A Celebration of Hispanic Culture
Cinco de Mayo
Page 4B Battalion Special Section
Photo by Penny DeLosSantos
Isabella Basombria, senior environmental design major at A&M, rently an intern at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and tea-
ads the finishing touches to one of her peices. Isabella is cur- ches art classes at the museum on a contract basis.
Friday, May 4,
Association gives
voice to Hispanics
NAHJprovides opportunities
Elic
By FRANCES ALONZO
Special to the Battalion
Brown vs. Black?
When you hear the word “minori
ty,” the first thing that comes to
mind is African-Americans. Many
other minority groups are never
considered. Yet by the year 2000,
Hispanics are fOrcasted to be the
largest minority in the United States.
In the struggle for having the His
panic voice heard, the National As
sociation of Hispanic Journalists was
created to complement, not compete
with the National Association of
Black Journalists.
Hispanic journalists from all ovei
the country wanted to achieve for
themselves what NABJ had done foi
its members: better job opportuni
ties, training development and the
opportunity to have the doors
opened foi as many people as possi
ble.
NAHJ was founded to gain the
national visibility and united voice
needed for more accurate portrayals
of Hispanics by the media.
That united voice was very hard
to achieve after the idea was intro
duced said Gerald Garcia, the first
Hispanic newspapei publisher in the
country and N AHJ s first president
“I mean it was really gloom and
doom,” Garcia said. “There was a lot
of doubt about whether we coni
pull it off and whether them
really enough Hispanic journal;?
who would be concerned abou;
(creating a unified voice).”
With NAHJ in its eighth year,nil
very obvious that many h
journalists are concerned.
NAHJ’s most recent national coi
ference, held in San Francisco t
*lnfi
*infi
*infi
fit
I think that people
understand now that were
here to stay and that our
voices need to be heard.
— Gerald Garcia,
NAHJ president
April, had over 800 people alien
with 97 reci uiters available at the,
fair.
I he organization will hold
1991 convention in N ew York, dJ
scribed In media professionals astir
media capital of the world,
highlight NAHJ 's role in the indiil
try.
“We just created a new vision,!
new' avenue and an important awl
reness,” Garcia said. “I think ifcf
people understand now that weij
here to stay and that our voicesned
to be heard.”
N
CAMAC promotes
Mexican heritage
By VIVIAN ROJAS
Special to the Battalion
The Committee for the Aware
ness of Mexican American Cul-
* ture is a campus organization
working to promote the heritage
of one of the fastest growing
American minority groups.
Joe Fenton, CAMAC adviser,
said it is very important that the
Mexican-American culture be un
derstood by everyone because it is
a beautiful culture and has long
been a part of the southwest
United States, he said.
CAM AC’s job is to make others
aware of the Mexican-American
way of life through lectures, the
arts and educational programs.
Through these programs,
CAMAC eliminates negative ste
reotypes, Fenton said.
Mexican-American students
can also learn more about their
heritage through involvement in
this organization, he said.
“It is very important that they
leave the university with an un
derstanding of the Mexican-
American culture, pride in their
culture and the ability to promote
their culture,” Fenton said.
One of CAMAC’s founding
members Daniel R. Hernandez,
who is now assistant general
counsel at A&M, said CAMAC
provides camaraderie for Mexi
can-American students.
The committee was founded in
1974 by a group of Hispanicswho
wanted to meet with other His
panic students, Hernandez said.
“We had nothing at A&M to
remind us of our ethnic herita
ge,” he said. “We also felt there
was a need for the A&M commu
nity to learn more about our cul
ture and we wanted to inform the
community.”
Fenton said CAMAC has
grown in importance and in its
ability to make a statement about
the significance of the Mexican-
American tradition.
Michelle Alvarado, CAMAC
chairperson, said the 80-member
committee has a strong Mexican-
American student participation,
but a misconception about the or
ganization is mat it is only for
Hispanic students. Membership is
open to students interested in
learning about the Mexican-
American culture, she said.
Many people believe that mem
bers of ethnic organizations are
segregating themselves from the
mainstream, but these organiza
tions are established to meet
needs of minority students not
met by other organizations, Alva
rado said.
One of CAMAC’s priorities is
to provide educational programs
that deal with minority issues, she
said. Last semester the committee
sponsored “A War of Words on
Drugs.” The program discussed
the drug problem among Mexi
can-Americans.
