1996_05 The Daily Collegian May 1996

              Softball team splits on the road
with Cal-Poly SLO
 Page 6	
Baseball team wins seventh straight
— defeats Long Beach, 6-4
  Page 6	
Daily Collegian
Weather
Suany, warm
high 93/low 61
California State University, Fresno
ASI voting system leaves room for fraud
By Jim Ward
Senior Staff Writer
One student, three votes. Not
bad for an hour's effort in partici¬
patory democracy.
Yep. I voted three times in this
week's ASI elections.
The temptation was irresistible
because it was so easy. The cam¬
pus election system and its watch¬
dogs are impotent when it comes
to preventing voter fraud.
On Monday, I strode up to the
League of Women Voters officials
seated at a table outside the Round
Table Pizza franchise. I showed my
validated student body card and was
handed^a ballot as my name was
checkerToff the voter rolls, and a
black dot was placed on the edge
of my fee sticker.
One down, two to go.
The next morning, I showed up
at the Satellite Student Union with
my student body card, sans the
black dot, which I removed with an
ex-acto knife.
Another League of Women Vot¬
ers official looked up my name in
the voter roll, put yet another black
dot on my fee sticker and gave me
my second ballot in less thin a day.
I immediately returned the bal¬
lot to the two embarrassed election
officials stationed at the polls and
explained to them that I was work¬
ing for the Collegian.
A few hours later I waltzed over
to the Joyal Administration build¬
ing and asked a cashier for another
fee sticker.
After checking my account on
her computer, she issued me an¬
other fee sticker for my student
body card which I used to replace,
the marked fee sticker I had re¬
moved from my student body card
a few minutes before, unbeknownst
to the trusting cashier.
I then sauntered over to the Resi¬
dence Dining Hall to do my civic
duty for the third time in less than
24 hours.
The friendly election official
looked my name up on the voter
roll, checked out my student body
card and issued me my third ballot.
ASI's Election Committee
member Andre Martinez, who wit¬
nessed my third issuing of a com¬
plete ballot, said election proce¬
dures were "archaic and outdated."
The four election polling places
each have separate voting logs that
League of Women Voter officials
use to check student eligibility to
vote.
Student names are crossed off
the log at the particular poll they
Jevon Swanson — The Daily Collegian
It's your Bulldog right. Elizabeth Ramirez drops her ballot in
the box yesterday near the library. Voting continues through
today from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Free Speech Area and in
Please see VOTING, Page 7    front of the Residence Dining Hall and Satellite Student Union.
'Heritage Trunks' stow Armenian treasures, culture
By Michelle Lomax
Staff Writer
The Fresno Historical Society is
pres^ting Armenian heritage in a
new form.
Objects tucked away in trunks
are being used to portray Armenian
history plus the story of Armenians
in Fresno.
Several items have been left to
be unveiled in the Armenian
Heritage Trunk, which is waiting to
be opened by children of all ages.
The Armenian Heritage Trunk is
a.portion of the Traveling History
Trunk Series created by Wendy
Costa of the Fresno Historical
Society and Barlow Der
Mugrdechian, lecturer from the
Armenian Studies Program at
Fresno State.
"Armenians have a tremendous
impact on the Valley, especially
Fresno," said Adrianne McGraw,
education coordinator for the
Fresno Historical Society.
She said it is ah important pan
of showing the ethnic diversity of
the city.    -
Mugrdechian said a backgam¬
mon game, Armenian money,
books on Armenian dress, a book
of recipes reflective of Armenian
culture, a notebook filled with
activities, and audio and video tapes
of Armenian history in Fresno are
inside the trunk.
McGraWsaid a doll in traditional""
Armenian dress is also one of the
items in the truck.
Examples of Armenian literature
are placed in the trunk that older
children will open. "The Road
Home" by David Kherdian, a
Newberry Honor Book, and "My
Name is Aram," by William
Saroyan, are the books presented.
