La Voz de Aztlan, February 19 1991
Item
Title
La Voz de Aztlan, February 19 1991
Creator
Associated Students of Fresno State
Relation
La Voz de Aztlan (Daily Collegian, California State University, Fresno)
Coverage
Fresno, California
Date
2/19/1991
Format
PDF
Identifier
SCUA_lvda_00194
extracted text
California State University, Fresno
Volume XXIII
Issue No.1
Tuesday February 19, 1991
Lavoz de Aztlan __
._
Group wan s
presidential
earch to ped
By Chnstooher Heredia
La Voz Staff Writer
As far as the Committee for
Hispanic Educational Equity is concerned, the fight to stop the CSUF
presidential search has only begun.
In addition to demanding that
the entire search be aborted,
members of the committee have
asked three members of the Presidential Selection Advisory Committee to resign from their posts.
Meanwhile members of the
search committee are remaining
quiet about the process and the
hasty addition of two Latinos to the
committee.
In a Feb. 13 memorandum to
the CSUF community, Marian
Bagdasarian, chair of the presidential search committee, said
"The addition of [CSU] Trustee
[Ralph] Pesquefra and Dr. [Manual] Lopez will benefit the Committee and the campus."
"That's what they should have
had from the beginning," said William Flores, chair of the Committee for Hispanic Educational Equity. "We think the whole process
,..........
In memory
stinks."
F'ores, who is also chair of the
CSUF Chicano and Latin Amencan studies department, said the
committee is attacking the search
from two angles - through the
CSU trustees and through the state
Legislature.
The committee has already had
two victories with the appointment
of Pesqueira and Lopez, a dentist
from Hanford who has served on
the CSUF Foundation Board of
Governors since 1986.
"Obviously we've made some
unprecedented gains. Thefactthat
they've given in doesn't reflect their
weakness. It reflects the power of
Chicanos statewide," said Flores.
The committee h<;is charged that
the search process has been
''tainted" from the start because
the search committee failed to
recruit Latinos to the search committee from the onset and because
one applicant for the CSUF president position, Tomas Arciniega,
did not make the first round offinalists. Arciniega is the president of
California State University, Bakersfield.
oee SELECTION, Page 7
MELDA bOOtn ·
destroyed in
dump area
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
someone had taken a
sledgehammer to the
booth.
The MEChA booth that norDave Hernandez of Plant
mally stands in the Free ·. Operationssaidtheymoy~
Speech area :was. removed the booths out JoJhe ag
are/ not re- ,
tfg)n ··ttie (Fre.!'.
and . destroyed 9ver winter\ area if they
• bre~~- . >. . ·•·•·········•··. // : t t mov.~d
•. ,· The de'.$Jrucupn ot •t'1e (Speech ateaafthebegin;+
One week before his , ieath, President Allende called Dr. Fernando Alegria
to write his biograp1::'y.
Writer pays tribute to friend
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
Fernando Alegria, who was a close friend of former Chilean President Salvador Allende, spoke
on campus Feb. 15, about the novel he wrote about the president.
Alegrla's novel, "Mi Vecino, El Presldente" (My Neighbor, The Presld&nt) Is being translated Into
English and his visit to campus was arranged to celebrate the translated version.
President Allende asked Alegria to write his biography, but such would not be the case, for on a
fateful day In 1973, President Allende was assassinated In the presidential palace and the military
coup began. And so, Alegria would write his book as a tribute to his fallen friend and to the
memory of what he stood for.
The lecture, which included CLS professors Lea Ybarra, Manuel Figueroa and Juan Felipe
Herrera, was titled "The Era of Change, Idealism and Despair" and was sponsored by the Chicano
and Latin American studies department and the School of Social Sciences.
Herrera, Ybarra, and Figueroa spoke about the struggles of Chicanos and Latinos In the United
States and how they related to the struggles of Latinos In Chile and throughout the world.
Alegria opened his lecture with a comment on the current situation In the Persian Gulf. "I'm very
see ALEGRIA, Page 7
Tuesday. February 19. 1991
La
Vaz de Aztlan
2
ED ITO RIAL
No Chicano president here
.
By Andres Montoya
■·resno
State is look- kens from San Diego and Haning for a new presi- ford to the committee.
dent. Yes, Harry
This they said (the whites
Haak is leaving! Just that is) will bring equity to the
think, with all the qualified Chi- search. Yes, I thought whel) I
canos around who applied for heard of these actions, this
this position - like Tomas might possibly make the search
Arciniega, president of CSU, equitable; however, the comBakersfield - we might actually have a chance of having a
Chicano president for CSU,
Fresno.
Yeah, right, dream on, suckers. I know, I know, the posibilitythat Chicanos might actually
be represented here at CSUF
in a search for a new president
is feasible considering our
population -40 percent in the
community and 20 percent on
campus.
But nooooooooool No way,
say the powers that be. And
yes, these powers be whites in mittee went ahead and started
interviewingtheirfirst picks, the
the CSU system.
semi-finalists,
to narrow them
Not only were no Chicanos
included in the search commit- down to three.
tee, but no Chicanos, evsn
And yes, of course they did
though qualified, were selected this before the extended search
as semi-finalists. OK, OK. It is was even started. At best we
true that once our community will get Chicanos to be interleaders put pressure on these viewed as a symbol of equity
white powers that be, they did and then they will go and pick
agree to extend the search, their first choice, and at worst
and they even appointed to- this will discourage Chicanos
from applying in the extended
tokkkenisticsearch. Ultimately,
though, they will pick who they
would have picked if the Chicanos had not started raising their
heads.
·
Two weeks ago, I still had
hope. Yes, ASI President Don
Not only were no Chicanos included in the
search committee, but no
Chicanos, even though
qualified, were selected
as semi- finalist.
Daves is on this search committee. The same Don Daves
that said in the elections of a
yearagothathesupportedthe
Chicanos . So, we, some
MEChistas, went down to Long
Beach where the semi-finalists
were being interviewed to
speak to Mr. Daves.
Our Savior, however, turned
out to be our Judas. Yes, Judas. As in Judas Iscariot, the
betrayer of Christ. Please Don,
we begged. Please, we ask
you to resign in protest, to
support the Chicanos that you
so vehemently say you represent: But Mr. Daves simply said
that it was not in his interest to
resign. Not in His Interest! Well
thanks for the Bullshit, Mr.
Daves. Thanks a lot.
Hope in the system still remained, however, since Ms.
Karen Cogley, past MEChA
chair and former ASI president,
is or was the ASI representative to the California State Students Association-our representative to the state association for students. Surely she
would try to pass a statewide
resolution supporting her supposed brothers and sisters.
But nooooooooo way Ho
zaaaaay, she said. But maybe
it's not in tier interest to support
us, to support herself, her supposed people. She who has
called so many sellout, has
finally openly and publically·
declared that she used the
Chicanos, manipulated them
for her interest, and when their
interest comes into conflict with
t:ers, the Chicanos lose. The
Recognize
la Chicana
By Joe M. Torres
La amiga, una persona, La
Chicana. Chicanos usually
refer to themselves as a part
of a greater body. Terms like
"Chicano power" and "Aztlan"
have become widespread
and-influential in the desire
for our people to move
forward.
Yet we must recognize La
Chicana not just as an embodiment of equality but as
the leaders of our conquest.
"La Chicana" is a hero of the
freedoms - freedoms we
continually deny even our
~wn female culture.
It is frnportant for the
,'.;hicano male to look at
Chicanas not as the tortilla
cookers or as the house
cleaners or child rearers, but
as the bosses of the "La
Raza." Their ability to maintain their independence and
resourcefulness comes from
within their own selves.
The time has come for us,
as Chicano males, to extend
not only the hands of equality
see CHICANOS, Page 7 ro Chicanas, but to hold them
See CHICANA Page 8
Media has swallowed U.S. millitary bait.
By Christopher Heredia
In my lifetime, the U.S. military has never been so popular, or rather it hasn't en- ·
joyed the media coverage it is swimtr1irl£ in right now.
I thought The Fresno Bee was the only newspaper that advertised headlines like
"It's War." However, I found the same posters on the Los Angeles Times newspaper racks in Los Angeles last weekend. (If people of color got this much news
coverage, maybe racism would die. Hmm ... )
The daily doses of U.S. flags and yellow ribbons in the news has taken its toll
on me, culminating with the Feb. 15 Tempo section cover in The Fresno Bee.
"Flags Unfurled; Old Glory deserves pro~r respect" was the headline splashed
over the Tempo section Friday.
I've been concerned that The Bee, thus far in the war, has done more than its
share of propagandizing the war and advocating on behalf of the U.S. military
effort in the Gulf, butthis headline and presentation convinced me that Fresno Bee
readers are not getting their helping of the other side, the voices who oppose the
U.S. intervention.
Local TV stations like Channel 24 have also been capitalizing on the war with
their yellow ribbon campaigns.
In Friday's Bee, the feature staff explained how to display the U.S. flag properly
and how to respect it. Earlier in the week, The Bee inserted a paper Old Glory for
each of its readers that day.
In elementary school, I was taught the Pledge of Allegiance. Saluting the flag
was as normal a part of my day as were mid-day naps and snacks of juice and
graham crackers.
But in recent years, I have seen the United States, under a flowing flag, oppress
peoples in other countries and at home. The flag, to me, represents Racism, Arrogance and Violence.
see FLAG, Page 7
War equals Latino
deaths
Virginia Adame - Assistant
By Carlos Munoz Jr.
Editor
Christopher Heredia - Copy
Editor
Staff Write rs:
Cristina Medina
Joe M. Torres
Virginia Madrid
Erik Vallejo - Cartoonist
Andres Montoya - Columnist
Daniel Chacon - Poetry Editor
La Voz de Aztlan is published
monthly.
Any comments please write to
VozdeAztlan
MS #42 Keats Campus
Building, Fresno, CA. 93740
•ta
As a Latino Vietnam War-era veteran, who paid
homage on Veterans Day to my comrades who died in
Indochina, I am angered that once again Latinos may
die in an unnecesary war. We were overrepresented in
combat units and in the front lines in Vietnam, and we
suffered 20 percent of the casualties though we were
less than 5 percent of the U.S. population.
From those comrades and friends who were fortunate to return home alive from the trenches, I know
how vivid the horrors of war are implanted in their
memories. They were part of the 33 percent of Latino
veterans who came home wounded, some without
eyes, arms or legs. Others came home with deep psychological and emotional scars.
Some 27 percent of the 470,000 veterans who suffer
from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are Latinos, according to a study of Vietnam comba1 veterans by the
Research Triangle Institute. Still others are suffering
from the effects of Agent Orange. Vietnam will be a
nightmare the rest of their lives. see MUAOZ, Page a
Tuesday. February 19. 1991
La
Voz de Aztlan
3
MEChA brings students
together
UCLA [University of California at
Los Angeles) campus there were
less than 40 Latinos enrolled out
of a total enrollment of about
El Movlmiento Estudiantll Chi30,000," said Flores.
cano de Aztlan, or MEChA as it Is
In 1969, a statewide confermore commonly known, is a vital
ence of educators was held to
asset for Chicano and Latino studiscuss the needs for higher edudents on college campuses statecation. At this conference El Plan
wide.
de Santa Barbara was estabMEChA, which also means
lished. El Plan de Santa Barbara
spark, was the driving force that
called for the establishing of Chihelped Latino and Chicano stucano studies and for one single
dents gain entry to college camChicano organization. As a result
puses.
MEChA was born. MEChA
"MEChA got its beginnings as a
adopted the logo of an eagle carresult of the Chicano student moverying a fuse.
ment of the mid-1960s. Students
The main purpose of MECh A is
began demanding more minority
to bring Chicano students together
students on campuses, including
as a show of pr!de, ~o or~aril~e for
Chicano and Latino students," said
common actions, sucH as rallies
William Flores, chair of the CSUF
Chicano.and Latin Americtm stud- , and student strikes. Another purpose of ME Ch A is to get more
ies departrtnrnt. I I - r
Chicanos on to college campuses
"For example, in 1966 on the
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
and to help get them financial
aid.
As a result of MEChA's actions, said Flores, the enrollment of Chicanos and Latinos
at the UCLA campus went from
about 30 to about 1,000 in the
few years following 1966.
MEChA will hold its statewide
conference at CSUF the weekend of April 26-28. The conference is expected to draw about
500 people from all over the
state including people from UC,
the California State University
system and students from some
private universities.
Matthew Polanco, a CSUF
MEChista, said the decision to
hold the statewide conference
on the CSUF campus came at a
meeting of MEChAs from
throughout the state. Two
MEChAs voted on having the
statewide conference on the CSUF
campus. Ironically CSUF was not
at this meeting, but accepted the
invitation to hold the conference
here.
Polanco said, "It's good that it Is
being held here, especially since It
hasn't been held here for a while.
We're one of the hot spots of racial
incidents right now."
In preparation forthe conference,
Flores is teaching a one-unit Saturday course titled "MEChA Statewide.· The course will be taught
April 13 and April 20.
Students will learn some of the
history of MEChA and they will
also be asked to volunteer to work
oo the conference. The last day to
registerforSaturdayclasses is Feb.
25. For more information, stop by
the CLS office in the Social Sciences building, Room 211.
Veterans
get help.
By Joe M. Torres
La Voz Staff Writer
The Vietnam Veterans Center
in downtown Fresno provides military veterans, who served during
the Vietnam War, support and
mental health services.
Veterans of the Vietnam wardid
not receive such service until many
years after the conclusion of the•
war, said Obed Fernandez, director of the center. Many soldiers
who faced life-threatening situations in combat during the Vietnam War developed Post Traumatic Str~ss'{)lsordef (PTSD •.
Fernandez said soldiers suffering from PTSD must deal with the
effects of combat situations from
their experience in Vietnam. The
center provides services ranging
from combating PTSD to employment assistance and help with
collecting military benefits.
Fernandez, who served as a
medical corpman in Vietnam from
1970 to 1971 with the 7th anc: eth
Field Artillery, said Vietnam War
vete rans have typica lly gone
through several stages of regret,
depression. Isolat1on and rage.
'Manyveterans F-ernandezsaid,
also avoid thIerfeelinps and fUtiar
guilt because tney urvived t &
war.
"Vietnam Veteran s have a lot of
sleep disturbances snd mtrusr,e
thoughts " he sala. The sound ot a
tielicopter or particular kind
weather reminds. many Vietnam
veterans ot combat experiences.
Unlike the war in the Persian
Gulf, wnich the United States tias
supplied with a totally volunteer
force, the VietnamWarwasfought
with a limited volunteer force md
requ irea a arge amount nf drartees. During this time, in the mI0-to
late-'60s anyonewhodroooedcut
of high school and who 'llasn't
married was subject for draft "lnd
poi;s1ble combat in ✓ietn am.
Chicanos who were a large r-art
of the poor and uneoucated poou!ation at the time 01 he war were
drawn heavily into service. ernandez said Chicano soldiers s• 1ffered the most from PTSD during
the Vietnam War and were 20
percent of the war casualties during the Vietnam era.
Chlcanoswereonly5percent of
the U.S. population during the time
of the Vietnam war. Now in the
Persian Gulf War, while the numberof Chicanos in the United State's
is 8 percent of the total population,
Chicanos are 30 percent of the
armed forces in the Middle East.
Fernandez said if a draft occurs,
the type of people who will be
drafted will be mainly poor and
uneducated people. Presently, you
must have a high school education
to be drafted should there be a
draft.
"Should there be a draft, the requiremenu.for the military will be
that you are a high school graduate and it would be interesting to
see, if the draft starts, if they would
drop that requirement,· said Fernandez.
The high level of casuaties in Vietnam, Fernandez said, mainly
resulted from the soldiers inexperience with combat, especially
slncefewofthemhadbeentrained
in guerilla warfare.
'J!
Poet Juan Felipe Herrera read one of his poems to the public during a faculty silent vigil at the free
speech area.
Students find solutions to racial
problems with video
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
The recent rise in racial Incidents on
college campuses throughoutthe United
States has shocked many students and
educators into focusing on finding answers to this problem.
''The Rise in Campus Racism: Causes
and Solutions," a videoconference will
be shown live, via satellite Feb. 20inthe
Alice Peters auditorium from 1Oa.m. to
noon. The program's subject will include the causes of racism and how
demographics affect it. The program is
geared to offer discussion, analysis and
solutions to racism on campus.
Walter Robinson, CSUF Human Relations Coordinator, said this will be an
interactive vldeoconference.
"This means that there will be presentations made by the various panel of
experts and when they are done there
will an 800 number that will be availableforthe audience who will be across
the nation to call in and ask questions,"
said Robinson.
Robinson said he hopes all members of the campus community will
attend the videoconference.
One of the scheduled panelists is
Michael Williams, assistant to the
secretary of the U.S. Department of
Education. Williams was a Bush
administration appointee who introduced the bill that supported
the idea of non-race designated
scholarships.
Williams' contends that scholarships should not be awarded
simply because of one's rac~.
Robinson, along with some of the
panelists he said, do not agree
with this notion.
Pointing to a pamphlet that
showed Lillian Roybal Rose, videoconference panelist, Robinson
emphasized, "This Chicana here
is the hottest trainer in the country
see VIDEO, Page 8
see VETERANO, Page 7
Tue,..,day. February 19. 1991
y
1 aVozdeAztlan
CHICANO
u
CONFERENCE
0
The 18th annual Chicano Youth Conference was
held successfully at CSUF on January 12, 1991.
This year's theme was "Defeat Ignorance Through
Education."
The conference drew about 1 ,600 high school
students from throughout the San Joaquin Valley.
According to Dr. Uvalda Palomares, keynote
speaker, the key to success is education. "Without
education, we don't gain the cards we need to ~lay
the game."
The Chicano Youth Conference is recognized as
one of the biggest one-day events in California,
according to Manuel Perez, Associate Dean for
University Access Programs.
The event is a brief introduction to college life, with
time for discussing what the students are feeling
and thinking.
4
·
Tuesday. February 19. 1991
La
Yoz de Aztlan
PQ ETR y
s
In Memory of
Onshore winds leaden by the fog,
a damp and chilling afternoon
in spring, and the monotony of a job;
I'm slowly becoming this place.
Rolling foothills busting with green
have a new flowering yellow today,
the quail, the coyote, the wind calling me
from the nearby stream like a dream.
And the hollow-eyed owner in his pale
hand
holds a pocketbook and smiles at us
it's a good crop this year.
'
And we: the chorus of Mexican workers
in sync
keep striking down the weeds, row after
row,
Our weather-beaten faces wrapped
in red bandannas because the lettuce
needs
picking. Backs bent, faces to the ground,
eyes focused on the hoe, mouths shut,
we'll keep chopping away all day
with the bitter taste of sulfer
in the air we breath.
Julio Leal
•••••
TO A HOMEBOY READY TO DANCE
You're ready to dance
you say?
I believe you;
homeboy. you,
running from la Llorona
to some cantina on a back road
off old 99.
unaware or just afraid of the dance floor.
Mama told you to stay away
from places like that,
where serpents
dance some kind of seductive
jarabe with their split tongues.
Viejas sin verguensa, your mamita used to say.
You always seemed to have your glass
still full whenever a ranchera came your way.
Stumped on your stool
with thoughts,
thoughts of:
singing to your people,
the taste of salt in your beer,
, and those chingasos with the
childhood landlords.
TOSTADAS AT NOON
In the freespeech area
near the fountain
on a table
taken from class
Teresa scoops beans
Hector chops lettuce.
While the cowboy preaches
Blondes soak
in sun
redwbtteandblue
sunglasses sparkle
and Veronica gives
change back
to a student
who knows nothing
delAztldn
that melts in his mouth.
While Chicanos choose
education and get Iraq
While Australian aborigines bleed
While diego pushes
pedro back
across the border
While cancer kills
Willy's chapara
While white sun slaps
the backs
of Blacks
In Africa
and America
While bombs blowout
the Brown desert
While Carlos is wiped like cheery
jello off the hull of an aircraft
and Calvin gets in
While Nicaragua chokes
on democracy dollars
and CNN
Anita fries the tortillas
in grease
In the freespeech area at noon.
Students active picture
a banquet
big with bignames
of the HisPanic community,
Sponsored by a tortilla company and
coors beer.
Daniel Chacon
Dreams of the Yerba Buena
your abuelita doesn't show you.
Yeah. The kind you don't grow in
.front of I.he house,
but it cures just the
same. Images
of smokey spirits
playing tag
with the cracks of the walls
of your apartment or
your head,
and doing all kinds of other
crazy shit. And those
cucarachas, laughing
because they stole the halos.
And now you have to answer to pissed off
angels late for their part in fucked up poems
-like this one.
homeboy, I remember you
carrying death in your pocket,
a little here and there to keep you going.
Scaring off the girls
because you'd have too much,
making a bulge in your pants.
Like some kind of Necroooo philiac
untitled.
standing alone in cold
exposed
the chilly night
air
blows on my face
tingles the tips
of my ears
awakening my senses
stirring
feelings
of
despair
Lucia Sanchez
••••
calle baghdad
dos vatos on the calle,
single file, filtering through
a tirade of laughing spirits.
an old woman
on the roadside mourning
at the cross of her son,
killed twenty years before
by vc or perhaps usa.
dos vatos on the calle,
single file, filtering through
a tirade of screaming spirits
grasping sickles.
starving dogs fighting
in the yard that used to be
cheo's, fighting over a used
chicken mole bone and children
laugh at the skinny spectacle.
dos vatos on the calle
that turns to sand,
guns in their hands.
spirits tickle spines, and in fresno
the carpenter is making their
crosses while mothers cry
in the fields.
Andres Montoya
--
And now you're there.
Ready for Saturday's Quinceafiera.
Anticipating to be crowned
Prince of the Rainbow Ballroom.
AJUWA!
Esta listo para bailar.
My homeboy is ready to dance.
V. Canales
Submit your poetry to 11t::1 Voz:
do i>octry Editor" in: th\;')>,
Colk·gian . Everyone \,·c~corne.
Please include name and rhone
number.
