1986_09 The Daily Collegian September 1986

              !F3@W$
.Thursday, Sept. 4,1986.
page
Whalen discusses campus plans, future goals
As the school year officially begins.
Associated Students President Bob Whalen
discusses personal goals and plans for the
coming year with Collegian writer Cael
Weston.
What is the philosophy of the Associated
Students?
To protect students' rights. The way we
do that is we have certain students on
university policy-making committees.
Those positions, a lot of the time, go
unfilled because we don't have
enough students coming up here (to the
student government offices) for appli¬
cations. So we're going to protect students'
rights by helping make policy and getting
representatives on the
committees.
What are your plans for the year?
We've got two big projects and then
kind of an overall philosophy. The first
project is publishing student evaluations.
IVe been really busy, so I Ve got a senator
working on it right now.
HoM is that going to work?
What we would-like is an independent
survey by students, different from the one
we fill out at the end of classes. They
(students) would answer certain questions.
They wouldn't be questions where students
could find out if he's an easy teacher or
not, but whether to gauge the effectiveness
of the instructor and whether he meets the
educational needs of that student. For
example, 1 prefer a lot of tests during the
semester, not just one or two near the end.
So we would ask questions that would
give us an answer to that
question.
How would the survey keep from giving
the easy professors rave reviews and con¬
demning thehardnosedfor expecting a lot
from students?
That's the responsibility of the student
filling out the survey. We only report what
they put down. We would have to empha¬
size this for the benefit of other students.
So when you (the student) put down this
information, keep the other students in
mind, whether he is a serious student or a
WHALEN
Continued from page 1
whether editorials will run without
bylines, signifying a consensus opinion of
the editorial staff, or with a byline,
signifying that it is merely the writer's
opinion.
The Daily Collegian, chooses not
to run bylines with editorials.
In an attempt to test the rule in court, a
CSU Humbolt editor printed an unsigned
editorial.supporting Walter Mondale for
president, and was fired by the president
of that university.
•The second priority presented by-
Whalen was that the trustees grant
students the right to sit on budget advisory
committees at all CSU campuses.
CSUF is one of the universities that
already have student representation on
budget advisory committees, primarily
because President Harold Haak is "student
oriented," according to Whalen.
Funding for university day care centers
was one of last year's priorities, and
Whalen notes its financial boost by the
state as an example of what can come Of
priority list items.
As CSSA chairman, Whalen said he
can help Fresno become a leader among
state universities.
"Being chairman in addition to being
AS president will take a fair amount of
time, but one of my goals was for Fresno
to take a leadership role and it's happened,"
he said. "One down."
student just trying to get by and get his
degree.
Will the survey be available to all
students?
Right now, the plan is to have our pilot
program begin in the School of Business.
If any other organizations are interested,
they should contact us and we can get
moving on it.
What was the other project?
A student credit union. That's a
movement that's been going on through¬
out the nation. It's really being encouraged
by the Reagan administration. Because
we would provide loans for students, it fits
into his private sector take-over plans.
So we've got help from Washington D.C.
We're going to be going to a conference.in
Berkley so we can learn how to get our
charter together.
A lot will happen in South Africa this
year. How did you see student govern¬
ment 's role?
I think that we played a pretty big role
last year in the elections. Greg Barfield
'and I sponsored a referendum that was on
the ballot. And it said that we the students
encourage the CSU Fresno
Foundation to divest from companies doing
business in South Africa. And that passed
by a two to one margin. The Foundation
has changed their mind. They've voted to
divest and I think that's a big step. Things
are turning around too. Deukmejian has
changed his mind.
Thinking of the future, what do you
want to do after college?
My brother and I are starting this fund,
it's called "Whalen and Whalen," and we
axe gathering some capital so when we get
out we can start our own business. We
don't know exactly what we are going to
do vet. but probably something to do with
^vestments, and if not that. I'd like to start
some sort of retreat company where we
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take executives, or people from the
coporate world, and put them in a retreat
site, Hke the mountains or the beach, and
then have workshops about communication
skills and  basic business practices.
Do you want to be a politician?
I'm always open to that option, but
there are some types of polities I don't
like. For example, the real power poli¬
ticians that strong arm issues through; like
Willie Brown, hell twist yduVarm to make
you vote the way he wants you to. I don't
even consider myself a politician. I try to
consider myuself a representative.
ACTION
Continued from page 1
wHat I'm trying to accomplish here." he
said.
Wint has been a vocal advocate of
minority rights since his student protestor.,
days at Washington State University in
the sixties. As a member of the Radical
Student Union, he helped establish the
ethnic studies program at WSU.
"I've gone from the person who held
sit-ins in the president's office to a member
of.the president's cabinet," he said. "I've
gone from my army fatigues, beard and
black beret, carrying a picket, to this uni¬
form," Wint said, indicating his under¬
stated suit and clean-cut visage. "Does
that mean my committment is less? No."
Wint also has the experience of an
unsuccessful city council bid in Pullman,
Wa.. and service as a legislative aide in the
state of Washington. "There are things
I've learned about how processes
work from working within, as well as
' without , the system. If a person comes
into this position as an arm waver and
expects to make great changes it won't
happen. Most of what I do comes
through negotiating."
Education is a key to increasing the
minority• profile at CSUF, Wint said.
"We're working different kinds of
training programs to show an affirmative
action presence on campus — a visibility
that we are seriously committed. We're
going to have workshops and seminars.
I'm looking at maybe having a symposium
this spring. We're doing the kinds of
things to raise the levels of sensitivity.
"Not only should we attract, but we
should enhance the prospects of students
coming in. We want to identify minority
students when they're juniors in "high
school, track them, and put together some,
kind of package to bring them in. This is
the sort of affirmative action we can take
rather than just saying, 'We're here. We're
waiting for you to come.1"
Nowhere is Wint*s conviction more evi¬
dent than in his reasons for coming to
CSUF.
"Fm a goal-oriented person — I love a
challenge," he said. "The thing that chal¬
lenges me about CSUF is the diversified
population. There's such, a conglomera¬
tion of ethnicity. There's a beauty in the
diversity. The opportunity to have a part
in mixing all these ingredients together,
stirring it up, putting it in the oven and
baking it and hopefully getting something
palatable - that's exciting. That gets my
adrenalin going.
"I want to be part of CSU F as it comes
into its own as a full-fledged university,
maybe as a landmark institution in this
area. Being a part of something that is
happening has always been enticing to me.
"We are no longer Fresno Normal
School. We are, in fact, a university. We
are going down a pathway and maybe
there is something Arthur Wint can do to
participate in that.
"There won't be a building named after
me. There wont be a plaque or anything.
What there will be, hopefully, are thou¬
sands of individuals whose lives were
touched because Arthur Wint
was hcre.r'