1991_10 The Daily Collegian October 1991

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The Daily CoUegian • October 8,1991
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Misinformed students?
How funny is that?
By Michael S. Handorf
I had to read it in the paper again yesterday. In reference to the
referendum to reduce mandatory ASI fees, someone made a statement
regarding the possibility that students did not understand what they
were doing when they voted to reduce ASI fees. Another prominent
member of the ASI, specifically the ASI president, was quoted in The
Daly Collegian: "Students didn't understand the ramifications of-what
they were signing last year." God, I hope that isn't true. Because if it is,  ,
Mr. Montoya has made an incredibly sad assumption about the average V
studenfs intelligence.
Lefs examine the referendum's wording. It was something similar
to that which follows: Should tJheASI fees be reduced from $16 a
semester to$8 a SemesterHlt was a "yes" or "no" question. We're not
talking about one of those questions about trains leaving two different
.locations carrying different ckrgos and travelling at different speeds,
we're talking about a simple question that requires only a one-syllable  ^
answer. /- "
n.Now what portion of that sentence would mislead the average
coHeg£student? Should? Reduced? idon't think so. Ifs a fairly simplis¬
tic question. Of course our fees should be reduced. So when people read
the initiative, we can assume that the extremely tricky arid deceitful
wording might have thrown them off the true Intent of the initiative, but
ifs not lively.
So it must have been, argues the ASI Senate, the lack of information
presented by those J*
students who
sponsored the
inraative.
H mmmmmm.
Three full-page
Daily Collegian ads, j
and over 2,000 .
Those crazy voters, they
didn't have a clue, they were
lost. Someone could~have made
a fortune selling maps &nc^
Compasses in the Free Speech
iiiersexpiaining   | Area last April.
the intent £f the -
initiative were prepared for the students of FresnoState. That argument  >
is not going tofty either, man.
So maybe the students didn't know what the impact would be
because they didn't know how the Senate would react to the $f49,000
budget shortfall. Who would? To be honest, not even 1 believed that the
ASI Senate would act as irresponsibly as they did. But then again, ifs a
lot easier to budget a governing body into a deficit titan to ma Ice cuts
that might upset a ff w individuals who represent special interests that
receive grossly aisproportionate levels of funding to begin with.
The only way that a student could have known what the impact
that the referendum would have was if they knew exactly who would
get elected and how unconcerned they would be with the will of the
students.     . •   -
But, for the sake of accepting the invalid arguments of our ASI
Sena te, lefs assume that the students who voted in the election were
- misinformed. A bunch of wild, wacky studerits were engaging in the
ritual of uninformed voting in a random manner.
Those crazy voters, they didn't have a clue-They were lost.
Someone could havemade a fortune selling maps^ml compasses in the
t Free Speech Area last April. They were oblivious to vyhat was going on
around them. \
-j     Let's take this argument one step further. If those students who
voted were uninformed concerning the referendum, they were probably
just as uninformed aboutin^ candidates. Whoa, Nellie! Now we're
gettingsomewhere. .      , ♦
This would indicate not only that every candidate elected was put
in office by a writhing mass of uneducated and misinformed voters
compelled only by the need to exercise their right to vote despite not
understanding the issues, but that every candidate*like the fee referen¬
dum, should be put up for a recall election. They were voted on by
uninformed students who wouldn't have made such a poor decision if
they had been informed.
But it should be really clear to most people who have a grasp of
what's going on in the real world that if they are paying $16 for a series
of services, and all ofa sudden the cost is reduced to only $&, they will
get less services. Rut since they are nor getting anything for titei r $16 a
semester, half of nothing is still nothing. The only difference is that
nothing costs only eight doUarerww.A^rhat a danmbargain.
No one was misinformed. They were mad as helL and weren't
going to take it anymore. The ASI must realize tititsooner or later. It   W
maytake the student body a special election to get themessage through
to the ASI. W<ve already voted on this once. 1 guess the ASI misunder¬
stood what it was the students weresaymg.
