1993_09 Insight September 1993

              Page 2
Insight/California State University, Fresno
September 29,1993
Letter to the Editor
W
Dear Editor.
Since no one bothered lo ask my
side of the story "Donnelly takes over
the Driver's seat," I will report "my
side" for you.
Running an article that provides no
quotes from one of the main subjcctsof
that article shows a true bias, and a lack
of supervision in die campus' "faculty-
supervised newspaper."
Contrary to popular rumors, I was
not fired. I resigned.
When I was officially named editor
in chief of the Daily Collegian in April,
I asked the other editors, with the exception of David Mirhadi. to work for
the newspaper.
They all happily accepted and put in
their applications as a formality. We
kept in touch, making plans all sum-
I was told then and almost daily
thereafter to fire Donnelly, by both
fellow studcnLs and some of my superiors. But I kept him, as I had told
myself that he was a good sports writer.
I wanted to give him the chance to
prove he could be the sports editor.
Believe me, many times the opportunity presented itself for me to fire
him, but I continued to have faith in
him. His firing would have been justified!
Mirhadi applied as a staff writer.
and I asked him to be the news editor.
I wanted to help him get started. He had
expressed ihe desire to someday be in
a higher position.
C-corgcCtoastrmtinopoulos was criticized for doing no work. He did the job
I assigned him. Many nights when all
the outer staff (except my sister,
Nanncuc) had left, George returned to
help finish-up, working until early
morning. He was to be paid only for the
job he did.
The only things I took from the
Daily Collegian were my own personal
belongings. Several items still being
needed at the Daily Collegian were
purchased out of my pocket
Our budget was very tight and we
had tomakecuts. All my staff members
were told of the cuts, and had agreed to
stay regardless.
Some said that arguments amongst
the staff prevented the newspaper from
being printed on Wednesday. Sept 15.
A computer printer failure was the cause
of the paper not being printed.
A sign to that effect was posted for
our readers. It was after hours for professional help, and no one on staff was
able to remedy the problem.
The decision to not print that night
was clearly the best choice. I notified
each editor of the decision to not print
before I left the office that night
The nextdaytheproblem was solved,
and the paper was made into a 12 page
issue,ins tcadof the regularcight pages.
There were several people I chose
not to hire as part of m y staff for various
reasons. I, as editor in chief, had the
Opinion
right to hire and fire at my discretion.
I enforced rules which made at least
one person unhappy, by not allowing
long -distance non -Collegian telephone
calls from the Collegian phones, and
using the Daily Collegian name for
personal mail. I also stopped those who
toed to use die Collegian computers,
printers and paper for homework and
other non-newspaper business.
It was difficult to have true leadership when being constantly undermined
by a person who wanted to be a leader,
yet had to enlist the help of a non staff
member to do so.
I have no regrets about leaving the
Daily Collegian, except for the unkind
and untrue remarks [that] have been
and continue to be said.
Lisa Driver
Editor's note - It should be noted
that despite several attempts. Driver
could not be reached to comment for
the article in question.
In addition. Insight has no control
over popular rumors. The articles first
paragraph clearly stated Driver resigned from the position. It made no
inference, nor did it intend to make any
inference, that she was terminated. The
opinions of the sources used in the
story do nol necessarily reflect those of
the reporter or Insight staff.
Finally, it is the policy of MCJ Department faculty not to police Insight
stories by dictating how they should be
We wish Driver the best of luck in
the future.
NAFTA's softer sucking sound
Davin A. Hutchins
As parties on both sides of the incensed debate over the North American
Free Trade Agreement mobilize their
troops for the showdown in Congress
this fall, salient peculiarities are emerging that make the war over NAFTA
noticeably different from the recent
standoff in Washington.
Right off, NAFTA stands apart from
Congress' battle over the deficit reduction plan and narrow passage this summer because jt appears to be unfolding
as a strictly nonpartisan issue.
But anew peculiarity has raised more
than a few eyebrows. Rabble-rousers
like Perot and Patrick Buchanan are
mounting a campaign of psychological
warfare to scare an ill-informed American public into expecting an apocal ypse,
ensuring NAFTA's resounding defeaL
Recent public opinion polls demon-
stratc that nearly half of all Americans
do not have a the foggiest clue about
NAFTA. Clearly.the American people's
extreme lack of information on NAFTA
makes them all the more vulnerable to
propagandist scare tactics.
Americans are then rendered impotent to form an intelligent opinion on the
issue and duly influence Congress by
speaking their own minds. Instead they
regurgitate the fean implanted by dema-
goguery.