Other contents in the trunk
include books and articles about
Armenian  history,  flags  and
architecture.
Also contributed is information
about the Armenian Genocide.
Teachers can request the trunk
to be brought their classes.
The Historical Society is mak¬
ing the trunk available for teachers
to use in their classes for a week at
a time.
"This gives children an idea
about who the Armenians are,"
Mugrdechian said. "It also offers a
hands-on experience."
He said this is an excellent way
for students to learn about
different cultures.
People from the community
have donated several items as well.
McGraw said one woman, who
is a prominent resident in the com¬
munity [and did not want to be re-»
vealed] donated two candles used
in Armenian weddings in the 1800s.
"This is obviously a very impor¬
tant part of the Armenian heritage,"
she said.
"I wish I had a trunk like this
when I was young," Armenian
Studies Program Coordinator
Dickran Kouymjiam said.
He said the trunk is important
because it teaches young students
what it is like to be a minority.
School personnel divided over CSUF investigation
By Matthew Hart
Senior Staff Writer
What started as a unified re¬
sponse to issues raised about the
practices of the administration has
quickly become a divisive matter
among not just the Academic Sen¬
ate, but faculty, staff and adminis¬
tration all over the university.
Anonymous e-mail messages
and President John Welty's open
question and answer forum in
March sparked an interest in fac¬
ulty and staff to look closer at the
policies and practices of the admin¬
istration.
In response, the Academic Sen¬
ate', a legistave and advisory body
of faculty members created two
separate bodies, the Ad Hoc Admin¬
istrative Accountability Committee
and the Special Commission, to in¬
vestigate the issues raised.
In the past week, two events that
could have detrimental effects on
the AHA'AC took place.
One is the creation of a commit¬
tee by Welty and the California
State University Chancellor's Of¬
fice that according to Welty, is de¬
signed to help coordinate the inves¬
tigation. /
The other event is a motion still
up in the Senate addressing the
wording of a list of questions for¬
mulated by AHAAC and sent to
Welty, which some feel is couched
in offensive and hostile language.
The list of questions requests
documentation and information
supporting the answers.
The Advisory Panel, created by
Welty, will consist of several
members from outside the univer¬
sity, only one member of which has
been named.
Thomas Ehrlich has been ap¬
pointed to chair the committee.
The panel is «eerf«as a threat by
some, who think it might be a move
by the administration to wrestle the
investigation away from AHAAC,
and limit the amount of documen¬
tation and research available to the
Academic Senate.
The senate never approved or
heard of the panel until the decision
had already been made to form it.
The senate also never agreed to
have AHAAC collaborate with any
other body in collecting informa¬
tion.
Ida Jones', AHAAC chair, and
Mark Hanna, California Faculty
Association representative who are
both on the AHAAC, are both am¬
bivalent about how the Advisory
Panel will affect the work of their
committee.
"The interests of the
Chancellor's Office can be differ¬
ent than the interests of the faculty,"
Jones said. "It's likely to hinder the
AHAAC from doing what the Aca¬
demic Senate wants it to do."
Jones said one problem with the
Advisory Panel is that the letter
from the Chancellor naming
Ehrlich as chair doesn't specifically
give access to information re¬
quested by AHAAC, instead possi¬
bly putting it into the hands of the
new panel which can do with the
information what they deem neces¬
sary. This would not necessarily
include sharing it with the AHAAC
or the senate.
"If we can't get the information,
all we can do is look at the panel's
report and say whether we agree
with it or not," Jones said.
Hanna believes the creation of
the panel will possibly affect
whether or not the Welty will an¬
swer any of the numerous questions
directed at him by the AHAAC.
"At this point in time I don't
expect that the president will re¬
spond to any of the questions that
we put to him," Hanna said.
The interests of the panel, as op¬
posed to the interests of the
AHAAC are also a concern, with
some thinking the panel's compo¬
sition of mostly those in adminis¬
trative positions will not be able to
carry out what the senate formed
Please see COMMITTEES, Page 4-