporting the parents in
table.
such a position in the entire UC system.
o!d age, going to work ."
The students are . spoken to both in
Spanish and English, and though noisy,
"It was very new and very challenging the students are attentive and enthusiasIn addition, Short said, *who are most
for me, .. she said. "I remember attend- tic. Once they feel comfortable, Dorn
of the counselors? Many haven't got the
ir1g many meetings where I was the only said, they are permitted to drop their
sensitivity to reach out and feel for these
woman and that sometimes w~ frus-· study in the lab and attend only their rekids."
trating ...
In contrast to younger counselors,
gular classes .
*I was at that time needing, finding
who Short said, "are more sensitive
Another protilem ·that" disturbs him,
and learning skills to assert myself, .. she Dorn said in an interview in his office, is
than' counselors of years past," older
said.
counselors *are from a tradition of a kid
a problem of *self-image* among the
Chavez said there is more opportunity Chicanos.
getting his mouth washed out with soap
for women and Chicanas to fill adminisfor speaking Spanish on tfie school
In his office seeking help was Sharon,
trative roles.
grounds in elementary schools ... He said
a Chicana. She had recently passed two
"Whs,t you have to do in positions such proficiency tests -- tests that most stuthat sort of thing happened in Hanford ' s
as that is to find your support groups," dents at Washington Union failed -- but
elementary schools as late as 10 to 15
.she said. *You need to maintain con- insisted that she could not do well in
years ago.
tact with other women in that role ." her English literature class.
"Who are the majority of counselors,
After Cha"ez was appointed EOP direcboard members and principals?" Short
Dorn switched her to an easier course.
tor sim.ilar appointments were made for
said . "They are making $20,000 and up a
He said that Sharon was a "typical exChicanas at UC Santa Barbara and
year. They are well-to-do.
UC Riverside .
"They absolutely cannot grasp the way
ample of the self-image problem he runs
Chavez claimed it is assuring to into; students, who if they believed they
of life of poverty . They don't underidentify with other women in similar could do the work, would excel. But
stand . They don't know what it is to be
positions especially when her situation since they don't believe, do not achieve
hungry in school, to be hyped up when
was unique. Most women work up into their potential.
they come to school because all they had
'
the ranks , but I was appointed after only
To help the Chicano student relate to · was a Coca-Cola for breakfast.
six months with the University," she the school, Washington Union provides
"It's the poverty syndrome . It cuts
said.
across racial lines. Any kid in that situasocial and cultural activities .
Her strongest support came from
The Chicano club on campus , Club tion is doomed to f~il in school ," Short
within the EOP program, she rememsaid .
Amistad,
"is probably the most active on
bered . "The men in EOP fully·supported
"If you want to be a failure in school ,"
campus," Dorn said. Activities during
me as well as the women, " she said . '
·he said, "be a minority and poor."
the
year
culminate,
he
said,
with
a
Cinco
According to Chavez, women administrators are more likely to appoint de Mayo celebration at which the entire
community attends .
other women to higher positions and
Next week: What do the counselors in
Activities such as that, Dorn said, help
she did; appointing women to posts'"
the city schools say, and, more importhe
Chicanos
establish
an
identity
with
within the program .
Washington Union , which in turn helps tantly, what do the students think?
livia Chavez named to
Counseling Center Staff
by Elvia Ruiz
La Voz Contributor
Chicanas throughout the United States
finding their niche in academia by
joining the rands of their male counteroarts.
One female who has proven that Chir.anas can succeed is Olivia Chavez, a
new oounselor at the CSUF Counseling
ft
Center.
Oiavez, a CSUF alumnum, is rapidly
becoming a familiar face to many Chi-
rano students through her outreach
effor1s in La Raza Study classes this past
month. She represents the Counseling
Center by encouraging Chicanos to ~k
11Ut the help of the center on matters
such as vocational, academic and per-
sonal counseling.
In her effort to meet and encourage
to use the center's facilities,
Ola~ has encountered a hesitancy
from them to approach the center with
their problems.
"What we want to do at the center is
Oiicanos
Staff Box
Editor ............... R rcard o PI men tel
Photo Edltor ....... George Aguirre
ltaff .... .. ........... Glna Holguin
Scott Lafee
Dora Lara
Steve Le Vine
M argarlta M artlnez
La Voz de Aztlan Is published by
Ille Auoclated Students at Callfor1111 State University, Fresno and the
lllwepaper staff. Unsigned editorials
or cartoons are the opinions of the La
Voz staff and not necessarlly the
View, of the Associated Students,
CSUF or the State of California.
Low enrollment tackled
Diana Salas and Harold Porras provide some of the
musical entertainment for the tenth anniversary cele-
Pam Basmajian, right, and Vicki Kismetian
an Armenian folk dance. Mexican folk dandna
an exhibition of African dress were also on the
gram. (Photo by George Aguiree)
bration of the ethnic studies department. (Photo by
George Aguirre)
Ethnic Studies celebrates tenth anniversary
The Ethnic Studies and La Raza Studies programs celebrated 10 years of
existence on the CSUF campus Thursday
with speakers and cultural entertainment at the College Un ion .
The event brought together many of
the original ethnic studies faculty
members for a panel discussion on the
history of t he program, current attitudes
and future trends .
Pat Agu irre , one of the original
ethnic studies students and now coordinator of a new student retention pro-
gram on campus, provided a student's
perspective of the times in which the
programs were born . She said that the
university in 1970 was a HmicrocosmH
of the community and that incoming Chicano students soon learned that HWe're
~oing to have to fight the same things
on campus as we do off campus . H
During those years, Vietnam was at
its bloodiest, the United Farmworkers
Union was striving for recognition and
labor union dikrimination against minorities was being uncovered. EOP stu-
It was a reunion of sorts for several of the original
faculty of the ethnic studies program. Seated from
)
dents on campus were so few, Aguirre
said, that Hwe organized as
family .,.
To the incoming Chicano st1,1dents,
many from rurally isolated areas, Fresno
was the big time, she. said . "We had to
prove our worth every year .,.
HWe weren't playing games . We
were here not to erase our community
but to improve it," Aguirre said.
Teresa Perez, now a La Raza studies
instructor, told a crowd of about 350
that at the height of the civil rights .
movement the university saw no !leed for
a
left are Richard Keyes, Jorge Garcia, Pat Aguirre,
Teresa Perez and Lester Ri11ins. (Photo by George
Aguirre)
ethnic studies. This attitude, she
resulted in frequent confron
and when most of the ethnic s
faculty was fired in 1970, Perez said
was outraged. She and others from
community and campus rallied to
vent anyone from registering .
blockaded the door of the gym
Spring registration was taking
Lester Riggins, Deputy Directlr
state general services and also dll
ginal member of the staff, said the
studies program acted as a ca
The program was first to have st
evaluate instructors, he said, and
the first to institute remed ial
Now, he said, these practices are
versity-wide.
Jorge Garcia, chairman of the Ch"
studies department at California
University , Northridge, said, "In
we believed all we had to do is
hard and we were on our way to
dise."
Garcia said that Chicanos were
unrepresented on campus that "it
a national holiday whenever you ran
a Chicano." In 1%5, Chicanos
prised only 83 out of the 11,000 st
at CSUF.
The times politicized Chicanos,
said . The grape huelga began in
and people were starving in
Garcia said the Chicano students
proached the student government
ask that their student fees be di
to Biafra to help the starving
there . The Chicanos were told that
student government wouldn ' t
money, but would only buy agricu
tools for the Biafrans . The rationale
that if the student government gave
Biafrans money, like Chicanos,
would spend the money on booze,
said .
Garcia said the Chicano st
had to let it be known that "this is a
Iic institution and if there 's no school
us, then there is no school.,.
A Special Publication
~f the Daily Collegi!ln
LA VOZ de AZTLAN
Monday
-Oct. 29, 1979
ft
Grass r~ots publications cover ethnic beats
Minority press seeks improved news coverage
by Ricardo Pimentel
La Voz Editor
Sentimientos Magazine, the California
Advocate and the Calj.fornia Courier are
not names that trigger instant recognition in the minds of most Valley residents. The names, however, are instantly recognizable to the thousands of people who read the publications as alternatives to the dominant Anglo media.
The publications· don't pretend to
compete with the Los Angeles Times,
the New York Times or-even the Fresno
Bee in timeliness or in <:omprehensiveness. But the publications, catering to
the Valley's minority communities,
believe they are fulfilling a real need
for coverage of minority events and issues, a need they contend is ignored
by the dominant media.
Sentimientos Magazine covers the
Chicano community, the largest minori-_
ty group in the Valley . The California
Advocate is billed as multi-cultural but
emphasises Black news . The Califor.oia
Courier keeps the Armenian community
up-to-date. Together, they represent
a relatively limited circulation as compared to the Fresno Bee or Guide.
However, they compete for the same advertising dollars.
Les Kimber, publisher of the Advocate, said advertisers employ a double
standard when contemplating advertising in minority press.
"Advertisers
t
Members of the La Raza dance class entertain a large crowd Thursday in the College Union as part of the tenth anniversary celebration of the ethnic studies department. A story and more photos on page 4. (Photo by George Aguirre)
want to look at the minority press '
editorial policies and see if there is a
strong policy of self determination, "
he said . When they look at white media ,
he added ,- they just look at the number
of consumers they can reach . This, more
than anything , is responsible for the
high mortality rate among minority
newspapers, Kimber said .
Kimber said he was told point-blank
by a local department store representative recently that the Advocate is too
radical for the store to advertise in .
Kimber doesn't deny that his bi-weekly
newspaper promotes. self-determination
for Black Americans .
