1990_04 Insight April 1990

              Editorial Page
Steven Lashley
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The buck passes
CSU's Reynolds
California State University
Chancellor Ann Reynolds and 26
other high-ranking CSU officials
received a slap on their bloated
wallets last week by an Assembly
budget subcommittee who saw fit
to reduce the whopping pay
raises that trustees gave them last
year.
The decision marks an end to
what the subcommittee called
a "salary fiasco" in which
Reynolds and the others began
receivingraisesof up to43 percent
on Jan. 1.
lndeed,justicehasbeen served.
While trustees haveargued that
the raises are needed to keep the
university system competitive
with others, the fact is that it is
counterproductive. To provide the
raises, trustees had cut cost-of-
living increases for other
employees by 3.7 percent to 4
percent.
Under the proposal approved
by the subcommittee, the salaries
of the 27 administrators will
now be rolled back to pre-1990
levels starting July 1, and they
would then be given 3.7 percent
raises.
In addition, the subcommittee
has proposed to require trustees
to set salary levels in open
meetings    and     tie    future
administrative pay hikes to
increasesgiven to faculty members
and other employees.
And rightfully so. If anybody
deserves a substantial salary
increase it should be the many
professors and other faculty
members who provide the real
education to students on our
campuses.
It is hard to swallow the notion
that someonelikeReynoldsshould
make $195,000 a year behind a
desk while the average professor
in the classroom only receives
about $30,000.
Nevertheless, CSU
administrators will no doubt feel
"hoodwinked" by the
subcommittee's recent decisions.
And they will continue to argue
that the decisions will prevent
the CSU system from regaining
the level of prominence it once
held.
To be certain, California's
higher educational system has
dwindled considerably in recent
decades. But giving outrageous
salary increases to CSU
administrators is not the answer
for bringing integrity back to the
system.
Especially not at the expense of
the taxpayers and faculty
members.
Beth Corbo
Reverence for all creatures great and small
Most humans recognize the
diversity within their species.
Visuallyobservablecharacteristics
such as hair color, body size and
eye color distinguish one human
from another and this
individuality is constantly
celebrated.
One of the most fascinating
aspects of biology comes from the
recognition that this individuality
is not exclusive to humans but
carries over to all other living
things. Every frog, every insect —
every tree for that matter —
represents a specific set of unique
traits.
Thespidersthatpeoplecasually
smash for entering into their
dwelling may look the sameas the
one they crushed the night before,
but they are just as unique as we
are.
People often don't recognize
thathumansarebutonepartofan
extensive life network. Most give
a step-ladder classification of
living things, with humans
occupying the top rung. It's true
in biology that this is a given, but
it is used by humans as an excuse I
to harm these animals. If we could
only follow the idea of reverence
for all life for no other reason that
because it is life, then we rnight be
able to live in a world where
compassion for all life is the rule
and not the exception.
The things that distinguish
man from other beasts — the
ability to reason, to communicate
"I am life which wills
to live amid other life
which wills to live."
Albert Schweitzer
history, to control their
environment and to use tools —
are together used as a gauge for
determining the worthiness of all
life forms to receive humane
treatment.
What humans have done with
their gift (or perhaps curse) of
reason is to proclaim they are the
lifeform worth preserving over all
others—that this ability to reason
gives them the right to determine
the hierarchy of all living things.
Instead of looking at non-human
life as inferior because it cannot
reason/ we need to ask the
question, "Can it suffer?"
The brilliant musicologist,
theologian and medical doctor,
Albert Schweitzer, believed that
every person must assume
responsibility for any destruction
or suffering of life. He not only
valued human and animal life, but
felt cutting a flower or tree was a
matter to be considered before
undertaken.
Schweitzer wrote, "I am life
which wills to live amid other life
which wills to live." He believed,
then, that good is to maintain all
life and evil is to destroy or cause
it to suffer.
Where is the compassion for all
life in today's world?
From the schoolyard, where
young people take pleasure in
conducting dissections of insects
to frighten squeamish peers, to
the zoos, where wild animals are
sequestered behind steel bars,
man's tendency toward cruelty
stands out.
Some may argue that the use of
animals for animal testing and
student examination is needed to
sustain and prolong human life.
To some extent this is true.
However, more humane
treatment is possible.
Schweitzer said that the way
we treat living things should be
nothing but a repayment for
the suffering we cause for using
and abusing them to keep us
healthy.
We continue to put animals in
their place, though—below us, of
course.
Take the example of a zoo. All
of theanimalsare taken thousands
of miles from their natural habitat
and imprisoned. But what good
really comes of this, and how can
humans reconcile this good with
the harm they are doing to the**'
creatures?
In the local zoo, primates, some*
which have been shown to be
alarmingly intelligent, sit and
sleep.
Photographs or movies
showing gorillas and chimps
activeintheirnarural environment
would benefit the visitor much
more than seeing a lethargic
animal housed in a concrete
prison.
The one positive point that
could be argued is that because
people can see the beauty and
uniqueness of each animal, they
will realize the need to preserve
them.
