EDITORIAL
Open your mind to new experiences
After the passage of Proposition 209 in 1996 and the demise of affirmative action, President Donald Gerth reassured CSUS that diversity would remain a top priority at this university.
While Gerth's wish for "pluralism" is noble, he has forgotten an undeniable truth: You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.
In 1990, this university took a great stride toward "diversity" when it began requiring students to take three units in Race and Ethnicity. The requirement was based on the CSU system's request that each university examine its curriculum. For eight years, CSUS has met the CSU system's requirements.
And while the program looks good on paper, behind the public-relations hype, CSUS remains a divided community.
Students are islands unto themselves, isolated from the rest of the campus -- and the world.
They pass near-empty Nooners featuring talent from around the globe without a backward glance.
They tell themselves they are too busy to stop. Most won't admit how isolated they have become. Others don't bother to care.
Perhaps these individuals are exposed to cultural diversity at home, but we doubt it.
Because what affirmative action could not -- and President Gerth cannot -- enforce is our responsibility as educated adults, as human beings, to respect diversity.
To meet its full potential, diversity must go beyond equality at school and in the workplace; it must include an openness to new and foreign ideas.
And that is something that can't be forced on anyone.
This month, the State Hornet will celebrate Black History Month with special features and updates on local or on-campus events.
But we can only print the ideas; it's your responsibility to stop and read them.
The Soapbox
It's a step in the right direction, but ...
By JOHN MONTGOMERY
MANAGING EDITOR
It looks like several members of Associated Students Inc.'s board of directors are making a move to correct a troublesome situation.
Last week, Devin Cook, director of Posbaccalaureate, and Jennifer Helms, director of Arts and Letters, proposed a change to the ASI operating rules. If the proposal is approved, ASI could advertise -- before the fall semester begins -- any board vacancies that occur during the summer break.
Their proposal would allow the president to use alternative means to advertise to fill those vacancies, something not allowed under the current rules.
The ASI president would determine the "most effective means of advertisement" to fill the empty seats. The proposal also eliminates any requirement that the campus newspaper be used at all in the search for candidates.
Wait a minute, ASI.
Does this change mean that ASI would be relying exclusively on mass mailings, an expensive proposition, even when the State Hornet is more cost-effective?
Because "advertise" could mean anything, we could see a president who stands at ASI's door and whispers, "We have a vacancy." Would that still meet the requirements?
Most importantly, what is the board going to do about the illegal appointment of five members last fall? It seems this proposal will allow for a cosmetic change while avoiding the illegal appointments issue.
Since, according to the ASI by-laws, it takes a petition of 5 percent of the student population to bring the matter to the only judicial body the ASI has, the Appellate Council, the board must feel secure in flaunting its own rules while espousing a fatuous claim of "Students First."
Letter to the Editor
Saclink 526 prefix bad for Elk Grove
As I have come to learn from extensive conversation with Citizen's Utilities -- Elk Grove's phone service -- Pacific Bell, and Brooks Fiber Communications, the new 526 prefix for Saclink dial-in from Elk Grove is now a "local long distance" call.
Even though Citizen's phone book, 1997-98 edition, says 526 falls under the Extended Area Service, it is not!
Pacific Bell's phone book (1998-1999 edition) lists the 526 prefix as "Sacramento 1." It is not! A service rep of PacBell says the 526 prefix is Fair Oaks and it actually belongs to Brooks Fiber Communications.
I kindly let Brooks Fiber Communications know that the various major and minor phone companies in the area all have the same wrong information, and that the 526 prefix has screwed the students, faculty, and staff who dial in from Elk Grove.
According to a Brooks customer service representative, "yes, 526 is actually in Fair Oaks" -- not on the CSUS campus, and "no," they have no plans to rectify the situation. While they will begrudgingly record your complaint, the company offers no verification that anyone will ever actually give it due consideration.
E-mail messages to User Services and the Saclink Help Desk go unanswered.
A copy of the notice issued by UCCS (in case anyone missed it) says the new number "expands" the calling area so more people will have "local" access. It seems, however, that it also "shifted" the calling area, dumping Elk Grove out of local access. I really hope that someone has the authority, the power, and the balls to put Elk Grove back into the local calling area of CSUS dial-ins.
-- Brian Smither
| 
