MEChA conference to deal with drononts
In a MEChA-sponsored
conference, students,
professors and guest speakers
will lead workshops to help
Roman Gokhman
Campus/City Culture Reporter
The University chapter of MEChA,
the group dedicated to raising aware
ness of Ghicano and Latino culture,
will bring the Second Annual Mict
lampa Ghuatlampa (Northwest) Re
gional Conference to the University
Feb. 7 through 9.
The focuses of the conference in
clude the importance of community,
history, leadership and education,
military recruitment of Latinos and
homophobia and transgender issues
in the Latino community.
“This is what we are going through
right now,” MEChA member Isaac
Torres explained.
Torres said Latinos in Oregon
have high dropout rates and high
pregnancy rates — issues that need
to be dealt with.
“We have to educate (Latinos) on
how to get into college,” he said,
adding that many Latino college stu
dents are the first in their family.
Best-selling author Victor Vil
lasenor will present the keynote
address at the conference Saturday
evening, and will sign books
afterward.
Students and professors will lead
workshops, Que Locos, a Latino
comedy showcase, will perform Sat
urday night and nationally syndicat
ed editorial cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz
will make a presentation Sunday.
University ethnic studies Profes
Hardships
continued from page 1
of discrimination, cultural and lan
guage barriers and a learning dis
ability later identified as dyslexia,
he dropped out of high school and
moved to Mexico, where he discov
ered Mexican art, literature and
music never taught to him in his
native California.
Mexico helped Villasenor under
stand his past, but when he re
turned to the United States in 1960,
he still wanted to destroy the teach
ers and books who taught him to
hate himself and his heritage.
“Finally, I decided that instead of
killing people, it would be better to
write books and kill the one-sided,
ignorant ideas that were poisoning
us all inside our brains,” he said.
Villasenor said the hate drove
him to continue turning in manu
scripts through 265 rejections be
fore publication in 1973 of his first
book, “Macho,” which the Los An
geles Times compared to the best
of Steinbeck.
This eventually led to his best
selling book “Rain of Gold,” which
was published in 1991 and is the
precursor to his latest work, “Thir
teen Senses.”
Villasenor, also a public speaker,
said he starts his talks by asking the
audience how many people speak
English, Spanish or a third language.
“Any county that speaks English
only is bankrupt and going
nowhere,” he said, adding that di
versity is “important for a commu
nity of health and vitality.”
The author said he has high
hopes for America and the rest of
the world.
“This country of the United
States can become a great nation
by taking out the dots,” he said.
Victor Villasenor,
an author will
speak at the
MEChA meeting.
Courtesy
“Our strength is like prairie grass.
Prairie grass can survive a 5,000
year ice age; a 5,000-year drought.
Why? Because some of the short
grass has a root system that goes
22 feet into mother Earth.”
“Thirteen Senses,” published in
2001, includes the author’s answer
to bringing people together.
“What happens is, I help them
break out of the box and ... open
the possibility for them to become
geniuses,” he said.
Villasenor calls the senses of
sight, hearing, smell and taste the
“brain computer” — the senses one
uses to think. The “heart computer”
is composed of the sense of feeling,
along with balance and intuition. He
said balance allows people to be two
things at once: “Conservative and
liberal; pro-life and for abortion in
certain cases. ‘And,’ not ‘or.’”
“Balance takes polarity out of the
mind (and) dissolves opinion, and
understanding starts surfacing,” Vil
lasenor explained.
Villasenor said the brain comput
er helps to think, and the heart
computer helps to know.
The next two senses — music and
“being psychic” — are part of the
“soul computer.”
V.
i
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sor Matt Garcia will talk about the
relationships between people of col
or and the U.S. military.
“Communities of color have been
heavily recruited by the military to
serve at ... entry-level positions,”
Garcia said. “The military is one of
the few means by which upward mo
bility is achieved for people of color,
in general, and Latinos in specific.”
Lane Community College ethnic
studies Professor Michael Samano,
who served in the military and will
also lead a workshop, agreed.
“We tend to over-represent our
selves in the lower ranks,” he said.
About 500 University and high
school students from the Northwest
are expected to attend.
High school students will attend
the first day and parts of the second
day, and will spend the night in Ger
“Uni-verse means unity-soul,” he
said, describing the importance of
music. Being psychic is a result of
using the first eight senses, accord
ing to Villasenor. He said he does
not like to give out the remaining
four senses, because when someone
can use the first nine, he will figure
them out for himself.
“What I do with my writing is
take (people) out of the brain com
puter and into the heart and soul
computer,” he said.
MEChA member Isaac Torres
said Villasenor’s stories include
mystery and spiritual depth.
“He speaks about things on a
metaphysical level,” Torres said.
MEChA’s Internal Director Jesus
Garcia said he respects Villasenor
as an important person in Chi
cano history.
“We’re learning a big part of cul
ture from him,” he said.
Villasenor said putting words on
paper gives him a feeling of ac
complishment.
“When I write ... I’m flying,” he
said. “Writing to me is just a beauti
ful, wonderful thing.”
Contact the reporter
at romangokhman@dailyemerald.com.
linger Hall. They will also participate
in roundtable discussions about
what new ideas they take back from
the conference. Villasenor will speak
Saturday at 5 p.m. in Agate Hall.
The third day of the conference
is free to students and the public,
but the first two days have an ad
mission fee. The cost for students
is #13 for both days and #8 for one
day. Admission for community
members is #20 for both days and
#15 for one. The price includes
lunch and a dance Friday, and
lunch and dinner on Saturday.
The conference will cost MEChA
Premier Travel
1011 Harlow
j 747-0909^#^
.Student Travel ExpeFts
about #26,000. The group was
forced to take funds from other
MEChA accounts, such as Chicano
Explosion and the Ginco de Mayo
Celebration.
Other MEChA chapters in Oregon
participating in the event include
Oregon State University, Willamette
University, Western Oregon Univer
sity, Mt. Hood Community College,
Chemeketa Community College and
Portland State University.
PSU hosted the inaugural event
in 2002.
Contact the reporter
atromangokhman@dailyemerald.com.
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