1997_02 The Daily Collegian February 1997

              News
THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Friday, February 14,1997
OPINION
Apathetic voters threaten American democracy
By Hakim Allen
The Daily Collegian
Is America truly a democ¬
racy?
In elementary school wc arc
all taught that a democracy is
government for the people hy the
people. Within a democracy, we
have certain inalienable rights
and if we feel thai arc rights have
been violated, our government
/should bend oradjust to ensure thai
our basic democratic rights arc pre¬
served.
Wc arc indoctrined to believe in
ideals such as free elections, ma¬
jority rule with tolerance of a%
minority dissent . phrases such as
"truth and justice for all" and "all
men are created equal."
Is this really true? Can wc really
say that this is representative of
America?
(
How can wc call our government Americans would vote. Italy has a
a democracy — a government for voter turnout of over 90 percent
and by the people when more than Germany. France and Great Britain
half of the country doesn't vote in' over 70 percent.
any particular election? How do wc
say that all men are created equal
when 10 percent of the population
owns 90 percent of the wealth?
Where does this voter apathy
come from? Perhaps if America
was a true democracy with propor¬
tional political representation, more
Why don't wc stop calling this
a democracy, and refer to it as an
elitist society designed to protect'
the property and wealth of Ihe
wealthy?
We constantly listen to embel¬
lishments and delusions of how free
a country wc live in Wc subscribe
lo notions of the American
dream, and success stories like
Clinton's single-parenthood
presidency. Wc relinquish our
faith into government run by a
two party system.
Our government is based on
a ridiculous assumption. This as¬
sumption says that all of the
many people in America can be
Please see VOTERS page 8
Female athletes just as talented as male athletes
By Tom Sepul veda
The Daily Collegian
For those of you who think
lhat women can't make the grade
in sports. I offer a few examples
to prove otherwise: Fresno
State's softball team, the U.S.
Olympic women's soccer learn.
Stanford's women's basketball
team.
This is usually where men
say "Well, let's see them play the
guys."
Great! I'm all for that.
There'd be sell oois for every
event. Battle of the Sexes. Guys on
one side of the stadium, ladies on
ihe other. Maybe there'd be riots
after the game, just like grudge soc*
ccr matches in Belgium or England.
But I think I'd rather see a more
egalitarian approach. Somerhing
like Olympic equestrian events,
where men and women compete in
learns not only against each other,
but with each other. Like watching
Tim Duncan and Saudia Roundtitc
on the same team.
Title IX has accomplished what
it set out to by putting women's
sports on the map. Bui there is s^till
one more step, and thai is integrat¬
ing women into the same team as
men.
For you skeptics out there who
strongly believe in the scparate-but-
equal system we have now. pul your
bias on pause for a minute.
You see. I'm not going lo argue
the biological advantage of being a
certain gender. Most biologists will
tell you that there arc hormonal dif¬
ferences, as well as differences m
muscle structure, and thai mav or
may not account for differences in
athletic performance between men
and women.
No two human beings arc cre¬
ated equal. That is a fact. And ath¬
letes from every sport have proven
it is the dedication to the sport,
through training, that gives an ath¬
lete the edge, noi the gender.
The argument looks like this:
Nature versus Nurture Are men and
women different because of bio¬
logical factors, or simply because
they are brought up different?
If you answered the latter, give
yourself a prize.
Mark Messier was told he
was too small. So was Fran
Tarkcnton. But whai ihey lacked
in natural gifts, they made up for
with hard work. These are men
who had been practicing the fun¬
damentals of their sport from the
day ihey learned to walk.
Women weren't always given
the same chance Bobby got a
football lor Christmas. Jane gol
a Barbie or Cabbage Patch doll
Please see SPORTS page 8
Library
Continued from page 1.
/ations. It's the organizations which
represent Fresno State and the cam¬
pus community." Monreal said.
But Jabari Davis, a philosophy
major, felt that the library definitely
needs the help.
"What are organizations going
to do rent out a r\a!Land throw a
party?" Davis said. "I came for an
education. The library needs books
It's already one of. the worst
around."
Amy Shereman Smith, assistant
dean for the library Smith hopes for
a repeat of last years $40,000 do¬
nation.
According to Smith. $20,000
went to an ASI periodical endow¬
ment fund, about $9,000 went to¬
wards books and the other $ 11.000
went to new computer terminals.
The $20,000 periodical fund
earns five percent annually. Only
the interest accrued can be spent to
purchase periodicals
"The gift was extremely helpful
in our three major areas of need."
Smith said
Although S11 .(XX) went toward
new computer terminals. Smith said
she is still concerned aboul the long
wait that some students experience
when trying to get a free terminal.
But according to Smith, students
are experiencing significantly
shorter lines when using the library
terminals because of the donation.
" Periodical purchases are also
another area of improvement be¬
cause of the grant. Because of sig¬
nificant budget cuts and rising pe¬
riodical'cost, the library has had to
cut down on their subscriptions.
"(The donation) was the firsi of
its kind." Smith said.. "We're hop¬
ing ihey would make a larger en¬
dowment this semester. When ASI
gave to the library, ihey gave to each
and every student."
Kennel Bookstore
ASI
Continued .from page 1.
tial conflict if board meetings ran
late.
Ciucur also brought up a dis¬
agreement over the power of the
legislative vice-president to appoint
members to committees. He said an
error exists in the bylaw, which
gives contradicting instructions.
He said one section calls for the
legislative vice-president to make
the appointments, while another
mandates the power belongs lo the
senators.
Ciucur said an agreement was
made last semester, which autho¬
rized the legislative vice-president
to make appointments, with the
Board having the right to over-rule.
Ciucur also said many members
were overworked because they
were serving on several committees
at once.
Earlier in the k meeting.
Richardson called for reports from
the various A§I committees.
None of the committee chairper¬
sons reported holding any meetings
with lhe>ir rnmmittrrs      . .
Kennel Bookstore
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