Chicano forum
Panelists censure lack of education opportunities
By wenciy won
Staff Reporter
Lack of a lifelong education plagues
the Chicano people, causing failures
and frustrations, but educators said at
a forum Wednesday that changes in
the education system could help
improve the situation.
The panelists, University of Ne
braska-Lincoln Chicano instructors
and professors, said education should
begin at birth and continue until death.
But that is not the case in the Chicano
race, they said at the forum, “Educa
tion of Chicanos in the ’90s,” in the
Nebraska Union.
Miguel Carranza, an associate
professor of sociology and ethnic
studies, said Chicano students do not
get a good start on their educations
and don’t improve along the way.
According to the 1990 census, the
Hispanic population has grown 53
p&cent since 1980. But the statistics
regarding academic successes among
Chicano students are not as positive
— 35 to 75 percent drop out of high
school and only 6 percent continue on
to higher education.
UNL instructor Olga Sanchez said
Chicano students who attended pre
school or a Headstart program are
much more likely to continue in edu
cation. But starting early isn’t the
only thing that needs to be done, she
said.
Carranza agreed, saying the drop
out numbers won’t fall unless “dras
tic changes” are made.
Sanchez attributed the low num
ber of Chicanes going on to higher
education and postgraduate work to
poor educational responses to Chi
cano needs.
Ralph Grajeda, an associate pro
fessor of English, said that if teachers
were trained to meet the needs of
Chicano students, the students could
begin school on a better note.
Grajeda said he hated school when
he was young because he felt de
meaned and insulted because his
migrant-worker family forced him to
switch schools with the seasons.
Grajeda failed the first grade twice,
he said. He never thought he would
go to college, unlike “Anglo” stu
dents who think of college as “the
next natural step.”
Grajeda said he wasn’t stupid, but
because he didn’t receive the support
he needed, no one expected him to
succeed, least of all himself. Grajeda
now has a.doctorate degree.
Grajeda said his story is not un
usual.
Sanchez also said Chicano stu
dents depend on their own persever
ance to succeed in school. It teachers
were aware of how they and the edu
Alub information poor
in Hispanic population
uy canssa Moffat
Staff Reporter
Inadequate distribution of AIDS
information makes preventing the dis
ease more difficult in the Hispanic
community than in the rest of the
population, a Department of Health
official said Wednesday.
Phil Medina, a disease interven
tion specialist for the Nebraska De
partment of Health Division of Dis
ease Control, said in a speech in the
Nebraska Union that AIDS informa
tion isn’t being distributed to primar
ily Hispanic populations.
Yet, “education is the only way we
can prevent the spread of this dis
ease,” he said.
Medina said that in the United
Stales, 26,119 Hispanics have AIDS.
Of those cases, 3,359 are women and
22,760 are men, he said.
Sixteen percent of the AIDS cases
in the United States are Hispanics,
while that figure is 3 percent in Ne
braska.
“There are so many Hispanics that
need to be educated about AIDS ...
and they just aren’t,” he said.
Medina said Hispanics’ cultural
differences also inhibit the AIDS
education effort.
“Hispanics tend to be work-ori
ented; any other issue is not dealt with
“ 66 -
There are so many
Hispanics that need to
he educated about
AIDS... and they just
aren’t.
Medina
Nebr. Dept, of Health
-ft -
with any substance,” he said. “Our
culture doesn’t realize the severity of
it.”
Liz Rodriguez of the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln Office of Multi
Cultural Affairs said Hispanics also
often consider the subject of sex ta
boo, making it difficult for issues
such as AIDS to be aired in public.
Romeo Guerra, a member of the
Lincoln Lancaster Minority AIDS
Educational Task Force, said Hispan
ics typically don’t use the social or
health services in which AIDS educa
tion is presented.
“Prevention is kind of foreign to
Hispanics,” he said. “They use it as a
last resort.”
Guerra said one of the ways to help
educate Hispanics about AIDS is by
visiting their homes.