It is not reasonable to
expect everyone to
feed the ants on their
table, as Schweitzer
did, but it is possible
to show reverence for
life.
It is a pity humans cannot see
this on their own without this
needless sacrifice of life.
Schweitzer's message needs to
be applied to today's world. The
troubleisthattheethicalprinciples
Schwcitzeraddresses havea hard
time surviving in a world where
grappling with ethical dilemmas
is a foreign idea.
Even if one does entertain the
occasional soul-searching
moment, ethical principles as
related to non-human life are not
considered.
One who recognizes all life as
sacred will notdiminishordestroy
it, and if it is absolutely
necessary to do so for survival,
will take responsibility and suffer
with it.
It is not reasonable to expect
everyone to feed the ants on their
table, as Schweitzer did, but it is
possible to show reverence for
life.
Why kill a harmless spider
when it is just as easy to take it
from your house and put it
outside?
Only by destroying the
hierarchy we have created that
assigns different values to
different-life forms can we honor
that will to live.Then we will be
able to live in a world where
suffering of all living things is
reduced to a n "
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Frank LLoyd Wright
exhit?jia£f resno Met
The Fresno Metropolitan Museum is presenting, "Frank
Lloyd Wright: A poetic expression of modem life," which
will be on exhibit from now
through July 29. This is one of
the first exhibits that will focus
exclusively on Wright's California architecture.
The Fresno Metropolitan
Museum, located at 1555 Van
Ness at Calaveras, is open
Wednesday-Sunday 11 a.m. to
5 p.m. and also Wednesday
evenings until 7 p.m. Admission is $2 for adults, $1 for students senioc citizens and children (3-12). Children under 3
can enter for free, and on
Wednesdays admission is free.
Theater Department
presents "Tempest"
CSUF's Theatre Arts Department will present Shakespeare's
The Tempest. The show will run
May 4, 5. 9-12 at 8 p.m. and
Sunday, May 13 at 2 p.m.
The Tempest was Shakespeare's
last play, and many critics have
seen it as his farewell to his an.
General Admission $7.50, CSUF
student S3.50.
For more informauon, call 278-
2216.
Ballet Hispanico:
Cinco de Mayo show
The Ballet Hispanico of York returns to CSUF for two performances May 4 and 5.
Performances are at 8 p.m. both
nights in the SSU. General
admission tickets are $8 and are
available at the Speech Arts Building. For more information, call
278-2216.
Walter Ensslin lecture:
Godhead or Warhead
CSUF Professor Walter Ensslin
will give a lecture on Wednesday
April 25, 1990 on "Albert
Scnweitwer: Serving Godhead
or Warhead...Peace through
reverence for life."
The lecture will be held in USU
room 312 , from 12-1 p.m.
Admission is free.
Career Job Fair to be
held May 16
Career Development and
Employment Services is
sponsoring a job fair on
Wednesday, May 16, from 2 p.m.
to 6p.m. in the SSU.
More than 50 employers will
meet graduating students and
alumni to discuss full-time
employment. Interview attire and
resumes arc recommended.
SCHEDULE OF VINTAGE DAYS EVENTS
THURSDAY, APRIL 26
6-10 «.
1011:30 a.
11:15 a.m.
11:30 a.m.
NOON
1p.m.
2:30 p.m.
Pancake Breakfast
Wrist Wrestling Weigh-ir
Spirit Parade Check-In
Spirit Parade Begins
OPENING CEREMONIES .
Wrist Wrestling
Frog Jump
Free Speech
Free Speech
North of N. Gym
Thru Free Speech
Amphitheater
Amphitheater
"Grass Area South
of An/Home Ec. Bldg.
Tricycle Race Fountain
Movie Amphitheater
"ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW-
CASINO NIGHT RDH
FRIDAY, APRIL 27
10 ajn.-6 p.m.        Craftsfolk Faire
Cow Chip Tos
Rootbeer Chug/Pig Eating
Big Splash
Big Splash
CONCERT: "THE
FABULOUS THUNDKRBIRDS'
West of Joyal
Lab School Pit
Lab School Pit
Free Speech
Free Speech
Amphitheater
SATURDAY, APRIL 28th
8 a.m. Boomtown Set-up
8:30-10:30 ajn.      Tug-of-War Check-Ins
9 ajn. Wrist Wrestling Finals
10 ajn.-6 p.m.        Craftsfolk Faire
10:30 a.m. Push Cans
1 pjn. Tug-of-War
4-11 pjn. Boomtown Carnival
'Night of tbe Start'
8 p.m. Air Guitar
10 pjn. Closing Ceremonies
SUNDAY, APRIL 29ta
7 ajn. Grape Escape Check-in
8 ajn. Grape Escape Starts
10 ajn.-6 pjn.       Craftsfolk Faire
NOON-3 pjn.        Jazz Sunday:
"Tuck & Pattr
Packing Lot 'D'
Marching Band Field
Lab School Pit
West of Joyal
Lab School Pit
South of Dairy
Parking Lot 'D'
Amphitheater
Amphitheater
Cedar A Barstow
Through Campus
West of Joyal
Amphitheater