Educating through drama is
the organization’s theater group,
We had nothing at
A&M to remind us of our
ethnic heritage.”
—Daniel R. Hernandez,
founding member
which performs poignant plays
about the Mexican-American ex
perience, she said.
Encouraging the appreciation
of Mexican-American art by dis
playing murals in the MSC and
sponsoring mariachi bands on
campus is another way of educat
ing the community, she said.
CAMAC also extends its serv
ices to the community by visiting
the elderly at Oak Hill, a College
Station residential center and tu
toring students in Bryan, Alva
rado said.
CAMAC’s A&M community-
activities include: an annual con
ference, faculty receptions, for
mer student banquets and other
social events, Alvarado said.
Georgette Lopez-Aguado, in
coming chairperson, is planning
ahead for next semester’s activ
ities.
Aguado said her goals for the
organization are increased aware
ness of the committee’s purpose,
continued growth in student
membership stressing partici
pation of non-hispanic students,
expansion of programs and a
greater participation from faculty
and staff.
English
(Continued from page IB)
those citizens and create a cohesive
socio-economic system,” Zaeske said.
Zaeske said 70-80 percent of Tex
ans support the official English
movement, according to a survey
conducted by the Public Policy Re
search Tab at A&M. He said that
most of those who oppose it proba
bly don’t know the issues.
Despite the numbers Zaeske
quoted of voters in favor of it, legis
lation in Texas has died twice in
committee in the Legislature.
The two sides of the English-only
movement have accused each other
of harboring “hidden agendas.”
Opponents of English-only say
that it discriminates against Hispan
ics and is more of a movement to
keep minorities out of political
power, while supporters of the
movement say that the Hispanic
leaders opposing them are inter
ested in recreating old Mexico with
Texas, New Mexico, California, Ari
zona, Nevada and other western
states.
“This is only the beginning of
Groups provide cultural awareness
Groups unite students, aid in
academic, career development
By LETTY RODRIGUEZ
Special to the Battalion
• COMMITTEE FOR THE
AWARENESS OF MEXICAN
AMERICAN CULTURE (CAMAC)
CAMAC wants to increase campus
awareness of the Mexican-American
culture. CAMAC provides opportu
nities for student development
through membership retreats, fresh
men activities and speaker forums.
CAMAC also serves the Mexican-
American students and community.
CAMAC provides tutorial assistance
as a service to students in the local
community.
• MEXICAN AMERICAN EN
GINEERING SOCIETY (MAES)
MAES wants to foster cooperation
among industry, government and
academic communities to improve
educational opportunities for His
panic engineers and scientists.
MAES provides counseling and in
formation of financial assistance to
Hispanic students interested in engi
neering and science careers.
• ORGANIZATION OF MI
NORITY MEDICAL STUDENTS;
The goals of the organization are
to educate members on the needs
and health care issues of minorities
and their professional members; to
unite and provide social and aca
demic assistance to members; to re
cruit students into the Texas A&M
University College of Medicine.
• HISPANIC JOURNALISTS
ASSOCIATION (HJA)
HJA is open to all students who
are interested in journalism and
communications. HJA’s primary
goals are to unite Hispanic journa
lism students; to provide informa
tion on scholarships and internships;
to aid in employment and career de
velopment; to foster greater under
standing of Hispanic culture, inter
ests and concerns.
•Other Hispanic student career-
related organizations include:
Hispanic Business Student Asso
ciation (HBSA), Minority Engi
neering Council, Minority Associa
tion of Pre-Health Aggies.
Several international student or
ganizations also exist to provide
members with social and cultural ac
tivities. They include:
• Guatemalan Student Associa
tion
• Ecuadorian Students Associa
tion
• Colombian Students Associa
tion
• Brazilian Students Association
• Bolivian Students Association
• Mexican Student Association
• Nicaraguan Student Associa
tion
• Panamanian Student Associa
tion
• Paraguayan Students Associa
tion
• Puerto Rican Students Associa
tion
• Honduras Student Association
• Peruvian Students Association
• Venezuela Students Association
• Argentine Club
• Chilean Students Association
• Costa Rica Students Association
• El Salvador Students Associa
tion
The Mexican American Engineering Society is at their booth
during Caliente, an annual fall festival sponsored by HBSA.
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Folklore
(Continued from page IB)
and killed by a deer. These stories
may indicate social punishment.