The self-determination theme is
echoed by Tomas Uribes, editor of Sentimientos Magazine. He said if you were
to believe the dominant Anglo media,
"Chicanos are all doomed to stealing
hubcaps, killing each other or working
on farms as cheap labor ."
Dr . Ar:t Margosian, editor of the Califfornia Courier and CSUF journalism professor, wouldn't categorize his newspaper as political. "Our role is to bring
the community together," he said . In
this respect, the newspaper serves a
social function more than a political
one . If the paper has any editorial policy, it is one advocating unity among
Armenians, Margosian said . The paper, he said, will take stands on issues
but shies from being consistently partisan .
"Partisan papers generally
aren't journalistic," Margosian said .
Minority press has always carried the
stigma of being unjournalistic . The argumef'lt centers ·around charges that the
minority press doesn't handle its stories with objectivity . "You use objectivity
when all other things are equal, but to
talk about objectivity while there is racism is stupid," Kimber said .
(continued on page 2)
Co~nselors work to increase Chicano enrollment
This is the fifth in a series of articles
dealing with the wide disparity between
the percentage of Chicanos in the local
community and at CSUF. Those figures
are 30 and 9 percent, respectively.
By Steve Le Vine
La Voz Staff Writer
Three local high schools are having
much success in getting their Chicano
students to attempt college.
Counselors from those schools pinpoint that success to gearing curriculum
and extra-curricular activities to reflect
the special needs of their Chicano enrollment.
The schools -- Hanford, Washington
Union and Parlier high schools -- are located outside the city of Fresno (but still
are considered CSUF *feeder" high - or 43 percent, wi II go on to college .
Parlier, he said, in a phone interview,
schools). Their Chicano enrollments are
25 percent, 40 percent and 98 percent of is a community made up to a good degree of Chicanos who are fairly new here
total enrollment, respectively.
The counselors said that the very fact -- migrant farm workers and first or sethat Chicanos do make up much of their cond generation immigrants -- and "are
enrollments changes the emphasis given very traditional.
"Their-culture gives them more disciin designing their programs .
Their schools, they said, naturally em- pline. Most of the students don't date/
phasize a good deal of their curriculum
to the special needs of the Chicano stu✓cSUF's EOP one of
dent. Other schools must gear their programs to their individual -- and possibly
finest in state/
much different -- demographic makeup,
so may not fulfill as well the special
needs of the Chicano.
Gregory said. He said that discipline is
Dennis Gregory, the sole counselor to much of the reason behind their graduParlier High's 461 students, expects ates' high college enrollment rate.
that of 80 seniors at Parlier, 35 students.
In addition, "better communication
with Fresno State has improved" the college enrollment to a great degree, he
said .
Many students at Parlier must depend
on financial aid for college. Without that,
he said, most would not be able to afford
to leave home.
"There has been more funds for financial aid. The (CSUF's) EOP (Educational
Opportunity Program) program is one of
the finest in the state," he said . The support programs are what is helping."
And a key- factor, Gregory said, is a
curriculum that includes two "intensive"
English classes . In one, students go
everday for two class periods. The other
is geared especially to the migrants.
In addition, bilingual classes and the
(continued on page 3)
•
Page2
Oct. 29, 1979
La Voz de Aztlan
Charity under scrutiny
One of the country's largest charity
drives, the Combined Federal Campaign, was the subject of four days of
congressional hearings beginning Oct.
11, to .determine whether charities are
unfairly excluded and the' rights of donors violated.
The campaign, which raises more
than $80 million-a-year from nearly
2.5 million federal employees, has become an "exclusive club consisting of a
few long-established charities, with
admission to it being controlled by
bureaucrats in Washington,• according
to Robert Bothwell, Executive Director
of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, which has been trying to bring attention to campaign problems.
Bothwell added that the campaign
not only excludes many worthy charities (especially those that are newer
and locally-based), it severely limits
the choice of federal employees . He
explained that acc~ss to workplace fund
raising is important because it is the
most lucrative and efficient means of
raising money ever devised.
How the funds are distributed was
one of the topics of the hearings, according to Rep. Patricia Schroeder, 0-Colo.,
chair of the House Subcommittee on
Civil Service, · who became concerned
about
the campaign in part because
of three recent lawsuits challenging
it, she said.
At present, all the funds go to four
national fund-raising groups, including
the National Health Agencies (which
include charities such as the American
cancer Society), the International Service Agencies (such as CARE), the
American Red Cross and the United Way
(which received more than 70 percent
of the total) .
To become a part of one of these
groups, a charity must be approved by
an eligibility committee in Washington .
The criteria include having fundraising
and administrative costs under 25 percent and being national in scope,
criteria that Bothwell said excludes
the vast majority of charities.
"The national-in-scope requirement
automatically makes most of the country's charities ineligible and prohibits
federal employees from making gifts
to most local charities," Bothwell said.
He pointed out that this violates one of
the guiding principles of the campaign,
"true voluntary giving,• and is contrary
to what the federal government is supposed to be encouraging with its local
decision making programs.
Minority press offers alternative to Anglo media
(continued from page 1)
"The object of our stories is to get the
· story told," Kimber said. He does not
feel compelled to bend over backwards
to give the white perspective . "If objectivity is what we were all about, we
would be as useless as white papers in
terms of minority concerns," he said .
Uribes said it is difficult to label any
publication as objective, which, he said,
"is a subjective term. "
"The magazine presents a positive •
side of the community , so it is open to
accusations of being biased," he said .
He added, howevever, Sentimientos
provides the same sort of direction as
any newspaper--"to inform, entertain
and interpret."
Sentimientos grew out of the belief
that "maybe we could provide a place
where Chicanos could turn to express
themselves, " Uribes said. "A lot of
Chicano youth like to write on walls.
Let's get it down on paper. It' II last
longer and have more impact."
Part of the aim of the California Courier is to show that there is "more to
Armenians than shish ke-bab and pilaf,"
Margosian said .
"We don't buy the melting pot
theory ." This doesn't place Armenians
at the periphery of American society,
however . "For being good ArmenianAmericans you' re even better Americans . You can be both," he said .
Is the lack of minority coverage
in the Anglo press deliberate? "Some
racism plays a part," Kimber said.
"But it's not someone at the top saying
' I don't like Blacks. '"
" If there were minority businesses
that spent millions of dollars in advertising , The Fresno Bee would see fit
to cover the minority community,"
Kimber said .
Uribes agreed . "I don't think the Bee
has any sort of awareness of what's
out there . In a figurative sense, they
don't have a pulse on the Chicano
community," he said. "Are they out
there pounding their Chicano beats?
They' re out there covering ·the Clovis
City Council.
Why not El Concilio
(a Chicano advocacy group)?"
Part of the problem , at least in Fresno,
Uribes said, is that the Chicano community has not been recognized as a viable
economic factor.
Each of the publications is doing
its best to reverse the misconceptions
and stereotypes they perceive are being
aired in the Anglo media. Kimber said
he sees no immediate relief from this
type of coverage.
"For the next 2,000 years there will
be a need for minority media," Kimber
said. "In terms of reversing racism,
that will take a long time."
Neither Uribes, Kimber nor Margosian are working in the minority media
with dollar signs in their eyes. Margosian volunteers all his efforts. Uribes
receives little or no money for his work
and Kimber acknowledged that he does
not receive · a great deal of money
for his efforts either. "It's not like a regular business per se . You don't go
into it to make money . You need the dedication to serve the aspirations of the
minority community," he said .
"I dare say," Kimber added, "most
minority newspapers would love for
there not to be a need to exist. But the
needs are not being met by the major
newspapers and will not be as long as
newspapers are run by white folks
who view the white community as being
the most important thing to cover.•
MEChA·.restating objectives, says Haro
by Cin.t Holguin
La Voz Staff Writer
What is the major problem of Chicano students on campus? According
to Silverio Haro, recently elected
MEChA chairman, the main problem is
"gettmg more Chicanos on campus.
We get them in, but retaining them is
the problem."
Haro is a junior majoring in public
administration and minoring in La
Raza studies and history. MEChA
is a political, cultural and social organization aimed at confronting issues that
affect Chicanos on campus.
The organization confronts issu·es
through committees , each specialized
in different fields of interest. For instance, some of the s eparate committees focus on health, law, business,
mass media and education, according
to the organization ' s statement of
purpose.
The objective behind the different
committees is to encourage Chicano
students to voice their opinions and
become involved in issues. Through
the formation of committees, Haro
said, "students also get practice in
development of organizational skills."
The Plan de Santa Barbara, the
founding articles of MEChA, stress
that the organization is not only meant
to provide a social setting, but to "use
the strengths, weaknesses and talents"
of each member.
Haro said some of his goals as chairman are to "realize and restate MEChA
goals, objectives and structures."
He plans to establish a relay system
with the community . He also said he
hopes to get more MEChA input into
the student government.
Haro encouraged all Chicanos to become more involved with MEChA and
learn what issues are facing Chicanos
and to help solve problems.
Silverio Haro
u Voz de Aztlan
.
.
Pagel
hicano Youth Conference planning underway
by Scott ufee
La Voz Staff Writer
In Ill effort to boost the relatively
le Chicano population at CSUF
other universities, high school stufrom across the state will gather
~ s to discover and discuss the
es of higher education.
The Chicano Youth Conference.
led for Jan . 19, is sponsored
MEChA. The all-day meeting is
to attract more than 1,300
from 60 high. schools, ranging
East Los Angeles to Porterville.
According to chairman Jay Sepulveda,
lack of Chicano -students at the
· level is a chronic problem .
tation at CSUF, for example,
around nine percent while the
's Chicano population is approx30 percent. The conference,
in its seventh year, is designed
ease this disparity by recruiting
· school students .
