Vida Newspaper, Volume 2, Issue 5 - February 1975

PAGE 4 Dear Editor: Recientemente 13 ego a nues- tras oficinas el folleto titulado VIDA у despu^s de leerlo quie- ro felicitar sinceramente a to- do el persona] de esta edicion. Despues quisiera comunicar- les que el nuevo director de la Oficina de Asunto ‘Chicanos (Of¬ fice of Chi can о Affairs) es el Sr. Milton E. Ortega, ё1 ha es- tado al f rente de esta oficina desde hace casi dos an os. A todos los que hemos leido este folleto, VIDA nos ha pa- recido fantastieo ya que apart e de informative es bast ante edu- cacional. Por esta razon quisie¬ ra saber si es posible que nos envien una copia de cada publi- cacion en el futuro. Nuestra dir colon eorrecta es: MILTON E. ORTEGA, Director Office of Chicano Affairs P.O. Box 1219 Santa Clara University Santa Clara, OA 95053 Atent ament e, ALMA H. REYES Seeretarta del Director de Asuntos Chicanes Dear Editor: I read with a special pleasure the letter the “anonymous fresh¬ man” wrote to VIDA. I was par¬ ticularly impressed with the paragraph: “I take pride in being of Mexican descent just as I would think everyone takes pride in being the nationality they are. Blit I also take pride in being an American, and I’m just as American as anyone else on this campus, and I wish to be treated as an American college student, instead of a Mexican - American student.” Wonderful. I have not one single drop of “Anglo” blood in my body and I hate to be called “Anglo” or anything else but American although I am not even born he'’e, but America adopted me and I adopted Amer¬ ica. I am proud to be called American and I never felt that anybody discriminated against me, not even when I couldn’t CARTAS PARA VIDA “It is a Newspaper’s Duty to Comfort the Afflicted and Afflict the Comfortablie.” speak English. I firmly believe that we will wipe out discrimi¬ nation when we all become Ame¬ ricans, think American, feel American, without ever giving up our love, pride and respect for our ethnic origins. I congratulate you on that article and I agree with every word in it. Sincerely, Rev. Peter Ciklic, Ph.D. Professor Department of Psychology Dear Editor: In response to the “heart ren¬ dering” letter from an anonymous freshman : Reality has a strange way of sneaking up on people. Some are very adept at distinguishing fo¬ reign elements in their midst, and 'thus arc quite capable of adjur¬ ing successfully to comply and to succeed in an alien environ¬ ment. It is to the oilier group, those who do not have an accurate grasp of the reality to given situations, that I address myself to. In part cular, I wish to direct my remarks to the anony¬ mous freshman who was angered because he or she was gro'uped with all those “latins”, during orientation week. It is quite obvious judging from yoUr misguided -remarks that brotherhood to you is a Disney¬ land approach to reality. In es¬ sence we're all the same and we all belong to the Mickey Mouse Fan Club and everything is pea¬ ches and cream and god, country, and apple pie. Unfotunately, you will some¬ day discover different, but for the meantime, let mo state that your ignorance is reflective of your lack of experience. Experience is a universal qua¬ lity that most people eventually learn to cope with. Experience comes from dealing with real situations at various intervals in one’s life. Many people avoid experience by simply living in sheltered, make - believe worlds. They have no experience, because they have no grasp of reality. They live in and wifjh illusions. Life at LMU can be very illu- sionary particularly to the new and inexperienced student, If one were to judge from the sterile, and almosft sanctimonious en¬ vironment that permeates this institution, one could swear that he or she has died and gone to heaven — but this is only an illusion! For beneath ‘this aura of sanctimonious platitudes lies the reality of life at LMU. Minorities at LMU, and I shall deal with the Chicano for my purposes, are far from pamper¬ ed. We aren’t even overly-pro¬ tected as anonymous has sug¬ gested. Reality to the Chicano at LMU is having to fight tooth and nail constantly for recognition and acceptance, whicl often-times doesn’t come. We are different. We know and accept this. We don’t speak the same language, nor do we eat the same food. O'ur cosmology is contradictory to the acceptable norm. We can’t or won’t be ac¬ ceptable because acceptance means being like “they” are. It is too high a price to pay. We just want to be Chicano. We can accept the anglo as being dif¬ ferent, but the anglo can’t ac¬ cept us. I can accept that anonymous wants to be known as an “Ame¬ rican” student. I can further accept that almost everyone can take pride in being the nation¬ ality that they are. What I do have trouble accepting however, is that anonymous can take pride in being of Mexican descent, when in essence he or she has denied that heritage and lost the lan¬ guage, i.e., sold out to become someone else. How can yo’u be proud of something you deny? It is no wonder t'halt you have never personally been treated as a min¬ ority. You’ve never been a min¬ ority! You denied your heritage a long time ago ! College is for adjusting one’s self to the world as you so adequately prophesize. And yes, the Chicano has to adjust like everyone else, This does not preclude she fact, however, that we as Chicanos should help those who are new at LMU. We do! It is important that new stu¬ dents be aware of the realities of LMU, for in essence, LMU is reflections of society in general. If a Chicano can survive at Loyo¬ la, he can damn well survive in the real world. Our approach to new students is to expose them to real situa¬ tions, those which we who are here currently have encountered so that they may be prepared to cope with them. Experience is an effective teacher, and we ex¬ pect new Chicanos to learn from our experiences. We talk about racism to in¬ coming students, both freshmen and transfers, because ilc is a reality on this campus. It isn’t as overt as it might be, but it is much more dangerous because it is not readily distinguished by the inexperienced person, especially on env'rons of a Catholic University. It is ironic that you, who claims pride in being of Mexican des¬ cent, can be embarrassed be¬ cause you felt so conspicuous among all those “latins”. Con¬ versely, I assume that you would not be embarrased if the class had been anglos, because of course, you also take pride in being an ‘American”. A Spanish surname does not a Chicano make. Perhaps you would be more comfortable with “another” last name. As I mentioned at the outset of this discourse reality has a strange way of sneaking up on people. No one can force you to accept or believe what you don’t feel comfortable with, but when it does catch up, the world as you know it will shatter. I think maybe, so will you. Sinceramente, John Haicon NEW HOURS AND TIME! “ALMA DEL BARRIO: MUSICA LATINA” KXLU FM 88.9 Los Angeles Every Saturday from 12 pm~6 pm. Enjoy 6 hours of your favorite Latin Music ! Hear Azteca, El Chicano, Joe Bataan, Ralfi Pa-, gan, and many others. Requests are taken: 642-28b6 or 612-2867