1994_12 The Daily Collegian December 1994

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OPINION
Thursday, December 1,1994
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Election is
over, fight
continues
The elections havepassed, and
as horrific as they turned out, I
would be naive to believe that
any significant change would
have occurred if the other major
party had won, or rather, at a
broader level, maintained office.
.The facts remain that the hostile
climate towards people of color,
in particular, has not changed,
and recently has worsened.
The elections are over, and
though wehad little(if any choice)
that day, we make choices daily
that are just as impacting.
For example, when we go to
eat, shop, or any other free mar¬
ket form of exchange, we make
choicesaboutour lives. Wehardly
think about them, and I concede
that I had not given them much
time until lately, but the support
of large multi-national corpora¬
tions says many things about our
political consciousness.
Many, if not all, major corpora¬
tions donate money Jo political
parties.
LEFT UP FRONT
By Esteban Licea
By sup- —
porting cer¬
tain corporations, we in turn sup¬
port certain political figures and
propositions. For example, student
'A' buys a mondo taco, then Mondo
corporation donates mondo dollars
to candidate X and then candidate
'X' shafts student 'A.' If this sounds
like a vicious cycle, it is. Don't kid
yourself.
Jtmay seem hopeless, but there's
a weapon at our disposal. What I've
—       bym^boy-
cott, then I
probably shouldn't engage in the
activity.
v, It's through this prodding that I
discovered something significant
enough to permanently boycott cor¬
porations that supported discrimi¬
natory, prejudicial, racist, or in some
way, hostile agendas to struggles of
working people, students and his¬
torically marginalized communi¬
ties.
"The elections are over, and though we had
little (if any choice) that day, we make choices
daily that are just as impacting."
been fluttering around is what's
commonly called a boycott. What¬
ever image this invokes in your
mind, I know for me, I originally
thought of it as a political move that
was of no use.
I thought that it was useless to
attempt to boycott corporations be-
causelfigured thatitwouldn'tmake
any difference. 1 figured I suffered
more than they could. I thought
about the "harm principle" ancj its
concept that if I, as an individual,
suffered more than Corporation X
Keeping to my individual line, I
could not consciously go to an
exploitive corporation and support
them, even though I may suffer
more. I concede that I used to drink
Pepsi daily, and eat at Taco Bell
with uncommon regularity, but I
can no longer support this corpora-,
tion. I may suffer higher food prices,
and have to search harder for Royal
Crown cola, but that's something
that I'm fully prepared to do.
I cannot consciously spend my
dollars at a business that supports
the divisiveness of an initiative
like Proposition 187, or a gover¬
nor who's hostile towards educa¬
tion, health care and the progres¬
sion of people of color within
society.
These corporations that strip
us of our last remaining dollars
are all around us, and I would
again be naive if I claimed that
it'd beeasy to boycott theseblood-
sucking corporations.
They're all around us. Pepsi
Co., for example, supported Prop.
187, Pete Wilson and similar right
wing ideologues. Coca-Cola Co.,
has been just as guilty, having
had a large investment in South
Africa, and a clear hand in apart¬
heid:
The list of these corporations is
long, but is readily available/It's
from this data we can base a stra¬
tegic assault on these corpora¬
tions that bleed Third World
countries, permanently enslaving
them to poverty, illiteracy, dis¬
ease and famine.
While here on the home front,
they deceive us into believing that
all is grand. Sure, at a superficial
level, I suffer, but at a deeper
politically conscious, huhtthitar-
ian level, I thrive and empower
myself.
—LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
'Critical thinking' more than just buzz words
'
Dear Editor
We should all be thankful for
Jeff Smith's lesson about critical
thinking appearing in your pa-
tsday, November 29. This
I an excellent example of
g that is anything but criti¬
llike his reading of Mr.
Albuquerque'sarticlethedaybe-
fore, we don't have to read Mr.