The conference will consist of guest
, workshops and a fair with
covering everything from how to
financial aid to evaluations of
I schools.
The event is free, with MEChA and junior high schools and high schools atCSUF.
CSUF, however, will not be the only
the Associated Students picking up were invited but with more than 250
this year's expected $5,000 expense tab. · additional students showing up each school represented . Recruiters from
This is the second year the Associated year, it soon became a problem of universities like Stanford and UCLA
·
will also attend .
Students and the university have pro- where to put everybody.
Consequently, only the upperclass"We make sure students with the povided partial funding and assistance
for the conference. In the past, MEChA men and women in high schools will tential to go to Stanford or UCLA are told
attend, accompanied by counselors and about the opportunities ." said Sepulhad assumed all the costs .
veda.
.
Sepulveda said the only expense teachers .
The scheduled program, still in the ; The conference will not dwell entirely
to students will be transportation to
Fresno.
Something that continues planning stages, will feature workshops on education-:- The conference committee
on subjects as diverse as law, business, will provide a free lunch with possible
to be a problem .
*The biggest problem is getting the Chicano culture, the Chicano move- , entertainment and a disco in the evehere,,, said Sepulveda. The schools ment and where to go to school. Coun- ning .
Registration begins at 8 a .m. in the
won't always provide us a bus . How- selors will be available to discuss
ever, clubs on campus sometimes raise financial aid and service programs Residence Dining Hall .
enough funds to hire a bus for the day .
*It's kind of unfortunate . Everything
else is free . It's the only thing we ask
them to do .*
Transportation
problems
aside,
the conference has grown in popularity.
.. Counselors at the high schools just
(continued from page 1)
in the education.process .
wait for us to send them the letter saying
Warren Short, community liaison for
Fresno
Economic
Opportunity Center -when to come," said Sepulveda. This
Hanford
High, said that "the primary obwhich
sends
out
representatives
to
help
·
has created an overcrowding problem
stacle is that the curriculum doesn't rethat forced Sepulveda to limit the con- the students fill out applications for colflect the total society . The schools don't
ference invitations to sophomores, jun- lege and financial aid -- "help a great
have the curriculum to meet the particuiors and seniors .
Previously, both deal," Gregory said.
lar needs of minorities ."
Ed Dorn, Washington Union's head
At Hanford, he said, much of the procounselor, thinks that his relatively high
blem of getting Chicanos into college has
counselor-to-student ratio (1 to 242) aids
been alleviated by curriculum changes .
in getting kids to go on to college .
Particularly he cited bilingual educa"We have a much greater one-on-one
tion classes , a Mexican dance class, and
relationship than other schools, and that
a cultural history class that "covers the
helps , .. Dorn said.
contributions to America of Blacks, ChiWhat troubles Dorn , he said, is not
to make' life more comfortable for stu- getting his students into college, but getcanos and Native Americans."
dents,,, she said. "I have found that ting them to stay there once they do enIn addition, Fresno's Mobile Guithe services offered by the center are roll .
dance Center -- which goes from high
not fu!ly utilized by the ethnic students
school to high school to counsel students
"It alarms me that they seem to flock
on campus ."
· out of the schools," he said. "There 's
on college possibilities -- helps tremendously ,Short said in a phone interview,
just no one riding herd on them there ."
J ust three years ago, Chavez was
Washington Union also has a migrant especially in getting financial aid infordirector of the Educational Opportu- program, which started this year, and a
mation to the students .
nity Program at the University of CaliShort said that part of the problem "is
bilingual
lab.
fornia, Santa Cruz. She was appointed
cultural . Depending on where in Mexico
The
lab
is
used
most
periods
during
to the post after only six months as a
the parents came from , they' may not
the day, Dorn said. It is a small room, fitcounselor for the EOP program .
place a high value on higher education,
ting
perhaps
15
students
around
a
large
She was the first Chicana to hold
, but instead on supporting the parents in
table.
such a position in the entire UC system.
o!d age, going to work ."
The students are . spoken to both in
Spanish and English, and though noisy,
"It was very new and very challenging the students are attentive and enthusiasIn addition, Short said, *who are most
for me, .. she said. "I remember attend- tic. Once they feel comfortable, Dorn
of the counselors? Many haven't got the
ir1g many meetings where I was the only said, they are permitted to drop their
sensitivity to reach out and feel for these
woman and that sometimes w~ frus-· study in the lab and attend only their rekids."
trating ...
In contrast to younger counselors,
gular classes .
*I was at that time needing, finding
who Short said, "are more sensitive
Another protilem ·that" disturbs him,
and learning skills to assert myself, .. she Dorn said in an interview in his office, is
than' counselors of years past," older
said.
counselors *are from a tradition of a kid
a problem of *self-image* among the
Chavez said there is more opportunity Chicanos.
getting his mouth washed out with soap
for women and Chicanas to fill adminisfor speaking Spanish on tfie school
In his office seeking help was Sharon,
trative roles.
grounds in elementary schools ... He said
a Chicana. She had recently passed two
"Whs,t you have to do in positions such proficiency tests -- tests that most stuthat sort of thing happened in Hanford ' s
as that is to find your support groups," dents at Washington Union failed -- but
elementary schools as late as 10 to 15
.she said. *You need to maintain con- insisted that she could not do well in
years ago.
tact with other women in that role ." her English literature class.
"Who are the majority of counselors,
After Cha"ez was appointed EOP direcboard members and principals?" Short
Dorn switched her to an easier course.
tor sim.ilar appointments were made for
said . "They are making $20,000 and up a
He said that Sharon was a "typical exChicanas at UC Santa Barbara and
year. They are well-to-do.
UC Riverside .
"They absolutely cannot grasp the way
ample of the self-image problem he runs
Chavez claimed it is assuring to into; students, who if they believed they
of life of poverty . They don't underidentify with other women in similar could do the work, would excel. But
stand . They don't know what it is to be
positions especially when her situation since they don't believe, do not achieve
hungry in school, to be hyped up when
was unique. Most women work up into their potential.
they come to school because all they had
'
the ranks , but I was appointed after only
To help the Chicano student relate to · was a Coca-Cola for breakfast.
six months with the University," she the school, Washington Union provides
"It's the poverty syndrome . It cuts
said.
across racial lines. Any kid in that situasocial and cultural activities .
Her strongest support came from
The Chicano club on campus , Club tion is doomed to f~il in school ," Short
within the EOP program, she rememsaid .
Amistad,
"is probably the most active on
bered . "The men in EOP fully·supported
"If you want to be a failure in school ,"
campus," Dorn said. Activities during
me as well as the women, " she said . '
·he said, "be a minority and poor."
the
year
culminate,
he
said,
with
a
Cinco
According to Chavez, women administrators are more likely to appoint de Mayo celebration at which the entire
community attends .
other women to higher positions and
Next week: What do the counselors in
Activities such as that, Dorn said, help
she did; appointing women to posts'"
the city schools say, and, more importhe
Chicanos
establish
an
identity
with
within the program .
Washington Union , which in turn helps tantly, what do the students think?
livia Chavez named to
Counseling Center Staff
by Elvia Ruiz
La Voz Contributor
Chicanas throughout the United States
finding their niche in academia by
joining the rands of their male counteroarts.
One female who has proven that Chir.anas can succeed is Olivia Chavez, a
new oounselor at the CSUF Counseling
ft
Center.
Oiavez, a CSUF alumnum, is rapidly
becoming a familiar face to many Chi-
rano students through her outreach
effor1s in La Raza Study classes this past
month. She represents the Counseling
Center by encouraging Chicanos to ~k
11Ut the help of the center on matters
such as vocational, academic and per-
sonal counseling.
In her effort to meet and encourage
to use the center's facilities,
Ola~ has encountered a hesitancy
from them to approach the center with
their problems.
"What we want to do at the center is
Oiicanos
Staff Box
Editor ............... R rcard o PI men tel
Photo Edltor ....... George Aguirre
ltaff .... .. ........... Glna Holguin
Scott Lafee
Dora Lara
Steve Le Vine
M argarlta M artlnez
La Voz de Aztlan Is published by
Ille Auoclated Students at Callfor1111 State University, Fresno and the
lllwepaper staff. Unsigned editorials
or cartoons are the opinions of the La
Voz staff and not necessarlly the
View, of the Associated Students,
CSUF or the State of California.
Low enrollment tackled
Diana Salas and Harold Porras provide some of the
musical entertainment for the tenth anniversary cele-
Pam Basmajian, right, and Vicki Kismetian
an Armenian folk dance. Mexican folk dandna
an exhibition of African dress were also on the
gram. (Photo by George Aguiree)
bration of the ethnic studies department. (Photo by
George Aguirre)
Ethnic Studies celebrates tenth anniversary
The Ethnic Studies and La Raza Studies programs celebrated 10 years of
existence on the CSUF campus Thursday
with speakers and cultural entertainment at the College Un ion .
The event brought together many of
the original ethnic studies faculty
members for a panel discussion on the
history of t he program, current attitudes
and future trends .
Pat Agu irre , one of the original
ethnic studies students and now coordinator of a new student retention pro-
gram on campus, provided a student's
perspective of the times in which the
programs were born . She said that the
university in 1970 was a HmicrocosmH
of the community and that incoming Chicano students soon learned that HWe're
~oing to have to fight the same things
on campus as we do off campus . H
During those years, Vietnam was at
its bloodiest, the United Farmworkers
Union was striving for recognition and
labor union dikrimination against minorities was being uncovered. EOP stu-
It was a reunion of sorts for several of the original
faculty of the ethnic studies program. Seated from
)
dents on campus were so few, Aguirre
said, that Hwe organized as
family .,.
