1994_10 Insight October 1994

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Wednesday, October 19,1994
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO
Volume 26, Issue 6
Educators debate values of integration
INSIGHT
As the panel opened the floor for
questions, a woman from the audience stood up immediately as tears
rolled down her face.
She was frustrated and sobbed as
she waved her child's report card in
her hand and said, "I don't know
what to do."
Her voice began to crack as she
tried to keep her composure and continued, "I taught him by myself how
to read and how to write and he used
to score 98 percents in all of his
classes."
She angrily glanced again at the
report card, and a stream of tears
came flowing down her face as she
told the audience at last week's forum on integration, "He's bused to a
school in Clovis, and now he scores
as low as 27 percent on all of his
The child was a product of integration, which, in his case was not beneficial.
In the African-American community, the question of integration in
the school system still stands as a
controversial issue. Some people
feel that the fight during the 1960s
to have African-American and white
students educated together in any
learning institution hindered the
learning abilities of African-American children.
Others argue that integration
brought about progressive changes
for all students of different ethnic
backgrounds.
That was one theme of the forum,
"Is Integration Enough? Seeking a
Model for Black Empowerment."
sponsored by political science Pro
fessor Adewolc Umoja, Wazo Weusi
and the African Student Union
(ASU), included speakers such as
Anyim Palmer from Marcus Garvey
School, scholars Nathan and Julia
Hare, and Leonard Jefferics from
City College of New York.
Umoja said Ihe purpose of the panel
was to "find alternative ways to accomplish what black people need,"
because he said thai African-Americans must take care of themselves in
order to socially, economically and
politically progress.
"These are renounced black scholars who are serious about the status
of black people." Umoja said. "This
was a gathering of black minds examining the still unresolved question
of our political/social/economical relationship to the United States. We
seek to define/clarify our own problems and fashion solutions in our own
interest."
One prominent issue that dominated the panel discussion was how
the bad effects of integration in the
school system has been increasingly
detrimental to the African-American
community.
Palmer, founder of the nationally
acclaimed black independent educational institution in Los Angeles, the
Marcus Garvey School, said that integration has not only hurt the African-American community, but it has
also ruined historical black schools.
"Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., was one of the most prominent black schools in the history of
America until 1965 when we had to
integrate," Palmer said. "Now the
school which gave us thinkers is now
a ghetto school."
Palmer also discussed how in 1972
in Los Angeles, busing African-
American children to predominantly
white schools was one the worst situations of that time.
When parents began to complain
about their children coming home
with bad grades, one principal replied that busing was never meant
to help African-American students
get better grades. It was to help students learn the values and manners
of white children.
The principal had supposedly gone
along with the busing plan because
the African-American parents were
complaining that their children's
education wasn't as good as the education in the white schools.
Palmer took offense to such a statement because he said, "No one ever
bused white children lo black communities to learn about black manners and values."
Hare, who holds a doctorate degree
in education from Roosevelt University in Chicago and has won the Outstanding Educator Award from the
World Book Encyclopedia and the
Junior Chamber of Commerce, said
integration has crippled the African-
American community.
"Many of the best black teachers in
our schools went over to white
schools." Hare said, "and we got the
worst teachers. It has destroyed our
families way before it destroyed our
public schools, however."
Jefferies, department chair of black
studies and a professor at City College of New York, said the integration of schools has only brainwashed
young African-Americans, because
they are not taught anything about
their own history and contributions to
America.
See INTEGRATION, Page 12
Ken Kotler/INSIGHT
A group entertains those assembled In the early morning hours last Wednesday night during the anti-proposition 187 demonstration. A
large group protesting the immigration proposition camped out for three days outside the Henry Madden Library last week, climaxing
in a march on Fresno City Hall Wednesday evening.
Smoking warnings
affect student habits
Amy Cooke-Morgan
Past grads honored at alumni banquet
David Mirhadi
INSIGHT
In its 83-year history, CSUF has had
a rich tradition of graduates who, after gracing the hallowed halls of this
university, have gone on a id excelled
in the professional world.
People like Al Radka can now be
seen on television hawking Oberti
Olives, served as student body president when the CSUF campus was
located downtown. Bruce Bronzan
held the same position years later,
honing his political skills before be
coming a state assemblyman. Both
were graduates of CSUF.
Friday nighl, seven graduates were
honored, representing the best of
CSUF.
Assemblyman Bill Jones, class of
1970, was on hand to receive commendation as the recipient from the
School of Agricultural Sciences and
Technology. Jones served as student
body president in 1970 and graduated with a degree in plant science
before beginning a career in politics.
He said his experiences at CSUF
helped him tremendously before
delving into politics.
"My experience in student government gave mc the opportunity to work
with people and deal wilh problems,"
he said. "It was a real good idea to
bring people back to the university."
Jones is co-author of the "Three
Strikes, You're Out" law that gives
three-time felons a mandatory 25-
years-to-lifc sentence that was signed
by Gov. Pete Wilson earlier this year.
He is also attempting to become the
first person from the Central Valley
to hold statewide office, battling incumbent Tony Miller for the office
Heart art KOs abuse
of Secretary of State.
