Los Angeles Valley College - Crown Yearbook (Valley Glen, CA)

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at Senator Cranston's office. By Michael Hudson Illustrated by Steve Fischer and Ken Hively When a person becomes a member of the armed services of this country he becomes something special. As one branch of the military calls it, America's finest. But what happens to a person after he leaves the service and becomes a veteran? An event took place in the spring of '74 that brought the American Veterans Movement to the attention of the public. A group of eight veterans, three of them in wheelchairs, took over the offices of Senator Alan Cranston, D-CA, in the federal building on Wilshire in West Los Angeles. The group claimed to be members of the international American Veterans Movement. The occupying group also went on a hunger strike to protest what the international spokesman of the group, Ron Kovic, called three basic demands: . . . an end to the disgrace of the veterans hospitals in the United States, . . . an increase in the rights of all veterans, and . . . the immediate withdrawal of Donald Johnson as head of the federal veterans administration. In an effort to break the back of the strike, Donald johnson traveled from Washington to meet with the disgruntled veter- ans. Attempts at talks between the two factions fell apart when they could not get together, even though they were in the same building. Johnson claimed that the meeting had to take place on federal grounds, and that Cranston's office was not federal territory. The veterans claimed they could not travel to Beneath the flag of the American Veteran's Movement, Ron Kovic enioys the attentions of an admiring supporter at the end of the sit-in and fast AN INSIGHT TO VETERA 'Nu W Is..--f meet with johnson due to the weakness caused by a 16-day hunger strike. When the meeting finally took place, johnson was the subject of severe criticism and, as quoted in the L.A. Times, at one point felt it necessary to say, I do not appreciate being accused of coming here to spout lies. johnson stood on President Nixon's record in the area of veterans affairs, saying that veterans' benefits had increased by 56 percent, and that staffing at the V.A. hospitals as a whole had increased by 30 percent with the staffing at the Long Beach facility increasing by 40 percent. But how does that relate to Valley College? There are 4,200 veterans on the LAVC campus. Of that number, about 35 requests a week to investigate some problem concerning veterans, mostly the non-payment of educational benefit checks, pass through the campus vets office each week. But how many veterans have no problems receiving the benefits guaranteed them by law, how many of these requests for investigations are from the same people over and over? One vet, Bob Wasdorp, a student counselor in the veterans office on campus, said the first thing that happens at the Veterans Administration when a request for an investigation is made is that the files of the vet in question are pulled. From there the file could go to other floors or even other buildings. lt is very easy for the files to be misplaced. The question then revolves around how many veterans feel Coordinator of Veterans Affairs John Barnhart explains the intricacies of filing for benefits to a Valley College veteran.

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Lorraine Eckhardt, professor of music, was the first faculty member to display her talent. Prof. Eckardt performed a number of classical piano pieces to the critical acclaim of the campus newspaper as well as the audience at large. Ms. Eckardt was the only faculty member to perform during the fall term. During the spring term, there were three performances by faculty members, including a rather unusual event. All 11 members of the Music Department were involved in a recital to raise money to enable the Music Department to award two S100 scholarships to talented Valley music students. Admission was 51. This was the only performance in the yearly series that was not free to all. Eleanor Hammer, associate professor of music, played an organ recital on the biggest and best organ money could rent, said Prof. Lynn. Dr. Robert Chauls, instructor of music, performed on the piano, and Dianne Sells, instructor of music and a soprano soloist, sang for the last appearance by a faculty member for the year. The remainder of 21 concerts were composed of various student workshop classes on campus that were given an opportunity to showcase their talent. This included three performances by the Valley College Symphony Orchestra, directed by Theodore Lynn. Five performances were given by the Studio jazz Band, as well as two performances when the Studio jazz Band and the Dance Band combined their efforts. Richard Carlson directs the Jazz Band, and Don Nelligan directs the dance band. Six performances of the LAVC Opera Workshop, featured the operas The Medium, and Death of the Bishop Brindisif' both by Menotti. Two performances were by the LAVC Wind Ensem- ble, with Irvin Pope directing, plus one performance each by the LAVC Monarch Marching Band, the LAVC Student Artists, and the LAVC Chamber Or- chestra, 33 ,gli The rock band Hoarde entertained a large crowd ol students this Spring during a Free Speech area concert. Blue Heaven sang everything from rock to folk songs during their concert at Valley College. 33

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V l i ,gn-tQ.Q:'-1-6Hi,..Q:H ,..4d! I aff they are receiving what they feel to be fair treatment by the governmental machine set up to handle them. The only way to find out is to talk to the man on the street, the average joe. Below, are the comments of several veterans attending LAVC. One veteran, who prefers to remain anonymous, said he would not like to go to the hospital for medical services because the nurses and doctors don't take a professional view. They treat the patients as if they were broken cars in a garage or something. There is no personal touch, he said. Most of the other vets, when asked about the V.A. hospitals, indicated that they had never had to go to the hospital for treatment. Mike Shemenski says he has had no problem with his educational benefit checks for schooling except for the delay when he 'first signed up for the program. Albert Valenzuela, father of five, said he hasn't had any problem with his checks, either. Except when my wife gave birth to twins not too long ago, It took a couple of months for the increased benefits to start, but that is to be expected, Valenzuela said. Richard Lorenson and joseph Huerta both said that they have had no problems with their checks. Rick Nemath, one of the supervisors of the LA. County Department of Military Affairs, a veterans' referral service, and a student at LAVC, had a case come up where he needed to have some wisdom teeth pulled. The V.A. hospital put an intern dentist on the job. Not only didn't the dentist put the patient to sleep, he only administered novacaine and broke one of the roots of a tooth he was pulling. The intern didn't bother to correct the situation or tell the patient. The result was a lot of pain, and a job so badly butchered that Nemath had to be referred to a private dentist to fix the tooth. jack Fuller jr., another father of five, said he, too, had had no problem, however, he once went to the V.A. hospital to receive some medical attention. He did not have any l,D. to prove that he was a veteran and was told to go some place else. Though I'm sure that if I went back there with the proper I.D,, there would be no problem, he said. Out of the eight veterans interviewed, including the vet , , Q v ' my-aff? Y1 73- ' Barry Leiker receives helpful instructions on lil. ,CH4 ... veteran's benefits from veteran's office clerk s Nettie Cole. -1 working in the hospital, and the counselor at the campus veterans office, five indicated that they were pleased with the service that they had been receiving. Of the other three, one had really had no problem-he just hadn't liked what he had seen-and the other two talked as if the problems that they had with their benefit checks was nothing new. But considering that these men have done a valuable service to all Americans, as well as for national interest, perhaps someday they will be able to boast a 'I00 percent satisfaction, and not the 40 percent disenchantment that there is now. 1 i f ..r.. qvvontinuilis in MM Null N i 'ir , . c ar. 'QQE K 2601 eff A7- 7f sis ?'w9W ' LOS QQ ,fb , M QQ QQ' -' v ' T' C LLE at: Owe A O J . fl , A-tv-QU -L., c Q, .ff Umar! K' 'T . . I' Q sum' , -74 W ' T. w T zgjlflf ' f T' T T 1 .fs ,if-A gait - , .eff j i '. illl?f.: -,I ,A I P' !.'x. - kg!-fry,-, '-LV'-1 ni 'I ' . ' :Fila flu. ' N ll V- this L5 A- ' V Numerous pamphlets and brochures are available at the veterans office to aid veterans with information on financial aid and iob opportunities. 35