1992_05 The Daily Collegian May 1992

              I   \
\Jpin%On TheDailjCoUegian* May 12,1992
ASI??? What's that?
THE Vf^VMv/cH  D»Vit>Et>    U-S
Ofir Lovy/Tho Daily Collegian
Respect for people of all colors needed
Dear Editor,
,
The not-guilty verdict in the
Rodney King trial has made every
American wake up and face our
prejudiced world. The violent riots
have caused, fear within our society,
perhaps the same fear that Rodney
King faced when he was brutally
beateivby the police.
As outraged as I am about this
injustice, I am equally appalled by
the looters., vandals, and murderers
who have viciously taken advantage
of the situation.
Rodney King is alive and I
believe should be well compensated
for the brutality bestowed upon him
by the ignorance of prejudice.
But what about the other
innocent people that were also on
the "wrong streets" at the "wrong
time?" Families that must now deal
with the death of their loved ones.
Black businessmen that have
t stores, to arson and vandalism
nd now face the risk of losing their
insurance or paying astronomical
premiums.
Each day as we are shown the
results of the riots we all vividly
recall the horrid video beating
andf wonder how they excused
the policemen/s behavior.
As of May 8 there have been
58 deaths in Los Angeles due to
riots. One may shut his or her
4 eyes to the real world, but now
the after-effects are hitting
home—in Fresno, where tne
recent murder of a Hispanic man
and robberies in jewel stores took
place along with shoutings of
"k^nrrl"
 e»* -
Yes, the riots have forced
the President's awareness to the
urgency of the problem of preju¬
dice.
However, did our fellow
% brothers have to pay the price?
I hope in the future we can
all work toward a better world.
Let us not be separated by our
skin color, but rather what is in
our hearts. We must raise our
children to respect each and
every person and reward those
who are "color blind" to ethnic-
A story in today's Collegian outines proposed bylaws that our student
government will consider and decide upon..
Do you know where they meet?
When they meet?
Who-they are? ,       .
Do you care?
You might think they are not worthy of consideration, probably because
you just don't realize exactly what they are in control of.
When guest speakers such as Ray Bradbury or Boris Yeltsin or Benazir - ^.«
Bhutto comes to speak, they come because tHey-are being paid in part by
funds that ASI has allocated forspeakers.
The free speech area is filled with booths that promote awareness of eve¬
rything from Christian youth organizations to campus chapters of national
political organizations because of funds that ASI has allocated.
- Basically, thafs their job—^ey deddc where the money goes.,
And it's quite a bit of money. The ASI's budget is more than S600,000.
Don't you think you might want to have a say in where that money goes?
The ASI meets every Tuesday at 3:30 in USU 312-314. That's the third
floor of the big building in the middle of campus, the one across from the
.Bucket.
The ASI make a lot of important decisions that affect a lot of people, and
they generally make those decisions free of scrutiny from the student body.
Well, campuV-modia attempts to scrutinize, but the real power is in num¬
bers, and if news stories and editorials don't result in action from,a larger
body (such as the student body), then it's business as usual.
Business as usual today will involve considering several bylaws, which, if
they become law, would require ASI officeholders to«maintainat least a 23
instead of a 2.0 G.P.A., hold a certain amount of office hours, keep track of
long distance phone calls, andrequire executive officers (studentbody
president and vice-president) to attend studnet body meetings.
You probably don't know, but there are some politics behind some of
those. Outgoing President Andres Montoya doesn't attend meetings, which
pisses off some of the senators. But regardless of the politics, those are the
type of things they'll be working on today.
A higher G.P.Afor ASI? Sure, why not? My mom cuts me off if I fall
bejow a 3.5—a 2.5 is for wimps. ^
Last week they voted on their budget, which contained a requirement for
the Collegian to assume about $8,000 in extra administrative costs. Last.
semester there was $1,100 left over in the Collegian budget. This semester   ,
there will be less than that Which means that there may not be a Daily
CoUegian next semester unless some sort of miracle occurs.
In add ition, the campus children's center will be struggling as a result of
$£,000 they must also start paying. /      \
So there are obviously several things of importance going on at ASI.
You might want to consider getting educated about the things that
directly affect ypur college life.
Sincerely. .
Dina Heggen
)   The Daily Collegian
Editor in Chief:     *                    Michelle Martin
Managing Editor:                       Yu Ting Huang
News Edition                              Aimee L. Fisher
Graphics Editon                         Jana Ballinger
Photo Editor.                              Brian Dairies
Sports Editor                             Richard lames
Artspeak Editor.                         lason Terada
Staff Writers:                             Adam Breen, Manny Fernandez,
Rob Hruska, Vickie McDaniel,
Wanda Russell, Erin musuda
Sports Writers:                           Adam Brady, Chris Cocoles,
Danny Evans, Doug Mcleod
Photographers:                          Hector Amezcua, Christine Baker,
Bryan Chan
Business Manager                     Shawnda 'Grice
Advertising Manager                  Shannon Wentworth
Ad. Production Managers:           Srujwndale Grice, Lance fackson