1993_03 Insight March 1993

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Page 12
March 17,1993
Amnesty,
from page J.
The organization claims to have freed 40,000 individuals around the world
with implementing community support by writing letters and sending telegrams, according to Amnesty.
Brandon said Amnesty docs not get legally involved with the cases. The
organization provides the group's members with information and it is up to the
members to make the cases succeed, he said.
Amnesty docs not necessarily want the individuals to win their trials if they
don'ldescrve it. "Amnesty just wants the prisoners to have fair trials," Brandon
said.
"Students arc able to influence change," said Brandon. The group is
structured to let students on campus be aware of what is going on in other
countries, and do something about the problems by writing letters and sending
telegrams.
Brandon said if students arc informed of events thai arc happening in the
world, things will happen. Getting this information and the messages to the
students is difficult, he said.
"Educational awareness is what we're trying to stress; Amncsiy International
is not a social event," said Brandon.
Natasha Dcaion, CSUF Amnesty International's vice-president, said.'TeopIc
have heard of Amnesty International but they don't know what it's about."
Amnesty International was founded in 1961 after a British attorney began a
letter-writing campaign to free two Portuguese students who were jailed for
clinking their glasses in a toast to freedom..
Amnesty and its members arc working for worldwide acceptance of the
principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These principles
include the release of prisoners of "conscience" -men. women and children -
imprisoned for their beliefs, color, sex, cihnic origin, language or religion.
According to Amnesty, their release should be granted as long as these people
have nol used nor advocated the use of violence.
"Amnesty does not condone violence," Brandon said.
According to Amnesty, political prisoners should be given fair and prompt
trials, and in all cases torture and execution should be pul to an end.
Brandon said he hopes lo make CSUF students aware of what is going on in
other countries. He is concerned students arc too preoccupied with their tuition
increases and other things, that they aren't taking the time to find out aboul
these important issues that Amnesty is dealing with.
"We're not a just a bunch of radicals," Brandon stressed. He said the group
is impartial and has no political or government affiliation.
Amnesty's half-hour meetings will be held at USU weekly. During the
meetings the members will be seeing videos and awareness materials.
The Urgent Action Appeal mail Brandon receives will be discussed during
the meetings. The Urgent Action Appeals give the group's members information on the background of cases and recommended action. The notices also
give information to where the group should be focusing it's letters and
telegrams, and where to send the appeals.
The organization's main objective arc to implement change in areas where
needed by writing letters and making their voices be heard. The organization's
literature reminds readers/The pen is mightier than the sword."
Radio
from page 10.
Jim Wilson, a CSUF telecommunications professoar and former
KMJ general manager, is bothered when someone says thai a
host should be taken off the air.
"People arc attributing too much
power to Rush. He is expressing a
viewpoint. People should listen,
and ask themselves questions like
'Why do I agree with that?' or
'Why don't I agree with that?'.
People have their own censoring
tool, you cither turn the radio off
or change the siaiion."
Applcton agreed. "I can't think
of one case where a Limbaugh, or
a King, or an Applcton has shaped
policy. You influence people a
little bit. but you don't shape policy
or change things.
Talk radio is only too powerful
in the minds of those who are
intimidated by it. or who are fearful of it.
Those who appreciate it and take
it for what it is, ihat is entertainment and a little light education—
which I think is the masses."
Although the numbcrof stations
that use the word "talk" in describing their format has more than
tripled in five years, some media
experts think the future will probably sec a leveling off of radio talk
shows.
"This might be a fad," Taiarian
said.
Applcton said, "I don't know if
talk radio can get much bigger.
" It's the biggest radio format in
the country; it's Dealing music radio to death.
"Wc continue to grow here,
we've always been number one,
wc continue to be a larger number
one, which kind of fries our
minds."
La Raza,
from page 1.
and recruitment of Mexicano,
Chicano, Latino faculty and administrators to equal the Hispanic population in CSUF service area.
