1988_11 The Daily Collegian November 1988

              PttgC 2 Thursday. November 3, 1986 The Daily CoOegian 	
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Student vote can save democracy
Editorial
Tuesday the "Leader of the Free World" will
be chosen and most of you will sleep,- go to
school and maybe eat a meal or two.
However, the majority of you won't vote.
*  It gets old, this whining about the pathetic
voting habits of young adults, but here again
are Presidential election vodng statistics:
In the 1984 election in which Ronald
Reagan buried Walter Mondale to become
President of the United States, a paltry 35.7
percent of the 18-20 year-old age group turned
out at the polls. Just 43.5 percent of people
aged 21-24 voted.
The national average in 1984 was less than
60 percent, a figure not to be looked at
pridefully.
In the abstract, all of this means less than
being told by your parents that you're not
doing all you can to make this a successful
family. But look more closely. You'll see
thread of the nation's fabric tangled and tearing
under carefree feet.
This Tuesday will provide a chance to alter
history. For eight years the Republican party
has held power, and in just four days it will be
decided whether or' not the Reagan/Bush
juggernaut will careen into a second decade or
whether our fates will be placed in the hands
of a man from Massachusetts.
Voting this time is beyond performing a
civic duty. It is creating the future.
We, the students of CSUF, are in a unique
position. In the state of California, both major'
presidential candidates have spent much time
here lobbying for the support they so
desperately need in the state on which most of
the election hinges.
A large amount of the nation's defense and
computer indsustry is located in this state.
And, most importantly to Fresnans, California
is a giant among agriculture as well. Our
leaders will determine the future of these
industries to a large extent It is impossible,
as Califomians, to not hold our potential
leaders accountable to these, our very own,
interests.
In addition to the presidential and senatorial
races, a number of iniatives on the ballot will
be decided which are certainly to the interest of
students. The average CSUF student can help
determine the future of his or her own state's
laws regarding issues of vital importance.
But lower auto insurance isn't the real reason
that voter turnout is of the critical neccessity
that it is. The real motive should be in
preserving the fate of democracy
Voting promotes democracy and the whole
world will be watching. Anyone who wants to
keep the threat of Communism at least tied
down in the U.S.'s backyard will definitely
vote next week. Those concerned with our
Middle East policy have a stake, as do people
who enjoy the natural beauty of our coastline
and wilderness, and who wish to see these
things preserved,    (j
Too many people will say, 'I can't make a
difference,' but the truth is the difference you
make will be the one between a nation of
those who would hand the chores of governing
and selecting governors to those least ethically
qualified to do it, while the ones who 'don't
make a difference' sit at home and watch as the
world sinks into a quicksand of lethargy and
apathy, unable to do anything aboutit. ■
Voting will prove one thing: the people do,
indeed, have the power.
Reader
Response
to the DaHy Collegian is welcome. Please
send letters of no more than 350 words to
The Daily Collegian. Keau Campus
Building, California State University.
Fresno, Fresno, CA. 93740-0042. Letters
must be signed and have the author's
name, address and phone number.
Rodeo not a sport
To the Editor,
Your Oct 26th article "Last
roundup for the rodeo club?" was very
enlightening yet at the same time dis¬
heartening to think in these times
some people still consider torturing in¬
nocent vegetarian animals as a
"sport" Rodeos are no more a sport
than hunting is today.
Campus rodeos do not belong in
athletic budgets any more than
football belonging in an agriculture
budgeL Besides, athletes have a choice
in which, if any, sport they wish to
participate, animals do not!
Also, to say that "bull riders wear
spurs not to anger the bull but to stay
on it: is, to use the vernacular, pure
bull. Domesticated bulls and horses
have no natural inclination to buck;
they must not only be jabbed by the
spurs but their genitals must be strap¬
ped with leather belts to further irritate"""
them to buck. Exciting, entertaining?
Certainly not for the animals (the four-
legged kind).
In addition, the Bulldoggers Club
president partly blames their financial
troubles on the Associated Students
Inc. "because they don't understand
what it is we're doing." As an AS sen¬
ator, I know all to well what you're
doing. You're taking S4.700 of stud¬
ent money for a club which has no
socially redeeming value. You're
taking money from clubs which serve
to educate and enlighten such as the
Campus Latin American Support
Committee^The  Campus  Rainbow
Coalition. Gav and Lesbian Student
Alliance, Reentry Students Assoc.,
Students Against the Arms Race, Be¬
yond War, Womens Alliance, Phil¬
osophy Club, Sociology Club, Health
Science Club and the Graduate Student
Council just to name a few.
Yet, the Bulldoggers Club is funded
for over half of all the above men¬
tioned clubs combined. For what, to
torture animals as one campus rodeo
participant says "to have fun on the
weekend"? The same "cowboy" was
certainly waxing prophetically when
be siaicd "A lot of people tell me
what I'm doing is kinda insane."
What's insane is the ASI funding this
club!
As an AS senator, I will work
towards reducing further the Bull¬
doggers Club's outrageoud budget to
channel thin money to more deserving
clubs and causes. I also call on my
fellow senators and classmates to join
me in this erstwhile endeavor and head
this club for its las roundup. The
struggle continues.
Jim Ireland
Senator-Graduate Studies
No cigar awarded
To the Editor,
Re T. James Madison's weekly
column. Are you guys ever going to
quit hiring a bunch of Hunter Thomp¬
son wanna he's? I mean, Madison isn't
even subtle about it What do you do
Madison, read The Great Shark Hunt
or Fear and Loathing before the art¬
icle.
Hey, Hunter's great and it's a gutsy-
style,   but   you're   demeaning   the
accuracy and depth of his writings, by
copping his style without any of the
substance. Close, no cigar.
TonyCaglia
Substance, please
To the Editor,
There have been many complaints
about the behavior of trie supporters
rs the. presidential candidates. It seems
Please see LETTERS, page 3
theDaily Collegian
Rob Evans - Editor1 ln Chief
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For the
Record
Errors in the Daily Collegian can
be. brought to our attention by
calling   294-2486 or writing to us
at the Keats Campus Building.
California State University.
Fresno. Fresno California. 93740-
0042.
BLOOM COUNTY
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by Berke Breathed