To the incoming Chicano st1,1dents,
many from rurally isolated areas, Fresno
was the big time, she. said . "We had to
prove our worth every year .,.
HWe weren't playing games . We
were here not to erase our community
but to improve it," Aguirre said.
Teresa Perez, now a La Raza studies
instructor, told a crowd of about 350
that at the height of the civil rights .
movement the university saw no !leed for
a
left are Richard Keyes, Jorge Garcia, Pat Aguirre,
Teresa Perez and Lester Ri11ins. (Photo by George
Aguirre)
ethnic studies. This attitude, she
resulted in frequent confron
and when most of the ethnic s
faculty was fired in 1970, Perez said
was outraged. She and others from
community and campus rallied to
vent anyone from registering .
blockaded the door of the gym
Spring registration was taking
Lester Riggins, Deputy Directlr
state general services and also dll
ginal member of the staff, said the
studies program acted as a ca
The program was first to have st
evaluate instructors, he said, and
the first to institute remed ial
Now, he said, these practices are
versity-wide.
Jorge Garcia, chairman of the Ch"
studies department at California
University , Northridge, said, "In
we believed all we had to do is
hard and we were on our way to
dise."
Garcia said that Chicanos were
unrepresented on campus that "it
a national holiday whenever you ran
a Chicano." In 1%5, Chicanos
prised only 83 out of the 11,000 st
at CSUF.
The times politicized Chicanos,
said . The grape huelga began in
and people were starving in
Garcia said the Chicano students
proached the student government
ask that their student fees be di
to Biafra to help the starving
there . The Chicanos were told that
student government wouldn ' t
money, but would only buy agricu
tools for the Biafrans . The rationale
that if the student government gave
Biafrans money, like Chicanos,
would spend the money on booze,
said .
Garcia said the Chicano st
had to let it be known that "this is a
Iic institution and if there 's no school
us, then there is no school.,.
r
A Special Publication
~f the Daily Collegi!ln
LA VOZ de AZTLAN
Monday
-Oct. 29, 1979
ft
Grass r~ots publications cover ethnic beats
Minority press seeks improved news coverage
by Ricardo Pimentel
La Voz Editor
Sentimientos Magazine, the California
Advocate and the Calj.fornia Courier are
not names that trigger instant recognition in the minds of most Valley residents. The names, however, are instantly recognizable to the thousands of people who read the publications as alternatives to the dominant Anglo media.
The publications· don't pretend to
compete with the Los Angeles Times,
the New York Times or-even the Fresno
Bee in timeliness or in <:omprehensiveness. But the publications, catering to
the Valley's minority communities,
believe they are fulfilling a real need
for coverage of minority events and issues, a need they contend is ignored
by the dominant media.
Sentimientos Magazine covers the
Chicano community, the largest minori-_
ty group in the Valley . The California
Advocate is billed as multi-cultural but
emphasises Black news . The Califor.oia
Courier keeps the Armenian community
up-to-date. Together, they represent
a relatively limited circulation as compared to the Fresno Bee or Guide.
However, they compete for the same advertising dollars.
Les Kimber, publisher of the Advocate, said advertisers employ a double
standard when contemplating advertising in minority press.
"Advertisers
t
Members of the La Raza dance class entertain a large crowd Thursday in the College Union as part of the tenth anniversary celebration of the ethnic studies department. A story and more photos on page 4. (Photo by George Aguirre)
want to look at the minority press '
editorial policies and see if there is a
strong policy of self determination, "
he said . When they look at white media ,
he added ,- they just look at the number
of consumers they can reach . This, more
than anything , is responsible for the
high mortality rate among minority
newspapers, Kimber said .
Kimber said he was told point-blank
by a local department store representative recently that the Advocate is too
radical for the store to advertise in .
Kimber doesn't deny that his bi-weekly
newspaper promotes. self-determination
for Black Americans .
The self-determination theme is
echoed by Tomas Uribes, editor of Sentimientos Magazine. He said if you were
to believe the dominant Anglo media,
"Chicanos are all doomed to stealing
hubcaps, killing each other or working
on farms as cheap labor ."
Dr . Ar:t Margosian, editor of the Califfornia Courier and CSUF journalism professor, wouldn't categorize his newspaper as political. "Our role is to bring
the community together," he said . In
this respect, the newspaper serves a
social function more than a political
one . If the paper has any editorial policy, it is one advocating unity among
Armenians, Margosian said . The paper, he said, will take stands on issues
but shies from being consistently partisan .
"Partisan papers generally
aren't journalistic," Margosian said .
Minority press has always carried the
stigma of being unjournalistic . The argumef'lt centers ·around charges that the
minority press doesn't handle its stories with objectivity . "You use objectivity
when all other things are equal, but to
talk about objectivity while there is racism is stupid," Kimber said .
(continued on page 2)
Co~nselors work to increase Chicano enrollment
This is the fifth in a series of articles
dealing with the wide disparity between
the percentage of Chicanos in the local
community and at CSUF. Those figures
are 30 and 9 percent, respectively.
By Steve Le Vine
La Voz Staff Writer
Three local high schools are having
much success in getting their Chicano
students to attempt college.
Counselors from those schools pinpoint that success to gearing curriculum
and extra-curricular activities to reflect
the special needs of their Chicano enrollment.
The schools -- Hanford, Washington
Union and Parlier high schools -- are located outside the city of Fresno (but still
are considered CSUF *feeder" high - or 43 percent, wi II go on to college .
Parlier, he said, in a phone interview,
schools). Their Chicano enrollments are
25 percent, 40 percent and 98 percent of is a community made up to a good degree of Chicanos who are fairly new here
total enrollment, respectively.
The counselors said that the very fact -- migrant farm workers and first or sethat Chicanos do make up much of their cond generation immigrants -- and "are
enrollments changes the emphasis given very traditional.
"Their-culture gives them more disciin designing their programs .
Their schools, they said, naturally em- pline. Most of the students don't date/
phasize a good deal of their curriculum
to the special needs of the Chicano stu✓cSUF's EOP one of
dent. Other schools must gear their programs to their individual -- and possibly
finest in state/
much different -- demographic makeup,
so may not fulfill as well the special
needs of the Chicano.
Gregory said. He said that discipline is
Dennis Gregory, the sole counselor to much of the reason behind their graduParlier High's 461 students, expects ates' high college enrollment rate.
that of 80 seniors at Parlier, 35 students.
In addition, "better communication
with Fresno State has improved" the college enrollment to a great degree, he
said .
Many students at Parlier must depend
on financial aid for college. Without that,
he said, most would not be able to afford
to leave home.
"There has been more funds for financial aid. The (CSUF's) EOP (Educational
Opportunity Program) program is one of
the finest in the state," he said . The support programs are what is helping."
And a key- factor, Gregory said, is a
curriculum that includes two "intensive"
English classes . In one, students go
everday for two class periods. The other
is geared especially to the migrants.
In addition, bilingual classes and the
(continued on page 3)
•
Page2
Oct. 29, 1979
La Voz de Aztlan
Charity under scrutiny
One of the country's largest charity
drives, the Combined Federal Campaign, was the subject of four days of
congressional hearings beginning Oct.
11, to .determine whether charities are
unfairly excluded and the' rights of donors violated.
The campaign, which raises more
than $80 million-a-year from nearly
2.5 million federal employees, has become an "exclusive club consisting of a
few long-established charities, with
admission to it being controlled by
bureaucrats in Washington,• according
to Robert Bothwell, Executive Director
of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, which has been trying to bring attention to campaign problems.
Bothwell added that the campaign
not only excludes many worthy charities (especially those that are newer
and locally-based), it severely limits
the choice of federal employees . He
explained that acc~ss to workplace fund
raising is important because it is the
most lucrative and efficient means of
raising money ever devised.
How the funds are distributed was
one of the topics of the hearings, according to Rep. Patricia Schroeder, 0-Colo.,
chair of the House Subcommittee on
Civil Service, · who became concerned
about
the campaign in part because
of three recent lawsuits challenging
it, she said.
At present, all the funds go to four
national fund-raising groups, including
the National Health Agencies (which
include charities such as the American
cancer Society), the International Service Agencies (such as CARE), the
American Red Cross and the United Way
(which received more than 70 percent
of the total) .
To become a part of one of these
groups, a charity must be approved by
an eligibility committee in Washington .
The criteria include having fundraising
and administrative costs under 25 percent and being national in scope,
criteria that Bothwell said excludes
the vast majority of charities.
"The national-in-scope requirement
automatically makes most of the country's charities ineligible and prohibits
federal employees from making gifts
to most local charities," Bothwell said.
He pointed out that this violates one of
the guiding principles of the campaign,
"true voluntary giving,• and is contrary
to what the federal government is supposed to be encouraging with its local
decision making programs.
Minority press offers alternative to Anglo media
(continued from page 1)
"The object of our stories is to get the
· story told," Kimber said. He does not
feel compelled to bend over backwards
to give the white perspective . "If objectivity is what we were all about, we
would be as useless as white papers in
terms of minority concerns," he said .
Uribes said it is difficult to label any
publication as objective, which, he said,
"is a subjective term. "
"The magazine presents a positive •
side of the community , so it is open to
accusations of being biased," he said .
He added, howevever, Sentimientos
provides the same sort of direction as
any newspaper--"to inform, entertain
and interpret."
Sentimientos grew out of the belief
that "maybe we could provide a place
where Chicanos could turn to express
themselves, " Uribes said. "A lot of
Chicano youth like to write on walls.
Let's get it down on paper. It' II last
longer and have more impact."