By Cristina Medina
La Vaz Staff Writer
As a firm believer in Murphy's
Law, Educational Opportunity
Program (EOP) director Robert
Hernandez believes that whatever is bound to go wrong, will
go wrong if one is not careful.
"H anything can go wrong, it
will. But It's my job as the director to correct it as soon as possible. In my experience, I have
learned to expect the unexpected," said Hernandez.
Hernandez, who has been associated with the EOP for more
than 20 years, was among the
first students to come to California State University, Fresno
through the program in 1969.
"I was a transfer student from
Reedly College. I remember the
first person I met was Catherine
Panas, who was the director at
that time. She had ah office In
the library, I remember going
over there all perdldos (lost)
thinking 'EOP, what is It?' said
6
LaVozdcAztt1.n
Tuc.-,tLty. February 19. 1991
Hernandez. "lthoughtEOPwas
money. AlotofpeoplethinkEOP
Is just money. Financial Aid is
money, but they some how
was when the program was first
getting underway on campus."
With the arrival of the EOP
program and the first wave of
hundred students and EOP
started to make a change in
terms of the campus community. You were starting to see
more black
and brown
faces who
w e re n 't
here primarily for
sports."
The early
years of
EOP, according to
H e rn a n dez, were
not easy.
The welco me mat
for minority
students
was
not
easily put
out. The
presence of studentsofcoloron
campus was being questioned
by s'ome.
"In some Ways we~ felt wel-
EOP director
strong believer in
Murphy's Law
equatethetwo. lfigured I needed
money and help once I got here,
so I went over there to get my
application papers to apply. That
students, came a new perspective of what the college campus
would be like in years to come.
"There we were, a couple of
...
L..
,l
.
'
corned, but there were a lot of
ways we did not feel welcomed.
There were faculty that felt that
bringing in minority students
would lower standards. There
were professors on campus that
believed and said publicly that
minorities were inferior. There
still are people out there that
think that way. Perhaps fewer
now, because in the late sixties
they were more vocal about it."
With racial tension persistent
on campus, Hernandez admits
that it was a "difficulttime"to be
a student.
"You got a lot of mixed messages. You had people who
cared and wanted you here and
you had a lot of others who didn't
feel you belonged here. As a
result you banded together," he
said, "In some cases you were
almost afraid to be seen with a
white person. Others might tell
you that you were an oreo or a
coconut because you were mixing elbows with the enemy. I
think it was uncomfortable for a
~I I
f
"
l
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . . ; . ........;;.,-.
-
As part of a guest lecture during Dr. Bob Fisher' s sociology class, Eve Scarfe from Peace Brigade
International spoke about her experiences as a "human shield" in El Salvador. Scarfe spent almost two
years shadowing dissidents and monitoring demonstrations in the hope that her presence would prevent
government forces from killing farm workers, women, Christians and union members.
El Salvador Project
Volunteering in Central America
In EJ Salvador. PBJ began iis presence in June.
1987 at the invitation of Lutheran Bishop Mcdardo
GomcL The.PSI team m El Salvador has developed
three .-cas or wort: to promoce dwoguc and ncgoliation as means 10 solve Salvadoran conll,c11, particularly the wsr, co offct a procective presence to
nonviolent communities., activ1SlS and organu.atJOns
thrc.atcned with violcnct, and l0 faciluatc. educational workshops to teachers, studcnlS and parcnu
on nonviolent connic1 resolution.
PBI volunicers come from many different countries, t>¥kgrounds, and philosophical and religious
pcrspcctivcs. What they share is a strongc.ommianen1
to nonviolence and a belief in the power of the Ccnual
Amencan people 10 create a more peaceful and JUSt
neg~~-:.:1~:~~~:~~ ~
unlCCl'S gave to Archbishop Rivt12 y Damas' initiauvc for a ·National Debate~ in 1988, which
brought together dou:ns of national social
organil..aliO'ls and calls for a ncgotiaied scaJcmem
of the war. As imponant hu been the PSI team's
comfflltrncnt lO stand with Salvadoran groups lhat
seek 10u.ercisc their rights to organize and be heard
PSI .alunlttn ond Police outside tltt CRIPDES off1€t
~~~~.'\~::::~c:![y~;:j::,,,~
to broadcast v10lcnt incKlcnts or unwarranted
dc&entions co the intcmallOnU community.
Groups and tndividu.als that the PSI team has
accompanied i,.:ludc. the ClvistionCommittu o/tN
Disp/o<d. (CR/fDES), lht Nali.OMJ Unity of Sal·
wdora11 WorUrs (UNTS), thit mothitrs of tN dis·
appurcd, 11n indigenous peopk'sc:oopcrltive in the
province of Sonsonalc. ,cvcral villages settled by
roccntly n:wmcd refugoos and B;.J,op McQrdo
Gomez since numerous tJreau to his life began in
Dcambcr, 1988. POI volunleUS have also been
asked to be observers at demonstrations and strikes.
Other Central America Work
In Costa Rica, PBI has worked wuh the United
Nations University for Peace to develop and
impkmcntmodels for training in nonviolcntconnic1
resolution, effective group process and negotiation
skills. In 1988 PSI organLUd lhcfirstconrercnccon
Nonviolenl Socia.I Defense in Nicaragt.a, bringing
together cxpens in I.he field from various countries
around lhc workt l0 meet and suategiz.c. with Nicarquan community leaders.
BRIGADES
INTERNATIONAL
;,. Sa11 Sa/WUUJr, 1/tortly bt/ore tlte Pollcc tnlLrcd aNI
arnucd aU tlto~ i#WM.
Here's how you can help:
_
~~~1~~=~-;c:,rr:=
individuals not as pa,ticipanlS in Salvadorans'
society.
Polcnual volunteerS must speak Spanish, be at
least 25 years, and be willing to make a least a six
month commitment (The Guatemala team is currently
ac:ccpting some shoncr·I.Cmt volunteerS). Volunteer
lr:linings arc held twice a year. Applications are
available from: PSI, 33 CentraJ Ave., Albany, NY
12210, or from the Toronto office. There is a SlO
application rec.
PEACE
tttttttttttt
Peace Brigades Organizing in the U.S.
Since PBI swu:d in Cenb"a! America, team
mcmbcn: have been rctuminJ LO stwc lhcir firsthand impressions with families, friends and communities. Many have continued to volunleer with
PSI LO develop support wotk here 11. home.
In June 1988, a flckS office was opened in
Albany, NY to coonhnai.c recruilment and training
of volunlCCl'S and operation of the ERN. Oriencation
and training sessions take place on bcxh coesu.
Small groups of retwncd voluntecn and suppon.crs
~u:!v:!~~°fn~':~~e~
Yort. Speaking LOW'S to other regions an: also
underway. To get involved in support for PBI hete
Ul the U.S. contact PBI, 33 Central Avt.,Albany,
NY 12210. (518)'34-<037.
#tttttttttt
Enclosed is my tax-dedoctible comribution
or S ~ send me information about voluntter
service in Guatemala and El Salvador.
_Addmctoyourmailinglist,and_l'd
like to be a pan or your Emergency Response
Network (ERN).
J want tosubscribctoPSl'smonthly repons
frtimGuatcmalaand El Salvador. Icnclose_for
a subscription ($15-20 suggested.)
Name_ _ _ _ _ _ __
Phone,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Clip aod mail to:
Peace Brigades I.Dtuutioaal
Box 1233, Harvard Sq.
Cambridge, MA 02238 USA
Tel: 617491-4226
In Canada:
Pu« Bripdes lnttmational
1!>3 Yongt St. #S02
Toronro, Onlario, M58 1M8
Ttl: 416-594-0429
Central America
Projects
Practical Experiments
in Peacemaking
ct o u~ .._-
., ,
,
1""
,.., ~. "'
With .the Vietnam Warcreat• ,
ing a growing anti-war movement, consc1enceness of war
and other ssues were being
played out at thrs time. Hernandez recalls the feel of the campus at that time.
"There were a 1ot of demonstrations and pleitos (disputes)
going on on that year 11969).
The war and the actions of the
farm workers who were struggling for recogn ition from being
widley exploited in the valley
banded us togetner," tie said. 'A
lot of the stuff came out of BaKer
Hall. That was where we had a
lot of our meetings. A lot of the
protests originated there. Whenever there was some p1eito on
campus. the saftey zone for us
was Baker Hall. They were afraid
to let us use Baker Hall for about
ten years after that."
Hernandez was hi red as
Associate Director vf the program after graduating in 1 971
with a deqree in Heaith Science
After a sanes of unsuccessful
attempts ·o fil l 1he position
Manue1Perez was hired earlier
that year as Director of EOP. He
is currently Assistant Dean of
Students. ldemande.z recalled
some of the aifficulties upon
starting with EOP.
"There were only two staff
members at that time, so they
called us both assistant directors when in fact we were mostly
counselors. Manuel Perez was
the director, Ernie Shelton and I
were assistant directors and we
had a secretary," he said, "I
remember we wanted to hire
certain students to work as student advisors. We had to go to
the Dean of Students office. The
dean at the time was Dr. David
Bell. We went over there and
had to give them a list of the
people we wanted to hire They
pulled out police pictures from
demonstrations from the years
before. They had pictures circled
of some of the same pople we
wanted to hire. We had to give
them justification of why we
wanted to hire these persons. It
was really interesting at that
time."
Tuesday. Fchruary 19. 1991
Selection:
Contln~es from page 1
The search committee has already selected five presidential
candldat% from the Initial pool of
applicants. Now, without explanation, they have extended the application deadline until March 8. The
new applications will be carried
through the entire review process
and the finalists from that group
will be blended with the first group
of finalists.
In the Feb. 15 memo, Bagdasarian said the search committee
planned to reannounce the presidential opening In the Chronicle of
Higher Education and to "college
,nd university executives solicit-
La
Voz de Aztlan
ing their interest."
Bagdasarian has refused further comment about the search
process and the addition of
Pesqueira or Lopez.
Don Daves, president of the
CSUF Associated Students Inc.,
Is the only student on the search
committee and was one of the
members asked to resign.
Several members of CSUF
Movlmlento Estudlantil Chicano de
Aztlar:1 (MEChA) attended the Feb.
13 meeting of the search committee In Long Beach where they
asked Daves, Pesqueira and
Lopez to resign from the search.
Daves said on Feb. 17 that he
was not resigning from the search
committee and would not comment further on the search.
Chicanos:
•Continued from Page 2
Judases are everywhere.
Hope, Hope. yes there Is still
hope. As Chicanos, the Burden to
fight the battle falls once again on
us. We must protect the future for
our own brothers and sisters who
are still in high school, who are stlll
in barrios, who are still intheflelds.
We have an obligation to fight
against those who would keep us
down. We must once again tum to
ourselves for the institution of justice. I Implore all who are concerned about justice, about their
people, theirfamilies,goto MEChA
meetings, to go to the Chicano and
Latin American studies department, to go to those who are already fighting, and find out what
we must do.
Veterano:
• Continued from Page 3
In this type of warfare, Fernandez said, it is difficult to distinguish
the enemy from the ally. Many of
the U.S. casualties were killed by
friendly fire. This, Fernandez said,
Is a large reason many veterans
are still suffering from the Vietnam
War. Negative public opinion of
the war also struck the soldiers
when they came home.
Fernadez said Immediate debriefing Is critical for every soldier.
Debriefing "Is essentailly a process where by you tell somebody
what you felt, why the bombs were
dropping, or while you were being
hit by the enemy or hitting the
•1 have my own opinion of what's
happening, but I don't think it would
be In the best interest of the entire
process If I were to comment on
that right now,• he said.
The committee contends that
those applicants who had been
tu med away during the first selection of semi-finalists will not reapply.
"They [the Initial presidential applicants] didn't have a fair review
process,• Floressald. "We'retrylng
to change the process not only at
Fresno State, but for the entire
CSU system,· said Flores. •we
think we will.■
Flores said the appointment of
Pesqueira and Lopez and the extension of the application deadline
were signs of pr~ress.
enemy,· said Fernandez.
The sooner a soldier Is debriefed, the better the soldier
will be at resuming their normal
life pattern, but Fernandez said
returning soldiers will never be
the same as they were before
being were called to duty.
Fernandez said It is Important that people In the United
States support the troops when
they come home. He said, if the
public targets the soldiers with
negative feelings about the war,
then many soldiers may suffer
some of the conditions similar
to those of PTSD.
"Ask them to tell about their
experience and to help them for
whatever need they have, to do
less than that is to began a long
process of them suffering,· said
Fernandez.
P.S. Fight The Powers ThatBei
Flag:
•continued from Paga 2
Skinhead groups who espouse white
power and domination in the United
States oftentimes wear flag patches on
their leather jackets, men who have
slaughtered our Asian and Latin American sisters and brothers in far-off lands
fly flags from their front porches, and
demonstrators, at the intersection on
Blackstone and Shaw avenues, wave
U.S. flags while proclaiming, "Burn our
flag and we'll smoke your turban," or
simply "Smoke a carnel."
"Love it or leave it," they say. These
racist sentiments, which are too often
the foundation for U.S. patriotism, are
what send chills down my spine and
make me sick.
My father knows my feelings against
the U.S. intervention in the Middle East
and about Yankee Imperialism in gen-
eral. A phone conversation he and I had
recently inspired him to send me a letter
with a drawing of a U.S. flag and a
peace symbol below it.
In the letter, he told me "Mijo, these
two symbols can and do go together
very well." My dad served in the Air
Force and stood proud in the face of
racial slurs from his commanding officers and fellow privates.
Yet, he is still a patriot. And like many
of our elders, he tells me there is a
different patriotism than the one practiced by those with the racist, pro-U.S.
slogans at Blackstone and Shaw avenues.
No te comprendo, papa.
The Fresno Bee and local TV news
stations should not make it a practice of
capitalizing on the war by selling U.S.
flags from their lobbies or by decorating
their sets and anchors with yellow ribbons. Today is a scary day - a day
when Big Brother feeds the media its
goop and the media gulps down with a
big smile.
7
"Too often, we've been confronted with racism and people
have just shrugged their shoul-
was the state's "token· appointment and that she wanted to see a
Latina or Latino from the San
Joaquin Valley appointed to the selecI have my own opinion, but I
tion committee.
don't think it would be in the
"What the hell does
best interest of the entire
he know about the
valley?• she said of
process if I were to comment
Pesqueira's appointon that right now.
ment. NowthatLopez,
a local person, has
Don Daves
been appointed,
Flores said the
ders and said, 'There's nothing we committee's aim Is unchanged.
can do:• Flores said th lngs are difThe committee Is organizing a
ferent now. "When you're organ- demonstration to be held at the
ized you can do great things.■
next meeting of the CSU Board of
Upon the announcement of the Trustees March 12 In Long Beach.
appointment of Pesqueira, MEChA
chair Irma Serrano said Pesqueira
Alegria:
.Continued from Page 1
much against this war, which I
do not understand. It's madness,
but we're used to living with madness. But the century Is coming to
a close and beginning a riew century with violence and war Is a
horrible thought,• said Alegria.
Alegria went on to tell the
audience how he came about to
writing his book.
"The book is a result of a
unique experience that I had the military coup that caused the
death of President Allende one
11th of September 1973. It
happened at the moment when I
had just arrived In Chile. ■
Alegria spoke about his close
friendship with Allende and how
the president asked him to write
his biography. Because of this,
Alegria said, he went to Chile
one week before the coup to
gather information for the
biography on Allende.
"I wrote my book on A:iende,
"Mi Vecino, El Preslden~e.• and
then it was presented In Chile
during the days of the election,
December 1989; and I had by
my side Mrs. Allende and some
other friends who had been part
of the government of Salvador
Allende,· said Alegria.
Alegria read what he called a
ACROSS
1 Entreaties
6 Citizen of Rome
11 Herb of pea
family
12 Expunges
14 Printer's
measure
15 Expert
17 Saint: abbr.
18 Perform
20 Take unlawfully
21 Goddess of
mischief
22 Falsehoods
24 Household pet
l5 Distance
measure
26 Detective:
colloq .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 28 Banished from
one's country
30 Oolong
31 Limb
32 Sewing
implement
35 Guides
38 Monster
39 Snare
41 Break suddenly
42 Greek island
43 Strip of leather
45 Cravat
46 Spanish for
"yes"
47 Confined
49 Compass point
50 Book of Old
Testament
52 Joined
54 Subject of
discourse
55 Small stoves
DOWN
preview of his book to the
audience. He presented his
reading as a tribute to the CLS
professors and to the community
of the university.
In his book, Allende writes
about how one day he was at his
office when a young woman
came In and asked to see him.
She explained how she and her
co-workers wanted to contribute
one day's wages to his candidacy, according to Alegria.
She told him that she worked
at a house and that the contribution had to be picked up there. It
was then that Allende realized
that the young woman was a
prostitute. Knowing that If his
opponent got wind of this It
would cost him the election, he
still agreed to go and accept the
contribution.
His book captures the essence
of Allende who was known as
the martyr president of Chile.
Alegria has done what few
authors have been able to do.
He has shown his audience the
type of man that Allende was.
•1 feel proud to be on this
stage this evening with Dr.
Fernando Alegria,• said Herrera.
Furthermore Herrera called the
evening, "Un momento de famllia
ycorazones.•
The translated version of
Alegria's book will be available In
the fall of 1991. It is being
published by Stanford University
Press.
The
Weekly
Cr □ ssw □ rd
Puzzle
5Sew
6 Tell
7 City in Russia
8 Insane
9 Equally
10 Cuddle up
11 Tolls
13 Spirited horse
16 Meadow
19 Seesaws
21 Bodily infirmity
23 Tanned skin
25 Soils with mud
27 Hindu cymbal
~ ~1--1 29 Indian memorial
post
1 Writing
implement
2 Note of scale
3 Abstract being
4 Diving birds
~+---t---t--1
~~ ~:I-centered
person
34 All
35 Sculptured
likeness
36 Lifts
37 Haste
40 Sea eagle
~~~ 43 Stalk
44 Shut up
47 That woman
48 Noise
51 Symbol for
thorium
53 Symbol for
tantalum
COUfGE PIIESS SEl!Vla
see Page
a, for solution
Tuesday, February 19. 1991
Munoz:
•Continued from Page 2
As the father of an 18-year-old infantryman on active duty with the U.S Army, I get
chills up my spine knowing that he may also
experience the horrors of war, and worse,
that he may also be one of war's casualties.
We've had heart-to-heart talks since he
joined the Army a few months ago. He is
proud to be serving his country like his uncle
and I did. He is aware that our people have
contributed to the building of this nation as
workers and have fought in every major
U.S. war with courage and loyalty. He has
decided to go to the Persian Gulf if he is
orderedtogo. Buthehopeshewon'tbe. He
La
Voz de Aztlan
does not want to die.
If war does break out, the Latino casualty
rate will once again be disproportlnately
higher: Estimates are that from 36 to 40
percent of combat troops in the Persian Gulf
are Latinos. I think it tragic that Latino men
and women are once again putting their
lives on the line when many of their families
swell the ranks of the poor back home.
Today, 5.5 million Latinos are also overrepresented among the unemployed, in this
country's vast pool of cheap labor and in the
prisons, while they are underrepresented in
institutions of higher education.
President Bush should know that although
my son and other Latino soldiers are prepared to die for our country, many of us are
an important part of the anti-war and peace
8
movement that is spreading like wildfire
across college campuses and among grassroots of America.
Afte rthe deployment of U.S. troops in the
Persian Gulf, over5,000 Latinos commemorated in East Los Angeles the 20th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium against the
Vietnam War. The message was loud and
clear: They don't want Latino soldiers to die
in Kuwait so that multinational corporations
can maintain control over oil resources and
profits.
They do not think it is fair that there are
more Latino than Kuwaiti soldiers prepared
to recover the oil fields of Kuwait; that there
are no soldiers from many oil-consuming
countries; or that Latinos may die to preserve an outdated monarchy that has no
comrr,itment to democratic values.
Latinos, especially veterans, know the
wartime sacrifice of our youth has never
resulted in peace-time social justice and
equality for the majority of our people.
We demand that President Bush acknowledge the wishes of the majority of the American people for a peaceful resolution of the
Persian Gulf crisis.
Carlos Mufloz Jr. , award winning author
of "Youth, Identity, Power: The Chicano
Movement", is an associate professor of
ethnic studies at the University of California
at Berkeley.
Video:
,
•Continued from Page 3
no matter how you slice it. We use
a lot ot hertechniques in ourCrossCultL1ra1 Student Leadership retre...•
Tn s v deoconference 1s part ot
a fiv •Part sanes that Black Issues
and 1ghe· Education magazine is
putti g out The first videoconference ~ as held last November.
Chicana
• Continued from page
up to a greater light something many cultures
take for granted even today.
The numbers on this
campus may be in small, but
what l have seen in the
quality i3 a great force of my
female : ounterpart" doing
and learning and struggling to
become educated.
Move on Chicana. My heart
is with your struggle always.
PUZZLE SOLUTION
, .
p
E
A.
requests your support it
A
SPECIAL Fr.lNDRAISER
Friday
February 22, 1991
5:00 pm to 9:00 pm
3646 W. Spruce Avenue
C,1 l'Udlnl:a nortl'lr:,/#Nrnt.fon.Auir. Co wal on H9'ndcn. about~ m&u putBbdl:ltlN.
n.nnonhon \Wa\tt'W IOSp\a. lhen.l(,N
~
$3.00
Student,
.6.00
General
Support the committee as It addresses the Issue ol
the CSU, Fresno presldcnt!al search and the lack of
Hispanic Involvement and candidates In this process.
1becommJtteela a coalition of CSU, FresnoCaculty. ataffand atudentamd
community memben cori<:<med about the CSU oyotem·• pn,c:odara,
to the prutckntlal oear<h p....- at CSUF.
..-.,t
Josie Ochoa, a secretary for University Outreach Services, will be leaving for the Persian Gulf as soon
as they call her troop in. Ochoa's husband believes she should be exempt from service so that she can
continue to care for their 10-year-old son.
