My true side of the story

By Robert Garcia, On-line Forty-Niner

May 18-22,1998

Scrutiny is every student's right. It is a tool used by those who have elected us to communicate their concerns. As a campus leader there is nothing more gratifying than witnessing students take a stand for what they believe.

 

However, there is a point where scrutiny ends and intentional harassment begins. Within the last couple of weeks I have had to stand strong against attacks on my ethics, friends, family and the very government that supports us, the Associated Students Inc. Yet today, I still stand by my all words and actions because A.S.I. and I believe in the decisions that were made.

 

At the beginning of the semester, faculty, staff, and most importantly, students scrutinized the Long Beach Union's satirical page, the Grunion.

 

Concerns came from representatives of the Interfaith Center, the Women's Resource Center, various fraternities and sororities, the Black Student Union, and A.S.I., to name a few.

 

These groups felt the paper had crossed the line of satire. I agreed.

 

As a senator, I was appointed chairman and a voting member of the Publications Board, a subsidiary of A.S.I. which oversees the Union. Being a fraternity man myself, I was offended by the unethical portrayal of our students. Therefore, at a Senate meeting I expressed my desire to step down as acting chairman, but remain a voting member due to a possible conflict of interest.

 

The Union had decided it would tone down The Grunion. The conflict had been solved without A.S.I. action. Moreover, I now had no reason to step down from my position as chairman.

 

Weeks later, at the last meeting of the Publications Board, we elected a new editor in chief of the Union, Leo Pedraza. The board, which holds elections at the end of every academic year, voted 5-2 in favor of Leo Pedraza.

 

Leo also happens to be one of my fraternity brothers, so the Union is using him as a scapegoat, stating conflict of interest.

 

Even if I had voted against Leo, he still would have won! I voted for whom I thought would do a better job. Is it fair to say that because a student is in a certain organization he cannot run or apply for an elected office? It would not matter if Leo was my twin brother; he has every right as a student to apply for any position he chooses.

 

It was a board decision made by informed students and staff, which included our A.S.I. president, treasurer, the Student Life and Development senate adviser, and a student representative.

 

It was a fair vote, which followed A.S.I. bylaws. End of story. The truth can be found in all our Senate and Publications Board minutes.

 

In retrospect, I do not regret any of the decisions the board or I made. I have held my head high through all the attacks and will continue to do so.

 

I wish the Long Beach Union and it's staff good luck, and find it unfortunate they wanted to end the semester negatively.

 

I believe in A.S.I. and that every student, including me, has the right to make this university a better place.