Part of the aim of the California Courier is to show that there is "more to
Armenians than shish ke-bab and pilaf,"
Margosian said .
"We don't buy the melting pot
theory ." This doesn't place Armenians
at the periphery of American society,
however . "For being good ArmenianAmericans you' re even better Americans . You can be both," he said .
Is the lack of minority coverage
in the Anglo press deliberate? "Some
racism plays a part," Kimber said.
"But it's not someone at the top saying
' I don't like Blacks. '"
" If there were minority businesses
that spent millions of dollars in advertising , The Fresno Bee would see fit
to cover the minority community,"
Kimber said .
Uribes agreed . "I don't think the Bee
has any sort of awareness of what's
out there . In a figurative sense, they
don't have a pulse on the Chicano
community," he said. "Are they out
there pounding their Chicano beats?
They' re out there covering ·the Clovis
City Council.
Why not El Concilio
(a Chicano advocacy group)?"
Part of the problem , at least in Fresno,
Uribes said, is that the Chicano community has not been recognized as a viable
economic factor.
Each of the publications is doing
its best to reverse the misconceptions
and stereotypes they perceive are being
aired in the Anglo media. Kimber said
he sees no immediate relief from this
type of coverage.
"For the next 2,000 years there will
be a need for minority media," Kimber
said. "In terms of reversing racism,
that will take a long time."
Neither Uribes, Kimber nor Margosian are working in the minority media
with dollar signs in their eyes. Margosian volunteers all his efforts. Uribes
receives little or no money for his work
and Kimber acknowledged that he does
not receive · a great deal of money
for his efforts either. "It's not like a regular business per se . You don't go
into it to make money . You need the dedication to serve the aspirations of the
minority community," he said .
"I dare say," Kimber added, "most
minority newspapers would love for
there not to be a need to exist. But the
needs are not being met by the major
newspapers and will not be as long as
newspapers are run by white folks
who view the white community as being
the most important thing to cover.•
MEChA·.restating objectives, says Haro
by Cin.t Holguin
La Voz Staff Writer
What is the major problem of Chicano students on campus? According
to Silverio Haro, recently elected
MEChA chairman, the main problem is
"gettmg more Chicanos on campus.
We get them in, but retaining them is
the problem."
Haro is a junior majoring in public
administration and minoring in La
Raza studies and history. MEChA
is a political, cultural and social organization aimed at confronting issues that
affect Chicanos on campus.
The organization confronts issu·es
through committees , each specialized
in different fields of interest. For instance, some of the s eparate committees focus on health, law, business,
mass media and education, according
to the organization ' s statement of
purpose.
The objective behind the different
committees is to encourage Chicano
students to voice their opinions and
become involved in issues. Through
the formation of committees, Haro
said, "students also get practice in
development of organizational skills."
The Plan de Santa Barbara, the
founding articles of MEChA, stress
that the organization is not only meant
to provide a social setting, but to "use
the strengths, weaknesses and talents"
of each member.
Haro said some of his goals as chairman are to "realize and restate MEChA
goals, objectives and structures."
He plans to establish a relay system
with the community . He also said he
hopes to get more MEChA input into
the student government.
Haro encouraged all Chicanos to become more involved with MEChA and
learn what issues are facing Chicanos
and to help solve problems.
Silverio Haro
u Voz de Aztlan
.
.
Pagel
hicano Youth Conference planning underway
by Scott ufee
La Voz Staff Writer
In Ill effort to boost the relatively
le Chicano population at CSUF
other universities, high school stufrom across the state will gather
~ s to discover and discuss the
es of higher education.
The Chicano Youth Conference.
led for Jan . 19, is sponsored
MEChA. The all-day meeting is
to attract more than 1,300
from 60 high. schools, ranging
East Los Angeles to Porterville.
According to chairman Jay Sepulveda,
lack of Chicano -students at the
· level is a chronic problem .
tation at CSUF, for example,
around nine percent while the
's Chicano population is approx30 percent. The conference,
in its seventh year, is designed
ease this disparity by recruiting
· school students .
The conference will consist of guest
, workshops and a fair with
covering everything from how to
financial aid to evaluations of
I schools.
The event is free, with MEChA and junior high schools and high schools atCSUF.
CSUF, however, will not be the only
the Associated Students picking up were invited but with more than 250
this year's expected $5,000 expense tab. · additional students showing up each school represented . Recruiters from
This is the second year the Associated year, it soon became a problem of universities like Stanford and UCLA
·
will also attend .
Students and the university have pro- where to put everybody.
Consequently, only the upperclass"We make sure students with the povided partial funding and assistance
for the conference. In the past, MEChA men and women in high schools will tential to go to Stanford or UCLA are told
attend, accompanied by counselors and about the opportunities ." said Sepulhad assumed all the costs .
veda.
.
Sepulveda said the only expense teachers .
The scheduled program, still in the ; The conference will not dwell entirely
to students will be transportation to
Fresno.
Something that continues planning stages, will feature workshops on education-:- The conference committee
on subjects as diverse as law, business, will provide a free lunch with possible
to be a problem .
*The biggest problem is getting the Chicano culture, the Chicano move- , entertainment and a disco in the evehere,,, said Sepulveda. The schools ment and where to go to school. Coun- ning .
Registration begins at 8 a .m. in the
won't always provide us a bus . How- selors will be available to discuss
ever, clubs on campus sometimes raise financial aid and service programs Residence Dining Hall .
enough funds to hire a bus for the day .
*It's kind of unfortunate . Everything
else is free . It's the only thing we ask
them to do .*
Transportation
problems
aside,
the conference has grown in popularity.
.. Counselors at the high schools just
(continued from page 1)
in the education.process .
wait for us to send them the letter saying
Warren Short, community liaison for
Fresno
Economic
Opportunity Center -when to come," said Sepulveda. This
Hanford
High, said that "the primary obwhich
sends
out
representatives
to
help
·
has created an overcrowding problem
stacle is that the curriculum doesn't rethat forced Sepulveda to limit the con- the students fill out applications for colflect the total society . The schools don't
ference invitations to sophomores, jun- lege and financial aid -- "help a great
have the curriculum to meet the particuiors and seniors .
Previously, both deal," Gregory said.
lar needs of minorities ."
Ed Dorn, Washington Union's head
At Hanford, he said, much of the procounselor, thinks that his relatively high
blem of getting Chicanos into college has
counselor-to-student ratio (1 to 242) aids
been alleviated by curriculum changes .
in getting kids to go on to college .
Particularly he cited bilingual educa"We have a much greater one-on-one
tion classes , a Mexican dance class, and
relationship than other schools, and that
a cultural history class that "covers the
helps , .. Dorn said.
contributions to America of Blacks, ChiWhat troubles Dorn , he said, is not
to make' life more comfortable for stu- getting his students into college, but getcanos and Native Americans."
dents,,, she said. "I have found that ting them to stay there once they do enIn addition, Fresno's Mobile Guithe services offered by the center are roll .
dance Center -- which goes from high
not fu!ly utilized by the ethnic students
school to high school to counsel students
"It alarms me that they seem to flock
on campus ."
· out of the schools," he said. "There 's
on college possibilities -- helps tremendously ,Short said in a phone interview,
just no one riding herd on them there ."
J ust three years ago, Chavez was
Washington Union also has a migrant especially in getting financial aid infordirector of the Educational Opportu- program, which started this year, and a
mation to the students .
nity Program at the University of CaliShort said that part of the problem "is
bilingual
lab.
fornia, Santa Cruz. She was appointed
cultural . Depending on where in Mexico
The
lab
is
used
most
periods
during
to the post after only six months as a
the parents came from , they' may not
the day, Dorn said. It is a small room, fitcounselor for the EOP program .
place a high value on higher education,
ting
perhaps
15
students
around
a
large
She was the first Chicana to hold
, but instead on supporting the parents in
table.
such a position in the entire UC system.
o!d age, going to work ."
The students are . spoken to both in
Spanish and English, and though noisy,
"It was very new and very challenging the students are attentive and enthusiasIn addition, Short said, *who are most
for me, .. she said. "I remember attend- tic. Once they feel comfortable, Dorn
of the counselors? Many haven't got the
ir1g many meetings where I was the only said, they are permitted to drop their
sensitivity to reach out and feel for these
woman and that sometimes w~ frus-· study in the lab and attend only their rekids."
trating ...
In contrast to younger counselors,
gular classes .
*I was at that time needing, finding
who Short said, "are more sensitive
Another protilem ·that" disturbs him,
and learning skills to assert myself, .. she Dorn said in an interview in his office, is
than' counselors of years past," older
said.
counselors *are from a tradition of a kid
a problem of *self-image* among the
Chavez said there is more opportunity Chicanos.
getting his mouth washed out with soap
for women and Chicanas to fill adminisfor speaking Spanish on tfie school
In his office seeking help was Sharon,
trative roles.
grounds in elementary schools ... He said
a Chicana. She had recently passed two
"Whs,t you have to do in positions such proficiency tests -- tests that most stuthat sort of thing happened in Hanford ' s
as that is to find your support groups," dents at Washington Union failed -- but
elementary schools as late as 10 to 15
.she said. *You need to maintain con- insisted that she could not do well in
years ago.
tact with other women in that role ." her English literature class.
"Who are the majority of counselors,
After Cha"ez was appointed EOP direcboard members and principals?" Short
Dorn switched her to an easier course.
tor sim.ilar appointments were made for
said . "They are making $20,000 and up a
He said that Sharon was a "typical exChicanas at UC Santa Barbara and
year. They are well-to-do.
UC Riverside .