Pleue Joln ua In Chia endeavor to ensure that educaUonal pJDI b'
HlOpanl<:a at the
Tlcketa an Pallable b7 caJIIDC: 278-2848,
PooltlODI may be; KPt te·
The Committee r..- HJopanlc EducaUonal Equity
• P.O. ec. 25821 • P'reeao. Callfonu • 9S72'1 •
C:IOlt4»-l512
11
)
Volume XXIII
Issue No.1
Tuesday February 19, 1991
Lavoz de Aztlan __
._
Group wan s
presidential
earch to ped
By Chnstooher Heredia
La Voz Staff Writer
As far as the Committee for
Hispanic Educational Equity is concerned, the fight to stop the CSUF
presidential search has only begun.
In addition to demanding that
the entire search be aborted,
members of the committee have
asked three members of the Presidential Selection Advisory Committee to resign from their posts.
Meanwhile members of the
search committee are remaining
quiet about the process and the
hasty addition of two Latinos to the
committee.
In a Feb. 13 memorandum to
the CSUF community, Marian
Bagdasarian, chair of the presidential search committee, said
"The addition of [CSU] Trustee
[Ralph] Pesquefra and Dr. [Manual] Lopez will benefit the Committee and the campus."
"That's what they should have
had from the beginning," said William Flores, chair of the Committee for Hispanic Educational Equity. "We think the whole process
,..........
In memory
stinks."
F'ores, who is also chair of the
CSUF Chicano and Latin Amencan studies department, said the
committee is attacking the search
from two angles - through the
CSU trustees and through the state
Legislature.
The committee has already had
two victories with the appointment
of Pesqueira and Lopez, a dentist
from Hanford who has served on
the CSUF Foundation Board of
Governors since 1986.
"Obviously we've made some
unprecedented gains. Thefactthat
they've given in doesn't reflect their
weakness. It reflects the power of
Chicanos statewide," said Flores.
The committee h<;is charged that
the search process has been
''tainted" from the start because
the search committee failed to
recruit Latinos to the search committee from the onset and because
one applicant for the CSUF president position, Tomas Arciniega,
did not make the first round offinalists. Arciniega is the president of
California State University, Bakersfield.
oee SELECTION, Page 7
MELDA bOOtn ·
destroyed in
dump area
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
someone had taken a
sledgehammer to the
booth.
The MEChA booth that norDave Hernandez of Plant
mally stands in the Free ·. Operationssaidtheymoy~
Speech area :was. removed the booths out JoJhe ag
are/ not re- ,
tfg)n ··ttie (Fre.!'.
and . destroyed 9ver winter\ area if they
• bre~~- . >. . ·•·•·········•··. // : t t mov.~d
•. ,· The de'.$Jrucupn ot •t'1e (Speech ateaafthebegin;+
One week before his , ieath, President Allende called Dr. Fernando Alegria
to write his biograp1::'y.
Writer pays tribute to friend
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
Fernando Alegria, who was a close friend of former Chilean President Salvador Allende, spoke
on campus Feb. 15, about the novel he wrote about the president.
Alegrla's novel, "Mi Vecino, El Presldente" (My Neighbor, The Presld&nt) Is being translated Into
English and his visit to campus was arranged to celebrate the translated version.
President Allende asked Alegria to write his biography, but such would not be the case, for on a
fateful day In 1973, President Allende was assassinated In the presidential palace and the military
coup began. And so, Alegria would write his book as a tribute to his fallen friend and to the
memory of what he stood for.
The lecture, which included CLS professors Lea Ybarra, Manuel Figueroa and Juan Felipe
Herrera, was titled "The Era of Change, Idealism and Despair" and was sponsored by the Chicano
and Latin American studies department and the School of Social Sciences.
Herrera, Ybarra, and Figueroa spoke about the struggles of Chicanos and Latinos In the United
States and how they related to the struggles of Latinos In Chile and throughout the world.
Alegria opened his lecture with a comment on the current situation In the Persian Gulf. "I'm very
see ALEGRIA, Page 7
Tuesday. February 19. 1991
La
Vaz de Aztlan
2
ED ITO RIAL
No Chicano president here
.
By Andres Montoya
■·resno
State is look- kens from San Diego and Haning for a new presi- ford to the committee.
dent. Yes, Harry
This they said (the whites
Haak is leaving! Just that is) will bring equity to the
think, with all the qualified Chi- search. Yes, I thought whel) I
canos around who applied for heard of these actions, this
this position - like Tomas might possibly make the search
Arciniega, president of CSU, equitable; however, the comBakersfield - we might actually have a chance of having a
Chicano president for CSU,
Fresno.
Yeah, right, dream on, suckers. I know, I know, the posibilitythat Chicanos might actually
be represented here at CSUF
in a search for a new president
is feasible considering our
population -40 percent in the
community and 20 percent on
campus.
But nooooooooool No way,
say the powers that be. And
yes, these powers be whites in mittee went ahead and started
interviewingtheirfirst picks, the
the CSU system.
semi-finalists,
to narrow them
Not only were no Chicanos
included in the search commit- down to three.
tee, but no Chicanos, evsn
And yes, of course they did
though qualified, were selected this before the extended search
as semi-finalists. OK, OK. It is was even started. At best we
true that once our community will get Chicanos to be interleaders put pressure on these viewed as a symbol of equity
white powers that be, they did and then they will go and pick
agree to extend the search, their first choice, and at worst
and they even appointed to- this will discourage Chicanos
from applying in the extended
tokkkenisticsearch. Ultimately,
though, they will pick who they
would have picked if the Chicanos had not started raising their
heads.
·
Two weeks ago, I still had
hope. Yes, ASI President Don
Not only were no Chicanos included in the
search committee, but no
Chicanos, even though
qualified, were selected
as semi- finalist.
Daves is on this search committee. The same Don Daves
that said in the elections of a
yearagothathesupportedthe
Chicanos . So, we, some
MEChistas, went down to Long
Beach where the semi-finalists
were being interviewed to
speak to Mr. Daves.
Our Savior, however, turned
out to be our Judas. Yes, Judas. As in Judas Iscariot, the
betrayer of Christ. Please Don,
we begged. Please, we ask
you to resign in protest, to
support the Chicanos that you
so vehemently say you represent: But Mr. Daves simply said
that it was not in his interest to
resign. Not in His Interest! Well
thanks for the Bullshit, Mr.
Daves. Thanks a lot.
Hope in the system still remained, however, since Ms.
Karen Cogley, past MEChA
chair and former ASI president,
is or was the ASI representative to the California State Students Association-our representative to the state association for students. Surely she
would try to pass a statewide
resolution supporting her supposed brothers and sisters.
But nooooooooo way Ho
zaaaaay, she said. But maybe
it's not in tier interest to support
us, to support herself, her supposed people. She who has
called so many sellout, has
finally openly and publically·
declared that she used the
Chicanos, manipulated them
for her interest, and when their
interest comes into conflict with
t:ers, the Chicanos lose. The
Recognize
la Chicana
By Joe M. Torres
La amiga, una persona, La
Chicana. Chicanos usually
refer to themselves as a part
of a greater body. Terms like
"Chicano power" and "Aztlan"
have become widespread
and-influential in the desire
for our people to move
forward.
Yet we must recognize La
Chicana not just as an embodiment of equality but as
the leaders of our conquest.
"La Chicana" is a hero of the
freedoms - freedoms we
continually deny even our
~wn female culture.
It is frnportant for the
,'.;hicano male to look at
Chicanas not as the tortilla
cookers or as the house
cleaners or child rearers, but
as the bosses of the "La
Raza." Their ability to maintain their independence and
resourcefulness comes from
within their own selves.
The time has come for us,
as Chicano males, to extend
not only the hands of equality
see CHICANOS, Page 7 ro Chicanas, but to hold them
See CHICANA Page 8
Media has swallowed U.S. millitary bait.
By Christopher Heredia
In my lifetime, the U.S. military has never been so popular, or rather it hasn't en- ·
joyed the media coverage it is swimtr1irl£ in right now.
I thought The Fresno Bee was the only newspaper that advertised headlines like
"It's War." However, I found the same posters on the Los Angeles Times newspaper racks in Los Angeles last weekend. (If people of color got this much news
coverage, maybe racism would die. Hmm ... )
The daily doses of U.S. flags and yellow ribbons in the news has taken its toll
on me, culminating with the Feb. 15 Tempo section cover in The Fresno Bee.
"Flags Unfurled; Old Glory deserves pro~r respect" was the headline splashed
over the Tempo section Friday.
I've been concerned that The Bee, thus far in the war, has done more than its
share of propagandizing the war and advocating on behalf of the U.S. military
effort in the Gulf, butthis headline and presentation convinced me that Fresno Bee
readers are not getting their helping of the other side, the voices who oppose the
U.S. intervention.
Local TV stations like Channel 24 have also been capitalizing on the war with
their yellow ribbon campaigns.
In Friday's Bee, the feature staff explained how to display the U.S. flag properly
and how to respect it. Earlier in the week, The Bee inserted a paper Old Glory for
each of its readers that day.
In elementary school, I was taught the Pledge of Allegiance. Saluting the flag
was as normal a part of my day as were mid-day naps and snacks of juice and
graham crackers.
But in recent years, I have seen the United States, under a flowing flag, oppress
peoples in other countries and at home. The flag, to me, represents Racism, Arrogance and Violence.
see FLAG, Page 7
War equals Latino
deaths
Virginia Adame - Assistant
By Carlos Munoz Jr.
Editor
Christopher Heredia - Copy
Editor
Staff Write rs:
Cristina Medina
Joe M. Torres
Virginia Madrid
Erik Vallejo - Cartoonist
Andres Montoya - Columnist
Daniel Chacon - Poetry Editor
La Voz de Aztlan is published
monthly.
Any comments please write to
VozdeAztlan
MS #42 Keats Campus
Building, Fresno, CA. 93740
•ta
As a Latino Vietnam War-era veteran, who paid
homage on Veterans Day to my comrades who died in
Indochina, I am angered that once again Latinos may
die in an unnecesary war. We were overrepresented in
combat units and in the front lines in Vietnam, and we
suffered 20 percent of the casualties though we were
less than 5 percent of the U.S. population.
From those comrades and friends who were fortunate to return home alive from the trenches, I know
how vivid the horrors of war are implanted in their
memories. They were part of the 33 percent of Latino
veterans who came home wounded, some without
eyes, arms or legs. Others came home with deep psychological and emotional scars.
Some 27 percent of the 470,000 veterans who suffer
from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are Latinos, according to a study of Vietnam comba1 veterans by the
Research Triangle Institute. Still others are suffering
from the effects of Agent Orange. Vietnam will be a
nightmare the rest of their lives. see MUAOZ, Page a
Tuesday. February 19. 1991
La
Voz de Aztlan
3
MEChA brings students
together
UCLA [University of California at
Los Angeles) campus there were
less than 40 Latinos enrolled out
of a total enrollment of about
El Movlmiento Estudiantll Chi30,000," said Flores.
cano de Aztlan, or MEChA as it Is
In 1969, a statewide confermore commonly known, is a vital
ence of educators was held to
asset for Chicano and Latino studiscuss the needs for higher edudents on college campuses statecation. At this conference El Plan
wide.
de Santa Barbara was estabMEChA, which also means
lished. El Plan de Santa Barbara
spark, was the driving force that
called for the establishing of Chihelped Latino and Chicano stucano studies and for one single
dents gain entry to college camChicano organization. As a result
puses.
MEChA was born. MEChA
"MEChA got its beginnings as a
adopted the logo of an eagle carresult of the Chicano student moverying a fuse.
ment of the mid-1960s. Students
The main purpose of MECh A is
began demanding more minority
to bring Chicano students together
students on campuses, including
as a show of pr!de, ~o or~aril~e for
Chicano and Latino students," said
common actions, sucH as rallies
William Flores, chair of the CSUF
Chicano.and Latin Americtm stud- , and student strikes. Another purpose of ME Ch A is to get more
ies departrtnrnt. I I - r
Chicanos on to college campuses
"For example, in 1966 on the
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
and to help get them financial
aid.
As a result of MEChA's actions, said Flores, the enrollment of Chicanos and Latinos
at the UCLA campus went from
about 30 to about 1,000 in the
few years following 1966.
MEChA will hold its statewide
conference at CSUF the weekend of April 26-28. The conference is expected to draw about
500 people from all over the
state including people from UC,
the California State University
system and students from some
private universities.
Matthew Polanco, a CSUF
MEChista, said the decision to
hold the statewide conference
on the CSUF campus came at a
meeting of MEChAs from
throughout the state. Two
MEChAs voted on having the
statewide conference on the CSUF
campus. Ironically CSUF was not
at this meeting, but accepted the
invitation to hold the conference
here.
Polanco said, "It's good that it Is
being held here, especially since It
hasn't been held here for a while.
We're one of the hot spots of racial
incidents right now."
In preparation forthe conference,
Flores is teaching a one-unit Saturday course titled "MEChA Statewide.· The course will be taught
April 13 and April 20.
Students will learn some of the
history of MEChA and they will
also be asked to volunteer to work
oo the conference. The last day to
registerforSaturdayclasses is Feb.
25. For more information, stop by
the CLS office in the Social Sciences building, Room 211.
Veterans
get help.
By Joe M. Torres
La Voz Staff Writer
The Vietnam Veterans Center
in downtown Fresno provides military veterans, who served during
the Vietnam War, support and
mental health services.
Veterans of the Vietnam wardid
not receive such service until many
years after the conclusion of the•
war, said Obed Fernandez, director of the center. Many soldiers
who faced life-threatening situations in combat during the Vietnam War developed Post Traumatic Str~ss'{)lsordef (PTSD •.
Fernandez said soldiers suffering from PTSD must deal with the
effects of combat situations from
their experience in Vietnam. The
center provides services ranging
from combating PTSD to employment assistance and help with
collecting military benefits.
Fernandez, who served as a
medical corpman in Vietnam from
1970 to 1971 with the 7th anc: eth
Field Artillery, said Vietnam War
vete rans have typica lly gone
through several stages of regret,
depression. Isolat1on and rage.
'Manyveterans F-ernandezsaid,
also avoid thIerfeelinps and fUtiar
guilt because tney urvived t &
war.
"Vietnam Veteran s have a lot of
sleep disturbances snd mtrusr,e
thoughts " he sala. The sound ot a
tielicopter or particular kind
weather reminds. many Vietnam
veterans ot combat experiences.
Unlike the war in the Persian
Gulf, wnich the United States tias
supplied with a totally volunteer
force, the VietnamWarwasfought
with a limited volunteer force md
requ irea a arge amount nf drartees. During this time, in the mI0-to
late-'60s anyonewhodroooedcut
of high school and who 'llasn't
married was subject for draft "lnd
poi;s1ble combat in ✓ietn am.
Chicanos who were a large r-art
of the poor and uneoucated poou!ation at the time 01 he war were
drawn heavily into service. ernandez said Chicano soldiers s• 1ffered the most from PTSD during
the Vietnam War and were 20
percent of the war casualties during the Vietnam era.
Chlcanoswereonly5percent of
the U.S. population during the time
of the Vietnam war. Now in the
Persian Gulf War, while the numberof Chicanos in the United State's
is 8 percent of the total population,
Chicanos are 30 percent of the
armed forces in the Middle East.
Fernandez said if a draft occurs,
the type of people who will be
drafted will be mainly poor and
uneducated people. Presently, you
must have a high school education
to be drafted should there be a
draft.
"Should there be a draft, the requiremenu.for the military will be
that you are a high school graduate and it would be interesting to
see, if the draft starts, if they would
drop that requirement,· said Fernandez.
The high level of casuaties in Vietnam, Fernandez said, mainly
resulted from the soldiers inexperience with combat, especially
slncefewofthemhadbeentrained
in guerilla warfare.
'J!
Poet Juan Felipe Herrera read one of his poems to the public during a faculty silent vigil at the free
speech area.
Students find solutions to racial
problems with video
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
The recent rise in racial Incidents on
college campuses throughoutthe United
States has shocked many students and
educators into focusing on finding answers to this problem.
''The Rise in Campus Racism: Causes
and Solutions," a videoconference will
be shown live, via satellite Feb. 20inthe
Alice Peters auditorium from 1Oa.m. to
noon. The program's subject will include the causes of racism and how
demographics affect it. The program is
geared to offer discussion, analysis and
solutions to racism on campus.
Walter Robinson, CSUF Human Relations Coordinator, said this will be an
interactive vldeoconference.
"This means that there will be presentations made by the various panel of
experts and when they are done there
will an 800 number that will be availableforthe audience who will be across
the nation to call in and ask questions,"
said Robinson.
Robinson said he hopes all members of the campus community will
attend the videoconference.
One of the scheduled panelists is
Michael Williams, assistant to the
secretary of the U.S. Department of
Education. Williams was a Bush
administration appointee who introduced the bill that supported
the idea of non-race designated
scholarships.
Williams' contends that scholarships should not be awarded
simply because of one's rac~.
Robinson, along with some of the
panelists he said, do not agree
with this notion.
Pointing to a pamphlet that
showed Lillian Roybal Rose, videoconference panelist, Robinson
emphasized, "This Chicana here
is the hottest trainer in the country
see VIDEO, Page 8
see VETERANO, Page 7
Tue,..,day. February 19. 1991
y
1 aVozdeAztlan
CHICANO
u
CONFERENCE
0
The 18th annual Chicano Youth Conference was
held successfully at CSUF on January 12, 1991.
This year's theme was "Defeat Ignorance Through
Education."
The conference drew about 1 ,600 high school
students from throughout the San Joaquin Valley.
According to Dr. Uvalda Palomares, keynote
speaker, the key to success is education. "Without
education, we don't gain the cards we need to ~lay
the game."
The Chicano Youth Conference is recognized as
one of the biggest one-day events in California,
according to Manuel Perez, Associate Dean for
University Access Programs.
The event is a brief introduction to college life, with
time for discussing what the students are feeling
and thinking.
4
·
Tuesday. February 19. 1991
La
Yoz de Aztlan
PQ ETR y
s
In Memory of
Onshore winds leaden by the fog,
a damp and chilling afternoon
in spring, and the monotony of a job;
I'm slowly becoming this place.
Rolling foothills busting with green
have a new flowering yellow today,
the quail, the coyote, the wind calling me
from the nearby stream like a dream.
And the hollow-eyed owner in his pale
hand
holds a pocketbook and smiles at us
it's a good crop this year.
'
And we: the chorus of Mexican workers
in sync
keep striking down the weeds, row after
row,
Our weather-beaten faces wrapped
in red bandannas because the lettuce
needs
picking. Backs bent, faces to the ground,
eyes focused on the hoe, mouths shut,
we'll keep chopping away all day
with the bitter taste of sulfer
in the air we breath.
Julio Leal
•••••
TO A HOMEBOY READY TO DANCE
You're ready to dance
you say?
I believe you;
homeboy. you,
running from la Llorona
to some cantina on a back road
off old 99.
unaware or just afraid of the dance floor.
Mama told you to stay away
from places like that,
where serpents
dance some kind of seductive
jarabe with their split tongues.
Viejas sin verguensa, your mamita used to say.
You always seemed to have your glass
still full whenever a ranchera came your way.
Stumped on your stool
with thoughts,
thoughts of:
singing to your people,
the taste of salt in your beer,
, and those chingasos with the
childhood landlords.
TOSTADAS AT NOON
In the freespeech area
near the fountain
on a table
taken from class
Teresa scoops beans
Hector chops lettuce.
While the cowboy preaches
Blondes soak
in sun
redwbtteandblue
sunglasses sparkle
and Veronica gives
change back
to a student
who knows nothing
delAztldn
that melts in his mouth.
While Chicanos choose
education and get Iraq
While Australian aborigines bleed
While diego pushes
pedro back
across the border
While cancer kills
Willy's chapara
While white sun slaps
the backs
of Blacks
In Africa
and America
While bombs blowout
the Brown desert
While Carlos is wiped like cheery
jello off the hull of an aircraft
and Calvin gets in
While Nicaragua chokes
on democracy dollars
and CNN
Anita fries the tortillas
in grease
In the freespeech area at noon.
Students active picture
a banquet
big with bignames
of the HisPanic community,
Sponsored by a tortilla company and
coors beer.
Daniel Chacon
Dreams of the Yerba Buena
your abuelita doesn't show you.
Yeah. The kind you don't grow in
.front of I.he house,
but it cures just the
same. Images
of smokey spirits
playing tag
with the cracks of the walls
of your apartment or
your head,
and doing all kinds of other
crazy shit. And those
cucarachas, laughing
because they stole the halos.
And now you have to answer to pissed off
angels late for their part in fucked up poems
-like this one.
homeboy, I remember you
carrying death in your pocket,
a little here and there to keep you going.
Scaring off the girls
because you'd have too much,
making a bulge in your pants.
Like some kind of Necroooo philiac
untitled.
standing alone in cold
exposed
the chilly night
air
blows on my face
tingles the tips
of my ears
awakening my senses
stirring
feelings
of
despair
Lucia Sanchez
••••
calle baghdad
dos vatos on the calle,
single file, filtering through
a tirade of laughing spirits.
an old woman
on the roadside mourning
at the cross of her son,
killed twenty years before
by vc or perhaps usa.
dos vatos on the calle,
single file, filtering through
a tirade of screaming spirits
grasping sickles.
starving dogs fighting
in the yard that used to be
cheo's, fighting over a used
chicken mole bone and children
laugh at the skinny spectacle.
dos vatos on the calle
that turns to sand,
guns in their hands.
spirits tickle spines, and in fresno
the carpenter is making their
crosses while mothers cry
in the fields.
Andres Montoya
--
And now you're there.
Ready for Saturday's Quinceafiera.
Anticipating to be crowned
Prince of the Rainbow Ballroom.
AJUWA!
Esta listo para bailar.
My homeboy is ready to dance.
V. Canales
Submit your poetry to 11t::1 Voz:
do i>octry Editor" in: th\;')>,
Colk·gian . Everyone \,·c~corne.
Please include name and rhone
number.
By Cristina Medina
La Vaz Staff Writer
As a firm believer in Murphy's
Law, Educational Opportunity
Program (EOP) director Robert
Hernandez believes that whatever is bound to go wrong, will
go wrong if one is not careful.
