1995_12 Insight December 1995

              Viewpoint
DECEMBER 13,1995
Lrnsfghf reporter Nancy Davis wondered how Jerry Tarkanian
was adjusting to campus life at Fresno State. She just wanted
five minutes of his time to ask how he was doing.
In search of...
OKIsi
ubile
each   Ar.i
i) childhood.
. .11 UNLV sshen I
.. populai belief, lark is noi easy t(.
ii S.irkissi.m. a studenl reporter at
Insight, said he called al least Use limes \o talk
to Tark. When lie did not get through. Sarkissian
ssent bs  I.iik's office three limes and ssas still
Fresno Bee reporters hase it easier than the
He has .i cell phone: a reporter can gel hold
of him in a moments nonce." s.ud Rick Vacek.
sport* cdiun .n ITic Fresno. Bee.
He 4UH.-S ii4.i return calls unless it benefits
hi the nihil
hers, hul lark ss
In his red-ss;
N4>rtli('.sin 17.1
.arpetcd office
fill the nest op
is difficult ink
ini.ui. I first had lo slide
ih.n shields Tarkanian fit
eiballoffiei
l in make n
esiio Bet
However, ii sctilTi CUwfcjmc il
orradHiison.lhere'sTarkanhuin
:xplai
s   I. Ii
il.'
.,11II
i|iiesii.
After almost giving
ing l4.C4.nt.icl Tarkanian. I finally heard his voice
4>ii the line This gase me a glimmer 4.1 hope.
"Who's this.'" Tarkanian asked.
"This is N.mcs Das is ssith Insight.'' I replied
Tarkanian explained L> me that he had picked
up the ssrong line and I ssas not ihe person he
wanted 10 talk to. He said I could call buck an-
So I called back again Ami again.
Finally, a sseek later. I got him on Ihe phone.
It t»Hik Ihree weeks of bugging and pry ing
lo gei through to Tarkanian. I ssas shuttled
around from person to person. Thes hoped I
Bui I didn't.
I got the inters iess. 1 asked for jusl five minutes of his time, bul he told me I could onls
hase two-minutes to do the interview.
Tarkanian could not believe it look me this
long to reach him. He said no other reporters
lad this
Mans studenl
jch difficulty.
found difficulty
ins us at The Coffee-hoi
Land of the wimps
lis late at nighl and sour neighbors are blasting Led Zeppelin on the stereo. You can'l
sleep. What are sou going lo do — go explain lhe problem lo lhe offenders or call se-
Anysvhere else in lhe ssorld you'd lalk sviih
your neighbors and try lo reach a compromise.
But this is America. "Home of the Wimps..".
You call security.
American parents teach Iheir children to
smile and be polite. II somebody does something wrong to sou.' Well, as long as they
apologize, you smile and say. "It's okay."
That's ihe American ssas
It's a rich land for psychiatrists thai counsel
lhe emotionally repressed.
So hoss do Americans shins anger'.' The
wimpy ssas.
Early in the morning go out and look at
people's cars and you'll see what I mean: flattened tires, jagged key marks on painted surfaces and angry hate-notes tucked under svind-
shield wipers.
Face-to-face. Americans arc sweet and forgiving. They only shoss iheir true feelings
sshen your back is turned and your car is lefl
unguarded.
Americans are raised on svimpiness. They
arc laugh! to avoid face-io-facc confrontations: they are considered rude. Later in life,
built-up anger gets the best of ihem and ihey
lash out at easily-beaten victims. A fair fight
is unthinkable, this follows a long history of
American wimpiness.
'Wimpdoni Jrom our past
The first white immigrants to ihis land
quickly figured oul thai the Native American's
bows and arrows were no match for carbines.
The ss imps white man waged a morbidly unequal battle against Native Americans.
Recorded American history was off and running. Nexi. Native American land was sei/ed
and its occupants driven west. Then the ss imps
realized Ihey didn'l wanl to do honest work
any more and turned their attention to Africa.
There svere lots of poorly-armed people to
bully there. We all know ihe horror lhat came
next. This proud American tradition continues today. And it's noi just the white man's
OPINION
EYA.
BOZEM
American wimpiness is an equal-opportunity vice. Men beat women and parents abuse
children in asioundingly large numbers. It's a
bully's paradise.
Americans had the chance lo end the
svimpiness. We could hase taken a vigilante
attitude, massed together and confronted the
bullies lhat preyed upon us ami our neighbors.
Instead, sse hid inside 4>ur homes and locked
the doors.
Biggest wimps: Gang bangers
Noss it\ ihe king wimps — the criminals
— who rule America. When sse bus a car.
rem an apartment or install a car stereo, it is
the criminal angle sve consider above all else.
Will the car be stolen? What is the crime rate
II   this
s Ihe radio back
elves arid fight-
lie consequence
bullies together
Should sse c;
and forth to deter thieves".'