"They absolutely cannot grasp the way
ample of the self-image problem he runs
Chavez claimed it is assuring to into; students, who if they believed they
of life of poverty . They don't underidentify with other women in similar could do the work, would excel. But
stand . They don't know what it is to be
positions especially when her situation since they don't believe, do not achieve
hungry in school, to be hyped up when
was unique. Most women work up into their potential.
they come to school because all they had
'
the ranks , but I was appointed after only
To help the Chicano student relate to · was a Coca-Cola for breakfast.
six months with the University," she the school, Washington Union provides
"It's the poverty syndrome . It cuts
said.
across racial lines. Any kid in that situasocial and cultural activities .
Her strongest support came from
The Chicano club on campus , Club tion is doomed to f~il in school ," Short
within the EOP program, she rememsaid .
Amistad,
"is probably the most active on
bered . "The men in EOP fully·supported
"If you want to be a failure in school ,"
campus," Dorn said. Activities during
me as well as the women, " she said . '
·he said, "be a minority and poor."
the
year
culminate,
he
said,
with
a
Cinco
According to Chavez, women administrators are more likely to appoint de Mayo celebration at which the entire
community attends .
other women to higher positions and
Next week: What do the counselors in
Activities such as that, Dorn said, help
she did; appointing women to posts'"
the city schools say, and, more importhe
Chicanos
establish
an
identity
with
within the program .
Washington Union , which in turn helps tantly, what do the students think?
livia Chavez named to
Counseling Center Staff
by Elvia Ruiz
La Voz Contributor
Chicanas throughout the United States
finding their niche in academia by
joining the rands of their male counteroarts.
One female who has proven that Chir.anas can succeed is Olivia Chavez, a
new oounselor at the CSUF Counseling
ft
Center.
Oiavez, a CSUF alumnum, is rapidly
becoming a familiar face to many Chi-
rano students through her outreach
effor1s in La Raza Study classes this past
month. She represents the Counseling
Center by encouraging Chicanos to ~k
11Ut the help of the center on matters
such as vocational, academic and per-
sonal counseling.
In her effort to meet and encourage
to use the center's facilities,
Ola~ has encountered a hesitancy
from them to approach the center with
their problems.
"What we want to do at the center is
Oiicanos
Staff Box
Editor ............... R rcard o PI men tel
Photo Edltor ....... George Aguirre
ltaff .... .. ........... Glna Holguin
Scott Lafee
Dora Lara
Steve Le Vine
M argarlta M artlnez
La Voz de Aztlan Is published by
Ille Auoclated Students at Callfor1111 State University, Fresno and the
lllwepaper staff. Unsigned editorials
or cartoons are the opinions of the La
Voz staff and not necessarlly the
View, of the Associated Students,
CSUF or the State of California.
Low enrollment tackled
Diana Salas and Harold Porras provide some of the
musical entertainment for the tenth anniversary cele-
Pam Basmajian, right, and Vicki Kismetian
an Armenian folk dance. Mexican folk dandna
an exhibition of African dress were also on the
gram. (Photo by George Aguiree)
bration of the ethnic studies department. (Photo by
George Aguirre)
Ethnic Studies celebrates tenth anniversary
The Ethnic Studies and La Raza Studies programs celebrated 10 years of
existence on the CSUF campus Thursday
with speakers and cultural entertainment at the College Un ion .
The event brought together many of
the original ethnic studies faculty
members for a panel discussion on the
history of t he program, current attitudes
and future trends .
Pat Agu irre , one of the original
ethnic studies students and now coordinator of a new student retention pro-
gram on campus, provided a student's
perspective of the times in which the
programs were born . She said that the
university in 1970 was a HmicrocosmH
of the community and that incoming Chicano students soon learned that HWe're
~oing to have to fight the same things
on campus as we do off campus . H
During those years, Vietnam was at
its bloodiest, the United Farmworkers
Union was striving for recognition and
labor union dikrimination against minorities was being uncovered. EOP stu-
It was a reunion of sorts for several of the original
faculty of the ethnic studies program. Seated from
)
dents on campus were so few, Aguirre
said, that Hwe organized as
family .,.
To the incoming Chicano st1,1dents,
many from rurally isolated areas, Fresno
was the big time, she. said . "We had to
prove our worth every year .,.
HWe weren't playing games . We
were here not to erase our community
but to improve it," Aguirre said.
Teresa Perez, now a La Raza studies
instructor, told a crowd of about 350
that at the height of the civil rights .
movement the university saw no !leed for
a
left are Richard Keyes, Jorge Garcia, Pat Aguirre,
Teresa Perez and Lester Ri11ins. (Photo by George
Aguirre)
ethnic studies. This attitude, she
resulted in frequent confron
and when most of the ethnic s
faculty was fired in 1970, Perez said
was outraged. She and others from
community and campus rallied to
vent anyone from registering .
blockaded the door of the gym
Spring registration was taking
Lester Riggins, Deputy Directlr
state general services and also dll
ginal member of the staff, said the
studies program acted as a ca
The program was first to have st
evaluate instructors, he said, and
the first to institute remed ial
Now, he said, these practices are
versity-wide.
Jorge Garcia, chairman of the Ch"
studies department at California
University , Northridge, said, "In
we believed all we had to do is
hard and we were on our way to
dise."
Garcia said that Chicanos were
unrepresented on campus that "it
a national holiday whenever you ran
a Chicano." In 1%5, Chicanos
prised only 83 out of the 11,000 st
at CSUF.
The times politicized Chicanos,
said . The grape huelga began in
and people were starving in
Garcia said the Chicano students
proached the student government
ask that their student fees be di
to Biafra to help the starving
there . The Chicanos were told that
student government wouldn ' t
money, but would only buy agricu
tools for the Biafrans . The rationale
that if the student government gave
Biafrans money, like Chicanos,
would spend the money on booze,
said .
Garcia said the Chicano st
had to let it be known that "this is a
Iic institution and if there 's no school
us, then there is no school.,.
A Special Publication
~f the Daily Collegi!ln
LA VOZ de AZTLAN
Monday
-Oct. 29, 1979
ft
Grass r~ots publications cover ethnic beats
Minority press seeks improved news coverage
by Ricardo Pimentel
La Voz Editor
Sentimientos Magazine, the California
Advocate and the Calj.fornia Courier are
not names that trigger instant recognition in the minds of most Valley residents. The names, however, are instantly recognizable to the thousands of people who read the publications as alternatives to the dominant Anglo media.
The publications· don't pretend to
compete with the Los Angeles Times,
the New York Times or-even the Fresno
Bee in timeliness or in <:omprehensiveness. But the publications, catering to
the Valley's minority communities,
believe they are fulfilling a real need
for coverage of minority events and issues, a need they contend is ignored
by the dominant media.
Sentimientos Magazine covers the
Chicano community, the largest minori-_
ty group in the Valley . The California
Advocate is billed as multi-cultural but
emphasises Black news . The Califor.oia
Courier keeps the Armenian community
up-to-date. Together, they represent
a relatively limited circulation as compared to the Fresno Bee or Guide.
However, they compete for the same advertising dollars.
Les Kimber, publisher of the Advocate, said advertisers employ a double
standard when contemplating advertising in minority press.
"Advertisers
t
Members of the La Raza dance class entertain a large crowd Thursday in the College Union as part of the tenth anniversary celebration of the ethnic studies department. A story and more photos on page 4. (Photo by George Aguirre)
want to look at the minority press '
editorial policies and see if there is a
strong policy of self determination, "
he said . When they look at white media ,
he added ,- they just look at the number
of consumers they can reach . This, more
than anything , is responsible for the
high mortality rate among minority
newspapers, Kimber said .
Kimber said he was told point-blank
by a local department store representative recently that the Advocate is too
radical for the store to advertise in .
Kimber doesn't deny that his bi-weekly
newspaper promotes. self-determination
for Black Americans .
The self-determination theme is
echoed by Tomas Uribes, editor of Sentimientos Magazine. He said if you were
to believe the dominant Anglo media,
"Chicanos are all doomed to stealing
hubcaps, killing each other or working
on farms as cheap labor ."
Dr . Ar:t Margosian, editor of the Califfornia Courier and CSUF journalism professor, wouldn't categorize his newspaper as political. "Our role is to bring
the community together," he said . In
this respect, the newspaper serves a
social function more than a political
one . If the paper has any editorial policy, it is one advocating unity among
Armenians, Margosian said . The paper, he said, will take stands on issues
but shies from being consistently partisan .
"Partisan papers generally
aren't journalistic," Margosian said .
Minority press has always carried the
stigma of being unjournalistic . The argumef'lt centers ·around charges that the
minority press doesn't handle its stories with objectivity . "You use objectivity
when all other things are equal, but to
talk about objectivity while there is racism is stupid," Kimber said .
(continued on page 2)
Co~nselors work to increase Chicano enrollment
This is the fifth in a series of articles
dealing with the wide disparity between
the percentage of Chicanos in the local
community and at CSUF. Those figures
are 30 and 9 percent, respectively.
By Steve Le Vine
La Voz Staff Writer
Three local high schools are having
much success in getting their Chicano
students to attempt college.
Counselors from those schools pinpoint that success to gearing curriculum
and extra-curricular activities to reflect
the special needs of their Chicano enrollment.
The schools -- Hanford, Washington
Union and Parlier high schools -- are located outside the city of Fresno (but still
are considered CSUF *feeder" high - or 43 percent, wi II go on to college .
Parlier, he said, in a phone interview,
schools). Their Chicano enrollments are
25 percent, 40 percent and 98 percent of is a community made up to a good degree of Chicanos who are fairly new here
total enrollment, respectively.
The counselors said that the very fact -- migrant farm workers and first or sethat Chicanos do make up much of their cond generation immigrants -- and "are
enrollments changes the emphasis given very traditional.
