1992 La Voz de Aztlan

              California State University, Fresno
Volume XXIV
Issue No. 1
LaVoz de Aztlan
February 19,1992
Wednesday
Attack on Montoya politically motivated
Mo' money,
mo'money, ITIO'lTIOney
TO:
FROM:
RE:
President John Welty, Chair
Task Force on Budget and Planning
Wayne P. Dominick, President
CFA
Cost Savings and Cuts
The following administrative salary list was compiled from the Campus Salary list available
at the Reference Desk in the Library. That list was compiled by Dr. Hemink's office and is
current through December 1991.
01 Harold Haak
$124,020 Trustee Professor*
02 John Welty
115,956 President
03 Lynn Hemink
107,220 VP Administration
04 Alexander Gonzalez
102,300 Acting VP Acad Affairs
05 Gary Cunningham
102,228 Athletic Director
06 Robert Paull
100,476 Chief Medical Officer
08 Joseph Penberra
97,884 Dean Business
09 William Corcoran
97,768 VP/Dean Student Affairs
10 FJden Shaw
97,440 Dean Engineering
11 Harold Best
97,308 Dir Intemat'l Program*
12 Charles Small wood
97,056 Dean Agriculture
K. P. Wong
Dean Natural Science
14 Barbara Burch
96,612 Dean Education
15 Michael Gorman
96,168 Dean Library Services
16 Luis Costa
94,416 Dean Arts and Humanities
17 Richard Ford
93,276 Dean Health and Social Work
Peter Klassen
Dean of Social Science
19 Gaylord Graham
92,736 Dir Auxiliary Services
20 Vivian Vidoli
91,788 Dean Graduate School
21 Paul Bissonette
90,456 Assoc VP Administration
22 Audrey Anderson
89,916 Dean Extended Education
23 Jim Morris
88,704 Dir Computer Services
24 Michael Biechler
87,624 Assoc VPAA Personnel*
See MONEY on page 4
Richard Trigo
La Voz Columnist
Certain elements within the student body—those labeled racist because of their
political agenda— convinced a lot of gullible students last semester that ASI president
Andres Montoya hates all white people.
Those who gathered signatures for his recall stood out in front of the library
trying to convince passer-bys that he really hated whites, and only cared about Chicanos.
The only evidence they offered the students in exchange for their signatures is the "Go
Home, Whitey!" sign displayed at a Columbus Day rally last semester. They told people
and convinced the media that Montoya was responsible, although all he did was to attend
the rally: he didn't make the sign or hold it, and, in fact, didn't even know it was being
carried by a woman from the Valley who attends full-time here. She was shocked and
upset to discover the institutional racism at CSUF, a racism unrecognizable to most white
people, but recognized by peoples of color and some whites, most often, women.
The sign was made the night before when some Native American and Chicago
students organized a sign-making party. The artist, Daniel Chacon, drew a picture of a
ship sailing to shore where a group of natives stood. Historians know that Columbus
wrote in his journal how friendly the Indians were, how they welcomed their guests to the
shores and offered all the provisions they had, and thus were easy to kill and herd off into
slavery.
They were too friendly. Not in Chacon's picture. There the Indians were on
shore, but they waved their Brown fists in the air, angry, because they knew what the
White man wanted. They yelled, "Go home, Whitey!"
They wereall in a USU conference room. Montoya was down the hall in his office
talking to his friends Cyndi McCollister, Lawrence Tovar, and Lee Say Leng, whom just
came by to say hi.
The next morning the woman and other MEChA members went to get the signs
for the protest. She chose the "Go home, Whitey!" sign, not for the cartoon of the Indians
and Columbus, but for the words on the sign. She was angry.
Some students who have a conservative political agenda, those called racist,
witnessed this Columbus Day protest and saw this woman carrying the sign. It was all
they needed to start calling Montoya a racist, even though he had nothing to do with it.
These same people running the recall, and the administration, were surprised
last year when it was announced that Montoya, a somewhat radical Chicano, won the
elections. The conservatives, who have been called racists by many, immediately talked
of a recall, even before Montoya occupied office; and it is no secret that the CSUF administration kept files on Montoya, and he was probably considered one of the "problems"
that in-coming CSUF president John Welty would have to deal with, in order to more
accurately reflect the interests of the CSUF Association.
Montoya is a member of Chicano organizations such as The Chicano Writers-
Artists Association and has been involved with the Chicano movement for many years.
He went through Summer Bridge, ate lunch in front of the Old Cafeteria, and was not a
member of a Fraternity, a business club, or an ultra-conservative organization like YAF,
which many have called racist.
He wasn't anything like the students who are used to winning the student
elections, so they had to get rid of him.
Certain students thought to be racists started telling everyone how racist
Montoya was, which translated meant he cared about the Chicano movement and is
committed. They attempted to have the largely white ASI senateofficiallyreprimand him.
But the senate didn't take these allegations seriously, and dismissed the notion.
So they got out a petition, gathered the signatures of every racist on campus, and
when that wasn't enough to get a recall, they lied to people, in front of the library, in the
free speech area, in the classrooms and media.
There were over 1,000 signatures gathered for the recall. I refuse to believe that
all of them are signatures from racists, or that they are even from conservatives.
Most people who signed the petition have been lied to. They do not understand
that there is a connection to Montoya's recall and the rise of hate literature on campus.
They do not know that the administration, that is, the dean of student affairs, all
the way up to the president's office, wants Montoya out. They are afraid of him, not
because they think he is a racist, but because they know he can organize students of all
colors effectively against decisions made for us by them. We need only to look at the
recent protest rally for the proposed 40% fee hike to see that Montoya is not concerned
with narrow issues that do not concern all students. He has helped to bring increased
library hours, has worked against the administration to bring alternate food services to
campus, and has gotten students an increase in short-term loans.
Most of the students who marched to Welt/s office after the protest Montoya
helped organize were white. Although Montoya and MEChA are the ones who are the
most visible in Tent City next to the library, many students from all backgrounds were
see MONTOYA on page 4