To heck ssith defending 0
ing back. Gangs are the ull
ofwimpdom.Get seven or
and ihey ssill heal up or 1
rival gang. There's American courage for sou.
Drive bv a house and spras it wilh bullets
Those wackx Americans know boss to hase a
good time.
Football is the ss imp-sport of choice Sit on
your rear-end and yell al a bunch of players
hurting one another. What a lark!
Afterwards, you can act real lough and talk
aboul ss ho creamed whom. It's lough Work
sitting on your rear end: you deserve to act
tough. And if anyone disputes who creamed
whom, argue loudly for a few minutes and
then meekly change lhe subject.
lis lhe American way.
Welty speaks out on Collegian article Rabin piece should never have run
campiiTcommunta
;S2g23
of these freedoms
|The ('..llegianl neglected to mention.
liovseser.ih.il the Constitutional protec
r.TTlMTSW
'!",K'"lvl'^"-''"'^
This letter, by Fresno State
retrain In.in espies
mils..i intolerance
tion 4.1 ftccdoni 4>t the pi ess entails a
President John I). Weltv, dated
based on race, elh
icits. gender, age.
serious ohliiMtion t.u the press to use
Nov. 20, is an expression of his
disability or sexual
orientation
thai freedom responsibly and in the .
opinion addressed to editors of the
The statement ss
is intended to re-
public interest. This is among the firsl
Collegian.
w^cM.nvalc.Mh.s
recent occurrences
qualifications ol n responsible journal-
Insight, as an additional addressee of the letter, chooses to
.ildiseisiiv.cisihls
ind mutual respect
In choosing to punt the Nos. 1 $ opin
print it so that il may reach the
The Collegian was
sked to publish ihe
ion piece. The C4.lleg1.1n stall tailed to
either recoenize 01 exercise that respon
campus community.
In addition to tin
s more general re-
sibility. There ssas .1 failure 10 recog
1 base asked Dr. Imls Sakaki. Acting
minder, however. 1
uiist also comment
nize the difference between opinion and
)ean of Sludent Affairs, to begin meet-
specifically on ihe
onlenl ..I the .inii-
bigotrs: between public discussion 4.1
ngs with ihe Campus Publications
Semitic Nos. 13op
nioa piece bv Haul
the issues ami hale mongering: belsseen
C oininiiiee examining ways in which
Y.i/il.tnp.in.ilt in 11
e Collegian and in
editorial and tirade.
u- can create processes which ensure
p.iiliciilai on lhe (fc
vision to print this
Further, in spite ..1 |The Collegian's|
hai newspapers on campus which use
piece oh lhc opinio
page.
claim that si\ hours ssere spent verify
lienanieolCaliloniiaSl.net inversus
Protests regarding
lhai decision hase
ing Ihe accuracs 41I content, the piece
resno. recognize both ihe freedoms
l-campiis and the
is riddled ssilh inaccuracies.
md obligations inhereni in their fiinc-
community. 1 am at
ilmg ms 4.un pro
Given lhe diversity, ol our campus
test to those of oth
•r thoughtful cam-
eommumls. tree expression of ideas and
Among lhc'subjects ol these meetings
pus community me
libers
debate are troth tolerated and encouraged. Registered dissent and airing
sill be the furtherance ol civilized dis
The article is a sh
inieful example ..t
course and lhe discouragement of lan
bigotrs and hatred
vhich has no place
grievances are important functions of a
guage thai encourages hatred and dis
in civilized discour
e.
tree press. Priming statements thai de
respect toward any campus or commu
In ils Nos. I6cdi
on. The Collegian
mean and demonize other people is not.
nis group.
sought to justify its
ecision to print the
Public debate must reflect mutual ci-
Dr. Sakaki will invite |Collegian| Edi-
piece by pointing to
Consliliilioii.il lirsi
s iliis. respect and responsibility. It is the
or-in-Cluel Christine Malamanig to
Amendment protec
ions of freedom of
function of lhe press 10 lurther lhat de
ake part in these discussions.
lhe press and freed!
.u of speech.
bate in ihe public interest. In ihis case.
|The Collegian sv.
s| correct in point-
The Collegian has tailed in thai respon
Sincerely
ing oul the prolectn
ns provided by the
sibility.
Dr. John 1). Welty
When ihe Collegian decided to prim
Hadi Ya/danpanah's fallislic. hate-
filled and illogical rant about Yitzhak
Rabin, under lhe guise of defending
freedom of speech, lhe editors did much
more Ihan compromise iheir paper's
journalistic integrity.
In addition to diminishing the sense
of professionalism lhat Ihe Collegian's
stall has worked so hard loachiese this
semester, the editors delisered a powerful indictment of California Stale L'ni-
sersiiy. Fresno's sub-par educational
program. This program allows studenls
to llather through a system of classes
designed to (each critical thinking and
rhetorical analysis without learning
much of anything.