"Their-culture gives them more disciin designing their programs .
Their schools, they said, naturally em- pline. Most of the students don't date/
phasize a good deal of their curriculum
to the special needs of the Chicano stu✓cSUF's EOP one of
dent. Other schools must gear their programs to their individual -- and possibly
finest in state/
much different -- demographic makeup,
so may not fulfill as well the special
needs of the Chicano.
Gregory said. He said that discipline is
Dennis Gregory, the sole counselor to much of the reason behind their graduParlier High's 461 students, expects ates' high college enrollment rate.
that of 80 seniors at Parlier, 35 students.
In addition, "better communication
with Fresno State has improved" the college enrollment to a great degree, he
said .
Many students at Parlier must depend
on financial aid for college. Without that,
he said, most would not be able to afford
to leave home.
"There has been more funds for financial aid. The (CSUF's) EOP (Educational
Opportunity Program) program is one of
the finest in the state," he said . The support programs are what is helping."
And a key- factor, Gregory said, is a
curriculum that includes two "intensive"
English classes . In one, students go
everday for two class periods. The other
is geared especially to the migrants.
In addition, bilingual classes and the
(continued on page 3)
•
Page2
Oct. 29, 1979
La Voz de Aztlan
Charity under scrutiny
One of the country's largest charity
drives, the Combined Federal Campaign, was the subject of four days of
congressional hearings beginning Oct.
11, to .determine whether charities are
unfairly excluded and the' rights of donors violated.
The campaign, which raises more
than $80 million-a-year from nearly
2.5 million federal employees, has become an "exclusive club consisting of a
few long-established charities, with
admission to it being controlled by
bureaucrats in Washington,• according
to Robert Bothwell, Executive Director
of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, which has been trying to bring attention to campaign problems.
Bothwell added that the campaign
not only excludes many worthy charities (especially those that are newer
and locally-based), it severely limits
the choice of federal employees . He
explained that acc~ss to workplace fund
raising is important because it is the
most lucrative and efficient means of
raising money ever devised.
How the funds are distributed was
one of the topics of the hearings, according to Rep. Patricia Schroeder, 0-Colo.,
chair of the House Subcommittee on
Civil Service, · who became concerned
about
the campaign in part because
of three recent lawsuits challenging
it, she said.
At present, all the funds go to four
national fund-raising groups, including
the National Health Agencies (which
include charities such as the American
cancer Society), the International Service Agencies (such as CARE), the
American Red Cross and the United Way
(which received more than 70 percent
of the total) .
To become a part of one of these
groups, a charity must be approved by
an eligibility committee in Washington .
The criteria include having fundraising
and administrative costs under 25 percent and being national in scope,
criteria that Bothwell said excludes
the vast majority of charities.
"The national-in-scope requirement
automatically makes most of the country's charities ineligible and prohibits
federal employees from making gifts
to most local charities," Bothwell said.
He pointed out that this violates one of
the guiding principles of the campaign,
"true voluntary giving,• and is contrary
to what the federal government is supposed to be encouraging with its local
decision making programs.
Minority press offers alternative to Anglo media
(continued from page 1)
"The object of our stories is to get the
· story told," Kimber said. He does not
feel compelled to bend over backwards
to give the white perspective . "If objectivity is what we were all about, we
would be as useless as white papers in
terms of minority concerns," he said .
Uribes said it is difficult to label any
publication as objective, which, he said,
"is a subjective term. "
"The magazine presents a positive •
side of the community , so it is open to
accusations of being biased," he said .
He added, howevever, Sentimientos
provides the same sort of direction as
any newspaper--"to inform, entertain
and interpret."
Sentimientos grew out of the belief
that "maybe we could provide a place
where Chicanos could turn to express
themselves, " Uribes said. "A lot of
Chicano youth like to write on walls.
Let's get it down on paper. It' II last
longer and have more impact."
Part of the aim of the California Courier is to show that there is "more to
Armenians than shish ke-bab and pilaf,"
Margosian said .
"We don't buy the melting pot
theory ." This doesn't place Armenians
at the periphery of American society,
however . "For being good ArmenianAmericans you' re even better Americans . You can be both," he said .
Is the lack of minority coverage
in the Anglo press deliberate? "Some
racism plays a part," Kimber said.
"But it's not someone at the top saying
' I don't like Blacks. '"
" If there were minority businesses
that spent millions of dollars in advertising , The Fresno Bee would see fit
to cover the minority community,"
Kimber said .
Uribes agreed . "I don't think the Bee
has any sort of awareness of what's
out there . In a figurative sense, they
don't have a pulse on the Chicano
community," he said. "Are they out
there pounding their Chicano beats?
They' re out there covering ·the Clovis
City Council.
Why not El Concilio
(a Chicano advocacy group)?"
Part of the problem , at least in Fresno,
Uribes said, is that the Chicano community has not been recognized as a viable
economic factor.
Each of the publications is doing
its best to reverse the misconceptions
and stereotypes they perceive are being
aired in the Anglo media. Kimber said
he sees no immediate relief from this
type of coverage.
"For the next 2,000 years there will
be a need for minority media," Kimber
said. "In terms of reversing racism,
that will take a long time."
Neither Uribes, Kimber nor Margosian are working in the minority media
with dollar signs in their eyes. Margosian volunteers all his efforts. Uribes
receives little or no money for his work
and Kimber acknowledged that he does
not receive · a great deal of money
for his efforts either. "It's not like a regular business per se . You don't go
into it to make money . You need the dedication to serve the aspirations of the
minority community," he said .
"I dare say," Kimber added, "most
minority newspapers would love for
there not to be a need to exist. But the
needs are not being met by the major
newspapers and will not be as long as
newspapers are run by white folks
who view the white community as being
the most important thing to cover.•
MEChA·.restating objectives, says Haro
by Cin.t Holguin
La Voz Staff Writer
What is the major problem of Chicano students on campus? According
to Silverio Haro, recently elected
MEChA chairman, the main problem is
"gettmg more Chicanos on campus.
We get them in, but retaining them is
the problem."
Haro is a junior majoring in public
administration and minoring in La
Raza studies and history. MEChA
is a political, cultural and social organization aimed at confronting issues that
affect Chicanos on campus.
The organization confronts issu·es
through committees , each specialized
in different fields of interest. For instance, some of the s eparate committees focus on health, law, business,
mass media and education, according
to the organization ' s statement of
purpose.
The objective behind the different
committees is to encourage Chicano
students to voice their opinions and
become involved in issues. Through
the formation of committees, Haro
said, "students also get practice in
development of organizational skills."
The Plan de Santa Barbara, the
founding articles of MEChA, stress
that the organization is not only meant
to provide a social setting, but to "use
the strengths, weaknesses and talents"
of each member.
Haro said some of his goals as chairman are to "realize and restate MEChA
goals, objectives and structures."
He plans to establish a relay system
with the community . He also said he
hopes to get more MEChA input into
the student government.
Haro encouraged all Chicanos to become more involved with MEChA and
learn what issues are facing Chicanos
and to help solve problems.
Silverio Haro
u Voz de Aztlan
.
.
Pagel
hicano Youth Conference planning underway
by Scott ufee
La Voz Staff Writer
In Ill effort to boost the relatively
le Chicano population at CSUF
other universities, high school stufrom across the state will gather
~ s to discover and discuss the
es of higher education.
The Chicano Youth Conference.
led for Jan . 19, is sponsored
MEChA. The all-day meeting is
to attract more than 1,300
from 60 high. schools, ranging
East Los Angeles to Porterville.
According to chairman Jay Sepulveda,
lack of Chicano -students at the
· level is a chronic problem .
tation at CSUF, for example,
around nine percent while the
's Chicano population is approx30 percent. The conference,
in its seventh year, is designed
ease this disparity by recruiting
· school students .
The conference will consist of guest
, workshops and a fair with
covering everything from how to
financial aid to evaluations of
I schools.
The event is free, with MEChA and junior high schools and high schools atCSUF.
CSUF, however, will not be the only
the Associated Students picking up were invited but with more than 250
this year's expected $5,000 expense tab. · additional students showing up each school represented . Recruiters from
This is the second year the Associated year, it soon became a problem of universities like Stanford and UCLA
·
will also attend .
Students and the university have pro- where to put everybody.
Consequently, only the upperclass"We make sure students with the povided partial funding and assistance
for the conference. In the past, MEChA men and women in high schools will tential to go to Stanford or UCLA are told
attend, accompanied by counselors and about the opportunities ." said Sepulhad assumed all the costs .
veda.
.
Sepulveda said the only expense teachers .
The scheduled program, still in the ; The conference will not dwell entirely
to students will be transportation to
Fresno.
Something that continues planning stages, will feature workshops on education-:- The conference committee
on subjects as diverse as law, business, will provide a free lunch with possible
to be a problem .
*The biggest problem is getting the Chicano culture, the Chicano move- , entertainment and a disco in the evehere,,, said Sepulveda. The schools ment and where to go to school. Coun- ning .
Registration begins at 8 a .m. in the
won't always provide us a bus . How- selors will be available to discuss
ever, clubs on campus sometimes raise financial aid and service programs Residence Dining Hall .
enough funds to hire a bus for the day .
*It's kind of unfortunate . Everything
else is free . It's the only thing we ask
them to do .*
Transportation
problems
aside,
the conference has grown in popularity.
