I read with great interest your insightful and heartfelt column (10/4/00, “Pala tribe sacrifices land for trash,”) by Liza Plummer onthe Pala nation, and I would like to express my agreement with you onall points. Much of my ethics research in recent years focuses onNative American rights and experiences, and it is good to know thereare at least a few others out there who have a decent, moralperspective on the matter.
If you would like to discuss such things, stop by and say hellosome time.
Take care and continue your journey for truth and justice!
–J. Angelo CorlettEditor in Chief, The Journal of EthicsPresident, The Society for EthicsSDSU Department of Philosophy
Student apathy cause of current A.S.
Congratulations SDSU! Because of your constant failure to vote foryour Associated Students representatives you have been blessed withthe council you now have.
I wish I could say I told you so … wait a minute, I warned youabout this. You have a council who’s sole purpose is to protect itsgroup’s interest. A council that does not care about the other 29,000plus students that attend SDSU. Do you know why?
They don’t care because they know you will not react. For those ofyou who do not know anything about A.S. and how it is made up, I willgive you a brief synopsis. Each college (i.e. Business, Arts andLetters, etc.) is given one seat on A.S. for every 1,500 studentsthey represent. However, the groups that are represented on A.S. donot need to have that amount and have substantially lower numbers(only the RHA, IFC and Panhellenic have numbers close to thecolleges).
The groups that are represented on council claim they representminority factions that would not be heard otherwise. The problem withthis logic is their numbers do not reflect the constituency they aresupposed to represent. For instance, the LGBTSU (Lesbian, Gay,Bisexual, Transgender Student Union) claims at a high point amembership of 20-25, the Women’s Resource Center claims half of thatand the biggest group, MEChA, can claim maybe 60-70 students. Now,here comes the nail in the coffin — these groups claim 11 of thetotal 25 votes on council. That means they only need to control twomore votes to have a majority on council.
In other words, our student-run council, which is supposed torepresent 30,000 students, is controlled by groups that do not evenmake up 1 percent of the total student population. Their claim thatthey represent all students is as believable as the world being flat.The council went against 91 percent of what the student body wantedand voted to get rid of the Aztec mascot because it was offensive toNative Americans.
Some of you might be wondering how the vote was so lopsided if thecolleges have votes as well. The answer: these same groups controlthose seats as well because they are the only ones that vote. Thishas helped them pass every favorable measure imaginable for theirorganizations, and to be honest, if I knew I could get away with it,I would do it too.
Have they gone to far? That depends upon you — all of you whocome to school and do not interact in college, who do not joinorganizations, you are the independent voters of our college, youwill determine who controls A.S. at SDSU. If you continue to beambivalent about what goes on at your college, the college you pickedto attend, then things like this will go on. Your student fees go tosupport A.S. if that makes you care more! Fortunately, you have achoice. There are those on council who still fight for the averagestudent — you can tell by the vote breakdown that you have thepossibility of having eight votes on council. Those are the studentsthat opposed this short-sided resolution.
I can tell you two organizations that have continually opposedresolutions such as these because they hurt the average student atSDSU. These two groups are also the biggest on council comprisingover 1,700 students. They have consistently been in the minoritybecause of the strong opposition to “new blood” within A.S. Thosegroups, IFC and Panhellenic, focus on the big picture of SDSU andrealize they must pass the torch to a new class every year. I havealready lived my life at SDSU. I have been in the trenches with thesegroups on A.S., and I lost.
Will you be there on election day to change the way our school isbeing run? I can tell you one thing … those groups are bettingagainst you being there.
–Jason Patrick WoodFormer A.S. Councilmember
–The Daily Aztec welcomes letters on all subjects, sections andstories. Letters may be edited for brevity and libelous or overtlyoffensive content. The Aztec will not run unsigned letters. The Aztecoffices are located in the basement of the business administrationbuilding. Please send e-mail to daletter2000@hotmail.com