Paul Kuroda, the School of Arts and
Humanities' honoree. has also spent
much of his life in the public eye
since attending CSUF. Kuroda is
The Associated Ptcss' supervisory
photo editor in San Francisco. He
cut his teeth serving as The Daily
Collegian's photo editor before moving on to The Clovis Independent
From there, he joined the photo staff
of The Fresno Bee where he worked
for 11 years, and was a two-lime runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize in news
See ALUMNI, Page 12
Shawn Powers
INSIGHT
Thirteen huge, colorful hearts
made of plywood fill the President's
Gallery in the Thomas Administration Building.
Each heart on display is covered
with bright paints and/or lace, and
one is covered with copper piping.
The hearts aren't the happy works
of grade school kids or a pre-
Valentine's Day exhibit. In fact, they
represent the complete opposite.
Each heart tells the painful story of
an abuse victim.
Sharon Phillips, a local artist, said
she is the "facilitator" of the exhibit.
She said she doesn't like to call herself the artist, because the emotion
behind the piece is that of the 13 victims.
Bach heart is representative of an
Individual victim, Phillips said, and
each victim had input on how their
heart would look. "We talked aboul
color," she said.
"For instance, one victim wanted
polka dots on her heart because that
represented being a good girl to her."
As an artist, Phillips said she concentrates on the communication with
abuse victims and feels this type of
art is therapeutic for them.
'They tell me it helps," she said.
"They describe it as an experience
of breakthrough."
Phillips knows the piece can be
overwhelming to some, but said she
hopes people are not hurt by it.
"I hope they come away with compassion for these people," she said.
The exhibit is on display until October 28 and is in coordination with
the Ethnic Diversity Women's Week
Conference being held on the CSUF
campus Oct. 16 to 21.
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INSIGHT
Louisville 1891 — Willie C. 10
years old, was experiencing extreme
abdominal pain. His irregular and
shallow respiration was followed by
deep gasping. Willie's tongue was
red and pointed, his skin was dry and
his urine was scanty and slightly colored. Willie C. was feeling the effects of tobacco poisoning.
Smoking-related deaths, including
lung cancer, throat cancer and pancreatic cancer, arc the nation's leading killers. Deaths linked to smoking have taken the lives of millions,
including Walt Disney, Desi Amu/,
Nat "King" Cole. Michael Landon
and Humphrey Bogart. Tobacco kills
almost as many Americans each year
as all the wars in this century have.
So why are we still smoking?
According to the American Lung
Association, most smokers begin at
the age of 13.
Jeremy Buchholz. a senior physical therapy major, has been smoking since he was 13 years old.
"My mom is a nurse, so I know the
effects," said Buchholz, who started
smoking for social reasons.
"I then started smoking when I
drank, but now I smoke a half of a
pack a day. It relieves stress." he
said.
Ester Chavez, a senior liberal studies major, has quit smoking.
"I stopped smoking just over a year
ago," she said. "The pressure came
from my boyfriend' mainly. He used
to always worry about me staying
healthy. I got tired of listening to him
lecture about living a healthy life so
I just quit. It was kind of hard."
There are 45 million American
smokers who have quit smoking.
Eighty-five percent quit without
the help of a seminar or a smoking
program, and 82 percent of the successful quitters used the "cold turkey" approach to quit smoking.
Graduate student Sydney
Yarbrough started to smoke after her
marriage began to fall apart, but quit
and found other ways to relieve
stress.
"Smoking made me feel less
stressed, but when I used i
reading to relieve stress, it was more
constructive. It helped in the long run.
Surprisingly, I read so much that I got
straight A's last semester," Yarbrough
said.
According to the American Lung
Association, a 25-year-old smoker
smoking two packs a day has a life
expectancy of 8.3 years shorter than
non-smokers.
However, when a person does decide to stop smoking, the risk of premature death is greatly reduced and
approaches the same risk as someone
who has never smoked.
"I smoked for eight years, and then
I quit," said Jason Berger, a junior
geology major. "I quit for two years,
but now I'm smoking again. I've
taken health classes, and I know the
risks. But when it helps me relieve
stress, I smoke."
Since the 1988 increase in the California tobacco tax, tobacco consumption has dropped 15 percent
There are nearly one million fewer
smokers in California since the introduction of the Proposition 99, the tobacco tax.
Thirty-eight percent of all American
businesses now prohibit smoking in
all indoor areas.
Thirty-nine percent of Americans
favor a smoking ban in all areas.
Seventy-eight percent of nonsmok-
ers favor the ban along with 74 percent of former smokers.
"I don't agree there should be a ban
on smoking in all public places,"
Chavez said. "I think it's important
for smokers to use their discretion,
especially when there are children
around."
Nonsmoker Bill Perry, an English
major, believes smokers have added
responsibilities.
"I think people are harder on smokers since all the information on secondhand smoke came out And I am
too," said Perry. "I think it is all right
if a smoker wants to pollute their own
lungs but not mine. If I wanted to inhale carbon-dioxide, I'd suck on an
exhaust pipe."
According to the American Lung
Association, at least five million children will eventually die of smoking-
related illnesses at the present smoking rates.
After a long day at CSUF, Sergio Martinez enjoys ■ cigarette
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