Perhaps the students should each write a letter to.eachof the(ASI
„ members. See me vote. See me vote no/See mf say "I can't afford to give
you m y money for nothing." See the ASI^cry. Wan, walvwah.
Regardless of all the budget cuts arid reductions on campus, one
thing is qui te certain; the rhetoric of*he ASI and its subordinate special
interest factions will always be inabuhdance, ho matter how much cash'
ihey steal from us.
CARA not for Chicanos
•^Director misses meaning of movement
By Frank Pancho Aviles
The audience became sod and angry as
they consciously absorbed the political
message behind the play. A collage of Chicano
poetry, skits, and music militantly pierced the
hearts of the Mestizo crowd* Brown people
watched as their economic suffering was
literally recreated on stage. Brown people
watched with pride as the Chicano culture
loasdispUtyedgoith legitimacy and respect.
Shakespeare/Qickens, Frost, Lane and Soto
are not our heroes tonight. Undocumented
workers, Dolores Huerta, Cholas, Malaquias
Montoya, field workers, factory workers,
maids, gang members,.and Cesar Chavez are
our.heroes tonight because they are the
Chicano movement'.
Many of you might be wondering
when this Chicano production took place.
Actually, this production is not going to
take place until Nov.15,16, & 17.       *>
The critique above is merely my
vision of the Chicano play which is        .<_>
presented in conjunction with the CARA
(Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirma-
«£on) show at the Fresno Art Museum.
(The exhibit is political art which was
done in protest of political, economic, and
cultural oppression by the dominant
society,in America.)
My vision of seeing a Chicano
production was shattered when I
discovered that the Chicano movement
was going to be presented from a white
perspective.
The producer/director is Ronnie
Larson who has no ties to the Chicano
community and no concept of the w
Chicano movement
I want to make it clear that I am
not opposed to Asians doing white plays;
Chicanos doing Native American plays or
whites doing Chicano plays; however, I
am opposed to people directing plays of
specific progressive movements when
they haven't a clue about a movement
Mr. Larson's current choices about
the play are reflective of 1 us inadequacies
as a director for a production on the
Chicano movement For example,
Larson's play is an adaptation from the
book "Mexican Voices/American
Dreams" by Marilyn P. Davis (a non-.     c<
Chicana) which is definitely not reflective ,
of resistance and affirmation.
Davis/ book is merely a compila¬
tion of interviews by Mexican people
with Davis' opinion in between. Larson is *
also charging an outrageous $25 entry fee.
A fee that makes the production
inaccessible to most Chicanos who
mainly come from low sodoecomic
backgrounds.
A play reflective of the Chicano
movement would be accessible to the
oppressed masses and it would inspire
consciousness, awareness, and in some
cases mass mobilization.
This doesn't seem to be the case
Kvith Larson's play. Maybe this is because
Larson is ignoran t about the birth of
Chicano theater. , v-
For example, does he know that
Chicano theater (i'.e. Guerilla Theater)
came about during strikes and protests.
Actos (skits), which were reenac tments of
the suffering endured by the field
workers, inspired action and mobiliza¬
tion against an oppressive system,
As a result of Ronnie Lafcson's
"control" over a Chicano production,
Chicano students and artists with pieces
in the CARA show, including Malaquias
Montoya, have expressed disapproval
and concern.
In fact, irvprotest of Larson's
bourgeois pseudo-Chicano play,a group
of Chicane/ students will be performing
Guerilla theater in front of the Fresno Art
Museum on Nov. 15,16, & 17 at 8 pm.
The production will be reflective of resis¬
tance and affirmation in congruence with
the Chicano art exhibit
The production will truly reflect a
political, economic, and cultural struggle.
Moreover, the production will be acces¬
sible to the masses (i.e. free of charge).
Thc Daily Collegian
wants you I
Now hiring
a news aide and staff writers.
Ii out iM\ application t
in the
Keats Campi    Inn [d
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