In theory, a university degree tells the
world lhat ils possessor is an educated
person who has learned Ihe lessons of
tise millennia of human history, and
understands how to apply those lessons
toward the daily issues of life. He or
she can observe a problem intelligently,
examine il from the viewpoints of other
people, and most importantly, solve it
fairly and objectively.
However, as demonstrated by
Yazdanpanah and Collegian editors, a
degree from Fresno Stale shows an ability lo skale through dumbed-down general education courses w hile doing little
more than regurgitating petty facts and
writing the occasional watered-down
term paper.
igedy is noi that Yazdanpanah's
mind was capable of forging such extreme opinions, bul rather that his general education curriculum failed 10 provide him with lhe academic tixils nee-
calls e
leh.s,
should
Insight
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO
Executive Editor Sheryl Logue
Managing Editor Dan Helmbold
Chief Copy Editor Lorena Campbell
News Editor F.Y.A. Bozem    ,
Photo Editor David Johnson
Lifestyle Editor Denise Dawson
Sports Editor Brent Liescheidt
Production Manager Deborah Smith
Circulation Manager Jeff Bonesteel
AD      LINK:    278-3934
Ad Accounts Manager    Chelsi Jaussaud
Ad Production Manager    Stephanie Stephens
Advertising Representatives: Students of MCJ 143
Production Consultant   Jefferson Beavers
Adviser   George Flynn
Production Assistants: Alisha Parnagian, Michael Young
Illustrator In Residence :Reg Wagner
Staff Photographers: Apolinar Fonseca, Paul Martinez
Staff Reporters:
Matt Croce, Jennifer^.. Davis, Brian Fisher, Stefanie Hard,
Matt Lloyd, Robbie Miner, Christina Penir, Deborah Sanchez,
Diane Scalice, Guy Sharwood, Hadrian Shaw, Troy Wagner,
May Xaykaothao, Students of MCJ 102W
liefs. An educated person does not indulge in serious comparison between
Yit/hak Rabin. Adolf Hitler and Big
Bird without providing solid evidence
Despite six hours of alleged fact-
checking that Ihe editors claimed were
spent on Ya/danpanah's article, he never
delivered any sort of proof lhat Rabin
was responsible for worse atrocities
than Hitler. Instead. Yazdanpanah continued to indiscriminately deride a huge-
group of people without benefit of evi-
Perhaps the problem firsl
Ya/danpanah's second-level
class, where he was supposed
learned critical thinking skills a
ods of rhetorical analysis. Hi
have learned 10 slate his opini
vide fads to back up his opinion, and
draw a logical conclusion.
Instead, he tries to swas minds bs
composing a word salad of blanket
statements, sweeping generalizations,
fallacies and pure fiction. A writer of
such immature development should ideally fail a sophomore-level English
class. Bul al Fresno Slate. Yazdanpanah
continues to hurtle toward graduation
and his piece se^s print in the Collegian. *
The editors made ihcir first mistake
by printing an article thai had more in
common with a Ku Klux Klan edict
Ihan a college student's opinion piece.
As with everything else, their first mistake was a forgivable digression, while
iheir second mistake was a travesty.
A few days later, the editors co-
authored an opinion piece lhat started
off with a conciliatory tone, but soon
disintegrated into a half-baked attempt
to paint a picture of thc Collegian as
thc last bastion of independence and
freedom of speech on the Fresno State
campus.
Yazdanpanah demonstrated the inadequacies of thc English department's
critical thinking courses, but the Collegian editors revealed thai both Ihe Mass
Reg
• ***■' • #  1
WAGNER
Contributing Writer
^T\m\
1c.1l ion
and Journalism and
Scienc
e deparlmenls have
teach 1
resno Slate students
mparc.
contrast and combine
pis of 1
ecdom of speech and
the cone
journalistic responsibility.
When accused of irresponsibility,
newspaper editors are famous for claiming lhat anything and es cry thing thai
happens lo fall inlo the m-box is printable due 10 freedom of speech. Howes er. a givod editor needs to have a finely
developed sense of ethics, and should
underdeveloped that it discsn't deserve
lo be primed.
If. as the Collegian editors indicated
in Ihcir follow-up article, a desire to preserve freedom of speech was iheir pri-
Ya/danpanah's article, (hey have sel an
unfortunate precedent for themselves.
If an equally bigoted article happens
to come in from the Ku Klux Klan, thc
Collegian is now obligated to print it as
a legitimate opinion piece. Ethics have
been cast aside in favor of an amorphous
political concept that lhe editors seem
to have a very faint understanding of.
Perhaps ihcy should ask themselves
w hy thc New York Times or Ihe Sacramento Bee do not print blatantly bigoted and racist opinion pieces. And why
did so many newspapers struggle to decide whether or not to print lhc
Unabomber's manifesto, if his freedom
of speech is supposedly inalienable?
If the editors of thc Collegian truly
wish to become professional newspaper editors. I suggest extension courses
al a reputable journalism school. Their
education has failed them here.