"H anything can go wrong, it
will. But It's my job as the director to correct it as soon as possible. In my experience, I have
learned to expect the unexpected," said Hernandez.
Hernandez, who has been associated with the EOP for more
than 20 years, was among the
first students to come to California State University, Fresno
through the program in 1969.
"I was a transfer student from
Reedly College. I remember the
first person I met was Catherine
Panas, who was the director at
that time. She had ah office In
the library, I remember going
over there all perdldos (lost)
thinking 'EOP, what is It?' said
6
LaVozdcAztt1.n
Tuc.-,tLty. February 19. 1991
Hernandez. "lthoughtEOPwas
money. AlotofpeoplethinkEOP
Is just money. Financial Aid is
money, but they some how
was when the program was first
getting underway on campus."
With the arrival of the EOP
program and the first wave of
hundred students and EOP
started to make a change in
terms of the campus community. You were starting to see
more black
and brown
faces who
w e re n 't
here primarily for
sports."
The early
years of
EOP, according to
H e rn a n dez, were
not easy.
The welco me mat
for minority
students
was
not
easily put
out. The
presence of studentsofcoloron
campus was being questioned
by s'ome.
"In some Ways we~ felt wel-
EOP director
strong believer in
Murphy's Law
equatethetwo. lfigured I needed
money and help once I got here,
so I went over there to get my
application papers to apply. That
students, came a new perspective of what the college campus
would be like in years to come.
"There we were, a couple of
...
L..
,l
.
'
corned, but there were a lot of
ways we did not feel welcomed.
There were faculty that felt that
bringing in minority students
would lower standards. There
were professors on campus that
believed and said publicly that
minorities were inferior. There
still are people out there that
think that way. Perhaps fewer
now, because in the late sixties
they were more vocal about it."
With racial tension persistent
on campus, Hernandez admits
that it was a "difficulttime"to be
a student.
"You got a lot of mixed messages. You had people who
cared and wanted you here and
you had a lot of others who didn't
feel you belonged here. As a
result you banded together," he
said, "In some cases you were
almost afraid to be seen with a
white person. Others might tell
you that you were an oreo or a
coconut because you were mixing elbows with the enemy. I
think it was uncomfortable for a
~I I
f
"
l
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . . ; . ........;;.,-.
-
As part of a guest lecture during Dr. Bob Fisher' s sociology class, Eve Scarfe from Peace Brigade
International spoke about her experiences as a "human shield" in El Salvador. Scarfe spent almost two
years shadowing dissidents and monitoring demonstrations in the hope that her presence would prevent
government forces from killing farm workers, women, Christians and union members.
El Salvador Project
Volunteering in Central America
In EJ Salvador. PBJ began iis presence in June.
1987 at the invitation of Lutheran Bishop Mcdardo
GomcL The.PSI team m El Salvador has developed
three .-cas or wort: to promoce dwoguc and ncgoliation as means 10 solve Salvadoran conll,c11, particularly the wsr, co offct a procective presence to
nonviolent communities., activ1SlS and organu.atJOns
thrc.atcned with violcnct, and l0 faciluatc. educational workshops to teachers, studcnlS and parcnu
on nonviolent connic1 resolution.
PBI volunicers come from many different countries, t>¥kgrounds, and philosophical and religious
pcrspcctivcs. What they share is a strongc.ommianen1
to nonviolence and a belief in the power of the Ccnual
Amencan people 10 create a more peaceful and JUSt
neg~~-:.:1~:~~~:~~ ~
unlCCl'S gave to Archbishop Rivt12 y Damas' initiauvc for a ·National Debate~ in 1988, which
brought together dou:ns of national social
organil..aliO'ls and calls for a ncgotiaied scaJcmem
of the war. As imponant hu been the PSI team's
comfflltrncnt lO stand with Salvadoran groups lhat
seek 10u.ercisc their rights to organize and be heard
PSI .alunlttn ond Police outside tltt CRIPDES off1€t
~~~~.'\~::::~c:![y~;:j::,,,~
to broadcast v10lcnt incKlcnts or unwarranted
dc&entions co the intcmallOnU community.
Groups and tndividu.als that the PSI team has
accompanied i,.:ludc. the ClvistionCommittu o/tN
Disp/o<d. (CR/fDES), lht Nali.OMJ Unity of Sal·
wdora11 WorUrs (UNTS), thit mothitrs of tN dis·
appurcd, 11n indigenous peopk'sc:oopcrltive in the
province of Sonsonalc. ,cvcral villages settled by
roccntly n:wmcd refugoos and B;.J,op McQrdo
Gomez since numerous tJreau to his life began in
Dcambcr, 1988. POI volunleUS have also been
asked to be observers at demonstrations and strikes.
Other Central America Work
In Costa Rica, PBI has worked wuh the United
Nations University for Peace to develop and
impkmcntmodels for training in nonviolcntconnic1
resolution, effective group process and negotiation
skills. In 1988 PSI organLUd lhcfirstconrercnccon
Nonviolenl Socia.I Defense in Nicaragt.a, bringing
together cxpens in I.he field from various countries
around lhc workt l0 meet and suategiz.c. with Nicarquan community leaders.
BRIGADES
INTERNATIONAL
;,. Sa11 Sa/WUUJr, 1/tortly bt/ore tlte Pollcc tnlLrcd aNI
arnucd aU tlto~ i#WM.
Here's how you can help:
_
~~~1~~=~-;c:,rr:=
individuals not as pa,ticipanlS in Salvadorans'
society.
Polcnual volunteerS must speak Spanish, be at
least 25 years, and be willing to make a least a six
month commitment (The Guatemala team is currently
ac:ccpting some shoncr·I.Cmt volunteerS). Volunteer
lr:linings arc held twice a year. Applications are
available from: PSI, 33 CentraJ Ave., Albany, NY
12210, or from the Toronto office. There is a SlO
application rec.
PEACE
tttttttttttt
Peace Brigades Organizing in the U.S.
Since PBI swu:d in Cenb"a! America, team
mcmbcn: have been rctuminJ LO stwc lhcir firsthand impressions with families, friends and communities. Many have continued to volunleer with
PSI LO develop support wotk here 11. home.
In June 1988, a flckS office was opened in
Albany, NY to coonhnai.c recruilment and training
of volunlCCl'S and operation of the ERN. Oriencation
and training sessions take place on bcxh coesu.
Small groups of retwncd voluntecn and suppon.crs
~u:!v:!~~°fn~':~~e~
Yort. Speaking LOW'S to other regions an: also
underway. To get involved in support for PBI hete
Ul the U.S. contact PBI, 33 Central Avt.,Albany,
NY 12210. (518)'34-<037.
#tttttttttt
Enclosed is my tax-dedoctible comribution
or S ~ send me information about voluntter
service in Guatemala and El Salvador.
_Addmctoyourmailinglist,and_l'd
like to be a pan or your Emergency Response
Network (ERN).
J want tosubscribctoPSl'smonthly repons
frtimGuatcmalaand El Salvador. Icnclose_for
a subscription ($15-20 suggested.)
Name_ _ _ _ _ _ __
Phone,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Clip aod mail to:
Peace Brigades I.Dtuutioaal
Box 1233, Harvard Sq.
Cambridge, MA 02238 USA
Tel: 617491-4226
In Canada:
Pu« Bripdes lnttmational
1!>3 Yongt St. #S02
Toronro, Onlario, M58 1M8
Ttl: 416-594-0429
Central America
Projects
Practical Experiments
in Peacemaking
ct o u~ .._-
., ,
,
1""
,.., ~. "'
With .the Vietnam Warcreat• ,
ing a growing anti-war movement, consc1enceness of war
and other ssues were being
played out at thrs time. Hernandez recalls the feel of the campus at that time.
"There were a 1ot of demonstrations and pleitos (disputes)
going on on that year 11969).
The war and the actions of the
farm workers who were struggling for recogn ition from being
widley exploited in the valley
banded us togetner," tie said. 'A
lot of the stuff came out of BaKer
Hall. That was where we had a
lot of our meetings. A lot of the
protests originated there. Whenever there was some p1eito on
campus. the saftey zone for us
was Baker Hall. They were afraid
to let us use Baker Hall for about
ten years after that."
Hernandez was hi red as
Associate Director vf the program after graduating in 1 971
with a deqree in Heaith Science
After a sanes of unsuccessful
attempts ·o fil l 1he position
Manue1Perez was hired earlier
that year as Director of EOP. He
is currently Assistant Dean of
Students. ldemande.z recalled
some of the aifficulties upon
starting with EOP.
"There were only two staff
members at that time, so they
called us both assistant directors when in fact we were mostly
counselors. Manuel Perez was
the director, Ernie Shelton and I
were assistant directors and we
had a secretary," he said, "I
remember we wanted to hire
certain students to work as student advisors. We had to go to
the Dean of Students office. The
dean at the time was Dr. David
Bell. We went over there and
had to give them a list of the
people we wanted to hire They
pulled out police pictures from
demonstrations from the years
before. They had pictures circled
of some of the same pople we
wanted to hire. We had to give
them justification of why we
wanted to hire these persons. It
was really interesting at that
time."
Tuesday. Fchruary 19. 1991
Selection:
Contln~es from page 1
The search committee has already selected five presidential
candldat% from the Initial pool of
applicants. Now, without explanation, they have extended the application deadline until March 8. The
new applications will be carried
through the entire review process
and the finalists from that group
will be blended with the first group
of finalists.
In the Feb. 15 memo, Bagdasarian said the search committee
planned to reannounce the presidential opening In the Chronicle of
Higher Education and to "college
,nd university executives solicit-
La
Voz de Aztlan
ing their interest."
Bagdasarian has refused further comment about the search
process and the addition of
Pesqueira or Lopez.
Don Daves, president of the
CSUF Associated Students Inc.,
Is the only student on the search
committee and was one of the
members asked to resign.
Several members of CSUF
Movlmlento Estudlantil Chicano de
Aztlar:1 (MEChA) attended the Feb.
13 meeting of the search committee In Long Beach where they
asked Daves, Pesqueira and
Lopez to resign from the search.
Daves said on Feb. 17 that he
was not resigning from the search
committee and would not comment further on the search.
Chicanos:
•Continued from Page 2
Judases are everywhere.
Hope, Hope. yes there Is still
hope. As Chicanos, the Burden to
fight the battle falls once again on
us. We must protect the future for
our own brothers and sisters who
are still in high school, who are stlll
in barrios, who are still intheflelds.
We have an obligation to fight
against those who would keep us
down. We must once again tum to
ourselves for the institution of justice. I Implore all who are concerned about justice, about their
people, theirfamilies,goto MEChA
meetings, to go to the Chicano and
Latin American studies department, to go to those who are already fighting, and find out what
we must do.
Veterano:
• Continued from Page 3
In this type of warfare, Fernandez said, it is difficult to distinguish
the enemy from the ally. Many of
the U.S. casualties were killed by
friendly fire. This, Fernandez said,
Is a large reason many veterans
are still suffering from the Vietnam
War. Negative public opinion of
the war also struck the soldiers
when they came home.
Fernadez said Immediate debriefing Is critical for every soldier.
Debriefing "Is essentailly a process where by you tell somebody
what you felt, why the bombs were
dropping, or while you were being
hit by the enemy or hitting the
•1 have my own opinion of what's
happening, but I don't think it would
be In the best interest of the entire
process If I were to comment on
that right now,• he said.
The committee contends that
those applicants who had been
tu med away during the first selection of semi-finalists will not reapply.
"They [the Initial presidential applicants] didn't have a fair review
process,• Floressald. "We'retrylng
to change the process not only at
Fresno State, but for the entire
CSU system,· said Flores. •we
think we will.■
Flores said the appointment of
Pesqueira and Lopez and the extension of the application deadline
were signs of pr~ress.
enemy,· said Fernandez.
The sooner a soldier Is debriefed, the better the soldier
will be at resuming their normal
life pattern, but Fernandez said
returning soldiers will never be
the same as they were before
being were called to duty.
Fernandez said It is Important that people In the United
States support the troops when
they come home. He said, if the
public targets the soldiers with
negative feelings about the war,
then many soldiers may suffer
some of the conditions similar
to those of PTSD.
"Ask them to tell about their
experience and to help them for
whatever need they have, to do
less than that is to began a long
process of them suffering,· said
Fernandez.
P.S. Fight The Powers ThatBei
Flag:
•continued from Paga 2
Skinhead groups who espouse white
power and domination in the United
States oftentimes wear flag patches on
their leather jackets, men who have
slaughtered our Asian and Latin American sisters and brothers in far-off lands
fly flags from their front porches, and
demonstrators, at the intersection on
Blackstone and Shaw avenues, wave
U.S. flags while proclaiming, "Burn our
flag and we'll smoke your turban," or
simply "Smoke a carnel."
"Love it or leave it," they say. These
racist sentiments, which are too often
the foundation for U.S. patriotism, are
what send chills down my spine and
make me sick.
My father knows my feelings against
the U.S. intervention in the Middle East
and about Yankee Imperialism in gen-
eral. A phone conversation he and I had
recently inspired him to send me a letter
with a drawing of a U.S. flag and a
peace symbol below it.
In the letter, he told me "Mijo, these
two symbols can and do go together
very well." My dad served in the Air
Force and stood proud in the face of
racial slurs from his commanding officers and fellow privates.
Yet, he is still a patriot. And like many
of our elders, he tells me there is a
different patriotism than the one practiced by those with the racist, pro-U.S.
slogans at Blackstone and Shaw avenues.
No te comprendo, papa.
The Fresno Bee and local TV news
stations should not make it a practice of
capitalizing on the war by selling U.S.
flags from their lobbies or by decorating
their sets and anchors with yellow ribbons. Today is a scary day - a day
when Big Brother feeds the media its
goop and the media gulps down with a
big smile.
7
"Too often, we've been confronted with racism and people
have just shrugged their shoul-
was the state's "token· appointment and that she wanted to see a
Latina or Latino from the San
Joaquin Valley appointed to the selecI have my own opinion, but I
tion committee.
don't think it would be in the
"What the hell does
best interest of the entire
he know about the
valley?• she said of
process if I were to comment
Pesqueira's appointon that right now.
ment. NowthatLopez,
a local person, has
Don Daves
been appointed,
Flores said the
ders and said, 'There's nothing we committee's aim Is unchanged.
can do:• Flores said th lngs are difThe committee Is organizing a
ferent now. "When you're organ- demonstration to be held at the
ized you can do great things.■
next meeting of the CSU Board of
Upon the announcement of the Trustees March 12 In Long Beach.
appointment of Pesqueira, MEChA
chair Irma Serrano said Pesqueira
Alegria:
.Continued from Page 1
much against this war, which I
do not understand. It's madness,
but we're used to living with madness. But the century Is coming to
a close and beginning a riew century with violence and war Is a
horrible thought,• said Alegria.
Alegria went on to tell the
audience how he came about to
writing his book.
"The book is a result of a
unique experience that I had the military coup that caused the
death of President Allende one
11th of September 1973. It
happened at the moment when I
had just arrived In Chile. ■
Alegria spoke about his close
friendship with Allende and how
the president asked him to write
his biography. Because of this,
Alegria said, he went to Chile
one week before the coup to
gather information for the
biography on Allende.
"I wrote my book on A:iende,
"Mi Vecino, El Preslden~e.• and
then it was presented In Chile
during the days of the election,
December 1989; and I had by
my side Mrs. Allende and some
other friends who had been part
of the government of Salvador
Allende,· said Alegria.
Alegria read what he called a
ACROSS
1 Entreaties
6 Citizen of Rome
11 Herb of pea
family
12 Expunges
14 Printer's
measure
15 Expert
17 Saint: abbr.
18 Perform
20 Take unlawfully
21 Goddess of
mischief
22 Falsehoods
24 Household pet
l5 Distance
measure
26 Detective:
colloq .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 28 Banished from
one's country
30 Oolong
31 Limb
32 Sewing
implement
35 Guides
38 Monster
39 Snare
41 Break suddenly
42 Greek island
43 Strip of leather
45 Cravat
46 Spanish for
"yes"
47 Confined
49 Compass point
50 Book of Old
Testament
52 Joined
54 Subject of
discourse
55 Small stoves
DOWN
preview of his book to the
audience. He presented his
reading as a tribute to the CLS
professors and to the community
of the university.
In his book, Allende writes
about how one day he was at his
office when a young woman
came In and asked to see him.
She explained how she and her
co-workers wanted to contribute
one day's wages to his candidacy, according to Alegria.
She told him that she worked
at a house and that the contribution had to be picked up there. It
was then that Allende realized
that the young woman was a
prostitute. Knowing that If his
opponent got wind of this It
would cost him the election, he
still agreed to go and accept the
contribution.
His book captures the essence
of Allende who was known as
the martyr president of Chile.
Alegria has done what few
authors have been able to do.
He has shown his audience the
type of man that Allende was.
•1 feel proud to be on this
stage this evening with Dr.
Fernando Alegria,• said Herrera.
Furthermore Herrera called the
evening, "Un momento de famllia
ycorazones.•
The translated version of
Alegria's book will be available In
the fall of 1991. It is being
published by Stanford University
Press.
The
Weekly
Cr □ ssw □ rd
Puzzle
5Sew
6 Tell
7 City in Russia
8 Insane
9 Equally
10 Cuddle up
11 Tolls
13 Spirited horse
16 Meadow
19 Seesaws
21 Bodily infirmity
23 Tanned skin
25 Soils with mud
27 Hindu cymbal
~ ~1--1 29 Indian memorial
post
1 Writing
implement
2 Note of scale
3 Abstract being
4 Diving birds
~+---t---t--1
~~ ~:I-centered
person
34 All
35 Sculptured
likeness
36 Lifts
37 Haste
40 Sea eagle
~~~ 43 Stalk
44 Shut up
47 That woman
48 Noise
51 Symbol for
thorium
53 Symbol for
tantalum
COUfGE PIIESS SEl!Vla
see Page
a, for solution
Tuesday, February 19. 1991
Munoz:
•Continued from Page 2
As the father of an 18-year-old infantryman on active duty with the U.S Army, I get
chills up my spine knowing that he may also
experience the horrors of war, and worse,
that he may also be one of war's casualties.
We've had heart-to-heart talks since he
joined the Army a few months ago. He is
proud to be serving his country like his uncle
and I did. He is aware that our people have
contributed to the building of this nation as
workers and have fought in every major
U.S. war with courage and loyalty. He has
decided to go to the Persian Gulf if he is
orderedtogo. Buthehopeshewon'tbe. He
La
Voz de Aztlan
does not want to die.
If war does break out, the Latino casualty
rate will once again be disproportlnately
higher: Estimates are that from 36 to 40
percent of combat troops in the Persian Gulf
are Latinos. I think it tragic that Latino men
and women are once again putting their
lives on the line when many of their families
swell the ranks of the poor back home.
Today, 5.5 million Latinos are also overrepresented among the unemployed, in this
country's vast pool of cheap labor and in the
prisons, while they are underrepresented in
institutions of higher education.
President Bush should know that although
my son and other Latino soldiers are prepared to die for our country, many of us are
an important part of the anti-war and peace
8
movement that is spreading like wildfire
across college campuses and among grassroots of America.
Afte rthe deployment of U.S. troops in the
Persian Gulf, over5,000 Latinos commemorated in East Los Angeles the 20th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium against the
Vietnam War. The message was loud and
clear: They don't want Latino soldiers to die
in Kuwait so that multinational corporations
can maintain control over oil resources and
profits.
They do not think it is fair that there are
more Latino than Kuwaiti soldiers prepared
to recover the oil fields of Kuwait; that there
are no soldiers from many oil-consuming
countries; or that Latinos may die to preserve an outdated monarchy that has no
comrr,itment to democratic values.
Latinos, especially veterans, know the
wartime sacrifice of our youth has never
resulted in peace-time social justice and
equality for the majority of our people.
We demand that President Bush acknowledge the wishes of the majority of the American people for a peaceful resolution of the
Persian Gulf crisis.
Carlos Mufloz Jr. , award winning author
of "Youth, Identity, Power: The Chicano
Movement", is an associate professor of
ethnic studies at the University of California
at Berkeley.
Video:
,
•Continued from Page 3
no matter how you slice it. We use
a lot ot hertechniques in ourCrossCultL1ra1 Student Leadership retre...•
Tn s v deoconference 1s part ot
a fiv •Part sanes that Black Issues
and 1ghe· Education magazine is
putti g out The first videoconference ~ as held last November.
Chicana
• Continued from page
up to a greater light something many cultures
take for granted even today.
The numbers on this
campus may be in small, but
what l have seen in the
quality i3 a great force of my
female : ounterpart" doing
and learning and struggling to
become educated.
Move on Chicana. My heart
is with your struggle always.
PUZZLE SOLUTION
, .
p
E
A.
requests your support it
A
SPECIAL Fr.lNDRAISER
Friday
February 22, 1991
5:00 pm to 9:00 pm
3646 W. Spruce Avenue
C,1 l'Udlnl:a nortl'lr:,/#Nrnt.fon.Auir. Co wal on H9'ndcn. about~ m&u putBbdl:ltlN.
n.nnonhon \Wa\tt'W IOSp\a. lhen.l(,N
~
$3.00
Student,
.6.00
General
Support the committee as It addresses the Issue ol
the CSU, Fresno presldcnt!al search and the lack of
Hispanic Involvement and candidates In this process.
1becommJtteela a coalition of CSU, FresnoCaculty. ataffand atudentamd
community memben cori<:<med about the CSU oyotem·• pn,c:odara,
to the prutckntlal oear<h p....- at CSUF.
..-.,t
Josie Ochoa, a secretary for University Outreach Services, will be leaving for the Persian Gulf as soon
as they call her troop in. Ochoa's husband believes she should be exempt from service so that she can
continue to care for their 10-year-old son.