So in the interest of greasing the
democratic gears by cultivating a more
well-informed public, ailcas: in this tiny
neck of the woods, let's dispel a few
myths:
Altruistic critics of NAFTA would
have Americans believe that the pact is
not in Mexico's best interests.
They argue big business would exploit Mexican labor by preserving substandard wages and milk the lenient
federal laws in Mexico to dump industrial pollution.
Perhaps these same critics can explain why President Carlos Salinas de
Gortari will spend more than $28 million lobbying Congress in support of
NAFTA by year's end. Perhaps he realizes that NAFTA means long-term prosperity for Mexico by attracting MS.
investment and technology. The
Harvard-educated economist is probably more qualified to speak on behalf
of Mexico's best interests than any
American sympathizer.
With regard to excessive dumping of
industrial waste,Ointon's environmental side agreements to NAFTA which
include the three-nation Commission
on Environmental Cooperation, may
make that cost-cutting measure a bit
more difficult to pursue. Even "green"
groups like the National Wildlife Federation, the Environmental L>cfcnseFund
and the National Audubon Society arc
getting behind NAFTA.
The Harvard-
educated economist is probably
more qualified to
speak on behalf
of Mexico's best
interests'than
any American
sympathizer.
Yet one of the most resounding arguments proffered by NAFTA foes like
Perot and Buchanan is that the trade pact
will result in the immediate loss of millions of American jobs as companies
make a run for the border to exploit
cheap Mexican labor.
Even the rubric of Perot's new book
heralds the populist battle cry—Save
Your Job, Save Our Country: Why
NAFTA Must Be Stopped- Now! Admiral Perot warns that once the proud
vessel known as the U.S.S. Job Security
hits the NAFTA iceberg, it will sink
fast
Perot would have Americans falsely
believe it is far more advantageous for
US. companies to spend millions uprooting their current factories in the
United Slates, rebuilding new plants in
Mexico, training unskilled Mexican
workers and incurring long-term distri
bution costs to send goods back to the
Stales simply to take advantage of cheap
labor costs.
Besides nothing is stopping multinational companies from relocating to
Mexico today without NAFTA, just like
nothing stops Nissan or Toyota from
building auto planis in America.
If taking advantage of lower labor
costs and lax environmental laws is the
lure for fleeting American businesses,
why haven't ihey left already?
The answer: Labor is only one slice
of a very big pic. Labor only accounts
for 10 to 20 percent of production costs
for most American firms today. A company does not sink or float based on
inexpensive labor.
There are many other ways to rum a
profit including reducing tariffs on cx-
rx)rmo pry open foreign rrwrkcts. Sound
familiar?
Furthermore, Mexican laborers, generally speaking, are less educated and
less productive than their American
counterparts, which may explain some
of the wage disparity. Additional training or inefficiency could result in added
costs for companies that would not be
incurred if they would just stay where
they presently are.
Which is precisely what U.S. firms
are doing. In 1991, U.S. companies only
invested $700 million in their Mexican
factories compared to $500 billion in
factories here at home, proving American executives realize cheap labor is not
enough of an incentive to make U.S.
firms relocate en masse.
The thrust of NAFTA is to tear down
the tariff walls currently protecting
Mexican firms from U.S. goods, opening up markets for Amer-ican producers
and manufacturers.
Today, Mexican lariffs on American
goods are higher than American tariffs
on Mexican goods— roughly 10 percent to our4perccnL Besides, thcUnitcd
Stales already has a S5.4 billion trade
surplus with Mexico.
Tariff-free markets would most likely
mean this trade surplus would augment
benefiting American businesses and promoting job-growth here at home by the
production of more goods for cheaper
markets.
So much for Perot's "giant sucking
sound."	
Hutchins is an Insight staff writer.
Helmets
Continued from paga 1
a broken arm and hand.
"We all wear helmets now when wc
bike ride," Smittcamp said.
Though current California law requires only children under four years
old or less than 40 pounds to wear a
bicycle helmet when riding as a passenger, a current legislative bill might
force all children, 18 years and under,
to wear a helmet when operating a
bicycle or when riding as a passenger.
If Gov. Pete Wilson approves the
proposed bill by Oct 10, or does not
veto it by that date, a mandatory bicycle helmet law will commence Jan.
1.1994.
"I'm in favor of the law because of
what happened to our family,"
Smittcamp said. "But I hate the thought
of having a mandate. I would hope
parents could make an intelligent
enough decision to protect their chil-
Not only do the Smittcamps now
wear helmets when bike riding, but as
result of Bradley's head injury, Bradley must wear a helmet whenever he
goes outside.
