1993_02 The Daily Collegian February 1993

              Opinion
The Daily Collegian
1
Monday, Feb. 1, 1993
Editorials
California
• California is dead. Long live California.
In the past several years, some of the luster has
vanished from the reputation of our golden state. The
>.      recession has hit as hard in California as in any other
state, and we students have felt the squeezing vice of
the ever-tightening state budget.
To put it bluntly, California is broke. And our
governor. Pete Wilson, is asking the federal govern¬
ment for a loan to help keep this state afloat.
But, there is a silver lining. As bad as the economy
is right now, there are several steps we can take as
citizens to try to steer our ship in the right direction.    ,
First, we must signal to our State Legislature that we
mean business. That means throwing the incumbents
out who complained during last year's budget.crisis
that they were overworked.
Get those lazy malcontents out of Sacramento and
replace them with energetic, industrious people who
realize that there are mouths to feed with that weekly
paycheck. —\.
Second, we need for those energetic, industrious
people to actually run for office. We must instill an
attitude in this state that government service is as
equally rewarding as service in the private sector.   .
The brightest economic minds aren't sitting in our
State Legislature; they are sitting in our boardrooms.
Third, we must_ insist that our Legislature pass laws
that make California business-friendly once again.
We can no longer rely on the tourism and agricul¬
ture industries to carry the other industries' weight
Businesses are flocking out of California, partly
because of the bad economy but eventually .because
of the strict laws forced upon employers.
Those businesses that left-California tried to ride the
recession out, but simply couldn't exist in this state
anymore because of union-friendly laws.'
This is not a call to end all unions, but, historically,
if one gives a union an inch, the union will take a
mile. And the unions in California are riding high.
Fourth, we need a revamped social services pro¬
gram. Our state government simply gives out more
money than it can afford to give.
One good idea to explore is lowering the welfare
grant, and not automatically raising the grarjt once    ,
another pregnancy occurs. -
When the state starts to get back on its feet, then it
could slowly, ease into goverment-subsidized child .
care.
The Los Angeles riots of last April have been
explained by many as outbursts of class struggle; the
haves versus the have-nots, or in^hat case, the have-
nots versus the haves.
If the three-day rioting taught us anything,for the
future it is that the economic attitude reached an all-
-» time low in 1992. but greater citizen involvement in
1993 might be a signal that the state is finally trying to
' heal itself.
°9&&.
^
MXollmtuer-JM rt%
&n another life,
Pete Wilson was a lunatic
BARBER LIVING IN THE
DEEP SOUTH...
...AND THIS WAS HIS
IDEA OF A TRIM.
Commentary
Ignoring the
lal
real issues
By Adam Breen
"Boy.-times sure have changed since I went to
school."
That phrase gets a lot of mileage in Fresno today
because of rampant crime, teen pregnancy and a 35
percent high school dropoutrate.
Older generationsiove to say what's wrong with this
good ole' town, bu>they are not willing to do anything
about it.
"It's all those damn immigrants" they say, or "it's
because parents are too permissive these days."
The only thing most are willing to do, however, is
write letters tothe editor at the Bee.
There is a lot wrong with this town. My car was
stolen a couple of years ago and the first apartment
complex I lived in was a veritable pharmacy of
cannabis. Downtown is deteriorating and people lock
their doors and windows as a precaution, even during
the middle of the day.
This university's demise doesn't help the situation
any either.
One hot issue in Fresnoioday is graffiti. Residents
have become so used to wall defacement downtown
that it is probably not noticed much anymore.
Now that graffiti is spreading into the northern part
of town where the money is. it is finally becoming a
"blight." The City Council decided last week to
purchase a sandblaster to help in the cleanup effort,
which is the same as buying carpet cleaner instead'of a
litter box.
Children under the age of 18 aren't allowed to buy
cans of spray paint and some stores lock up their cans,
but the problem continues. Even our innocent little
school has fallen prey to wall vandals.
So what's the answer?
Cut off the hands of the perpetrators? Let minors
buy spray cans that explode when used? No.
Stirrer punishment combined with offering bored
kids something to do would go a long way in reducing
crime. • *
Wheft a "graffiti artist" is caught, make them,spend
lots of time scrubbing walls and painting over their
handiwork, (Jim send them to a community center for
constructive after-school activities/'   . j
The ideal solution to this problem,'as well as many
gang violence and dropout cases, is to quit writing
these problems off as cultural or economic issues. To
listen to some people talk, you would think every
African-American and Laotian kid is in a gang and
every Hispanic scribbles on walls. White kids? Well,
they sometimes "fall through the cracks."
These problems can be solved, or at least reduced, if
Fresnans who lived here when the town didn't have
big city problems would channel some of their energy
See Column, page 3
.
The Daily Collegian
Keats Campus Building, Mail Stop 42, CSU Fresno, Fresno, CA 93740-0042
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