.. Counselors at the high schools just
(continued from page 1)
in the education.process .
wait for us to send them the letter saying
Warren Short, community liaison for
Fresno
Economic
Opportunity Center -when to come," said Sepulveda. This
Hanford
High, said that "the primary obwhich
sends
out
representatives
to
help
·
has created an overcrowding problem
stacle is that the curriculum doesn't rethat forced Sepulveda to limit the con- the students fill out applications for colflect the total society . The schools don't
ference invitations to sophomores, jun- lege and financial aid -- "help a great
have the curriculum to meet the particuiors and seniors .
Previously, both deal," Gregory said.
lar needs of minorities ."
Ed Dorn, Washington Union's head
At Hanford, he said, much of the procounselor, thinks that his relatively high
blem of getting Chicanos into college has
counselor-to-student ratio (1 to 242) aids
been alleviated by curriculum changes .
in getting kids to go on to college .
Particularly he cited bilingual educa"We have a much greater one-on-one
tion classes , a Mexican dance class, and
relationship than other schools, and that
a cultural history class that "covers the
helps , .. Dorn said.
contributions to America of Blacks, ChiWhat troubles Dorn , he said, is not
to make' life more comfortable for stu- getting his students into college, but getcanos and Native Americans."
dents,,, she said. "I have found that ting them to stay there once they do enIn addition, Fresno's Mobile Guithe services offered by the center are roll .
dance Center -- which goes from high
not fu!ly utilized by the ethnic students
school to high school to counsel students
"It alarms me that they seem to flock
on campus ."
· out of the schools," he said. "There 's
on college possibilities -- helps tremendously ,Short said in a phone interview,
just no one riding herd on them there ."
J ust three years ago, Chavez was
Washington Union also has a migrant especially in getting financial aid infordirector of the Educational Opportu- program, which started this year, and a
mation to the students .
nity Program at the University of CaliShort said that part of the problem "is
bilingual
lab.
fornia, Santa Cruz. She was appointed
cultural . Depending on where in Mexico
The
lab
is
used
most
periods
during
to the post after only six months as a
the parents came from , they' may not
the day, Dorn said. It is a small room, fitcounselor for the EOP program .
place a high value on higher education,
ting
perhaps
15
students
around
a
large
She was the first Chicana to hold
, but instead on supporting the parents in
table.
such a position in the entire UC system.
o!d age, going to work ."
The students are . spoken to both in
Spanish and English, and though noisy,
"It was very new and very challenging the students are attentive and enthusiasIn addition, Short said, *who are most
for me, .. she said. "I remember attend- tic. Once they feel comfortable, Dorn
of the counselors? Many haven't got the
ir1g many meetings where I was the only said, they are permitted to drop their
sensitivity to reach out and feel for these
woman and that sometimes w~ frus-· study in the lab and attend only their rekids."
trating ...
In contrast to younger counselors,
gular classes .
*I was at that time needing, finding
who Short said, "are more sensitive
Another protilem ·that" disturbs him,
and learning skills to assert myself, .. she Dorn said in an interview in his office, is
than' counselors of years past," older
said.
counselors *are from a tradition of a kid
a problem of *self-image* among the
Chavez said there is more opportunity Chicanos.
getting his mouth washed out with soap
for women and Chicanas to fill adminisfor speaking Spanish on tfie school
In his office seeking help was Sharon,
trative roles.
grounds in elementary schools ... He said
a Chicana. She had recently passed two
"Whs,t you have to do in positions such proficiency tests -- tests that most stuthat sort of thing happened in Hanford ' s
as that is to find your support groups," dents at Washington Union failed -- but
elementary schools as late as 10 to 15
.she said. *You need to maintain con- insisted that she could not do well in
years ago.
tact with other women in that role ." her English literature class.
"Who are the majority of counselors,
After Cha"ez was appointed EOP direcboard members and principals?" Short
Dorn switched her to an easier course.
tor sim.ilar appointments were made for
said . "They are making $20,000 and up a
He said that Sharon was a "typical exChicanas at UC Santa Barbara and
year. They are well-to-do.
UC Riverside .
"They absolutely cannot grasp the way
ample of the self-image problem he runs
Chavez claimed it is assuring to into; students, who if they believed they
of life of poverty . They don't underidentify with other women in similar could do the work, would excel. But
stand . They don't know what it is to be
positions especially when her situation since they don't believe, do not achieve
hungry in school, to be hyped up when
was unique. Most women work up into their potential.
they come to school because all they had
'
the ranks , but I was appointed after only
To help the Chicano student relate to · was a Coca-Cola for breakfast.
six months with the University," she the school, Washington Union provides
"It's the poverty syndrome . It cuts
said.
across racial lines. Any kid in that situasocial and cultural activities .
Her strongest support came from
The Chicano club on campus , Club tion is doomed to f~il in school ," Short
within the EOP program, she rememsaid .
Amistad,
"is probably the most active on
bered . "The men in EOP fully·supported
"If you want to be a failure in school ,"
campus," Dorn said. Activities during
me as well as the women, " she said . '
·he said, "be a minority and poor."
the
year
culminate,
he
said,
with
a
Cinco
According to Chavez, women administrators are more likely to appoint de Mayo celebration at which the entire
community attends .
other women to higher positions and
Next week: What do the counselors in
Activities such as that, Dorn said, help
she did; appointing women to posts'"
the city schools say, and, more importhe
Chicanos
establish
an
identity
with
within the program .
Washington Union , which in turn helps tantly, what do the students think?
livia Chavez named to
Counseling Center Staff
by Elvia Ruiz
La Voz Contributor
Chicanas throughout the United States
finding their niche in academia by
joining the rands of their male counteroarts.
One female who has proven that Chir.anas can succeed is Olivia Chavez, a
new oounselor at the CSUF Counseling
ft
Center.
Oiavez, a CSUF alumnum, is rapidly
becoming a familiar face to many Chi-
rano students through her outreach
effor1s in La Raza Study classes this past
month. She represents the Counseling
Center by encouraging Chicanos to ~k
11Ut the help of the center on matters
such as vocational, academic and per-
sonal counseling.
In her effort to meet and encourage
to use the center's facilities,
Ola~ has encountered a hesitancy
from them to approach the center with
their problems.
"What we want to do at the center is
Oiicanos
Staff Box
Editor ............... R rcard o PI men tel
Photo Edltor ....... George Aguirre
ltaff .... .. ........... Glna Holguin
Scott Lafee
Dora Lara
Steve Le Vine
M argarlta M artlnez
La Voz de Aztlan Is published by
Ille Auoclated Students at Callfor1111 State University, Fresno and the
lllwepaper staff. Unsigned editorials
or cartoons are the opinions of the La
Voz staff and not necessarlly the
View, of the Associated Students,
CSUF or the State of California.
Low enrollment tackled
Diana Salas and Harold Porras provide some of the
musical entertainment for the tenth anniversary cele-
Pam Basmajian, right, and Vicki Kismetian
an Armenian folk dance. Mexican folk dandna
an exhibition of African dress were also on the
gram. (Photo by George Aguiree)
bration of the ethnic studies department. (Photo by
George Aguirre)
Ethnic Studies celebrates tenth anniversary
The Ethnic Studies and La Raza Studies programs celebrated 10 years of
existence on the CSUF campus Thursday
with speakers and cultural entertainment at the College Un ion .
The event brought together many of
the original ethnic studies faculty
members for a panel discussion on the
history of t he program, current attitudes
and future trends .
Pat Agu irre , one of the original
ethnic studies students and now coordinator of a new student retention pro-
gram on campus, provided a student's
perspective of the times in which the
programs were born . She said that the
university in 1970 was a HmicrocosmH
of the community and that incoming Chicano students soon learned that HWe're
~oing to have to fight the same things
on campus as we do off campus . H
During those years, Vietnam was at
its bloodiest, the United Farmworkers
Union was striving for recognition and
labor union dikrimination against minorities was being uncovered. EOP stu-
It was a reunion of sorts for several of the original
faculty of the ethnic studies program. Seated from
)
dents on campus were so few, Aguirre
said, that Hwe organized as
family .,.
To the incoming Chicano st1,1dents,
many from rurally isolated areas, Fresno
was the big time, she. said . "We had to
prove our worth every year .,.
HWe weren't playing games . We
were here not to erase our community
but to improve it," Aguirre said.
Teresa Perez, now a La Raza studies
instructor, told a crowd of about 350
that at the height of the civil rights .
movement the university saw no !leed for
a
left are Richard Keyes, Jorge Garcia, Pat Aguirre,
Teresa Perez and Lester Ri11ins. (Photo by George
Aguirre)
ethnic studies. This attitude, she
resulted in frequent confron
and when most of the ethnic s
faculty was fired in 1970, Perez said
was outraged. She and others from
community and campus rallied to
vent anyone from registering .
blockaded the door of the gym
Spring registration was taking
Lester Riggins, Deputy Directlr
state general services and also dll
ginal member of the staff, said the
studies program acted as a ca
The program was first to have st
evaluate instructors, he said, and
the first to institute remed ial
Now, he said, these practices are
versity-wide.
Jorge Garcia, chairman of the Ch"
studies department at California
University , Northridge, said, "In
we believed all we had to do is
hard and we were on our way to
dise."
Garcia said that Chicanos were
unrepresented on campus that "it
a national holiday whenever you ran
a Chicano." In 1%5, Chicanos
prised only 83 out of the 11,000 st
at CSUF.
The times politicized Chicanos,
said . The grape huelga began in
and people were starving in
Garcia said the Chicano students
proached the student government
ask that their student fees be di
to Biafra to help the starving
there . The Chicanos were told that
student government wouldn ' t
money, but would only buy agricu
tools for the Biafrans . The rationale
that if the student government gave
Biafrans money, like Chicanos,
would spend the money on booze,
said .
Garcia said the Chicano st
had to let it be known that "this is a
Iic institution and if there 's no school
us, then there is no school.,.