Green said.
Other stories include:
• La Lechuza — If you glance up
in the sky and see an owl flying by -
beware! It could be La Lechuza, the
witch who transforms herself into a
screech owl
• La Llorona — La Llorona is de
scribed as the wailing woman m
white who is looking lor her deal
children. She was originally an Azi#|
goddess who sacrificed babies ail
ran off screaming into lakes and r; j
ers. She is said to appear nearbodie Lm
of water.
Belief in these and other folktale
and practices is not limited by
nationality, or social status.
“There are so many factor
Green said. “It depends on thesitti
tion and on the cultural identityol
the individual. It varies from situi
ompi
DOK. ]
tion to situation and from individm )e P er
to individual.” 1111®™"°'™
ibera
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Celebracion
(Continued from page IB)
dad mexicana, Schmidt dijo.
“Eso es lo que significa el Cinco de
Mayo,” £1 dijo. “No es tanto la victo
ria de 1862, sino el comienzo del cre-
cimiento de un nacionalismo mexi-
cano y de como enfrentar al
extranjero.”
Asl, el Cinco de Mayo ha llegado a
ser una de las celebraciones m£s im-
portantes en Mexico y es celebrado
tambi^n en los Estados Unidos.
Schmidt dijo que se celebra el
Cinco de Mayo en varies grades de
intensidad segun los diferentes lu-
gares de Mexico y de los Estados
Unidos.
“Por ejemplo, el Cinco de Mayo es
celebrado en distintas formas en
Chicago, Houston, San Deigo y aun
por todo Mexico,” Schmidt dijo.
La tradicihn del Cinco de Mayo es
>tude
Houm
enbu:
mAs arraigada o desarollada en algu-
nos lugares que en otros, £1 dijo. Fre-
cuentemente, el modo en que se cele
bra el Cinco de Mayo depende de la
comunidad en particular y de sus
costumbres, Schmidt dijo.
“Cada cominunidad encara la cel-
ebracihn del Cinco de Mayo diferen-
temente, pero en general la cele
bracion cubre varies aspectos de la
cultura mexicana, como la musica
mariachi, un desfile, la presentaciof
del charro, y un gran baile,” d dijo
En Texas A&M el pasado 27 dt
abril, se celebrh el Cinco de Ma«
con la presentacihn de, “El sabordt
Cinco de Mayo,” en Sbisa y en Com
mons Dining Hall, la cual cubner
una carta tradicional de comid
mexicana, charlas sobre la tradicidc
del Cinco de Mayo, y cancionesmes
icanas.
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their (official English) agenda,” Gar
cia said during the debate.
But Zaeske accused many His
panic leaders of wanting to split up
the United States and return most of
the western states to Mexico. “Those
people really raise my eyebrows,” he
added.
The English-only movement suf
fered a severe public relations blow
in 1988 when a memo written two
years earlier by John Tanton, the
U.S. English founder, leaked to the
public.
“As whites see their power and
control over their lives declining, will
they simply go quietly into the
night?” the memo said. “Or will
there be an explosion?”
He said in the memo that Hispan
ics are more likely to accept bribes
and are too reproductive. “Will the
present majority peaceably hand
over its political power to a group
that is simply more fertile?” he
wrote.
It was this memo that caused
Cronkite to pull his support from
the U.S. English organization and
brought about the resignation of its
president Linda Chavez.
Mexican American Legal Defense
Fund —
LULAC —477-1224
Garcia
(Continued from page 3B)
tomorrow than you are today,”
Garcia said.
For minority students, partic
ularly Hispanics, he said it is impor
tant to be conscious of your heritage
and of your place in history.
Garcia said Hispanics need to be
aware of the forces that helped them
get the job in the first place. Hispan
ics must be conscious of the struggle
of those who went before them, Gar
cia said.
He said it is important to build on
that foundation and make it
Italtl
ouplc
stronger f or those who will toiiowa!
ter them.
“I am a very proud man and;
very proud of my achievements.!
I would be very disappointed
there is not someone, somewhere
who will achieve more than I ever
have in this business,” Garcia said.
“When we were growing up aid
wanted to be cowboys, or firemen or
nurses, we didn’t look at the colon':
their skin. It’s just what we wanted to;
be,” Garcia said.
“It’s the individual’s charactertha'
carries them where they want to
If you want to achieve it, you cangt 1
there,” Garcia said.
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