Pleue Joln ua In Chia endeavor to ensure that educaUonal pJDI b'
HlOpanl<:a at the
Tlcketa an Pallable b7 caJIIDC: 278-2848,
PooltlODI may be; KPt te·
The Committee r..- HJopanlc EducaUonal Equity
• P.O. ec. 25821 • P'reeao. Callfonu • 9S72'1 •
C:IOlt4»-l512
11
)
California State University, Fresno
Volume XXIII
Issue No.1
Tuesday February 19, 1991
Lavoz de Aztlan __
._
Group wan s
presidential
earch to ped
By Chnstooher Heredia
La Voz Staff Writer
As far as the Committee for
Hispanic Educational Equity is concerned, the fight to stop the CSUF
presidential search has only begun.
In addition to demanding that
the entire search be aborted,
members of the committee have
asked three members of the Presidential Selection Advisory Committee to resign from their posts.
Meanwhile members of the
search committee are remaining
quiet about the process and the
hasty addition of two Latinos to the
committee.
In a Feb. 13 memorandum to
the CSUF community, Marian
Bagdasarian, chair of the presidential search committee, said
"The addition of [CSU] Trustee
[Ralph] Pesquefra and Dr. [Manual] Lopez will benefit the Committee and the campus."
"That's what they should have
had from the beginning," said William Flores, chair of the Committee for Hispanic Educational Equity. "We think the whole process
,..........
In memory
stinks."
F'ores, who is also chair of the
CSUF Chicano and Latin Amencan studies department, said the
committee is attacking the search
from two angles - through the
CSU trustees and through the state
Legislature.
The committee has already had
two victories with the appointment
of Pesqueira and Lopez, a dentist
from Hanford who has served on
the CSUF Foundation Board of
Governors since 1986.
"Obviously we've made some
unprecedented gains. Thefactthat
they've given in doesn't reflect their
weakness. It reflects the power of
Chicanos statewide," said Flores.
The committee h<;is charged that
the search process has been
''tainted" from the start because
the search committee failed to
recruit Latinos to the search committee from the onset and because
one applicant for the CSUF president position, Tomas Arciniega,
did not make the first round offinalists. Arciniega is the president of
California State University, Bakersfield.
oee SELECTION, Page 7
MELDA bOOtn ·
destroyed in
dump area
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
someone had taken a
sledgehammer to the
booth.
The MEChA booth that norDave Hernandez of Plant
mally stands in the Free ·. Operationssaidtheymoy~
Speech area :was. removed the booths out JoJhe ag
are/ not re- ,
tfg)n ··ttie (Fre.!'.
and . destroyed 9ver winter\ area if they
• bre~~- . >. . ·•·•·········•··. // : t t mov.~d
•. ,· The de'.$Jrucupn ot •t'1e (Speech ateaafthebegin;+
One week before his , ieath, President Allende called Dr. Fernando Alegria
to write his biograp1::'y.
Writer pays tribute to friend
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
Fernando Alegria, who was a close friend of former Chilean President Salvador Allende, spoke
on campus Feb. 15, about the novel he wrote about the president.
Alegrla's novel, "Mi Vecino, El Presldente" (My Neighbor, The Presld&nt) Is being translated Into
English and his visit to campus was arranged to celebrate the translated version.
President Allende asked Alegria to write his biography, but such would not be the case, for on a
fateful day In 1973, President Allende was assassinated In the presidential palace and the military
coup began. And so, Alegria would write his book as a tribute to his fallen friend and to the
memory of what he stood for.
The lecture, which included CLS professors Lea Ybarra, Manuel Figueroa and Juan Felipe
Herrera, was titled "The Era of Change, Idealism and Despair" and was sponsored by the Chicano
and Latin American studies department and the School of Social Sciences.
Herrera, Ybarra, and Figueroa spoke about the struggles of Chicanos and Latinos In the United
States and how they related to the struggles of Latinos In Chile and throughout the world.
Alegria opened his lecture with a comment on the current situation In the Persian Gulf. "I'm very
see ALEGRIA, Page 7
Tuesday. February 19. 1991
La
Vaz de Aztlan
2
ED ITO RIAL
No Chicano president here
.
By Andres Montoya
■·resno
State is look- kens from San Diego and Haning for a new presi- ford to the committee.
dent. Yes, Harry
This they said (the whites
Haak is leaving! Just that is) will bring equity to the
think, with all the qualified Chi- search. Yes, I thought whel) I
canos around who applied for heard of these actions, this
this position - like Tomas might possibly make the search
Arciniega, president of CSU, equitable; however, the comBakersfield - we might actually have a chance of having a
Chicano president for CSU,
Fresno.
Yeah, right, dream on, suckers. I know, I know, the posibilitythat Chicanos might actually
be represented here at CSUF
in a search for a new president
is feasible considering our
population -40 percent in the
community and 20 percent on
campus.
But nooooooooool No way,
say the powers that be. And
yes, these powers be whites in mittee went ahead and started
interviewingtheirfirst picks, the
the CSU system.
semi-finalists,
to narrow them
Not only were no Chicanos
included in the search commit- down to three.
tee, but no Chicanos, evsn
And yes, of course they did
though qualified, were selected this before the extended search
as semi-finalists. OK, OK. It is was even started. At best we
true that once our community will get Chicanos to be interleaders put pressure on these viewed as a symbol of equity
white powers that be, they did and then they will go and pick
agree to extend the search, their first choice, and at worst
and they even appointed to- this will discourage Chicanos
from applying in the extended
tokkkenisticsearch. Ultimately,
though, they will pick who they
would have picked if the Chicanos had not started raising their
heads.
·
Two weeks ago, I still had
hope. Yes, ASI President Don
Not only were no Chicanos included in the
search committee, but no
Chicanos, even though
qualified, were selected
as semi- finalist.
Daves is on this search committee. The same Don Daves
that said in the elections of a
yearagothathesupportedthe
Chicanos . So, we, some
MEChistas, went down to Long
Beach where the semi-finalists
were being interviewed to
speak to Mr. Daves.
Our Savior, however, turned
out to be our Judas. Yes, Judas. As in Judas Iscariot, the
betrayer of Christ. Please Don,
we begged. Please, we ask
you to resign in protest, to
support the Chicanos that you
so vehemently say you represent: But Mr. Daves simply said
that it was not in his interest to
resign. Not in His Interest! Well
thanks for the Bullshit, Mr.
Daves. Thanks a lot.
Hope in the system still remained, however, since Ms.
Karen Cogley, past MEChA
chair and former ASI president,
is or was the ASI representative to the California State Students Association-our representative to the state association for students. Surely she
would try to pass a statewide
resolution supporting her supposed brothers and sisters.
But nooooooooo way Ho
zaaaaay, she said. But maybe
it's not in tier interest to support
us, to support herself, her supposed people. She who has
called so many sellout, has
finally openly and publically·
declared that she used the
Chicanos, manipulated them
for her interest, and when their
interest comes into conflict with
t:ers, the Chicanos lose. The
Recognize
la Chicana
By Joe M. Torres
La amiga, una persona, La
Chicana. Chicanos usually
refer to themselves as a part
of a greater body. Terms like
"Chicano power" and "Aztlan"
have become widespread
and-influential in the desire
for our people to move
forward.
Yet we must recognize La
Chicana not just as an embodiment of equality but as
the leaders of our conquest.
"La Chicana" is a hero of the
freedoms - freedoms we
continually deny even our
~wn female culture.
It is frnportant for the
,'.;hicano male to look at
Chicanas not as the tortilla
cookers or as the house
cleaners or child rearers, but
as the bosses of the "La
Raza." Their ability to maintain their independence and
resourcefulness comes from
within their own selves.
The time has come for us,
as Chicano males, to extend
not only the hands of equality
see CHICANOS, Page 7 ro Chicanas, but to hold them
See CHICANA Page 8
Media has swallowed U.S. millitary bait.
By Christopher Heredia
In my lifetime, the U.S. military has never been so popular, or rather it hasn't en- ·
joyed the media coverage it is swimtr1irl£ in right now.
I thought The Fresno Bee was the only newspaper that advertised headlines like
"It's War." However, I found the same posters on the Los Angeles Times newspaper racks in Los Angeles last weekend. (If people of color got this much news
coverage, maybe racism would die. Hmm ... )
The daily doses of U.S. flags and yellow ribbons in the news has taken its toll
on me, culminating with the Feb. 15 Tempo section cover in The Fresno Bee.
"Flags Unfurled; Old Glory deserves pro~r respect" was the headline splashed
over the Tempo section Friday.
I've been concerned that The Bee, thus far in the war, has done more than its
share of propagandizing the war and advocating on behalf of the U.S. military
effort in the Gulf, butthis headline and presentation convinced me that Fresno Bee
readers are not getting their helping of the other side, the voices who oppose the
U.S. intervention.
Local TV stations like Channel 24 have also been capitalizing on the war with
their yellow ribbon campaigns.
In Friday's Bee, the feature staff explained how to display the U.S. flag properly
and how to respect it. Earlier in the week, The Bee inserted a paper Old Glory for
each of its readers that day.
In elementary school, I was taught the Pledge of Allegiance. Saluting the flag
was as normal a part of my day as were mid-day naps and snacks of juice and
graham crackers.
But in recent years, I have seen the United States, under a flowing flag, oppress
peoples in other countries and at home. The flag, to me, represents Racism, Arrogance and Violence.
see FLAG, Page 7
War equals Latino
deaths
Virginia Adame - Assistant
By Carlos Munoz Jr.
Editor
Christopher Heredia - Copy
Editor
Staff Write rs:
Cristina Medina
Joe M. Torres
Virginia Madrid
Erik Vallejo - Cartoonist
Andres Montoya - Columnist
Daniel Chacon - Poetry Editor
La Voz de Aztlan is published
monthly.
Any comments please write to
VozdeAztlan
MS #42 Keats Campus
Building, Fresno, CA. 93740
•ta
As a Latino Vietnam War-era veteran, who paid
homage on Veterans Day to my comrades who died in
Indochina, I am angered that once again Latinos may
die in an unnecesary war. We were overrepresented in
combat units and in the front lines in Vietnam, and we
suffered 20 percent of the casualties though we were
less than 5 percent of the U.S. population.
From those comrades and friends who were fortunate to return home alive from the trenches, I know
how vivid the horrors of war are implanted in their
memories. They were part of the 33 percent of Latino
veterans who came home wounded, some without
eyes, arms or legs. Others came home with deep psychological and emotional scars.
Some 27 percent of the 470,000 veterans who suffer
from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are Latinos, according to a study of Vietnam comba1 veterans by the
Research Triangle Institute. Still others are suffering
from the effects of Agent Orange. Vietnam will be a
nightmare the rest of their lives. see MUAOZ, Page a
Tuesday. February 19. 1991
La
Voz de Aztlan
3
MEChA brings students
together
UCLA [University of California at
Los Angeles) campus there were
less than 40 Latinos enrolled out
of a total enrollment of about
El Movlmiento Estudiantll Chi30,000," said Flores.
cano de Aztlan, or MEChA as it Is
In 1969, a statewide confermore commonly known, is a vital
ence of educators was held to
asset for Chicano and Latino studiscuss the needs for higher edudents on college campuses statecation. At this conference El Plan
wide.
de Santa Barbara was estabMEChA, which also means
lished. El Plan de Santa Barbara
spark, was the driving force that
called for the establishing of Chihelped Latino and Chicano stucano studies and for one single
dents gain entry to college camChicano organization. As a result
puses.
MEChA was born. MEChA
"MEChA got its beginnings as a
adopted the logo of an eagle carresult of the Chicano student moverying a fuse.
ment of the mid-1960s. Students
The main purpose of MECh A is
began demanding more minority
to bring Chicano students together
students on campuses, including
as a show of pr!de, ~o or~aril~e for
Chicano and Latino students," said
common actions, sucH as rallies
William Flores, chair of the CSUF
Chicano.and Latin Americtm stud- , and student strikes. Another purpose of ME Ch A is to get more
ies departrtnrnt. I I - r
Chicanos on to college campuses
"For example, in 1966 on the
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
and to help get them financial
aid.
As a result of MEChA's actions, said Flores, the enrollment of Chicanos and Latinos
at the UCLA campus went from
about 30 to about 1,000 in the
few years following 1966.
MEChA will hold its statewide
conference at CSUF the weekend of April 26-28. The conference is expected to draw about
500 people from all over the
state including people from UC,
the California State University
system and students from some
private universities.
Matthew Polanco, a CSUF
MEChista, said the decision to
hold the statewide conference
on the CSUF campus came at a
meeting of MEChAs from
throughout the state. Two
MEChAs voted on having the
statewide conference on the CSUF
campus. Ironically CSUF was not
at this meeting, but accepted the
invitation to hold the conference
here.
Polanco said, "It's good that it Is
being held here, especially since It
hasn't been held here for a while.
We're one of the hot spots of racial
incidents right now."
In preparation forthe conference,
Flores is teaching a one-unit Saturday course titled "MEChA Statewide.· The course will be taught
April 13 and April 20.
Students will learn some of the
history of MEChA and they will
also be asked to volunteer to work
oo the conference. The last day to
registerforSaturdayclasses is Feb.
25. For more information, stop by
the CLS office in the Social Sciences building, Room 211.
Veterans
get help.
By Joe M. Torres
La Voz Staff Writer
The Vietnam Veterans Center
in downtown Fresno provides military veterans, who served during
the Vietnam War, support and
mental health services.
Veterans of the Vietnam wardid
not receive such service until many
years after the conclusion of the•
war, said Obed Fernandez, director of the center. Many soldiers
who faced life-threatening situations in combat during the Vietnam War developed Post Traumatic Str~ss'{)lsordef (PTSD •.
Fernandez said soldiers suffering from PTSD must deal with the
effects of combat situations from
their experience in Vietnam. The
center provides services ranging
from combating PTSD to employment assistance and help with
collecting military benefits.
Fernandez, who served as a
medical corpman in Vietnam from
1970 to 1971 with the 7th anc: eth
Field Artillery, said Vietnam War
vete rans have typica lly gone
through several stages of regret,
depression. Isolat1on and rage.
'Manyveterans F-ernandezsaid,
also avoid thIerfeelinps and fUtiar
guilt because tney urvived t &
war.
"Vietnam Veteran s have a lot of
sleep disturbances snd mtrusr,e
thoughts " he sala. The sound ot a
tielicopter or particular kind
weather reminds. many Vietnam
veterans ot combat experiences.
Unlike the war in the Persian
Gulf, wnich the United States tias
supplied with a totally volunteer
force, the VietnamWarwasfought
with a limited volunteer force md
requ irea a arge amount nf drartees. During this time, in the mI0-to
late-'60s anyonewhodroooedcut
of high school and who 'llasn't
married was subject for draft "lnd
poi;s1ble combat in ✓ietn am.
Chicanos who were a large r-art
of the poor and uneoucated poou!ation at the time 01 he war were
drawn heavily into service. ernandez said Chicano soldiers s• 1ffered the most from PTSD during
the Vietnam War and were 20
percent of the war casualties during the Vietnam era.
Chlcanoswereonly5percent of
the U.S. population during the time
of the Vietnam war. Now in the
Persian Gulf War, while the numberof Chicanos in the United State's
is 8 percent of the total population,
Chicanos are 30 percent of the
armed forces in the Middle East.
Fernandez said if a draft occurs,
the type of people who will be
drafted will be mainly poor and
uneducated people. Presently, you
must have a high school education
to be drafted should there be a
draft.
"Should there be a draft, the requiremenu.for the military will be
that you are a high school graduate and it would be interesting to
see, if the draft starts, if they would
drop that requirement,· said Fernandez.
The high level of casuaties in Vietnam, Fernandez said, mainly
resulted from the soldiers inexperience with combat, especially
slncefewofthemhadbeentrained
in guerilla warfare.
'J!
Poet Juan Felipe Herrera read one of his poems to the public during a faculty silent vigil at the free
speech area.
Students find solutions to racial
problems with video
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
The recent rise in racial Incidents on
college campuses throughoutthe United
States has shocked many students and
educators into focusing on finding answers to this problem.
''The Rise in Campus Racism: Causes
and Solutions," a videoconference will
be shown live, via satellite Feb. 20inthe
Alice Peters auditorium from 1Oa.m. to
noon. The program's subject will include the causes of racism and how
demographics affect it. The program is
geared to offer discussion, analysis and
solutions to racism on campus.
Walter Robinson, CSUF Human Relations Coordinator, said this will be an
interactive vldeoconference.
"This means that there will be presentations made by the various panel of
experts and when they are done there
will an 800 number that will be availableforthe audience who will be across
the nation to call in and ask questions,"
said Robinson.
Robinson said he hopes all members of the campus community will
attend the videoconference.
One of the scheduled panelists is
Michael Williams, assistant to the
secretary of the U.S. Department of
Education. Williams was a Bush
administration appointee who introduced the bill that supported
the idea of non-race designated
scholarships.
Williams' contends that scholarships should not be awarded
simply because of one's rac~.
Robinson, along with some of the
panelists he said, do not agree
with this notion.
Pointing to a pamphlet that
showed Lillian Roybal Rose, videoconference panelist, Robinson
emphasized, "This Chicana here
is the hottest trainer in the country
see VIDEO, Page 8
see VETERANO, Page 7
Tue,..,day. February 19. 1991
y
1 aVozdeAztlan
CHICANO
u
CONFERENCE
0
The 18th annual Chicano Youth Conference was
held successfully at CSUF on January 12, 1991.
This year's theme was "Defeat Ignorance Through
Education."
The conference drew about 1 ,600 high school
students from throughout the San Joaquin Valley.
According to Dr. Uvalda Palomares, keynote
speaker, the key to success is education. "Without
education, we don't gain the cards we need to ~lay
the game."
The Chicano Youth Conference is recognized as
one of the biggest one-day events in California,
according to Manuel Perez, Associate Dean for
University Access Programs.
The event is a brief introduction to college life, with
time for discussing what the students are feeling
and thinking.
4
·
Tuesday. February 19. 1991
La
Yoz de Aztlan
PQ ETR y
s
In Memory of
Onshore winds leaden by the fog,
a damp and chilling afternoon
in spring, and the monotony of a job;
I'm slowly becoming this place.
Rolling foothills busting with green
have a new flowering yellow today,
the quail, the coyote, the wind calling me
from the nearby stream like a dream.
And the hollow-eyed owner in his pale
hand
holds a pocketbook and smiles at us
it's a good crop this year.
'
And we: the chorus of Mexican workers
in sync
keep striking down the weeds, row after
row,
Our weather-beaten faces wrapped
in red bandannas because the lettuce
needs
picking. Backs bent, faces to the ground,
eyes focused on the hoe, mouths shut,
we'll keep chopping away all day
with the bitter taste of sulfer
in the air we breath.
Julio Leal
•••••
TO A HOMEBOY READY TO DANCE
You're ready to dance
you say?
I believe you;
homeboy. you,
running from la Llorona
to some cantina on a back road
off old 99.
unaware or just afraid of the dance floor.
Mama told you to stay away
from places like that,
where serpents
dance some kind of seductive
jarabe with their split tongues.
Viejas sin verguensa, your mamita used to say.
You always seemed to have your glass
still full whenever a ranchera came your way.
Stumped on your stool
with thoughts,
thoughts of:
singing to your people,
the taste of salt in your beer,
, and those chingasos with the
childhood landlords.
TOSTADAS AT NOON
In the freespeech area
near the fountain
on a table
taken from class
Teresa scoops beans
Hector chops lettuce.
While the cowboy preaches
Blondes soak
in sun
redwbtteandblue
sunglasses sparkle
and Veronica gives
change back
to a student
who knows nothing
delAztldn
that melts in his mouth.
While Chicanos choose
education and get Iraq
While Australian aborigines bleed
While diego pushes
pedro back
across the border
While cancer kills
Willy's chapara
While white sun slaps
the backs
of Blacks
In Africa
and America
While bombs blowout
the Brown desert
While Carlos is wiped like cheery
jello off the hull of an aircraft
and Calvin gets in
While Nicaragua chokes
on democracy dollars
and CNN
Anita fries the tortillas
in grease
In the freespeech area at noon.
Students active picture
a banquet
big with bignames
of the HisPanic community,
Sponsored by a tortilla company and
coors beer.
Daniel Chacon
Dreams of the Yerba Buena
your abuelita doesn't show you.
Yeah. The kind you don't grow in
.front of I.he house,
but it cures just the
same. Images
of smokey spirits
playing tag
with the cracks of the walls
of your apartment or
your head,
and doing all kinds of other
crazy shit. And those
cucarachas, laughing
because they stole the halos.
And now you have to answer to pissed off
angels late for their part in fucked up poems
-like this one.
homeboy, I remember you
carrying death in your pocket,
a little here and there to keep you going.
Scaring off the girls
because you'd have too much,
making a bulge in your pants.
Like some kind of Necroooo philiac
untitled.
standing alone in cold
exposed
the chilly night
air
blows on my face
tingles the tips
of my ears
awakening my senses
stirring
feelings
of
despair
Lucia Sanchez
••••
calle baghdad
dos vatos on the calle,
single file, filtering through
a tirade of laughing spirits.
an old woman
on the roadside mourning
at the cross of her son,
killed twenty years before
by vc or perhaps usa.
dos vatos on the calle,
single file, filtering through
a tirade of screaming spirits
grasping sickles.
starving dogs fighting
in the yard that used to be
cheo's, fighting over a used
chicken mole bone and children
laugh at the skinny spectacle.
dos vatos on the calle
that turns to sand,
guns in their hands.
spirits tickle spines, and in fresno
the carpenter is making their
crosses while mothers cry
in the fields.
Andres Montoya
--
And now you're there.
Ready for Saturday's Quinceafiera.
Anticipating to be crowned
Prince of the Rainbow Ballroom.
AJUWA!
Esta listo para bailar.
My homeboy is ready to dance.
V. Canales
Submit your poetry to 11t::1 Voz:
do i>octry Editor" in: th\;')>,
Colk·gian . Everyone \,·c~corne.
Please include name and rhone
number.
By Cristina Medina
La Vaz Staff Writer
As a firm believer in Murphy's
Law, Educational Opportunity
Program (EOP) director Robert
Hernandez believes that whatever is bound to go wrong, will
go wrong if one is not careful.
