PCC Courier, October 03, 1996

OPINION FEATURES SPORTS The U.S. has been done a great dis¬ service if it's true the CIA sold crack cocaine to fund the Contra war The story that the San Jose Mercury News broke is having a far-reaching impact in the country. — Prodigal painter returns to PCC campus for Latino Heritage Month exhibition in Shatford Library The painter of the Chicano mural in the C Building continues to sell his art and paint on campus. £ Women's volleyball team has rough time in Rancho Santiago Tournament held last weekend The No. 3 state finisher last season also lost its home game against Allen Hancock on Friday. 6 James Rogan makes PCC appearance speech, so it was diffcult for the pro¬ testers to raise any objections. “It isn’t importantwhat party label you are under. What is important is getting the job done,” Rogan said. Rogan attacked the welfare system, saying that' it re¬ wards unproductive ' behavior. His main concemis thatit does As part of voter registration week, State Assembly leader James Rogan spoke to students yesterday BY AKIESHA JACKSON Courier Staff Writer All was quiet and everyone was attentive, at the meeting that some thought would bring emo¬ tional protests yesterday in the Campus Center Lounge. The stir began in response to the an¬ nouncement that Assembly Ma¬ jority Leader James Rogan was going to be speaking at PCC. Rogan is on record as being a supporter of the California Civil Rights Initiative (Proposition 209). Many students on the campus, including the members of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanos de Aztlan(M.E.Ch.A.), whoopposethis initiative were upset with the fact that he would be here speaking on the importance of voting, when his position on the CCRI initiative is so clear. Protesters gathered beforethe start of his speech and passed out flourescent green banners with the exclamatory words, “Save Affirma¬ tive Action: Vote no on 209.” Rogan also made his rounds through the crowd, introducing himself and warming the audience to his pres¬ ence. He spoke about his less-than- fortunate beginnings in life and how he got interested in politics at the community college level. He as¬ sured the crowd that he was not speaking as a Republican and men¬ tioned the fact that he was a Demo¬ crat for 20 years. His speech emphasized that people should participate in the political process regardless of their party pref¬ erence. Proposition 209 did not be¬ come the subject at any point in his not seem to promote family by disallow¬ ing young mother to marry, without the threat of being cut off. It also does not promote a work ethic, penalizing those who want to get a job in hopes of saving money. Education was also an important topic. Rogan said, ’’Emphasis should be put on abolishing the Federal and State Departments of education. Thi s will cut down on the bureaucra¬ cies in our educational system.” The Coordinator of External Affairs, Catherine Hazelton, said that the program went well. She was aware of the feelings of the M.E.Ch. Amembers andtheother Please see ROGAN, page 3. ASB focuses attention on improving communication with students at large BY DANIEL ARCHULETA Courier Staff Writer The Associated Students Board emphasized communication be¬ tween students and the board at last Tuesdays regular AS meeting, the officers outlined a plan to bridge that gap. A master calender will be made available within the next few weeks to clubs and individuals interested in the dates of upcoming AS events. Leila Jerusalem, coordinator of pub¬ licity, will direct the effort. “I’m really excited about this calendar,” she said. Another method the AS is plan¬ ning to use to inform students of events and issues is the distribution of a newsletter to all the clubs on campus. It will detail issues of im¬ mediate importance, like Proposi¬ tion 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative, and upcoming events sponsored by the AS. That project is “in the works” and will also be done by Jerusalem. In addition to the communication items on the meeting’s agenda, the board also swore-in this year’s Su¬ preme Council. Mark Lopez has been appointed chief justice. Vanessa Schulz, Louie Martinez and Lin Shi will be the associate justices, and Peter Wahba represent the AS. The Supreme Council is the judi¬ cial body that oversees the actions of the AS Board and hears cases of interest. Each council member is nominated by Forrest Poindexter, AS president, and a two-thirds majority vote from the board’ s nine members is required for approvel. Other actions the board approved were funding for a variety of pro¬ grams. Depending on the availabil¬ ity of funds, the AS will send ap¬ proximately 15 students and board representatives to the San Diego State Leadership Conference Nov. 8-10. If the funds are not available then, the trip may not take place. Catherine Hazelton, coordinator of external affairs, said after the meet¬ ing, “We will find the funding; we always go to that conference.” Among other programs to receive AS funding will be the Disabled Stu¬ dents Program Services. There will be an effort to get tutors for disabled students. The board moved to pay tutors a small fee by granting $1,000 from tire student services fund to pay those student who apply to tutor. Political parties of many types attempt to woo students to vote for their candidates in November Campus Center fund benefits from vendors in the Quad JUDY WANG / THE COURIER A vendor on campus attracts a crowd at his jewelry stand in the Quad. BY KIESHA JACKSON Courier Staff Writer he candidates for the 1996 presidential election and po¬ litical parties across the board, are spending millions of doll ars trying to capture the young vote. They are keeping their ears open to hear what may well end up being the voices that will shift the political winds in this election year. The past four days at PCC have turned into what appears to be a smorgasbord of political ref- erendums. Organizations like the Peace and Freedom Party, which pushed for the measure that al¬ lowed the 18 year old vote, feel that it’s not just the outcome of this election and the present mea¬ sures on the ballot that are impor¬ tant. They want to see a continu¬ ance of youthful participation. ThePFP encouragesyoungpeople to act and speak for themselves. “It doesn’t take many people to get it started and make a differ¬ ence,” said Casey Peters, the PFP representative. He discussed his party’s concern about the lack of