A 2 inch by 2 inch 'soft spot' remains on Bradley's head where bone
was removed, requiring constant protection from ihe possibility of a second
injury. In December his neurosurgeon
will re-evaluate hiscondition, deciding
which type of surgery is necessary to
fill the soft space.
After the original surgery the night
of the accident Bradley spent four
days in coma and three weeks in the
hospital. Upon emerging from Ihe
coma, he began intensive rehabilitation which continued from March until
August
Though walking and balance came
back fairly quickly to Bradley, talking
and fine motor skills were slower to
regain. Both speech and occupational
therapies were necessary components
of Bradley's rehabilitation.
After ending speech therapy last
month. Bradley now only attends occupational therapy, which will conclude in October.
And as a full-time Kindergarten student Bradley is currently at his peers'
level, if not above, according to reports
his teachers give his Mom.
"He is completely mainstrcamed,"
she said. "The only difference is Bradley wears a helmet now."
Another family's story
"Technically, he was dead at the
site," said Jennifer Pisani of Fresno,
recalling her 13-year-old son's accident in Visalia in March.
Weaving in and oul of parked cars,
sieve Kujimdo INSIGHT
At on* of CSU F'a chlldca ro canters, teacher Artie Chavez assists
toddler Victoria Lascano, who Is creating her mastorp Iocs of art.
traveling against traffic, wearingahead-
set but no helmet Nicholas Jones was
hit broadside by a car going 40 mph.
On his way home to his dad's house,
with a group of his seventh-grade
friends waiting for him to cross ihe
intersection, Nick crossed the front of
the car, his head breaking the windshield from the impact and his body
skidding across the pavement leaving
road bums down to the bone on his hips
and shoulders.
Kept alive by CPR from a lone jogger who left the scene after the ambulance arrived, Nick was directly transferred to Valley Children's Hospital.
Immediately inducing coma to keep
his brain from swelling, Nick spent one
week in the intensive care unit on a
respirator and a total of almost three
weeks in a coma before he became
alert
After regaining consciousness. Nick
could not walk or talk.
He began intense sessions of physical, occupational and speech therapies,
which continued past his 71 -day stay in
the hospital.
After being released in May, Nick
became a day-patient continuing treatments through the middle of August
Though Nick now communicates
very well, he will have to continue
speech therapy in the future, according
to his mom.
"The doctors said some things may
never go away," Pisani said. "Wc just
have to be patient"
Currently Nick attends special day
classes as an eighth-grader at Alia Sierra School and spends his afternoons
skating, biking and rclcaming how to
play baseball.
"Everything has to be re-explained
to him," Pisani said.
"It's just one day after another of
trying new things."
One ofthe most recent "new" things
in Nick and his family's lives is that
they all now wear helmets.
Before the accident Nick used to
tell his mom it was "uncool" to wear a
bicycle helmet and thai it "messed up
his hair."
But now, when Nick is riding in the
car with his mom and sees another
biker wearing a helmet, he says,
"There's a smart kid." And if ihcy pass
a biker without a helmet be comments,
"Hope we don't see them at Valley
Children's."
Pisani said she does not wish what
she and her family went through on
anyone.
"It was terrible and has drastically
changed our lives," she said.
2225 E. San Ramon Ave., CSUF, Fresno, CA 93740-0010
Insight
News: 278-2892 Advertising: 278-3934
Editor-in-Chief
Copy Editor
Deborah Miller
Managing Editor
Inger Sethov
News Editor
Erin Yasuda
Graphics Editor
Jennifer Lewis
Photo Editor
Diane TYoha
Sports Editor
Tony Altobelli
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Rebecca Boyd
Christina Fonseca
Advertising Manager
 Camilla Cederquist
Advertising Production Manager
Jennifer Lewis
Photographers
Steve Fujimoto
Karen Toth
Tommy Mon real
Assistant Copy Editors
M. Cristina Medina
 Olivia Reyes
Staff Writers
Students of MCJ 103 & 102W
INSIGHT welcomes all letters, comments and corrections'. INSIGHT reserves the right to
condense letters to the editor for any reason. Anonymous letters to the editor will not be
considered. Please include your phone and ID number for our identification purposes.
Unsigned editorials are the majority opinion of the editorial board and do not necessarily represent die
Department of Mass Communications and Journalism. CSUF administration or the trustees ofthe CSU system.
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