University of California Berkeley - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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Reporter speaks to the canu-ra as students begin to gather at the walk out. News teams were on campus all dav to record events and artivitics [above]. Thousands of people showed up an d IIIUJ Upper Sproul in support of ainrmalivc action [below]. Walk This Way BY ELAN WAN G

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Special Circumstances A 3.0 high school GPA and an 850 SAT just barely put him over the minimum eligibility requirements to even apply to the UC system. About to graduate from an inner city public school with no honors or Advanced Place- ment classes, this Hispanic student did not have the same opportunities as other applicants. His studies were inhibited by family responsibilities, which included taking care of three younger siblings and working thirty hours a week to supplement his father ' s minimum wage income. His parents were never formally educated and spoke only Spanish. He learned English through his studies and worked hard to master a language that could not be practiced in the home. He was well-respected by his peers and highly regarded by teachers who knew of his dedication to both school and family responsibilities. He aspired to go to college and follow with law school. He was admitted to the University and felt no stigma knowing that he was helped by affirmative action. Did he deserve to get in? Should all Hispanic students, who wouldn ' t be admitted on merit alone, receive the help of affirmative action regardless of their economic status or social circumstances? Students watch the sta e intently- Speakers throughout the afternoon included students and community leaders [abo c]. Dancers perlomi in authentic costume to cvpress cultural di ersit [Ictt], AFl- ' IRM.S 1 IVK ACTION 25

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clapping and shouting could be heard ail around campus during the peak hours of the rallv Riled up students vscre rcadv and willing to voice their opinions. When asked about Berkeley in the 1960s, any self-respect- ins; American conjures up images of tic-dve-clad flower children, free love, psychedelic drugs, groovy music, and, of course, radical protest. As the center of the Free Speech Movement and the Third World Strike, Bcrkclcv was, without a doubt, the place to be for the radical activist set. In the nearly three decades since the tumultuous sixties, however, Berkeley has experienced a decline in its activist image. The ' weirdos ' still hang out on Telegraph, a tic-dyed shirt is not an uncommon sight, and marijuana is still the drug ot choice, but Berkeley seems to be lacking a certain, jc nc sais quoi, revolution- ary umph. According to Mother Jones magazine, the University is not ranked among the top ten most active campuses in the United States. Our sister school, UCLA, captured the title for the nineties. Many of these discouraging notions were dispelled, however, when close to 5,000 students and faculty gathered October 1 2 on Upper Sproul Plaza to hold a rally in detcnse ot affirmative action. The Reverend Jesse Jackson put it best when he pro- claimed, Berkeley ' s back! during his fifty-minute address, the climax of the day ' s festivities. Although Jackson was the most visible and well known speaker, others made similarly moving statements. Ethnic Studies professor Carlos Munoz, Jr. compared the protesters to their counterparts from the 1960s. The spirits of my comrades, the men and women who died in the 1960s... are alive and well with us today, Munoz said. I think we pay them honor today. Several of the speakers, including Martha Jimenez, a Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) attorney, and State Assemblywoman Barbara Lee Despite its past, the Berkeley campus is not ranked among the top ten most active campuses in the United States. UCLA captured the title for the nineties. , FFIH 1AriVF, ACTION 27