SF State students looking for action

A new campus group is determined to convince SF State students of the benefits of affirmative action and to encourage them to defend it in the polls.

Made up by students from different departments, Diversity in Action, SFSU was formed in August after Aimee Barnes, an international business major, attended one of the DA, UC Berkeley meetings. She was also present at the meeting where the UC regents struck down all considerations of race and gender and other factors when determining acceptance into the UC system.

"First it was Proposition 187, and now the Civil Rights Initiative," said Barnes, coordinator of the group. "If we don't wake up now and get in place to defend affirmative action, we'll lose the only weapon we have to combat bigotry, racism and sexism," she said.

"Now we are 5 to 7 people organizing class presentations, posting fliers and calling speakers," said Barnes.

The group, an autonomous extension of the UC Berkeley-based organization, shares information with other Diversity in Action groups, including San Jose State, UC Los Angeles and other student organizations all across the state.

The main target for DA, SFSU is those students who don't know about affirmative action and those who want to learn more about it.

"As a student group, we are going to try to reach as many students as possible. We want them to get informed and take action," said Franz Gwiazdon Julio, coordinator of DA, SFSU.

In addition to defending affirmative action, DA, SFSU also calls for the expansion of the CSU and the UC systems in the next ten years to accommodate the increasing number of high school graduates. It also demands that the UC Board of Regents rescind their vote to abolish affirmative action.

One priority for DA, SFSU is to prompt SF State students to vote against what Barnes calls the "California Civil Wrongs Initiative" likely to be on the November 1996 ballot.

"A lot of people believe in affirmative action, but the only way to defeat the proposition is by voting," said Julio, an international relations major. "If they don't vote and the proposition passes, affirmative action is gone. It becomes a state law," said Julio, who acknowledged that little response from students is something DA, SFSU has had to deal with.

"For each of our rallies we've had so far on Malcolm X Plaza, only 50 to 100 have participated. There are people who do feel something for affirmative action, but it's not accompanied by action," Julio said.

In order to achieve the goals of DA, SFSU, immediate action is necessary, Barnes said.

"For Proposition 187 it was the same. People said it was not going to pass and started organizing when it was too late. Many didn't even vote. I hope it woke a lot of people up," she said.

[ Golden Gater Online November 16, 1995 ]

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