1990_05 The Daily Collegian May 1990

              . ■-■ r,
V
MAY, 1990
:—
Pefia
brings
Salvadoran
women's
message
LA VOZ DE AZTLAN
CSU, FRESl
PAGE 3
I
AI Robles
LA VOZ STAFF WRITER
The people of the United States must
become more aware of the problems in
El Salvador regarding human rights—
especially the conditions facing women—
and the work done by Salvadorans to
end the war in their country and to begin
rebuilding a devastated economy.
This was the message of Marina
Judith Pefia, a representative of the
Association of Salvadoran Women
(ADEMUSA). She spoke at a press
conference in the University Student
Union as part of the May Day portion of
MEChA's Semana De La Raza program.
May Day is commemorated every May 1
as International Workers Day. ,
That afternoon she spoke to the
students in the Free Speach Area about
the situation in her home country. She
described the conditions in El Salvador
brought on by 10 years of civil war and
the resulting economic crisis.
The poor destribution of wealth and
military repression waged by the
wealthy against the majority of the
people has resulted in the armed conflict
which began in 1980."
Pefia cited economic under¬
development and scarcity of available
resources in her country as a historical
condition which has been made worse by
the war.
See FrVlLNi page 6
HUERTA
Continued from page I    -
same day and we had a press conference.
She was saying she was sorry .for not
having paid attention to the picket line."
The picket line was set up to boycott
the grapes sold at that particular
supermarket. The UFW is calling for
people to boycott grapes once again, she
said. —
Even when something is labeled as
"organic" such as in "organic grapes,"
that doesn't mean* the grapes are
pesticide-free. This means they are
tagged below tolerance level, said
Huerta. This is still a high level. "Last
year, of the 400 million pounds of grapes
that were tested, guess how many were
tested? Only 23 pounds of grapes were
tested™ 3aid Huerta.
"It will be 2025 before all the pesticides
are tested," Huerta said. There are so
many we can't catch up . Only 17
pesticides are tested per year." But the
year 2025 will have been 36 years too
late for Jose Carvello Campos Martinez,
25, of Kern County.
Huerta said Martinez had been out
spraying pesticides on a ranch at about
10 a.m. A while later he called his
brother and complained of nausea. He
said he needed to go to the hospital. His
brother borrowed his friends car, drove
to Martinez' house to find him on the
floor in convulsions and foaming at the
mouth. He was taken to the hospital but
by 3:30 p.m. he had died.
The coroner's report said that 400
milligrams of a deadly pesticide had been
in his system—only 23 milligrams were
fatal. The coroner reported that Martinez
must have ingested the pesticide and
listed his death as a suicide.
Huerta said that Martinez had an 18-
year-old wife and a baby boy. This is not
the profile of a suicide victi».
She said the responsibility to change
this situation is in everyone's hands. "We
cannot sit back and wait for someone to
UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta
change thing for us. It will, never
happen.," she said.
She cited several cases in which the
UFW believes pesticides to be the culprit
ol cancer clusters in small towns such
as McFarland and Earlimart.
In McFarland she said nine children
have died of cancer in the last year.
That's 400 percent above the average,
she said.
"When labor laws went into effect in
1934,   farm   workers   were   excluded
because of racism. Most of them were
black and brown farm workers anrtno
one was really watching their interests,"
she said.
The government does everything it
can to help people who have a lot of
money."
About 400 people attended Huertas
40-minute speech as part of Semana de
la Raza's week-long activities at CSUF.
Latinos awarded for fiction and photography
I
KristaLemos
LA VOZ STAFF WRITER
Latino accomplishments abounded in the Spring 1990
issue of "Common Wages." The book is compiled and
distributed by the English Department. Two of the
winners of the $100 prizes offered in the categories of
fiction, essay, poetry, and photography were Lawrence
Guerra, a senior philosophy major, and Angel DeJesus,
a senior photojournalism major.
Adam Hill, editor-in-chief of "Common Wages" and
judge of the work submitted, said of the judging criteria,
"We picked what was the best story using the best style
of writing and containing the best subject matter."
Hill called Guerra's short story "On The Job" "A terrific
moment-when two girls look at each other. It. is both
moving and interesting."
Hill also said that Gut rra's subject matter concerning
the field worker's plight was obviously ii iportant in the
San Joaquin Valley. About the, entire episode, Hill said,
"Not a lot is said, but it is very moving."
Guerra's portrayal of afield workers's struggle is one
he believes is often overlooked. He (aid, "It is a
disenfranchised part of society." His 'rspiration of this
fictional account came from his work In Liie fields, Guerra
said."It isn't factual,"he said,"but a lot of the story was
based pn some of the things I saw."
Guerra said, "People really aren't conscious of the life
of a field worker and the many experiences." He said he
just wanted to prove a point.
For the future, he alluded to a desire to write more;
however, time is a major hindrance^pr Guerra. "I like.
to write and enjoy do ng it once in a while, but I don't
have enough tinip. There are a number of stories I
could dt» and, ifdoi <■ ufl, I could help people understand
my message,"said Guerra.
On the lighter side, Hill also noted the criteria for
the photography category which Angel DeJesus won
for "Kiss Me," a picture of a cow with its monstrous
tongue reaching for the camera lens.
The work submitted, Hill said, was judged on what
they believed was interesting. "We try to look for what
is most important Iwhich isj excellence." Hill expressed
his feelings toward the photo when he said, "I knew
immediately it would be for the cover because it was
eye-catching and humorous." Overall, he believed the
content was very interesting.
DeJesus could not be reached for comment.
"Common Wages" is a yearly publication .of any
CSUF students' works which are��stibmitted to the
English Department forjudging. Staff may also submit
poetry, prose, or photography to "Common Wages"
Next year's editor-in-chief will be Daniel Chacon, a'r
English graduate student who was co-editor of La Vbc
deAztldn in the Spring of! 987.
Writer Soto autographs work in bookstore
I
Krista Lemos
LA VOZ STAFF WRITER
"I was raked over the coals of poverty
in Fresno," was what Gary Soto said
about how his experiences growing up in
Fresno color his writing.
Soto grew up in an area of south Fresno
that has virtually disappeared. He said
it, too, was "raked over by
redevelopment." The author of twelve
books was on-hand for book-signing at
the Kennel Bookstore May 4.
*T don't live a really exciting life. I
wake up in the morning feeling awful. I
start writing and I feel awful. And then
1 complete my thing and I still feel aw-,
ful. That's it," he said as his autograph
session
came to rth
end.
He has¬
tened to
add that he
does feel a
sense of ac-
complish-
ment, how¬
ever. "I
didn't say
that I don't
feels that the level of Chicano artistry
has improved because of three or four
prominent.
writers    in-
You don't write for a mes¬
sage, you write so that
•.the subjects of the sto¬
ries come alive.
feel accomplished," Soto said.
In the last eight or nine years, Soto
eluding
Jimmy San-
tiago-Baca,
Sandra
C is neros.
Through his
work, he
hopes to let
other Chica¬
nos see them¬
selves.
Soto said he wants to write mora chil¬
dren's books, "My latest book "Baseball
in April" is for children. 1 v> rite about
childhood a lot because children are very
itis^i and impressionable."
When asked about the message he
hopes to give through his prose, he said,
"You don't write for a message, you write
so that the subjects of the stories come
alive." It isn't his intent to deliver a spe¬
cific message, it's through the characters
and the story that a message is trans¬
mitted to the people," he explained.
Soto has another book which should .
be out in the fall. He said he's also work-*'
ing on another project; he plans to work
on a movie this summer called The
Magic Tricks."