• The students would also like to
sec support for minority and poor
students in the form of internships
at the administrative level. So there
was a suggestion of the creation and
implementation of the Minority &
Economically Disadvantaged Students Leadership Internship Program. —-*^^
At the meeting it seemed there
was an overwhelming consensus
on die students' part that funding
supporting Hispanic programs
should continue to exist and expand.
Onega said die students want sec
these issues addressed by the administration, but most important
they want io sec some action. According to Ortega the students will
be ready to gather as many signatures as possible for a petition recalling Welly if any of the
administration's resolutions don't
materialize.
"These issues arc not coming out
of ihc blue. This is something that
has been happening on this campus
for a long time now," Ortega said.
According to Dr. Jacnninc
Raymond, acting director of institutional research, as of lasi fall, 22.1
percent of the total population on
campus is Hispanic. The percentage includes students from undergraduate and graduate levels.
Dr. Raymond also presented figures of the Frcsno service area that
reflects a Hispanic high school
graduate population of 35 percent.
Of those graduates, 20 percent have
completed college prep-courses and
arc eligible to attend CSUF.
"Don't be afraid lo make the public statement thai Chicanos arc ihc
biggest unrepresented minority
group," said VictorOlivarcs,presi
dent of the Chicano Staff Organization and ASI advisor.
Olivarcs. a CSUF alumni, said the
administration is always making excuses and that is why issues don't get
taken care of year after year. He sees
the increase in the amount of Ihc brown
sludents on campus since he first attended, however to him this increase
doesn't comply to the need of Hispanic high school graduates in the
Valley.
According to Council Member
Esther Padilla, some of the same issues were being fought for in the late
'60s and early '70s when she was
auending school here.
"Il is disturbing when you think wc
should have progressed by now,"
Padilla said.
Padilla feels ihat the staicof California is not being visionary when they
culcducauonal programs. Instead, she
thinks educational programs should
be a priority right along with designing education to be cost effective for
everyone.
According to Raqucl Rodriguez,
learning specialist with the University Migrant Service Program, if die
Bradford ruling was to take precedence over Lcticia A. it will leave
about 18 UMS students without resources to keep attending school.
"In case this were to happen, wc
would like to see the administration
grandfather those indi viduals and provide them with some form of support," said Joe Trumpeter II, co-director of Kaleidoscope.
"The important thing to know about
the Lcticia A. is dial in the suite of
California the only system that has
suportcd undocumented individuals
allowing them to enroll as regular
students and not as international students has been the CSU sytcm,"said
Luz Gonzalez, secretary of the
Chicano-Latino Faculty Associacion.
Dr. Ben Cucllar, chair of the department of social work and president of
Chicano-Latino Faculty Association,
said he believes progress is being
made by the administration on the
issues but he also said that he knew
it was going to be a slow process
due mainly because of budget cuts.
"I am part of the Chicano faculty
and I support Chicano issues but I
realize that Afro-American, Asian
and others have issues and needs
the president has to respond to."
Cucllar said.
In a letter dated March 8 written
by Welty and addressed to Kaleidoscope, the administration has
taken action in trying to resolve
each of the issues. The confidential leuer stated die different committees and task forces created to
find ways to recruit more Hispanic
students and to upgrade programs
and services now being offered.
The letter also slated that the administration is trying to create and
promoicaculturally diversified atmosphere and will be happy to
hear from the Campus Planning
Monumental Art Commiuccon die
Sun Stone or Aztec Calendar
project.
According to Dr. Alex Gonzalez,
provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, CSUF will be serving 3,000fcwcr students next year
and within two years there will be
140 fewer faculty members.
"The whole university is
downsized and their approach is
'everything is die same as usual,
wc arc still growing.' Wc arc not
growing," Gonzalez said.
Some Hispanic students said if
the issues get responded lo but
actions get delayed, ihcy will have
to organize and gather as many
signatures as possible to rccal President Welty.
"The issues exist and wc arc trying to address those issues but asking President Welty to resign is
tonteria (foolishness)," Gonzalez
said.
President Welty was unavailable
for comment.
Another round table meeting will
be held today 5-7 p.m at die Upstairs Cafeteria room 200.
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