"H anything can go wrong, it
will. But It's my job as the director to correct it as soon as possible. In my experience, I have
learned to expect the unexpected," said Hernandez.
Hernandez, who has been associated with the EOP for more
than 20 years, was among the
first students to come to California State University, Fresno
through the program in 1969.
"I was a transfer student from
Reedly College. I remember the
first person I met was Catherine
Panas, who was the director at
that time. She had ah office In
the library, I remember going
over there all perdldos (lost)
thinking 'EOP, what is It?' said
6
LaVozdcAztt1.n
Tuc.-,tLty. February 19. 1991
Hernandez. "lthoughtEOPwas
money. AlotofpeoplethinkEOP
Is just money. Financial Aid is
money, but they some how
was when the program was first
getting underway on campus."
With the arrival of the EOP
program and the first wave of
hundred students and EOP
started to make a change in
terms of the campus community. You were starting to see
more black
and brown
faces who
w e re n 't
here primarily for
sports."
The early
years of
EOP, according to
H e rn a n dez, were
not easy.
The welco me mat
for minority
students
was
not
easily put
out. The
presence of studentsofcoloron
campus was being questioned
by s'ome.
"In some Ways we~ felt wel-
EOP director
strong believer in
Murphy's Law
equatethetwo. lfigured I needed
money and help once I got here,
so I went over there to get my
application papers to apply. That
students, came a new perspective of what the college campus
would be like in years to come.
"There we were, a couple of
...
L..
,l
.
'
corned, but there were a lot of
ways we did not feel welcomed.
There were faculty that felt that
bringing in minority students
would lower standards. There
were professors on campus that
believed and said publicly that
minorities were inferior. There
still are people out there that
think that way. Perhaps fewer
now, because in the late sixties
they were more vocal about it."
With racial tension persistent
on campus, Hernandez admits
that it was a "difficulttime"to be
a student.
"You got a lot of mixed messages. You had people who
cared and wanted you here and
you had a lot of others who didn't
feel you belonged here. As a
result you banded together," he
said, "In some cases you were
almost afraid to be seen with a
white person. Others might tell
you that you were an oreo or a
coconut because you were mixing elbows with the enemy. I
think it was uncomfortable for a
~I I
f
"
l
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . . ; . ........;;.,-.
-
As part of a guest lecture during Dr. Bob Fisher' s sociology class, Eve Scarfe from Peace Brigade
International spoke about her experiences as a "human shield" in El Salvador. Scarfe spent almost two
years shadowing dissidents and monitoring demonstrations in the hope that her presence would prevent
government forces from killing farm workers, women, Christians and union members.
El Salvador Project
Volunteering in Central America
In EJ Salvador. PBJ began iis presence in June.
1987 at the invitation of Lutheran Bishop Mcdardo
GomcL The.PSI team m El Salvador has developed
three .-cas or wort: to promoce dwoguc and ncgoliation as means 10 solve Salvadoran conll,c11, particularly the wsr, co offct a procective presence to
nonviolent communities., activ1SlS and organu.atJOns
thrc.atcned with violcnct, and l0 faciluatc. educational workshops to teachers, studcnlS and parcnu
on nonviolent connic1 resolution.
PBI volunicers come from many different countries, t>¥kgrounds, and philosophical and religious
pcrspcctivcs. What they share is a strongc.ommianen1
to nonviolence and a belief in the power of the Ccnual
Amencan people 10 create a more peaceful and JUSt
neg~~-:.:1~:~~~:~~ ~
unlCCl'S gave to Archbishop Rivt12 y Damas' initiauvc for a ·National Debate~ in 1988, which
brought together dou:ns of national social
organil..aliO'ls and calls for a ncgotiaied scaJcmem
of the war. As imponant hu been the PSI team's
comfflltrncnt lO stand with Salvadoran groups lhat
seek 10u.ercisc their rights to organize and be heard
PSI .alunlttn ond Police outside tltt CRIPDES off1€t
~~~~.'\~::::~c:![y~;:j::,,,~
to broadcast v10lcnt incKlcnts or unwarranted
dc&entions co the intcmallOnU community.
Groups and tndividu.als that the PSI team has
accompanied i,.:ludc. the ClvistionCommittu o/tN
Disp/o<d. (CR/fDES), lht Nali.OMJ Unity of Sal·
wdora11 WorUrs (UNTS), thit mothitrs of tN dis·
appurcd, 11n indigenous peopk'sc:oopcrltive in the
province of Sonsonalc. ,cvcral villages settled by
roccntly n:wmcd refugoos and B;.J,op McQrdo
Gomez since numerous tJreau to his life began in
Dcambcr, 1988. POI volunleUS have also been
asked to be observers at demonstrations and strikes.
Other Central America Work
In Costa Rica, PBI has worked wuh the United
Nations University for Peace to develop and
impkmcntmodels for training in nonviolcntconnic1
resolution, effective group process and negotiation
skills. In 1988 PSI organLUd lhcfirstconrercnccon
Nonviolenl Socia.I Defense in Nicaragt.a, bringing
together cxpens in I.he field from various countries
around lhc workt l0 meet and suategiz.c. with Nicarquan community leaders.
BRIGADES
INTERNATIONAL
;,. Sa11 Sa/WUUJr, 1/tortly bt/ore tlte Pollcc tnlLrcd aNI
arnucd aU tlto~ i#WM.
Here's how you can help:
_
~~~1~~=~-;c:,rr:=
individuals not as pa,ticipanlS in Salvadorans'
society.
Polcnual volunteerS must speak Spanish, be at
least 25 years, and be willing to make a least a six
month commitment (The Guatemala team is currently
ac:ccpting some shoncr·I.Cmt volunteerS). Volunteer
lr:linings arc held twice a year. Applications are
available from: PSI, 33 CentraJ Ave., Albany, NY
12210, or from the Toronto office. There is a SlO
application rec.
PEACE
tttttttttttt
Peace Brigades Organizing in the U.S.
Since PBI swu:d in Cenb"a! America, team
mcmbcn: have been rctuminJ LO stwc lhcir firsthand impressions with families, friends and communities. Many have continued to volunleer with
PSI LO develop support wotk here 11. home.
In June 1988, a flckS office was opened in
Albany, NY to coonhnai.c recruilment and training
of volunlCCl'S and operation of the ERN. Oriencation
and training sessions take place on bcxh coesu.
Small groups of retwncd voluntecn and suppon.crs
~u:!v:!~~°fn~':~~e~
Yort. Speaking LOW'S to other regions an: also
underway. To get involved in support for PBI hete
Ul the U.S. contact PBI, 33 Central Avt.,Albany,
NY 12210. (518)'34-<037.
#tttttttttt
Enclosed is my tax-dedoctible comribution
or S ~ send me information about voluntter
service in Guatemala and El Salvador.
_Addmctoyourmailinglist,and_l'd
like to be a pan or your Emergency Response
Network (ERN).
J want tosubscribctoPSl'smonthly repons
frtimGuatcmalaand El Salvador. Icnclose_for
a subscription ($15-20 suggested.)
Name_ _ _ _ _ _ __
Phone,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Clip aod mail to:
Peace Brigades I.Dtuutioaal
Box 1233, Harvard Sq.
Cambridge, MA 02238 USA
Tel: 617491-4226
In Canada:
Pu« Bripdes lnttmational
1!>3 Yongt St. #S02
Toronro, Onlario, M58 1M8
Ttl: 416-594-0429
Central America
Projects
Practical Experiments
in Peacemaking
ct o u~ .._-
., ,
,
1""
,.., ~. "'
With .the Vietnam Warcreat• ,
ing a growing anti-war movement, consc1enceness of war
and other ssues were being
played out at thrs time. Hernandez recalls the feel of the campus at that time.
"There were a 1ot of demonstrations and pleitos (disputes)
going on on that year 11969).
The war and the actions of the
farm workers who were struggling for recogn ition from being
widley exploited in the valley
banded us togetner," tie said. 'A
lot of the stuff came out of BaKer
Hall. That was where we had a
lot of our meetings. A lot of the
protests originated there. Whenever there was some p1eito on
campus. the saftey zone for us
was Baker Hall. They were afraid
to let us use Baker Hall for about
ten years after that."
Hernandez was hi red as
Associate Director vf the program after graduating in 1 971
with a deqree in Heaith Science
After a sanes of unsuccessful
attempts ·o fil l 1he position
Manue1Perez was hired earlier
that year as Director of EOP. He
is currently Assistant Dean of
Students. ldemande.z recalled
some of the aifficulties upon
starting with EOP.
"There were only two staff
members at that time, so they
called us both assistant directors when in fact we were mostly
counselors. Manuel Perez was
the director, Ernie Shelton and I
were assistant directors and we
had a secretary," he said, "I
remember we wanted to hire
certain students to work as student advisors. We had to go to
the Dean of Students office. The
dean at the time was Dr. David
Bell. We went over there and
had to give them a list of the
people we wanted to hire They
pulled out police pictures from
demonstrations from the years
before. They had pictures circled
of some of the same pople we
wanted to hire. We had to give
them justification of why we
wanted to hire these persons. It
was really interesting at that
time."
Tuesday. Fchruary 19. 1991
Selection:
Contln~es from page 1
The search committee has already selected five presidential
candldat% from the Initial pool of
applicants. Now, without explanation, they have extended the application deadline until March 8. The
new applications will be carried
through the entire review process
and the finalists from that group
will be blended with the first group
of finalists.
In the Feb. 15 memo, Bagdasarian said the search committee
planned to reannounce the presidential opening In the Chronicle of
Higher Education and to "college
,nd university executives solicit-
La
Voz de Aztlan
ing their interest."
Bagdasarian has refused further comment about the search
process and the addition of
Pesqueira or Lopez.
Don Daves, president of the
CSUF Associated Students Inc.,
Is the only student on the search
committee and was one of the
members asked to resign.
Several members of CSUF
Movlmlento Estudlantil Chicano de
Aztlar:1 (MEChA) attended the Feb.
13 meeting of the search committee In Long Beach where they
asked Daves, Pesqueira and
Lopez to resign from the search.
Daves said on Feb. 17 that he
was not resigning from the search
committee and would not comment further on the search.
Chicanos:
•Continued from Page 2
Judases are everywhere.
Hope, Hope. yes there Is still
hope. As Chicanos, the Burden to
fight the battle falls once again on
us. We must protect the future for
our own brothers and sisters who
are still in high school, who are stlll
in barrios, who are still intheflelds.
We have an obligation to fight
against those who would keep us
down. We must once again tum to
ourselves for the institution of justice. I Implore all who are concerned about justice, about their
people, theirfamilies,goto MEChA
meetings, to go to the Chicano and
Latin American studies department, to go to those who are already fighting, and find out what
we must do.
Veterano:
• Continued from Page 3
In this type of warfare, Fernandez said, it is difficult to distinguish
the enemy from the ally. Many of
the U.S. casualties were killed by
friendly fire. This, Fernandez said,
Is a large reason many veterans
are still suffering from the Vietnam
War. Negative public opinion of
the war also struck the soldiers
when they came home.
Fernadez said Immediate debriefing Is critical for every soldier.
Debriefing "Is essentailly a process where by you tell somebody
what you felt, why the bombs were
dropping, or while you were being
hit by the enemy or hitting the
•1 have my own opinion of what's
happening, but I don't think it would
be In the best interest of the entire
process If I were to comment on
that right now,• he said.
The committee contends that
those applicants who had been
tu med away during the first selection of semi-finalists will not reapply.
"They [the Initial presidential applicants] didn't have a fair review
process,• Floressald. "We'retrylng
to change the process not only at
Fresno State, but for the entire
CSU system,· said Flores. •we
think we will.■
Flores said the appointment of
Pesqueira and Lopez and the extension of the application deadline
were signs of pr~ress.
enemy,· said Fernandez.
The sooner a soldier Is debriefed, the better the soldier
will be at resuming their normal
life pattern, but Fernandez said
returning soldiers will never be
the same as they were before
being were called to duty.
Fernandez said It is Important that people In the United
States support the troops when
they come home. He said, if the
public targets the soldiers with
negative feelings about the war,
then many soldiers may suffer
some of the conditions similar
to those of PTSD.
"Ask them to tell about their
experience and to help them for
whatever need they have, to do
less than that is to began a long
process of them suffering,· said
Fernandez.
P.S. Fight The Powers ThatBei
Flag:
•continued from Paga 2
Skinhead groups who espouse white
power and domination in the United
States oftentimes wear flag patches on
their leather jackets, men who have
slaughtered our Asian and Latin American sisters and brothers in far-off lands
fly flags from their front porches, and
demonstrators, at the intersection on
Blackstone and Shaw avenues, wave
U.S. flags while proclaiming, "Burn our
flag and we'll smoke your turban," or
simply "Smoke a carnel."
"Love it or leave it," they say. These
racist sentiments, which are too often
the foundation for U.S. patriotism, are
what send chills down my spine and
make me sick.
My father knows my feelings against
the U.S. intervention in the Middle East
and about Yankee Imperialism in gen-
eral. A phone conversation he and I had
recently inspired him to send me a letter
with a drawing of a U.S. flag and a
peace symbol below it.
In the letter, he told me "Mijo, these
two symbols can and do go together
very well." My dad served in the Air
Force and stood proud in the face of
racial slurs from his commanding officers and fellow privates.
Yet, he is still a patriot. And like many
of our elders, he tells me there is a
different patriotism than the one practiced by those with the racist, pro-U.S.
slogans at Blackstone and Shaw avenues.
No te comprendo, papa.
The Fresno Bee and local TV news
stations should not make it a practice of
capitalizing on the war by selling U.S.
flags from their lobbies or by decorating
their sets and anchors with yellow ribbons. Today is a scary day - a day
when Big Brother feeds the media its
goop and the media gulps down with a
big smile.
7
"Too often, we've been confronted with racism and people
have just shrugged their shoul-
was the state's "token· appointment and that she wanted to see a
Latina or Latino from the San
Joaquin Valley appointed to the selecI have my own opinion, but I
tion committee.
don't think it would be in the
"What the hell does
best interest of the entire
he know about the
valley?• she said of
process if I were to comment
Pesqueira's appointon that right now.
ment. NowthatLopez,
a local person, has
Don Daves
been appointed,
Flores said the
ders and said, 'There's nothing we committee's aim Is unchanged.
can do:• Flores said th lngs are difThe committee Is organizing a
ferent now. "When you're organ- demonstration to be held at the
ized you can do great things.■
next meeting of the CSU Board of
Upon the announcement of the Trustees March 12 In Long Beach.
appointment of Pesqueira, MEChA
chair Irma Serrano said Pesqueira
Alegria:
.Continued from Page 1
much against this war, which I
do not understand. It's madness,
but we're used to living with madness. But the century Is coming to
a close and beginning a riew century with violence and war Is a
horrible thought,• said Alegria.
Alegria went on to tell the
audience how he came about to
writing his book.
"The book is a result of a
unique experience that I had the military coup that caused the
death of President Allende one
11th of September 1973. It
happened at the moment when I
had just arrived In Chile. ■
Alegria spoke about his close
friendship with Allende and how
the president asked him to write
his biography. Because of this,
Alegria said, he went to Chile
one week before the coup to
gather information for the
biography on Allende.
"I wrote my book on A:iende,
"Mi Vecino, El Preslden~e.• and
then it was presented In Chile
during the days of the election,
December 1989; and I had by
my side Mrs. Allende and some
other friends who had been part
of the government of Salvador
Allende,· said Alegria.
Alegria read what he called a
ACROSS
1 Entreaties
6 Citizen of Rome
11 Herb of pea
family
12 Expunges
14 Printer's
measure
15 Expert
17 Saint: abbr.
18 Perform
20 Take unlawfully
21 Goddess of
mischief
22 Falsehoods
24 Household pet
l5 Distance
measure
26 Detective:
colloq .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 28 Banished from
one's country
30 Oolong
31 Limb
32 Sewing
implement
35 Guides
38 Monster
39 Snare
41 Break suddenly
42 Greek island
43 Strip of leather
45 Cravat
46 Spanish for
"yes"
47 Confined
49 Compass point
50 Book of Old
Testament
52 Joined
54 Subject of
discourse
55 Small stoves
DOWN
preview of his book to the
audience. He presented his
reading as a tribute to the CLS
professors and to the community
of the university.
In his book, Allende writes
about how one day he was at his
office when a young woman
came In and asked to see him.
She explained how she and her
co-workers wanted to contribute
one day's wages to his candidacy, according to Alegria.
She told him that she worked
at a house and that the contribution had to be picked up there. It
was then that Allende realized
that the young woman was a
prostitute. Knowing that If his
opponent got wind of this It
would cost him the election, he
still agreed to go and accept the
contribution.
His book captures the essence
of Allende who was known as
the martyr president of Chile.
Alegria has done what few
authors have been able to do.
He has shown his audience the
type of man that Allende was.
•1 feel proud to be on this
stage this evening with Dr.
Fernando Alegria,• said Herrera.
Furthermore Herrera called the
evening, "Un momento de famllia
ycorazones.•
The translated version of
Alegria's book will be available In
the fall of 1991. It is being
published by Stanford University
Press.
The
Weekly
Cr □ ssw □ rd
Puzzle
5Sew
6 Tell
7 City in Russia
8 Insane
9 Equally
10 Cuddle up
11 Tolls
13 Spirited horse
16 Meadow
19 Seesaws
21 Bodily infirmity
23 Tanned skin
25 Soils with mud
27 Hindu cymbal
~ ~1--1 29 Indian memorial
post
1 Writing
implement
2 Note of scale
3 Abstract being
4 Diving birds
~+---t---t--1
~~ ~:I-centered
person
34 All
35 Sculptured
likeness
36 Lifts
37 Haste
40 Sea eagle
~~~ 43 Stalk
44 Shut up
47 That woman
48 Noise
51 Symbol for
thorium
53 Symbol for
tantalum
COUfGE PIIESS SEl!Vla
see Page
a, for solution
Tuesday, February 19. 1991
Munoz:
•Continued from Page 2
As the father of an 18-year-old infantryman on active duty with the U.S Army, I get
chills up my spine knowing that he may also
experience the horrors of war, and worse,
that he may also be one of war's casualties.
We've had heart-to-heart talks since he
joined the Army a few months ago. He is
proud to be serving his country like his uncle
and I did. He is aware that our people have
contributed to the building of this nation as
workers and have fought in every major
U.S. war with courage and loyalty. He has
decided to go to the Persian Gulf if he is
orderedtogo. Buthehopeshewon'tbe. He
La
Voz de Aztlan
does not want to die.
If war does break out, the Latino casualty
rate will once again be disproportlnately
higher: Estimates are that from 36 to 40
percent of combat troops in the Persian Gulf
are Latinos. I think it tragic that Latino men
and women are once again putting their
lives on the line when many of their families
swell the ranks of the poor back home.
Today, 5.5 million Latinos are also overrepresented among the unemployed, in this
country's vast pool of cheap labor and in the
prisons, while they are underrepresented in
institutions of higher education.
President Bush should know that although
my son and other Latino soldiers are prepared to die for our country, many of us are
an important part of the anti-war and peace
8
movement that is spreading like wildfire
across college campuses and among grassroots of America.
Afte rthe deployment of U.S. troops in the
Persian Gulf, over5,000 Latinos commemorated in East Los Angeles the 20th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium against the
Vietnam War. The message was loud and
clear: They don't want Latino soldiers to die
in Kuwait so that multinational corporations
can maintain control over oil resources and
profits.
They do not think it is fair that there are
more Latino than Kuwaiti soldiers prepared
to recover the oil fields of Kuwait; that there
are no soldiers from many oil-consuming
countries; or that Latinos may die to preserve an outdated monarchy that has no
comrr,itment to democratic values.
Latinos, especially veterans, know the
wartime sacrifice of our youth has never
resulted in peace-time social justice and
equality for the majority of our people.
We demand that President Bush acknowledge the wishes of the majority of the American people for a peaceful resolution of the
Persian Gulf crisis.
Carlos Mufloz Jr. , award winning author
of "Youth, Identity, Power: The Chicano
Movement", is an associate professor of
ethnic studies at the University of California
at Berkeley.
Video:
,
•Continued from Page 3
no matter how you slice it. We use
a lot ot hertechniques in ourCrossCultL1ra1 Student Leadership retre...•
Tn s v deoconference 1s part ot
a fiv •Part sanes that Black Issues
and 1ghe· Education magazine is
putti g out The first videoconference ~ as held last November.
Chicana
• Continued from page
up to a greater light something many cultures
take for granted even today.
The numbers on this
campus may be in small, but
what l have seen in the
quality i3 a great force of my
female : ounterpart" doing
and learning and struggling to
become educated.
Move on Chicana. My heart
is with your struggle always.
PUZZLE SOLUTION
, .
p
E
A.
requests your support it
A
SPECIAL Fr.lNDRAISER
Friday
February 22, 1991
5:00 pm to 9:00 pm
3646 W. Spruce Avenue
C,1 l'Udlnl:a nortl'lr:,/#Nrnt.fon.Auir. Co wal on H9'ndcn. about~ m&u putBbdl:ltlN.
n.nnonhon \Wa\tt'W IOSp\a. lhen.l(,N
~
$3.00
Student,
.6.00
General
Support the committee as It addresses the Issue ol
the CSU, Fresno presldcnt!al search and the lack of
Hispanic Involvement and candidates In this process.
1becommJtteela a coalition of CSU, FresnoCaculty. ataffand atudentamd
community memben cori<:<med about the CSU oyotem·• pn,c:odara,
to the prutckntlal oear<h p....- at CSUF.
..-.,t
Josie Ochoa, a secretary for University Outreach Services, will be leaving for the Persian Gulf as soon
as they call her troop in. Ochoa's husband believes she should be exempt from service so that she can
continue to care for their 10-year-old son.
