1989_08 The Daily Collegian August 1989

              California
State
University,
Fresno
CThe Daily     ,
OLLEGIAN
Preview of
local theater
-See page 7
Tuesday, August 29, 1989
Established 1922
Vol. 95  No. 2
5 protesters plead not guilty
Above: Happy that the arraign¬
ment hearing is over, Unity-SRG
members celebrate. From left to
right are Scott Stark, Roxanne
Zapata, Karen Cogley and Stacey
Green.
Right: Jose Lopez gives a state¬
ment to the media.
19 others avoid trial with no contest plea
By Johanna Munoz
Staff Writer
Five of the 24 CSUF student pro¬
testers arrested after last semester's
sit-in against alleged racism and sex¬
ism on campus stood before a Fresno
Municipal Court judge Monday after¬
noon, and plead not guilty to misde¬
meanor charges.
The five pleaded not guilty to charges
of refusing lo disperse after a lawful
order to vacate the occupied Associated
Students, Inc. offices May 9 and 10.
Nineteen other protesters were each
gtven conditional pleas after pleading
no contest If they do not get arrested
again for six months the original charges
will be dropped, said the presiding] udge.
"Racism Is on trial here." said Jose
Lopez, one of the students who was ar¬
rested. Lopez spoke on behalf of the
group at a press conference held on the
courthouse steps before the arraign¬
ment. rQ
"We call for disciplinary action
against those people who perpetrated
these racial acta," Lopez stua. "Racism
and racial acts must be penalized.*
The May arrests climaxed two days
of protests by supporters of the Unity-
Students for Responsible Government
political party, which had pulled off an
upset victory over the dominant Reality
party during March elections.
The protesters were angered by pro¬
posed changes in the ASI bylaws that
would have substantially weakened the
power of Karen Cogley. the newly elected
ASI presidentand Legislative Vice Presi¬
dent-elect Kathleen Solano, both mem¬
bers of Unity-SRG.
[ The bylaw changes weje later ve¬
toed by then-ASI President Scott Vick.
but protesters stlllaccused Vick ofbelng
partially responsible for the effort and
called for his resignation along with
those of four otiier ASI oQlcers.
The OveCSUF students facing trial
are Don Daves, Stacey Green. Roxanne
Zapata, Daren Miller and Lawrence
Guerra. They are scheduled to appear
in court on Nov. 2.
The case was consolidated follow¬
ing a reques tby John Moore, the group's -
attorney. The request was made to avoid
unnecessary consumption of time and
resources for both the court and the
students.
Thousands
get checks
By Dlanne Oleson
Staff Writer
CSUFstudentswhopaldthemanda- '
tory fee Increase during early reglstra-
Uon may now look forward to a check in
the mail.
Robert Vega. CSUF Accounting Offi¬
cer, said that the money will be re¬
turned some time In September. t
Part-time students who registered
early will recelvea$15_e_pnd; full-time
students. $21.
Gov. George Deukmejian raised stu¬
dent fees for this fiscal year approxi¬
mately 7 percent more than the 3.6
percent increase proposed by the Cali¬
fornia State University's Board ofTrus-
tees, last October.
He then changed his mind and low¬
ered the fees to a more conservative
rate, according to a memorandum sent
to CSUF from the Chancellors Office
last May.
Rodney Rldeau. associate budget
specialist in the Chancellor's Office,
said the method for determining CSU
basic fees is a complicated one.
The trustees set a few which can nof
exceed more than 10 percent of the
previous years fees, and Is based within
those llmits.when they submit their
annual budget request to the Governor.
"Although the increase Is usually
less than the allotted 10 percent, if the
Governor decides that there is some
fiscal emergency and their won't be
enough revenue, he can Increase it to
mp ifru iu ja.ili.ik,  _*._„_ ■.,
"When the legislators began their
' budget deliberation this past fiscal year,
the revenue forecast changed and was
healthier than what the Governor had
anticipated." he said.
"As a result of that, the legislature
reduced the amount of revenue to be
generated by the State University fee.
thus enabling a refund to the student
who had already paid the higher fee."
Rldeau said.
In the past year, basic fees for part-
time students, those taking 0-6 units,
bounced from $276 to $297; full-time
students, those taking 7 or more units,
paid $453, up from $420.
CSUFs accounting office will use a
temporary crew, a group of 20 people
who work just during^reglstratlon. to
process the refunds.
"We don't have the man power or the
means to send the refund out at the
beginning of the semester.. .It will be our
first priority right after we get through
the add/drop period," Vega said:
Other campuses in the CSU system
will also be mailing checks those stu¬
dents who went through early registra¬
tion.
At SanFrandscoState. about 13,000
students or half of the student body will
be eligible for a refund, said Elizabeth
Small, manager of Student Financial
Services.
"It will require a minimum of 100
hours toJust process the checks and get
the computer programmed. People in
our cashiers office will work overtime;
our loan collectors and others in the
accounting office will help out."
Small anticipated that most of the
checks signed by students who com-
See TUITION page 3
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