1969_10 The Daily Collegian October 1969

              commentary
Coivocatioi?
... or catastrophe?
chip, and potty prejudices combined to rain what could nave
baaa a mooning nil snd Ulumin-
the all
called, major
problems should hove already
been Identified lad placed on
an ageada tor point by potat de-
S-ouMhavs
college omnia unity.
Tbe eoavocatloo clearly lllus-
i gap ta com-
I tbe golf of ig-
the problema, but tee tack of motivation
by a majority of atudenta and
faculty to solve them.
Why did the students take a
holiday on September 30th? It
waa because s lethargic snd cynical faculty failed to stimulate
their Interact when It had an opportunity to do ao ln the claae-
room. Instead of conveying an
attitude of enthusiasm for s convocation, most faculty either
pooh-poohed tbe idee entirely or
gave It token approval.
The convocation should hsve
been underway long betore tbe
ail-campus sum ions la ths Amphitheatre on Tueeday. Tbe prob-
aady to discuss teem.
The     program     should hsvs
eon   air act or ed tn such a way
have boon outlined ln advance by
the faculty for their students.
Tho students attending the convocation grere not prepered to respond >n any meanlncftil way to
what was said there. Many of the
students, quite frankly, didn't
comprehend whet wss betnc discussed. A common complaint was
that tbe panel discussion snd
what followed was too wide-rang-
Ing and abstract.
Tbe students hod come to participate In the solving of problems, test very little, If sny-
thing, concrete emerged tor them
to work with.
discussed and disposed of ta sn
orderly snd systemstlc   manner.
The student government too
le ln large part to blame tor the
tack of enthusiasm or Interest
by the student body In the convocation.
If tho faculty was consciously or unconsciously sabotaging
the convocation, the student
Covernment should hsvs sctsd. An
alert and creetive stuttont government would have formed an
Ad. Hoc committee to put together and distribute pamphlets
outlining the issee and the arguments on both sides. It could
have actively promoted the
convocation in a number of ways.
Yet It remained ln Its same old
vacuum, being neither functional,   relevant, or  creative.
If the students are apathetic,
It le because they sre not informed snd inspired by their
teachers, the administration, or
the student government. AU
three act ss tranquilizers, keeping students sleepy and ths cam -
pus dull.
As tang os thig campus ls a
tortoise tn the stats college system, ss long as it perpetasteo
an unstlmutattnc intellectual and
social cllmats, as long as It
keeps tripping over Its owe
communications gap, It can expect confrontation, not convocation.
Ch*cM'
E.O.P. helps minorities make the transition
By Doug Broton
Student   Preeldent    -
There seems to bs s greet
deal of controverey over tbe fact
ttmt Educational Opportunities
Program students were given
preference during registration
and were allowed to register
ln tbe firm time zone with graduate atudenta. But the sols
purpose of E.O.P. Is to help
students from low-Income
fsmtUss get gn education.
B. O. P. students receive
crants from botooou $1,400 aad
$1,000, dapondlnc on whether
tbey live at home or maintain
s aeporate reeidence. Thoae
crants sre made ap of Economic
Opportunity funds, National De-
tone
If we are
wisely, E.O.P. students should
be able to get claaeoo wblch win
snabls them to aae the grants to
tholr full advantage.
While  e-gggeradons rose to
aa Mgh aa 2,000, oaly 235E.O.P.
g-a-aaa-aaite--iia--s\tiyijmginfitj
(Editor's note; This ts ths first
ln a series of opinion articles on
tbs EducattonalOpportunltieg
Program by Fresno Stats College's gtudent president.)
Tbe circus-Uke stmoephere of
registration ls hard tor students
of middle to upper class backgrounds to got through. Imoglns
wtet It would bo Uke tor oome-
letters
registsr  early.
Another potat I would like
to moke ta ttet theee students
are making a transition to a
middle-class society ttet ts very
different from their own culture.
Disappointed
We wore disappointed but not
surprised at the amall attendance
at tbs convocation we attended
yesterday. Deeptte the tow preaent, we gained mors from tte
day's activities thaa we could
hove from oar conventional
class room a snd books.
Of all the problems ire beard
diecassed, ths one pertaining to
the E.O.P. concerned ae the
moot. Deters attending we knew
Utile -bout ths E.O.P. bet bad
heard a dteturfatag number of
gripes and rumors about tl  Thus,
ATTENTION SENIORS!
Sign up NOW for
SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHS
in  Room 309 . . . College Union
PROFESSIONAL STUDIO PORTRAITS
FOR •CAMPUS* YEARBOOK
NOW BEING TAKEN AT THE   COLLEGE UMON
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one completely alien to the pro-
Last fall tte overage grade
point average tor E.O.P. students woo l.SS. Thla yaar tee
average baa lieeu to 2.01, tg>
one-half of s full grade potat.
If any of tboee studenta can't
assimilate tbs work In our ackool
and flunk out, teen registration
frustrations and loads ousts
elaaaea cannot bo aaed aa tee
reason tor flunking oat.
we attended the convocation -
the perfect opportunity to learn
more about tbs program aa meld
aa other subjects of disagreement. The E.O.P. discussion
grot*> gave aa a chance to
And oat wtet tte E.O.P. actually
Involved.
Unfortunately tbe why's snd
how's of the E.O.P. hove not
boon publicised, and thue maay
uae tbe priority registration of aot
even 200 E.O.P. students aa s
convenient ecepegoat to Igaore
tte real problem — the failure
of taxpayers to opond enough
money tor oar educational needs
wbich cootribotes to tee Inadequate registration system by not
providing sufflcient faculty and
fadU-ee ta the flrat place.
Everyone had tte opportunity
to question tte E.O.P. If ttey Oo
desired Tbey bad o chance to
learn whether ttetr grievaaeos
grere testified oad to openly ex-
proas tbem. Surely there are
more grtpera than were prooent at the convocation. Why
weren't  tbey there?
Edto Kawamoto
and Naacy Kawamoto
The Doily Colleton
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Massagte* Editor     . Ba-arly Bairns By
Nama Editor Eaf-ts Oaaaltl
Sparta Editor Oalla Hamilton
Baportor*i Margy Bart**
Jaamg Bailor
i-aTta.