Pleue Joln ua In Chia endeavor to ensure that educaUonal pJDI b'
HlOpanl<:a at the
Tlcketa an Pallable b7 caJIIDC: 278-2848,
PooltlODI may be; KPt te·
The Committee r..- HJopanlc EducaUonal Equity
• P.O. ec. 25821 • P'reeao. Callfonu • 9S72'1 •
C:IOlt4»-l512
11
)
Volume XXIII
Issue No.1
Tuesday February 19, 1991
Lavoz de Aztlan __
._
Group wan s
presidential
earch to ped
By Chnstooher Heredia
La Voz Staff Writer
As far as the Committee for
Hispanic Educational Equity is concerned, the fight to stop the CSUF
presidential search has only begun.
In addition to demanding that
the entire search be aborted,
members of the committee have
asked three members of the Presidential Selection Advisory Committee to resign from their posts.
Meanwhile members of the
search committee are remaining
quiet about the process and the
hasty addition of two Latinos to the
committee.
In a Feb. 13 memorandum to
the CSUF community, Marian
Bagdasarian, chair of the presidential search committee, said
"The addition of [CSU] Trustee
[Ralph] Pesquefra and Dr. [Manual] Lopez will benefit the Committee and the campus."
"That's what they should have
had from the beginning," said William Flores, chair of the Committee for Hispanic Educational Equity. "We think the whole process
,..........
In memory
stinks."
F'ores, who is also chair of the
CSUF Chicano and Latin Amencan studies department, said the
committee is attacking the search
from two angles - through the
CSU trustees and through the state
Legislature.
The committee has already had
two victories with the appointment
of Pesqueira and Lopez, a dentist
from Hanford who has served on
the CSUF Foundation Board of
Governors since 1986.
"Obviously we've made some
unprecedented gains. Thefactthat
they've given in doesn't reflect their
weakness. It reflects the power of
Chicanos statewide," said Flores.
The committee h<;is charged that
the search process has been
''tainted" from the start because
the search committee failed to
recruit Latinos to the search committee from the onset and because
one applicant for the CSUF president position, Tomas Arciniega,
did not make the first round offinalists. Arciniega is the president of
California State University, Bakersfield.
oee SELECTION, Page 7
MELDA bOOtn ·
destroyed in
dump area
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
someone had taken a
sledgehammer to the
booth.
The MEChA booth that norDave Hernandez of Plant
mally stands in the Free ·. Operationssaidtheymoy~
Speech area :was. removed the booths out JoJhe ag
are/ not re- ,
tfg)n ··ttie (Fre.!'.
and . destroyed 9ver winter\ area if they
• bre~~- . >. . ·•·•·········•··. // : t t mov.~d
•. ,· The de'.$Jrucupn ot •t'1e (Speech ateaafthebegin;+
One week before his , ieath, President Allende called Dr. Fernando Alegria
to write his biograp1::'y.
Writer pays tribute to friend
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
Fernando Alegria, who was a close friend of former Chilean President Salvador Allende, spoke
on campus Feb. 15, about the novel he wrote about the president.
Alegrla's novel, "Mi Vecino, El Presldente" (My Neighbor, The Presld&nt) Is being translated Into
English and his visit to campus was arranged to celebrate the translated version.
President Allende asked Alegria to write his biography, but such would not be the case, for on a
fateful day In 1973, President Allende was assassinated In the presidential palace and the military
coup began. And so, Alegria would write his book as a tribute to his fallen friend and to the
memory of what he stood for.
The lecture, which included CLS professors Lea Ybarra, Manuel Figueroa and Juan Felipe
Herrera, was titled "The Era of Change, Idealism and Despair" and was sponsored by the Chicano
and Latin American studies department and the School of Social Sciences.
Herrera, Ybarra, and Figueroa spoke about the struggles of Chicanos and Latinos In the United
States and how they related to the struggles of Latinos In Chile and throughout the world.
Alegria opened his lecture with a comment on the current situation In the Persian Gulf. "I'm very
see ALEGRIA, Page 7
Tuesday. February 19. 1991
La
Vaz de Aztlan
2
ED ITO RIAL
No Chicano president here
.
By Andres Montoya
■·resno
State is look- kens from San Diego and Haning for a new presi- ford to the committee.
dent. Yes, Harry
This they said (the whites
Haak is leaving! Just that is) will bring equity to the
think, with all the qualified Chi- search. Yes, I thought whel) I
canos around who applied for heard of these actions, this
this position - like Tomas might possibly make the search
Arciniega, president of CSU, equitable; however, the comBakersfield - we might actually have a chance of having a
Chicano president for CSU,
Fresno.
Yeah, right, dream on, suckers. I know, I know, the posibilitythat Chicanos might actually
be represented here at CSUF
in a search for a new president
is feasible considering our
population -40 percent in the
community and 20 percent on
campus.
But nooooooooool No way,
say the powers that be. And
yes, these powers be whites in mittee went ahead and started
interviewingtheirfirst picks, the
the CSU system.
semi-finalists,
to narrow them
Not only were no Chicanos
included in the search commit- down to three.
tee, but no Chicanos, evsn
And yes, of course they did
though qualified, were selected this before the extended search
as semi-finalists. OK, OK. It is was even started. At best we
true that once our community will get Chicanos to be interleaders put pressure on these viewed as a symbol of equity
white powers that be, they did and then they will go and pick
agree to extend the search, their first choice, and at worst
and they even appointed to- this will discourage Chicanos
from applying in the extended
tokkkenisticsearch. Ultimately,
though, they will pick who they
would have picked if the Chicanos had not started raising their
heads.
·
Two weeks ago, I still had
hope. Yes, ASI President Don
Not only were no Chicanos included in the
search committee, but no
Chicanos, even though
qualified, were selected
as semi- finalist.
Daves is on this search committee. The same Don Daves
that said in the elections of a
yearagothathesupportedthe
Chicanos . So, we, some
MEChistas, went down to Long
Beach where the semi-finalists
were being interviewed to
speak to Mr. Daves.
Our Savior, however, turned
out to be our Judas. Yes, Judas. As in Judas Iscariot, the
betrayer of Christ. Please Don,
we begged. Please, we ask
you to resign in protest, to
support the Chicanos that you
so vehemently say you represent: But Mr. Daves simply said
that it was not in his interest to
resign. Not in His Interest! Well
thanks for the Bullshit, Mr.
Daves. Thanks a lot.
Hope in the system still remained, however, since Ms.
Karen Cogley, past MEChA
chair and former ASI president,
is or was the ASI representative to the California State Students Association-our representative to the state association for students. Surely she
would try to pass a statewide
resolution supporting her supposed brothers and sisters.
But nooooooooo way Ho
zaaaaay, she said. But maybe
it's not in tier interest to support
us, to support herself, her supposed people. She who has
called so many sellout, has
finally openly and publically·
declared that she used the
Chicanos, manipulated them
for her interest, and when their
interest comes into conflict with
t:ers, the Chicanos lose. The
Recognize
la Chicana
By Joe M. Torres
La amiga, una persona, La
Chicana. Chicanos usually
refer to themselves as a part
of a greater body. Terms like
"Chicano power" and "Aztlan"
have become widespread
and-influential in the desire
for our people to move
forward.
Yet we must recognize La
Chicana not just as an embodiment of equality but as
the leaders of our conquest.
"La Chicana" is a hero of the
freedoms - freedoms we
continually deny even our
~wn female culture.
It is frnportant for the
,'.;hicano male to look at
Chicanas not as the tortilla
cookers or as the house
cleaners or child rearers, but
as the bosses of the "La
Raza." Their ability to maintain their independence and
resourcefulness comes from
within their own selves.
The time has come for us,
as Chicano males, to extend
not only the hands of equality
see CHICANOS, Page 7 ro Chicanas, but to hold them
See CHICANA Page 8
Media has swallowed U.S. millitary bait.
By Christopher Heredia
In my lifetime, the U.S. military has never been so popular, or rather it hasn't en- ·
joyed the media coverage it is swimtr1irl£ in right now.
I thought The Fresno Bee was the only newspaper that advertised headlines like
"It's War." However, I found the same posters on the Los Angeles Times newspaper racks in Los Angeles last weekend. (If people of color got this much news
coverage, maybe racism would die. Hmm ... )
The daily doses of U.S. flags and yellow ribbons in the news has taken its toll
on me, culminating with the Feb. 15 Tempo section cover in The Fresno Bee.
"Flags Unfurled; Old Glory deserves pro~r respect" was the headline splashed
over the Tempo section Friday.
I've been concerned that The Bee, thus far in the war, has done more than its
share of propagandizing the war and advocating on behalf of the U.S. military
effort in the Gulf, butthis headline and presentation convinced me that Fresno Bee
readers are not getting their helping of the other side, the voices who oppose the
U.S. intervention.
Local TV stations like Channel 24 have also been capitalizing on the war with
their yellow ribbon campaigns.
In Friday's Bee, the feature staff explained how to display the U.S. flag properly
and how to respect it. Earlier in the week, The Bee inserted a paper Old Glory for
each of its readers that day.
In elementary school, I was taught the Pledge of Allegiance. Saluting the flag
was as normal a part of my day as were mid-day naps and snacks of juice and
graham crackers.
But in recent years, I have seen the United States, under a flowing flag, oppress
peoples in other countries and at home. The flag, to me, represents Racism, Arrogance and Violence.
see FLAG, Page 7
War equals Latino
deaths
Virginia Adame - Assistant
By Carlos Munoz Jr.
Editor
Christopher Heredia - Copy
Editor
Staff Write rs:
Cristina Medina
Joe M. Torres
Virginia Madrid
Erik Vallejo - Cartoonist
Andres Montoya - Columnist
Daniel Chacon - Poetry Editor
La Voz de Aztlan is published
monthly.
Any comments please write to
VozdeAztlan
MS #42 Keats Campus
Building, Fresno, CA. 93740
•ta
As a Latino Vietnam War-era veteran, who paid
homage on Veterans Day to my comrades who died in
Indochina, I am angered that once again Latinos may
die in an unnecesary war. We were overrepresented in
combat units and in the front lines in Vietnam, and we
suffered 20 percent of the casualties though we were
less than 5 percent of the U.S. population.
From those comrades and friends who were fortunate to return home alive from the trenches, I know
how vivid the horrors of war are implanted in their
memories. They were part of the 33 percent of Latino
veterans who came home wounded, some without
eyes, arms or legs. Others came home with deep psychological and emotional scars.
Some 27 percent of the 470,000 veterans who suffer
from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are Latinos, according to a study of Vietnam comba1 veterans by the
Research Triangle Institute. Still others are suffering
from the effects of Agent Orange. Vietnam will be a
nightmare the rest of their lives. see MUAOZ, Page a
Tuesday. February 19. 1991
La
Voz de Aztlan
3
MEChA brings students
together
UCLA [University of California at
Los Angeles) campus there were
less than 40 Latinos enrolled out
of a total enrollment of about
El Movlmiento Estudiantll Chi30,000," said Flores.
cano de Aztlan, or MEChA as it Is
In 1969, a statewide confermore commonly known, is a vital
ence of educators was held to
asset for Chicano and Latino studiscuss the needs for higher edudents on college campuses statecation. At this conference El Plan
wide.
de Santa Barbara was estabMEChA, which also means
lished. El Plan de Santa Barbara
spark, was the driving force that
called for the establishing of Chihelped Latino and Chicano stucano studies and for one single
dents gain entry to college camChicano organization. As a result
puses.
MEChA was born. MEChA
"MEChA got its beginnings as a
adopted the logo of an eagle carresult of the Chicano student moverying a fuse.
ment of the mid-1960s. Students
The main purpose of MECh A is
began demanding more minority
to bring Chicano students together
students on campuses, including
as a show of pr!de, ~o or~aril~e for
Chicano and Latino students," said
common actions, sucH as rallies
William Flores, chair of the CSUF
Chicano.and Latin Americtm stud- , and student strikes. Another purpose of ME Ch A is to get more
ies departrtnrnt. I I - r
Chicanos on to college campuses
"For example, in 1966 on the
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
and to help get them financial
aid.
As a result of MEChA's actions, said Flores, the enrollment of Chicanos and Latinos
at the UCLA campus went from
about 30 to about 1,000 in the
few years following 1966.
MEChA will hold its statewide
conference at CSUF the weekend of April 26-28. The conference is expected to draw about
500 people from all over the
state including people from UC,
the California State University
system and students from some
private universities.
Matthew Polanco, a CSUF
MEChista, said the decision to
hold the statewide conference
on the CSUF campus came at a
meeting of MEChAs from
throughout the state. Two
MEChAs voted on having the
statewide conference on the CSUF
campus. Ironically CSUF was not
at this meeting, but accepted the
invitation to hold the conference
here.
Polanco said, "It's good that it Is
being held here, especially since It
hasn't been held here for a while.
We're one of the hot spots of racial
incidents right now."
In preparation forthe conference,
Flores is teaching a one-unit Saturday course titled "MEChA Statewide.· The course will be taught
April 13 and April 20.
Students will learn some of the
history of MEChA and they will
also be asked to volunteer to work
oo the conference. The last day to
registerforSaturdayclasses is Feb.
25. For more information, stop by
the CLS office in the Social Sciences building, Room 211.
Veterans
get help.
By Joe M. Torres
La Voz Staff Writer
The Vietnam Veterans Center
in downtown Fresno provides military veterans, who served during
the Vietnam War, support and
mental health services.
Veterans of the Vietnam wardid
not receive such service until many
years after the conclusion of the•
war, said Obed Fernandez, director of the center. Many soldiers
who faced life-threatening situations in combat during the Vietnam War developed Post Traumatic Str~ss'{)lsordef (PTSD •.
Fernandez said soldiers suffering from PTSD must deal with the
effects of combat situations from
their experience in Vietnam. The
center provides services ranging
from combating PTSD to employment assistance and help with
collecting military benefits.
Fernandez, who served as a
medical corpman in Vietnam from
1970 to 1971 with the 7th anc: eth
Field Artillery, said Vietnam War
vete rans have typica lly gone
through several stages of regret,
depression. Isolat1on and rage.
'Manyveterans F-ernandezsaid,
also avoid thIerfeelinps and fUtiar
guilt because tney urvived t &
war.
"Vietnam Veteran s have a lot of
sleep disturbances snd mtrusr,e
thoughts " he sala. The sound ot a
tielicopter or particular kind
weather reminds. many Vietnam
veterans ot combat experiences.
Unlike the war in the Persian
Gulf, wnich the United States tias
supplied with a totally volunteer
force, the VietnamWarwasfought
with a limited volunteer force md
requ irea a arge amount nf drartees. During this time, in the mI0-to
late-'60s anyonewhodroooedcut
of high school and who 'llasn't
married was subject for draft "lnd
poi;s1ble combat in ✓ietn am.
Chicanos who were a large r-art
of the poor and uneoucated poou!ation at the time 01 he war were
drawn heavily into service. ernandez said Chicano soldiers s• 1ffered the most from PTSD during
the Vietnam War and were 20
percent of the war casualties during the Vietnam era.
Chlcanoswereonly5percent of
the U.S. population during the time
of the Vietnam war. Now in the
Persian Gulf War, while the numberof Chicanos in the United State's
is 8 percent of the total population,
Chicanos are 30 percent of the
armed forces in the Middle East.
Fernandez said if a draft occurs,
the type of people who will be
drafted will be mainly poor and
uneducated people. Presently, you
must have a high school education
to be drafted should there be a
draft.
"Should there be a draft, the requiremenu.for the military will be
that you are a high school graduate and it would be interesting to
see, if the draft starts, if they would
drop that requirement,· said Fernandez.
The high level of casuaties in Vietnam, Fernandez said, mainly
resulted from the soldiers inexperience with combat, especially
slncefewofthemhadbeentrained
in guerilla warfare.
'J!
Poet Juan Felipe Herrera read one of his poems to the public during a faculty silent vigil at the free
speech area.
Students find solutions to racial
problems with video
By Virginia Adame
La Voz Staff Writer
The recent rise in racial Incidents on
college campuses throughoutthe United
States has shocked many students and
educators into focusing on finding answers to this problem.
''The Rise in Campus Racism: Causes
and Solutions," a videoconference will
be shown live, via satellite Feb. 20inthe
Alice Peters auditorium from 1Oa.m. to
noon. The program's subject will include the causes of racism and how
demographics affect it. The program is
geared to offer discussion, analysis and
solutions to racism on campus.
Walter Robinson, CSUF Human Relations Coordinator, said this will be an
interactive vldeoconference.
"This means that there will be presentations made by the various panel of
experts and when they are done there
will an 800 number that will be availableforthe audience who will be across
the nation to call in and ask questions,"
said Robinson.
Robinson said he hopes all members of the campus community will
attend the videoconference.
One of the scheduled panelists is
Michael Williams, assistant to the
secretary of the U.S. Department of
Education. Williams was a Bush
administration appointee who introduced the bill that supported
the idea of non-race designated
scholarships.
Williams' contends that scholarships should not be awarded
simply because of one's rac~.
Robinson, along with some of the
panelists he said, do not agree
with this notion.
Pointing to a pamphlet that
showed Lillian Roybal Rose, videoconference panelist, Robinson
emphasized, "This Chicana here
is the hottest trainer in the country
see VIDEO, Page 8
see VETERANO, Page 7
Tue,..,day. February 19. 1991
y
1 aVozdeAztlan
CHICANO
u
CONFERENCE
0
The 18th annual Chicano Youth Conference was
held successfully at CSUF on January 12, 1991.
This year's theme was "Defeat Ignorance Through
Education."
The conference drew about 1 ,600 high school
students from throughout the San Joaquin Valley.
According to Dr. Uvalda Palomares, keynote
speaker, the key to success is education. "Without
education, we don't gain the cards we need to ~lay
the game."
The Chicano Youth Conference is recognized as
one of the biggest one-day events in California,
according to Manuel Perez, Associate Dean for
University Access Programs.
The event is a brief introduction to college life, with
time for discussing what the students are feeling
and thinking.
4
·
Tuesday. February 19. 1991
La
Yoz de Aztlan
PQ ETR y
s
In Memory of
Onshore winds leaden by the fog,
a damp and chilling afternoon
in spring, and the monotony of a job;
I'm slowly becoming this place.
Rolling foothills busting with green
have a new flowering yellow today,
the quail, the coyote, the wind calling me
from the nearby stream like a dream.
And the hollow-eyed owner in his pale
hand
holds a pocketbook and smiles at us
it's a good crop this year.
'
And we: the chorus of Mexican workers
in sync
keep striking down the weeds, row after
row,
Our weather-beaten faces wrapped
in red bandannas because the lettuce
needs
picking. Backs bent, faces to the ground,
eyes focused on the hoe, mouths shut,
we'll keep chopping away all day
with the bitter taste of sulfer
in the air we breath.
Julio Leal
•••••
TO A HOMEBOY READY TO DANCE
You're ready to dance
you say?
I believe you;
homeboy. you,
running from la Llorona
to some cantina on a back road
off old 99.
unaware or just afraid of the dance floor.
Mama told you to stay away
from places like that,
where serpents
dance some kind of seductive
jarabe with their split tongues.
Viejas sin verguensa, your mamita used to say.
You always seemed to have your glass
still full whenever a ranchera came your way.
Stumped on your stool
with thoughts,
thoughts of:
singing to your people,
the taste of salt in your beer,
, and those chingasos with the
childhood landlords.
TOSTADAS AT NOON
In the freespeech area
near the fountain
on a table
taken from class
Teresa scoops beans
Hector chops lettuce.
While the cowboy preaches
Blondes soak
in sun
redwbtteandblue
sunglasses sparkle
and Veronica gives
change back
to a student
who knows nothing
delAztldn
that melts in his mouth.
While Chicanos choose
education and get Iraq
While Australian aborigines bleed
While diego pushes
pedro back
across the border
While cancer kills
Willy's chapara
While white sun slaps
the backs
of Blacks
In Africa
and America
While bombs blowout
the Brown desert
While Carlos is wiped like cheery
jello off the hull of an aircraft
and Calvin gets in
While Nicaragua chokes
on democracy dollars
and CNN
Anita fries the tortillas
in grease
In the freespeech area at noon.
Students active picture
a banquet
big with bignames
of the HisPanic community,
Sponsored by a tortilla company and
coors beer.
Daniel Chacon
Dreams of the Yerba Buena
your abuelita doesn't show you.
Yeah. The kind you don't grow in
.front of I.he house,
but it cures just the
same. Images
of smokey spirits
playing tag
with the cracks of the walls
of your apartment or
your head,
and doing all kinds of other
crazy shit. And those
cucarachas, laughing
because they stole the halos.
And now you have to answer to pissed off
angels late for their part in fucked up poems
-like this one.
homeboy, I remember you
carrying death in your pocket,
a little here and there to keep you going.
Scaring off the girls
because you'd have too much,
making a bulge in your pants.
Like some kind of Necroooo philiac
untitled.
standing alone in cold
exposed
the chilly night
air
blows on my face
tingles the tips
of my ears
awakening my senses
stirring
feelings
of
despair
Lucia Sanchez
••••
calle baghdad
dos vatos on the calle,
single file, filtering through
a tirade of laughing spirits.
an old woman
on the roadside mourning
at the cross of her son,
killed twenty years before
by vc or perhaps usa.
dos vatos on the calle,
single file, filtering through
a tirade of screaming spirits
grasping sickles.
starving dogs fighting
in the yard that used to be
cheo's, fighting over a used
chicken mole bone and children
laugh at the skinny spectacle.
dos vatos on the calle
that turns to sand,
guns in their hands.
spirits tickle spines, and in fresno
the carpenter is making their
crosses while mothers cry
in the fields.
Andres Montoya
--
And now you're there.
Ready for Saturday's Quinceafiera.
Anticipating to be crowned
Prince of the Rainbow Ballroom.
AJUWA!
Esta listo para bailar.
My homeboy is ready to dance.
V. Canales
Submit your poetry to 11t::1 Voz:
do i>octry Editor" in: th\;')>,
Colk·gian . Everyone \,·c~corne.
Please include name and rhone
number.
By Cristina Medina
La Vaz Staff Writer
As a firm believer in Murphy's
Law, Educational Opportunity
Program (EOP) director Robert
Hernandez believes that whatever is bound to go wrong, will
go wrong if one is not careful.
"H anything can go wrong, it
will. But It's my job as the director to correct it as soon as possible. In my experience, I have
learned to expect the unexpected," said Hernandez.