“The best approach is to get to the
grass roots,” he said.
GLC chairman lays groundwork
for student advisory committee
By Adeana Leftin
Staff Reporter
Only a few weeks are left until the
end of the school year, but newly
appointed Government Liaison
Committee Chairman Andrew Siger
son has plenty of plans before stu
dents head off for summer pursuits.
Sigerson said he intends to follow
faculty salaries and the strengthening
of the Nebraska Coordinating Com
mission for Postsecondary Education.
“Faculty salaries are on the rise,”
he said, “but not as high as they should
be in terms of our peer institutions.”
Sigerson said he doesn’t think there
is much GLC can do about the coor
dinating commission this year, but he
hopes to concentrate on adding a stu
dent advisory committee to the com
mission next year.
Even though the commission s
powers will be decided this legisla
tive session, Sigerson said, the Ne
braska Legislature can add the advi
sory committee at any time.
"First, we have to express inter
est,” he said, “then work with the
scuaiors on a nuiuuuu.
There is no plan drawn up for the
advisory committee, but Sigerson
suggested it be made up of the student
government and faculty senate presi
dents from each campus.
“We’re affected the most (by the
commission), let us have the say,” he
said.
Capital construction projects like
Richards Hall and the Beadle Center
also are concerns for Sigerson.
The Beadle Center, he said, would
bring the University of Nebraska
Lincoln money, prestige, students and
faculty members from around the
world.
Sigerson said he would like to see
more organizations involved in ex
pressing student opinion to the Legis
lature.
He plans to speak with the Resi
dence Hall Association and other
groups, asking them to get involved.
“We need to show the Board of
Regents and the Legislature that this
is important to us..Sigerson said.
“If we’re going to all benefit, we’re
going to all have to work together.”
cational system as a whole could help
Chicano students, the problem
wouldn’t, rest solely on the students’
shoulders, she said.
Support systems are a vital part of
academic success, Sanchez said. Stu
dents currently cannot even rely on
their parents for academic support
because Chicano parents do not have
the opportunities to become involved
in their children’s schooling, she said.
If steps were taken to improve
parents’ position in the education
system, Sanchez said, Chicano chil
dren most likely would feel more
positive about the system.
But Chicanos need more than family
support to succeed academically, she
said.
“Anglos already have support sys
tems outside the home,” Sanchez said.
Role models could serve as an out
of-home support group, she said. If
successful Chicanos would return to
the community, Sanchez said, they
could help motivate young people.
Joe Aguilar, an associate proles
sor in curriculum and instruction, said
more bilingual and multicultural
education also could help improve
the situation.
But these steps are being hindered
by the “English Only” and “English
First” movements, he said.
American Heart
Association
WE'RE FIGHTING FOR
YOUR LIFE
i-POLICE REPORT-,
Beginning midnight Tuesday,
April 16
1:41 a.m. — Bicycle stolen, Ne
braska Hall, $400.
7:47 a.m. — Stereo stolen from
auto, 19 th and R streets, $190.
12:08 p.ra. — Right rear quarter
panel of vehicle dented, 19 th and R
streets, $75.
3:26 p.m. — Two rings stolen,
Oldfather Hall, $410.
5:04 p.m, — Rear bike tire stolen,
Abel Hall, $75.
Senior Sendoff at Wick Center toniaht
From Staff Reports
Graduating seniors at the Univer
sity of Nebrask^-Lincoln will be
honored today at a Senior Sendoff
sponsored by (he UNL Student Alumni
Association.
The wine-and-cheese reception will
be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Wick
Alumni Center.
Memorial, tribute to Evans on Saturday
From Staff Reports
A memorial celebration of the life
of former economics professor Bert
Evans will be in the Nebraska Union
at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Mr, Evans died on March 18 from
injuries suffered in a car accident
near David City.
The tributes to Mr. Evans will cover
his youth, college days, professor
ship, economic theories and life as a
farmer. The memorial service will be
followed by a coffee hour to share
memories of Mr. Evans.
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