representation in our government for those who share his party’s views on everything from legal¬ izing marijuana for medical use, to providing free higher educa¬ tion to all. Issues like health care and the fight to keep marijuana from be¬ coming legal, are also subjects that organizations like Neighbor to Neighbor and Citizens for a Drug Free California, feel are pertinent in the lives of America’ s young people. Raul Flores, from Neighbor to Neighbor feels that the importance of lull disclosure to patients regarding their illnesses, and safe minimum staffing in hospi¬ tals, is something that will be crucial in the lives of students who will be entering the workforce. The concern is for present and future employees that could potentially have their healthcare regulated by corporate sharks at Health Maintenance Orga¬ nizations. The deluge of news coverage con¬ cerning the Republican and Demo¬ cratic parties, made it hard to over¬ look each groups views concerning a variety of topics. The contention between the two organizations that becomes the focus of this countries newest crop of voters is Proposition 209, “affectionately known to its proponants as the California Civil Rights Initiative,” accordingto Eliza¬ beth Walter, a Republican. Hun¬ dreds of new public relations cam¬ paigns were put into place on both sides of this issue, to pull in the votes of the people who will be most af¬ fected by it. he feeling is, that passage of the initiative will finally put an end to race and gender based hiring on the job and in qualifying for higher education. This is the reason its supporters feel it is a key issue to present to younger voters. “There is enough awareness about race, especially in the state of Cali¬ fornia, that it is no longer necessary to have mandates and quotas on those basis,” says Elizabeth Walter, a member of the California College Conservative Republicans at PCC. Lonna Hodgson, another CCCR member, discussed the importance of getting out and letting your voice be heard. “We take it for granted.” she said, about our right to vote. Walter expressed her feelings about those who do not take advantage of their right to vote by saying, “If you don’t vote, don’t bitch!” It is clear that the opponents of Proposition 209 have serious in¬ tentions of voting. MECHA, a PCC club, had very strong feel¬ ings about the measure. They want to let its supporters know that this is something that will not go unchallenged. “Our vote is the only thing we can offer to our community in regards to this is¬ sue, and we intend to standby this until the end.” says Melva Alvarez. “The Latino community has not typically been a very strong po¬ litical voice, that is why we are encouraging education and voter registration in our neighborhoods by particpating in the Precinct Walk.” Californians for Justice is conducting this walk on Saturday Oct. 5, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The purpose of this walk is to educate community members on this proposition and register vot¬ ers. Imporatant issues that cover everything from legalizing drugs, to the rebirth of a Civil Rights Initiative, will be present on the Nov. 5 ballot. The right to vote is one that the youth of these United States have takenfor granted. Now the political community is calling on them to pull their votes to¬ gether in a way that will guarantee astonishing success. With end¬ less amounts of monies being spent on campaigns like Choose of Lose and MTV’s famous Rock the Vote campaign, we can be¬ lieve as young people, that what we have to say about the future of this country isbeing given into the uttermost consideration. Let’s be mindful of the role we will play in our government and remember, Su Voto es su Voz(Y our Vote is Your Voice)! BY DONE' DENNISON Courier Staff Writer Students crowd around booths filled with sterling silver jewelry. The proprietor darts from one end of a long table to the other giving prices and answering frequent ques¬ tions about the gemstones and ring sizes. At another booth a friendly dark haired man helps with credit card applications. For a $100 fee these small busi¬ nesses sell their wares on the quad for up to five days per semester. Jewelry and small inexpensive items like leather book bags sell the best. The vendors must have a valid sell¬ ers permit. Only two sales businesses and one bank card company are al¬ lowed a 10 by 15 foot space per day. These vendor fees, and the soda and game machine money, all go into the Student Center Fund admin¬ istered by the office of Student Ac¬ tivities. The money pays for im¬ provements to the student lounge, the cafeteria, coffee gazebo and food annex; anywhere where students gather. Each semester $20,000-$23,000 is added to the account. Part of that money went for the new color stu¬ dent Id system and 50 new tables and 200 new chairs for the Palm Cafe section of the cafeteria. Some of these tables and chairs will go out¬ side the area closest to the campus bookstore. Leah Pastris, Student Activities secretary, schedules the vendors and makes sure the same kinds of busi¬ nesses don’t show up at the same time. “We don’t want two jewelry vendors competing in the quad,” said Pastris. Since fewer students are around on Fridays, not many ven¬ dors come on that day, she said. The vendors themselves go from campus to campus sellingtheir wares. They like PCC for its nice tree lined quad and diverse population. Steve Kotish, of Contiki Visa, said, “That’s what is nice about be¬ ing here on campus. I can help them fill out the credit application. It just ensures that they don’t get rejected for something simple.” Last week, about 200 students applied for the credit card which offers a six-month introductory rate of 11.9 percent and discounts on student travel through Contiki Tours. Just for applying, students re¬ ceived a free gift and were entered in a contest for a free Contiki trip. A few years ago, sterling silver vendor Charles Frieder took a jewelry mak¬ ing course at a junior college in Seattle. He enjoyed it so much, he started making his own jewelry and now imports other people’s work. “Jewelry making is such a creative occupation. Not only that, but it’s rewarding andalotoffun,” saidFrieder. He has a good eye for what students like. They crowd around his table pour¬ ing over rings, chains and earrings. The list of open vendor space usually fills up early and this semes¬ ter is no exception. Some vendors have even called about the spring session availability.