Smith's twice to come to thisbon-
clusion. \     )
Critical thinking would imply
mat Mr. Smith had considered
Mr. Albuquerque's comments
point by point, occasioned a little
study or even research of tl\e
article's validity, and only then to
have sat down to write (sitting
down might ensure any future
thinking he imparts comes from
his head).
Givingthebenefitof$hedoubt,
Mr. Smith's is also a good ex¬
ample of writing that appears
designed to confound his read¬
ers with distractions. Just keep
people muddling over nonsense
and they won't have time to think
clearly themselves. This tactic is
•much in vogue these days on
radio and TV, the place where
Mr. Smith says he gets his views
on humanity every night Or, giv-
See Critical, Page 4
IfyouwoJd I<b your letter printed h THE COLLEGIAN, dep off a
a^ aft our office h tie Keate Buking ^
Mai Step #42.
Flag burning offensive, Prop 187 not a racist issue
t      Dear Editor,
I happened to see a copy of the
Fresno State Collegian newspa¬
per dated Nov. 11,1994.
I Was horrified and angered
by what I saw on the cover!
Burning the American flag,
symbolizing what our country
stands for (and incidentally, what
these people want for them-
-x selves), is, in itself, a lesson in
hypocrisy!
Most of what was quoted by
perpetrators in the newspaper
was ridiculous—this is not a ra¬
cial issue! I (and everyone I krow
who voted for Propositioivq87)
would be against any illegal per¬
sons, be they white, brown or
black, who felt that they were
eligible for certain taxpayer ser¬
vices mandated for U.S. citizens
only. It's these same citizens who
pay for the above out of their
Reader defends columnist's ideology
Dear Editor,
This letter intendas to be a
simple request, it's in response to
an item written by Tammy
Martinez. Your criticism to the
very brave and well-written edi¬
torial by Esteban Licea is a hor¬
rendous display of ignoranee.
Mr. Licea, vvtiom I've had the
the pleasure to have met recently,
is a man of principles with a mind *
of his own. Be sure that if every¬
one in this state woiild contem-1
plate the san ie education and in¬
tellectual capacity as Mr. Licea,
despicable measures like Prop.
187 would not even be a matter to
be discussed. y? .
hard-earned pay checks. Our
Constitution designates that we
take care of our own with our
taxes and not those that are in our
country illegally!
, I'm proud to say that the vot¬
ers of California finally had the
guts to say "No" to the free load¬
ers who are in part responsible
for bankrupting our state.
"•   >      See Flag, Page 4
In your jungle-like form of so¬
ciety, Martinez, "based on the
principle of survival of the fit¬
test," people like you, incapable
to perform any sort of critical
thinking, should be the first to
meet extinction, as Had the Ape
EDITOR IN CHIEF
MANAGING EDITOR
NEWS EDITOR
DITOR •  BRY.
M.CRISITNA MEDINA
OLIVIA REYES
WALSH
•ITOR •  ROBB1
>ITOR •  JOER(
AGER •  RI(
AGER •  BRAD1
[AGER •  RU!
iITORS  •  LAI
•  TIMS]
See Fittest, Page 4
STAFF WRITERS: Paulo Albuquerque, CB Mfife Ang, Casey
Angle, Adam Brady, Dennis Claborn, StacJEomp, Charlton
Jordan, David Chavez, Chad Holcomb, Mam Hugo. Raina
Jennings, Esteban li,ea  Draegcr M..rtincz,;Biko Ohannessian,
Beatrice Olivera, Leah Perich, Mitch Prince, T.rin Smith, George
Smith, JcfF Smith, Tricia Smith, Pete Stewart, Annette Thiessen,
Lai Yen Wong
PHOTOGRAPPIERS: Steve R. Fujimoro, tomtny Monreal,'\
Zia Nizami, RtfSty Robison, Todd Warshaw.
ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES: Dermis Claborn.
David Fakhri,NinaMomjian, Zakiah Jusuf.
i a «**V lot and by the
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