Arizona State University - Sun Devil Spark / Sahuaro Yearbook (Tempe, AZ)

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11 ANGER eading past Cady Mall. student Ken Hazlettchecks out the giant hanger terd by Pre-Choice sup. porters who predicted dangerous abortions if Roe vs. Wade is turned. Pro-Life as well as Pro-Choice groups used various methods to inform students about the controversy. Layout by David Kesel I EACE retesting the June Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, a Chinese student expresses hope for his counterparts on the other side of the earth. In order to end the peaceful, pro-de- mocracy demonstra- tions, the Chinese gov- ernment ordered the killings and shocked the entire world. Photo by Kraig Hayden ! IT-IN g traffic in and out of the morial Union. about 250 protestors stage an eight hour in to denounce racism on April 23. The violent demonstration was sparked by an tack on three black dents on fraternity row and the way the dent was handled by the University Police. Student Protests ! URRN t ers and protestors, former President J. Russell Nelson tiates a 12•pnint plan with student and ty protestors to fight campus racism. The protest was in response to a fight between three black men and members of Sigma pha Epsilon fraternity. Photo by Kraig Hayden sk

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Student Protests 21

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CONTROVERSIES IGNITE I While continuous efforts were being made to curb stu- dent expenses, actual protests began when 200 students ral- lied outside the MU on April 12 to denounce proposed budget for he state ' s three universities. Students were still stinging from the 884 increase approved luring the previous semester. The students were now upset over he Arizona S enate Appropriations Subcommittee ' s recommen- iation for only a 1.3 percent increase to the three universities general fund. ' The plan would provide $610 million to be divided among all three state universities. Of the revenue in the fund, $478 million would come from the state while $132 million would have to be raised through student tuition. A little further away from the pocketbook, but closer to the heart were protests that erupted over racial tensions. On April 21, a mixture of approximately 600 students, faculty and staff members protested campus racism with a one mile niarch from Cady Mall to Alpha Drive. Upon arriving back at Cady Mall, approximately 250 protes- tors staged a sit-in at the North entrance to the MU. The protest, the largest civil rights demonstration in the University ' s history, was made up largely of a newly-formed group, Students Against Racism. It wasn ' t hard to get students out here, said Tanya Holmes, president of the ASU chapter of the NAACP. It doesn ' t take much when there is something so wrong. The protest was sparked by a fight between three black men and members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. The three black students, James Lindell, Rob Rucker and Darren Viner, were on Alpha Drive while returning from a party when they were mistaken for suspects in an earlier assault on a SAE member. The men were allegedly surrounded by fraternity members and called racially demeaning terms. Two of the men also claimed that the ASU police department was unfair in their treatment of the situation. Investigations were made into the ASU Department of Public Safety and the SAE house. There is still so much racism, it ' s just covered up, Viner said. When people get mad, it comes out. The sit-in ended when the presidents of ASU and the Arizona Board of Regents agreed to support a 12-point anti-racism plan proposed by Students Against Racism. The plan called for an investigation into the Alpha Drive fight, it mandates that ASU take an active role in denouncing racism, general studies courses be expanded to included cultur- al awareness and that fraternity members participate in an anti•racism program. Later, a 13th point was added which required that Associated Students sponsor events designed to fight racism. We, as students don ' t want racial violence to be a part of our social atmosphere, Holmes said. As tensions arose over events on campus, actions thousands of miles away created another emotional demonstration. On the weekend of June 4, thousands of Chinese students were massacred while staging peaceful pro-democracy demon- strations in Beijing ' s Tianamen Square. On June 5 over 250 mourners gathered to remember their brave counterparts in China. The issue was far from over. Several rallies were staged by vari- ous Chinese student groups in the fol- lowing weeks to keep the incident fresh in the minds of the campus community. The Chinese Student Network, a group formed by Americans to aid the Chinese, held a protest on Sept. 12 to mark 100 days since the killings. I think students were affected by the protests, Mark Frederick, CSN or- ganizer said. Publicizing the issue lets the public know the issue is not dead. While students united over racial and Chinese issues, they were sharply divided over abortion. Silent, yet continual protests were held on campus daily as Pro-Life and Pro•choice groups manned booths on Cady Mall to educate students on the abortion issue. Students for life displayed posters depicting dead fetuses while Pro- Choice groups erected a giant hanger with the slogan, Warning-this is not a surgical instrument. On Nov. 12, University ' s for Choice that were being heard in the U.S. Supreme held a pro-choice rally to coincide with the national march in Washington, D.C. Protestors gathered to oppose three cases ME NE ON TIIATI YOU CAI, Court. The cases involved placing restrictions on abortion clinics and a minor ' s right to an abortion. University ' s for Choice President Angie Barone said that the abortion issue brought out the armchair activist. A lot of people who never got involved with anything before are now getting involved, Barones said. Sit-ins at the MU, rallies through Tempe streets and gather- ings of protestors over moral and social issues signified more than just anguish over the issue at hand. Students and faculty, Republicans and Democrats, and students of every race and religion joined forces in a show of unparalled strength. It was a time of change. AN INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING WE SHOULD DI- VORCE OURSELVES FROM SOCIETY ' S VIEW ON RACISM. IT ' S 1989 AND THIS STUFF IS STILL HAP- PENING. IT ' S A THROWBACK TO THE ' 60 ' S! TIM WOODS GRADUATE STUDENT Student Protests 1