1986_04 The Daily Collegian April 1986

              The-
CSU, Fresno
Daily Collegian
Vol. LXIV, No. XXXIII
Wednesday, April 2,1986
HIGH FLIGHT
L«le afternoon brings up windy weather In Fresno, perfect for kite flyine.
Robert Wlemlller watches as a stunt kite performs In Ihe sky above the Softball
fields al CSUF.
Watch the skies
Halley's comet returns
At around 2 a.m. on April 12, find a
spot far from the city lights, at as high an
elevation as possible, with the clearest
view of the Southern sky, and then enjoy
with a friend the 75-year return of Halley's
Although the view isn't that spectacular. Dr. Donald Yeomans told a crowd of
nearly 400 last night in the Satellite College Union, "the beauty of harmony of
Halley's endurance" is worth watching.
"The Chinese have the earliest recorded
sighting in 240 B.C.." Yeomas said. "There
were probably earlier sightings but in 210
B.C. the emperor burned all the libraries."
Throughout the ages, astronomers and
soothsayers have followed this comet,
unique for its regular arrivals and brightness, and tried to divine meaning from its
appearances.
In  1304. Italii
Giotto di Bondone (for whom one of the
satellites that took pictures of the comet
up close was named) depicted the nativity
scene using the comet he had seen the
previous year as the star of Bethlehem.
Yeomans said "the comet came to early
to have been the star recorded in the
Bible"as Halley's made its pass in 12 B.C.
and Jesus was likely to have been born
around 4 B.C."
An early depiction of Halley's comet
can be found on Roman coins minted in
12 B.C. to commemorate the death of civil
war hero General Agrippa. Agrippa had
helped Augustus, the first emperor of
Rome, to seize power in 27 B.C. When the
comet appeared soon after his death in 12
B.C. it was thought to be the soul of the
great man streaking across the sky towards
See COMET, page 7
Student dropout rate
linked to fiscal woes
Nearly half of all students will not
graduate from CSUF because of difficulties ranging from financial problems
to lack of motivation, according to Dean
of Student Affairs William Corcoran.
Corcoran said only 53 percent of first-
time entering freshmen and transfer students will complete their degrees within
.m.■•.,'. sr
is because of fi-
dents do not gradt
nannal difficulties.
"The number one problem is finances,
there's no question about that," Pierce
said. "Students find they have to drop out
of school while others never even get in."
Many students work part time or full
time to support themselves, and even
families, as they go through school, Pierce
said. Some are forced to leave because
they lose their jobs, are unable to find
employment with suitable pay or hours or
canot deal with the pressures of working
ind attending school at the same time.
Wal
r  Robi
I   portunity program director, said many
students are leaving school because of
financial aid cuts.
-Financial aid ia a deteiminin, factor
for many students," Robinson said. "Right
now, aid is being threatened by the Gramm-
Rudman-Hollingsbill. We are experiencing a 25 percent across-the-board
financial aid cut and are virtually being set
back 20 years in time."
Robinson said minority students are
suffering the most from financial aid cuts.
"I can count on one hand the number of
minority students that are here without
financial aid," he said.
With less funds available for aid. He
said even fewer minority students will be
able to earn college degrees.
"The government seems to feel that
space shuttles and bombs are more important than educating people," he said.
"It's time they learn that ignorance is more
than education."
University statistics show that 38 percent
of minority students graduate from CSUF,
far less than whites.
Robinson said minority students also
leave college because of insensitivity encountered from faculty, administration
So* DROPOUT, page S
Ex-Mao translator says China must reopen
The former protocol officer for the Chinese Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and interpreter for the late Chairman
Mao Tsc Tung addressed a crowd of about 75 people
yesterday, during one of the University Lecture Series.
"China is a giant as well as a dwarf," said Cunyao Xu,
visiting political science professor from the People's
Republic of China.
As a giant, China is the third biggest country in the
world. Yet it is dwarfed by its status as a poor and
developing country, with a gross national product of
$300 per capita.
"To reinvigorate its economy, China must reopen its
doors to the outside world." Xu said. "That's Ihe policy of
(Premier) Deng Xiao Ping."
China's four modernizations focus on enonomic
developments in industry, agriculture, national defense,
and scienceand technology. The country's overall goal is
to quadruple its industrial and agricultural production by
the year 2000.
Currently, China looks forward to a 6.5 percent
increase in annual growth rate by 1990 and a 7.2 percent
increase by the turn of the century. This increase would
boost the GNP to $800 per capital. "That's very ambitious for China," said Xu.
Under Deng's current lines, the ideological conditions
in China still adhere to Marxism, ivhile politically, socialism is being implemented into the Chinese society. This
has been the trend since 1979.
Development of productive forces is fundamental to
the socialist reform. "The starting point is to bring into
full play the enthusiasm of 800 million Chinese peasants,"
said Xu.
Under Mao's regime, the peasants earned workpoints,
instead of a salary, averaging 10 points per day, or an
equivalent of 10 cents. This was the systematic norm,
regardless of variations in crop sizes.
In turn, the family is obliged to "sell" a specified
amount of their Harvest to the state. After this compromise, the remaining harvest may be utilized by the family or
sold in the local market.
Today, the average farming family of four e;
estimated $3000 annually.
Managers in urban ind
They have to find buyers at
ing prices, said Xu.
The volume of U.S. it*
billion in 1985, while present ir
$1.5 billion.
Deng is combining communism with socialism by
merging a political dictatorship with a degree of economic freedom, said Xu. The revised constitution of 1982
now governs the people by law, not be party officials.
But China will remain a "one-party-ruled country,"
said Xu. "We must remain socialistic." He added that
Deng has "no intention of becoming anything else."
If China reaches a $1,000 GNP per capita, it will
approach the level of advanced Western countries. China
e xpects to achieve this level in about 50 to 70 years, while
See CHINA, page ■