Hernandez, who has been associated with the EOP for more
than 20 years, was among the
first students to come to California State University, Fresno
through the program in 1969.
"I was a transfer student from
Reedly College. I remember the
first person I met was Catherine
Panas, who was the director at
that time. She had ah office In
the library, I remember going
over there all perdldos (lost)
thinking 'EOP, what is It?' said
6
LaVozdcAztt1.n
Tuc.-,tLty. February 19. 1991
Hernandez. "lthoughtEOPwas
money. AlotofpeoplethinkEOP
Is just money. Financial Aid is
money, but they some how
was when the program was first
getting underway on campus."
With the arrival of the EOP
program and the first wave of
hundred students and EOP
started to make a change in
terms of the campus community. You were starting to see
more black
and brown
faces who
w e re n 't
here primarily for
sports."
The early
years of
EOP, according to
H e rn a n dez, were
not easy.
The welco me mat
for minority
students
was
not
easily put
out. The
presence of studentsofcoloron
campus was being questioned
by s'ome.
"In some Ways we~ felt wel-
EOP director
strong believer in
Murphy's Law
equatethetwo. lfigured I needed
money and help once I got here,
so I went over there to get my
application papers to apply. That
students, came a new perspective of what the college campus
would be like in years to come.
"There we were, a couple of
...
L..
,l
.
'
corned, but there were a lot of
ways we did not feel welcomed.
There were faculty that felt that
bringing in minority students
would lower standards. There
were professors on campus that
believed and said publicly that
minorities were inferior. There
still are people out there that
think that way. Perhaps fewer
now, because in the late sixties
they were more vocal about it."
With racial tension persistent
on campus, Hernandez admits
that it was a "difficulttime"to be
a student.
"You got a lot of mixed messages. You had people who
cared and wanted you here and
you had a lot of others who didn't
feel you belonged here. As a
result you banded together," he
said, "In some cases you were
almost afraid to be seen with a
white person. Others might tell
you that you were an oreo or a
coconut because you were mixing elbows with the enemy. I
think it was uncomfortable for a
~I I
f
"
l
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . . ; . ........;;.,-.
-
As part of a guest lecture during Dr. Bob Fisher' s sociology class, Eve Scarfe from Peace Brigade
International spoke about her experiences as a "human shield" in El Salvador. Scarfe spent almost two
years shadowing dissidents and monitoring demonstrations in the hope that her presence would prevent
government forces from killing farm workers, women, Christians and union members.
El Salvador Project
Volunteering in Central America
In EJ Salvador. PBJ began iis presence in June.
1987 at the invitation of Lutheran Bishop Mcdardo
GomcL The.PSI team m El Salvador has developed
three .-cas or wort: to promoce dwoguc and ncgoliation as means 10 solve Salvadoran conll,c11, particularly the wsr, co offct a procective presence to
nonviolent communities., activ1SlS and organu.atJOns
thrc.atcned with violcnct, and l0 faciluatc. educational workshops to teachers, studcnlS and parcnu
on nonviolent connic1 resolution.
PBI volunicers come from many different countries, t>¥kgrounds, and philosophical and religious
pcrspcctivcs. What they share is a strongc.ommianen1
to nonviolence and a belief in the power of the Ccnual
Amencan people 10 create a more peaceful and JUSt
neg~~-:.:1~:~~~:~~ ~
unlCCl'S gave to Archbishop Rivt12 y Damas' initiauvc for a ·National Debate~ in 1988, which
brought together dou:ns of national social
organil..aliO'ls and calls for a ncgotiaied scaJcmem
of the war. As imponant hu been the PSI team's
comfflltrncnt lO stand with Salvadoran groups lhat
seek 10u.ercisc their rights to organize and be heard
PSI .alunlttn ond Police outside tltt CRIPDES off1€t
~~~~.'\~::::~c:![y~;:j::,,,~
to broadcast v10lcnt incKlcnts or unwarranted
dc&entions co the intcmallOnU community.
Groups and tndividu.als that the PSI team has
accompanied i,.:ludc. the ClvistionCommittu o/tN
Disp/o<d. (CR/fDES), lht Nali.OMJ Unity of Sal·
wdora11 WorUrs (UNTS), thit mothitrs of tN dis·
appurcd, 11n indigenous peopk'sc:oopcrltive in the
province of Sonsonalc. ,cvcral villages settled by
roccntly n:wmcd refugoos and B;.J,op McQrdo
Gomez since numerous tJreau to his life began in
Dcambcr, 1988. POI volunleUS have also been
asked to be observers at demonstrations and strikes.
Other Central America Work
In Costa Rica, PBI has worked wuh the United
Nations University for Peace to develop and
impkmcntmodels for training in nonviolcntconnic1
resolution, effective group process and negotiation
skills. In 1988 PSI organLUd lhcfirstconrercnccon
Nonviolenl Socia.I Defense in Nicaragt.a, bringing
together cxpens in I.he field from various countries
around lhc workt l0 meet and suategiz.c. with Nicarquan community leaders.
BRIGADES
INTERNATIONAL
;,. Sa11 Sa/WUUJr, 1/tortly bt/ore tlte Pollcc tnlLrcd aNI
arnucd aU tlto~ i#WM.
Here's how you can help:
_
~~~1~~=~-;c:,rr:=
individuals not as pa,ticipanlS in Salvadorans'
society.
Polcnual volunteerS must speak Spanish, be at
least 25 years, and be willing to make a least a six
month commitment (The Guatemala team is currently
ac:ccpting some shoncr·I.Cmt volunteerS). Volunteer
lr:linings arc held twice a year. Applications are
available from: PSI, 33 CentraJ Ave., Albany, NY
12210, or from the Toronto office. There is a SlO
application rec.
PEACE
tttttttttttt
Peace Brigades Organizing in the U.S.
Since PBI swu:d in Cenb"a! America, team
mcmbcn: have been rctuminJ LO stwc lhcir firsthand impressions with families, friends and communities. Many have continued to volunleer with
PSI LO develop support wotk here 11. home.
In June 1988, a flckS office was opened in
Albany, NY to coonhnai.c recruilment and training
of volunlCCl'S and operation of the ERN. Oriencation
and training sessions take place on bcxh coesu.
Small groups of retwncd voluntecn and suppon.crs
~u:!v:!~~°fn~':~~e~
Yort. Speaking LOW'S to other regions an: also
underway. To get involved in support for PBI hete
Ul the U.S. contact PBI, 33 Central Avt.,Albany,
NY 12210. (518)'34-<037.
#tttttttttt
Enclosed is my tax-dedoctible comribution
or S ~ send me information about voluntter
service in Guatemala and El Salvador.
_Addmctoyourmailinglist,and_l'd
like to be a pan or your Emergency Response
Network (ERN).
J want tosubscribctoPSl'smonthly repons
frtimGuatcmalaand El Salvador. Icnclose_for
a subscription ($15-20 suggested.)
Name_ _ _ _ _ _ __
Phone,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Clip aod mail to:
Peace Brigades I.Dtuutioaal
Box 1233, Harvard Sq.
Cambridge, MA 02238 USA
Tel: 617491-4226
In Canada:
Pu« Bripdes lnttmational
1!>3 Yongt St. #S02
Toronro, Onlario, M58 1M8
Ttl: 416-594-0429
Central America
Projects
Practical Experiments
in Peacemaking
ct o u~ .._-
., ,
,
1""
,.., ~. "'
With .the Vietnam Warcreat• ,
ing a growing anti-war movement, consc1enceness of war
and other ssues were being
played out at thrs time. Hernandez recalls the feel of the campus at that time.
"There were a 1ot of demonstrations and pleitos (disputes)
going on on that year 11969).
The war and the actions of the
farm workers who were struggling for recogn ition from being
widley exploited in the valley
banded us togetner," tie said. 'A
lot of the stuff came out of BaKer
Hall. That was where we had a
lot of our meetings. A lot of the
protests originated there. Whenever there was some p1eito on
campus. the saftey zone for us
was Baker Hall. They were afraid
to let us use Baker Hall for about
ten years after that."
Hernandez was hi red as
Associate Director vf the program after graduating in 1 971
with a deqree in Heaith Science
After a sanes of unsuccessful
attempts ·o fil l 1he position
Manue1Perez was hired earlier
that year as Director of EOP. He
is currently Assistant Dean of
Students. ldemande.z recalled
some of the aifficulties upon
starting with EOP.
"There were only two staff
members at that time, so they
called us both assistant directors when in fact we were mostly
counselors. Manuel Perez was
the director, Ernie Shelton and I
were assistant directors and we
had a secretary," he said, "I
remember we wanted to hire
certain students to work as student advisors. We had to go to
the Dean of Students office. The
dean at the time was Dr. David
Bell. We went over there and
had to give them a list of the
people we wanted to hire They
pulled out police pictures from
demonstrations from the years
before. They had pictures circled
of some of the same pople we
wanted to hire. We had to give
them justification of why we
wanted to hire these persons. It
was really interesting at that
time."
Tuesday. Fchruary 19. 1991
Selection:
Contln~es from page 1
The search committee has already selected five presidential
candldat% from the Initial pool of
applicants. Now, without explanation, they have extended the application deadline until March 8. The
new applications will be carried
through the entire review process
and the finalists from that group
will be blended with the first group
of finalists.
In the Feb. 15 memo, Bagdasarian said the search committee
planned to reannounce the presidential opening In the Chronicle of
Higher Education and to "college
,nd university executives solicit-
La
Voz de Aztlan
ing their interest."
Bagdasarian has refused further comment about the search
process and the addition of
Pesqueira or Lopez.
Don Daves, president of the
CSUF Associated Students Inc.,
Is the only student on the search
committee and was one of the
members asked to resign.
Several members of CSUF
Movlmlento Estudlantil Chicano de
Aztlar:1 (MEChA) attended the Feb.
13 meeting of the search committee In Long Beach where they
asked Daves, Pesqueira and
Lopez to resign from the search.
Daves said on Feb. 17 that he
was not resigning from the search
committee and would not comment further on the search.
Chicanos:
•Continued from Page 2
Judases are everywhere.
Hope, Hope. yes there Is still
hope. As Chicanos, the Burden to
fight the battle falls once again on
us. We must protect the future for
our own brothers and sisters who
are still in high school, who are stlll
in barrios, who are still intheflelds.
We have an obligation to fight
against those who would keep us
down. We must once again tum to
ourselves for the institution of justice. I Implore all who are concerned about justice, about their
people, theirfamilies,goto MEChA
meetings, to go to the Chicano and
Latin American studies department, to go to those who are already fighting, and find out what
we must do.
Veterano:
• Continued from Page 3
In this type of warfare, Fernandez said, it is difficult to distinguish
the enemy from the ally. Many of
the U.S. casualties were killed by
friendly fire. This, Fernandez said,
Is a large reason many veterans
are still suffering from the Vietnam
War. Negative public opinion of
the war also struck the soldiers
when they came home.
Fernadez said Immediate debriefing Is critical for every soldier.
Debriefing "Is essentailly a process where by you tell somebody
what you felt, why the bombs were
dropping, or while you were being
hit by the enemy or hitting the
•1 have my own opinion of what's
happening, but I don't think it would
be In the best interest of the entire
process If I were to comment on
that right now,• he said.
The committee contends that
those applicants who had been
tu med away during the first selection of semi-finalists will not reapply.
"They [the Initial presidential applicants] didn't have a fair review
process,• Floressald. "We'retrylng
to change the process not only at
Fresno State, but for the entire
CSU system,· said Flores. •we
think we will.■
Flores said the appointment of
Pesqueira and Lopez and the extension of the application deadline
were signs of pr~ress.
enemy,· said Fernandez.
The sooner a soldier Is debriefed, the better the soldier
will be at resuming their normal
life pattern, but Fernandez said
returning soldiers will never be
the same as they were before
being were called to duty.
Fernandez said It is Important that people In the United
States support the troops when
they come home. He said, if the
public targets the soldiers with
negative feelings about the war,
then many soldiers may suffer
some of the conditions similar
to those of PTSD.
"Ask them to tell about their
experience and to help them for
whatever need they have, to do
less than that is to began a long
process of them suffering,· said
Fernandez.
P.S. Fight The Powers ThatBei
Flag:
•continued from Paga 2
Skinhead groups who espouse white
power and domination in the United
States oftentimes wear flag patches on
their leather jackets, men who have
slaughtered our Asian and Latin American sisters and brothers in far-off lands
fly flags from their front porches, and
demonstrators, at the intersection on
Blackstone and Shaw avenues, wave
U.S. flags while proclaiming, "Burn our
flag and we'll smoke your turban," or
simply "Smoke a carnel."
"Love it or leave it," they say. These
racist sentiments, which are too often
the foundation for U.S. patriotism, are
what send chills down my spine and
make me sick.
My father knows my feelings against
the U.S. intervention in the Middle East
and about Yankee Imperialism in gen-
eral. A phone conversation he and I had
recently inspired him to send me a letter
with a drawing of a U.S. flag and a
peace symbol below it.
In the letter, he told me "Mijo, these
two symbols can and do go together
very well." My dad served in the Air
Force and stood proud in the face of
racial slurs from his commanding officers and fellow privates.
Yet, he is still a patriot. And like many
of our elders, he tells me there is a
different patriotism than the one practiced by those with the racist, pro-U.S.
slogans at Blackstone and Shaw avenues.
No te comprendo, papa.
The Fresno Bee and local TV news
stations should not make it a practice of
capitalizing on the war by selling U.S.
flags from their lobbies or by decorating
their sets and anchors with yellow ribbons. Today is a scary day - a day
when Big Brother feeds the media its
goop and the media gulps down with a
big smile.
7
"Too often, we've been confronted with racism and people
have just shrugged their shoul-
was the state's "token· appointment and that she wanted to see a
Latina or Latino from the San
Joaquin Valley appointed to the selecI have my own opinion, but I
tion committee.
don't think it would be in the
"What the hell does
best interest of the entire
he know about the
valley?• she said of
process if I were to comment
Pesqueira's appointon that right now.
ment. NowthatLopez,
a local person, has
Don Daves
been appointed,
Flores said the
ders and said, 'There's nothing we committee's aim Is unchanged.
can do:• Flores said th lngs are difThe committee Is organizing a
ferent now. "When you're organ- demonstration to be held at the
ized you can do great things.■
next meeting of the CSU Board of
Upon the announcement of the Trustees March 12 In Long Beach.
appointment of Pesqueira, MEChA
chair Irma Serrano said Pesqueira
Alegria:
.Continued from Page 1
much against this war, which I
do not understand. It's madness,
but we're used to living with madness. But the century Is coming to
a close and beginning a riew century with violence and war Is a
horrible thought,• said Alegria.
Alegria went on to tell the
audience how he came about to
writing his book.
"The book is a result of a
unique experience that I had the military coup that caused the
death of President Allende one
11th of September 1973. It
happened at the moment when I
had just arrived In Chile. ■
Alegria spoke about his close
friendship with Allende and how
the president asked him to write
his biography. Because of this,
Alegria said, he went to Chile
one week before the coup to
gather information for the
biography on Allende.
"I wrote my book on A:iende,
"Mi Vecino, El Preslden~e.• and
then it was presented In Chile
during the days of the election,
December 1989; and I had by
my side Mrs. Allende and some
other friends who had been part
of the government of Salvador
Allende,· said Alegria.
Alegria read what he called a
ACROSS
1 Entreaties
6 Citizen of Rome
11 Herb of pea
family
12 Expunges
14 Printer's
measure
15 Expert
17 Saint: abbr.
18 Perform
20 Take unlawfully
21 Goddess of
mischief
22 Falsehoods
24 Household pet
l5 Distance
measure
26 Detective:
colloq .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 28 Banished from
one's country
30 Oolong
31 Limb
32 Sewing
implement
35 Guides
38 Monster
39 Snare
41 Break suddenly
42 Greek island
43 Strip of leather
45 Cravat
46 Spanish for
"yes"
47 Confined
49 Compass point
50 Book of Old
Testament
52 Joined
54 Subject of
discourse
55 Small stoves
DOWN
preview of his book to the
audience. He presented his
reading as a tribute to the CLS
professors and to the community
of the university.
In his book, Allende writes
about how one day he was at his
office when a young woman
came In and asked to see him.
She explained how she and her
co-workers wanted to contribute
one day's wages to his candidacy, according to Alegria.
She told him that she worked
at a house and that the contribution had to be picked up there. It
was then that Allende realized
that the young woman was a
prostitute. Knowing that If his
opponent got wind of this It
would cost him the election, he
still agreed to go and accept the
contribution.
His book captures the essence
of Allende who was known as
the martyr president of Chile.
Alegria has done what few
authors have been able to do.
He has shown his audience the
type of man that Allende was.
•1 feel proud to be on this
stage this evening with Dr.
Fernando Alegria,• said Herrera.
Furthermore Herrera called the
evening, "Un momento de famllia
ycorazones.•
The translated version of
Alegria's book will be available In
the fall of 1991. It is being
published by Stanford University
Press.
The
Weekly
Cr □ ssw □ rd
Puzzle
5Sew
6 Tell
7 City in Russia
8 Insane
9 Equally
10 Cuddle up
11 Tolls
13 Spirited horse
16 Meadow
19 Seesaws
21 Bodily infirmity
23 Tanned skin
25 Soils with mud
27 Hindu cymbal
~ ~1--1 29 Indian memorial
post
1 Writing
implement
2 Note of scale
3 Abstract being
4 Diving birds
~+---t---t--1
~~ ~:I-centered
person
34 All
35 Sculptured
likeness
36 Lifts
37 Haste
40 Sea eagle
~~~ 43 Stalk
44 Shut up
47 That woman
48 Noise
51 Symbol for
thorium
53 Symbol for
tantalum
COUfGE PIIESS SEl!Vla
see Page
a, for solution
Tuesday, February 19. 1991
Munoz:
•Continued from Page 2
As the father of an 18-year-old infantryman on active duty with the U.S Army, I get
chills up my spine knowing that he may also
experience the horrors of war, and worse,
that he may also be one of war's casualties.
We've had heart-to-heart talks since he
joined the Army a few months ago. He is
proud to be serving his country like his uncle
and I did. He is aware that our people have
contributed to the building of this nation as
workers and have fought in every major
U.S. war with courage and loyalty. He has
decided to go to the Persian Gulf if he is
orderedtogo. Buthehopeshewon'tbe. He
La
Voz de Aztlan
does not want to die.
If war does break out, the Latino casualty
rate will once again be disproportlnately
higher: Estimates are that from 36 to 40
percent of combat troops in the Persian Gulf
are Latinos. I think it tragic that Latino men
and women are once again putting their
lives on the line when many of their families
swell the ranks of the poor back home.
Today, 5.5 million Latinos are also overrepresented among the unemployed, in this
country's vast pool of cheap labor and in the
prisons, while they are underrepresented in
institutions of higher education.
President Bush should know that although
my son and other Latino soldiers are prepared to die for our country, many of us are
an important part of the anti-war and peace
8
movement that is spreading like wildfire
across college campuses and among grassroots of America.
Afte rthe deployment of U.S. troops in the
Persian Gulf, over5,000 Latinos commemorated in East Los Angeles the 20th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium against the
Vietnam War. The message was loud and
clear: They don't want Latino soldiers to die
in Kuwait so that multinational corporations
can maintain control over oil resources and
profits.
They do not think it is fair that there are
more Latino than Kuwaiti soldiers prepared
to recover the oil fields of Kuwait; that there
are no soldiers from many oil-consuming
countries; or that Latinos may die to preserve an outdated monarchy that has no
comrr,itment to democratic values.
Latinos, especially veterans, know the
wartime sacrifice of our youth has never
resulted in peace-time social justice and
equality for the majority of our people.
We demand that President Bush acknowledge the wishes of the majority of the American people for a peaceful resolution of the
Persian Gulf crisis.
Carlos Mufloz Jr. , award winning author
of "Youth, Identity, Power: The Chicano
Movement", is an associate professor of
ethnic studies at the University of California
at Berkeley.
Video:
,
•Continued from Page 3
no matter how you slice it. We use
a lot ot hertechniques in ourCrossCultL1ra1 Student Leadership retre...•
Tn s v deoconference 1s part ot
a fiv •Part sanes that Black Issues
and 1ghe· Education magazine is
putti g out The first videoconference ~ as held last November.
Chicana
• Continued from page
up to a greater light something many cultures
take for granted even today.
The numbers on this
campus may be in small, but
what l have seen in the
quality i3 a great force of my
female : ounterpart" doing
and learning and struggling to
become educated.
Move on Chicana. My heart
is with your struggle always.
PUZZLE SOLUTION
, .
p
E
A.
requests your support it
A
SPECIAL Fr.lNDRAISER
Friday
February 22, 1991
5:00 pm to 9:00 pm
3646 W. Spruce Avenue
C,1 l'Udlnl:a nortl'lr:,/#Nrnt.fon.Auir. Co wal on H9'ndcn. about~ m&u putBbdl:ltlN.
n.nnonhon \Wa\tt'W IOSp\a. lhen.l(,N
~
$3.00
Student,
.6.00
General
Support the committee as It addresses the Issue ol
the CSU, Fresno presldcnt!al search and the lack of
Hispanic Involvement and candidates In this process.
1becommJtteela a coalition of CSU, FresnoCaculty. ataffand atudentamd
community memben cori<:<med about the CSU oyotem·• pn,c:odara,
to the prutckntlal oear<h p....- at CSUF.
..-.,t
Josie Ochoa, a secretary for University Outreach Services, will be leaving for the Persian Gulf as soon
as they call her troop in. Ochoa's husband believes she should be exempt from service so that she can
continue to care for their 10-year-old son.
Pleue Joln ua In Chia endeavor to ensure that educaUonal pJDI b'
HlOpanl<:a at the
Tlcketa an Pallable b7 caJIIDC: 278-2848,
PooltlODI may be; KPt te·
The Committee r..- HJopanlc EducaUonal Equity
• P.O. ec. 25821 • P'reeao. Callfonu • 9S72'1 •
C:IOlt4»-l512
11
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