1994_04 The Daily Collegian April 1994

              Vol. 102, No. 32
Fresno Stale's Independent Daily
Tuesday, April 5,1994
Fresno's RV king gets his day in court against DMV
By Jason Owen
THECOLLEGIAN
foster homes. I've been on my own  .attack that vision there's nothing
Dan Gamel is as much a staple
of Fresno as the Meux Home, the
Water Tower, raisins and the chilie
stains on Bob Lung's tie.
Gamel is a graduate of Califor¬
nia State University, Fresno and is
the epitome of an individual who
took advantage and succeeded in
acquiring the American dream.
"I grew up one of nine chil¬
dren," said Gamel. "We lived in
since I was IS years old. I had no
prayer, absolutely no praytr. But 1
did it because this is America and
it's possible."
Most Fresno natives are famil¬
iar with the slogan "RV with me
Dan Gamel" and his multi-million
dollar recreational vehicle corpo¬
ration, which includes Dan Gamel's
Fresno RV Center. Gamel says he
built his company from a vision
and a determination to succeed.
"If you are goal oriented, if you
have a vision and if you wanna
that can stop you," Gamel said.
"Anything is easy if you have the
Police department
'fair' to minorities
ByErikloyd
THECOLLEGIAN
O^
Hiring within the Fresno Police
Department is fair and representa-
. five of the community's diverse
population, say department offi¬
cials. '
Lt. Richard Lindstrom of the
department's personnel/training
planning/research office believes
Fresno's force ranks favorably
against any city in the state where
minority hiring is concerned.
"We have one of the meet di¬
verse police departments anywhere
in California, compared to the
amount of diversity in the commu-
" Lindstrom said.
Legally, in the United States.
mi norities include African Ameri¬
cans, Hispanics, Asians, Native
Americans and women.
On August 31,1972, the Fresno
City Council passed Resol u tion No.
72-227, upholding the federal
government's Affirmative Action
policy, as defined under Section 7
ofthe amended Civil Rights Act of
1964.
Lindstrom said the department
follows the city's policy but has
taken additional measures to en¬
sure equitable hiring.
The department, Lindstrom said,
has never been compelled by a court
order called a "consent decree" to
adhere to diversity in hiring re¬
cruits, as has San Francisco, Los
Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland,
among others.
"We want a workforce that re¬
flects the commimo^." Lindstrom
said, "But if you look at most ofthe I
older police'officers, by far the
majority of us are white males."
Gamel has just recently sold the
assets of his RV business tp an out
of state company fox a disclosed 22
million dollars. He is still going
through the paper work ofthe trans¬
action but plans to continue help¬
ing with the marketing and being
the spokesman.
'I've sold all the debt," said
. Gamel. "That means I'm now only
a landlord. IT costs me $120,000 a
month just in interest to have my
motor homes at those stores. My
payroll is close to $1,000,000 a
month. I don't have that anymore.
All I do now is collect the rent It's
like having a credit card without
ever having :c pay the, bill.*'
Gamel has come a long way
since his early days of washing
recreational vehicles for $3 an hour.
He is the first fo admit that he has
had to work hard to achieve the
benefits of being a successful busi¬
ness man.
s with no
kseven
at little
time off," Gamel said. "I worked
"1$ hour days and it was just an
unbelievable task. I still works*
days a week. I think it's that li
extra energy you give people that
makes them feel special that pays
off in the end.
"It does take some luck and de¬
termination but the first step for
anybody is you have to have some
vision. Yon have to have the drive."
Gamel has gained unwanted
publicity over the past year from
Has there been opposition to
minority hiring?
"I'd say the administration went
along with it," Lindstrom said, "be¬
cause it's the right thing to do.
Sometimes I think you hear [com¬
plaints] from the rank and file."
Common complaints include a
perceived lowering of standards,
an unfair quota system and reverse
discrimination.
Bom of racial differences ars
organizations such as the Black
Police Officers Association and a
similar organization for Hispanic
police. .   .
Spec. Rey Wallace, president of
the B lack Pol ice Officers Associa¬
tion in Fresno, also agrees with the
department's hiring record. He ex¬
plained the function of BPOA.
"It started as a support group,
not abargaining unit," Wallace said.
"People ask why we need BPOA.
We have specific needs, and we
can't go to [Fresno Police Officers
Association] for certain things."
BPOA has sponsored cultural"
sensitivity classes that aim to en¬
lighten others to why special groups
operate.
"Individual groups have specific
needs," Wallace said, "but our other
purpose is to get involved in the
black community, where I think we
are highly regarded."
BPOA's community involve-
ment work agrees with Lindstrom's
idea of increasing public favor and
cooperation in fighting crime in all
corners of Fresno society.
"It gives every segment of the
community ownership of their po»
lice department," Lindstrom said.
"If they're not represented by their
See POLICE, page 4
New licenses improve DMV efficiency
By Lori Ash
THECOLLEGIAN
While it maybe cold com fort to
speeders in Canfomia, there is a
one-in - four chance that the driver's
-license handed over to the police
officer will be a part of one of die
most technologically advanced
record-keeping systems in the coun¬
try-
'   • Over the past three years, the
Department of Motor Vehicles has
made many significant changes.
For one, the California driver's
license system is the first of its kind'
in the nation. .  -\L—
The system has already im¬
proved the efficiency of the state's
DMV and promises to speed up
law enforcement agencies that re¬
quire access to driver's license in¬
formation.
Nearly two years after expand¬
ing its state-wide driver's license
system to include an image data¬
base of digitized color photographs,
fingerprints and signatures, the
California DMV, with about 20
million licensed drivers, has placed
about eight million of the credit
card-size licenses on the road.
The high-tech license features a
security hologram in the form of a
see-through state emblem'and a
data-packed magnetic stripe, as well
as the traditional color photograph,
signature, fingerprint and written
V
.
V
'     v    •
information.
"This hologram makes the term
'fake ID' obsolete," said Kurt
Nelson of the California Highway
Patrol. /
"At present time, there is no
way for these cards to be illegally
reproduced."
The image portion ofthe card is
digitized representations and the
cards have a magnetic stripe con-
See DMV, page 8
I
Inside
Opinion: Adminstration
steals parking from
students over break.. .2
Scholarships: Definition
and clarification of full
scholarships....   .2
Sports: Softball finality
beats Mo. 1 ranked
Arizona.. 3