Christopher Geanakos | Editor in Chief
geanakc@imail.losrios.edu
Additional reporting by Genevieve Jerome, Randy Briggs, Juan De Anda and Robert Pace.
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Updated on 9/29/2009 at 7:34 PM
An anti-abortion group sparked debate among City College students and faculty members Sept. 16-17 with an exhibit on the Quad showing photographs of aborted fetuses.
Exhibit speaker Howard Blythe said its purpose was to facilitate dialogue on abortion and was part of scheduled events for the Associated Student Government-sponsored Constitution Day.
Many on campus expressed different points of view about the exhibit.
“It is very sad to see these pictures,” criminal justice major Robert Adams said. “If I got a girl pregnant, I could never ask her to do this to a child after seeing these pictures.”
Psychology major Leah Gaston said she found the display unsettling.
“It’s really gross and really disgusting and some of them [the pictures] I think are uncalled for.”
Some felt that it was unfair that the exhibit ran unopposed Sept. 16. As a result, Planned Parenthood, The Queer Straight Alliance club, the Sac City FreeThinkers club and City College Health Services set up booths across from the anti-abortion presentation the next day.
“We want to be a supportive, positive presence,” QSA President Ash Pearsol said.
“I’m pro-choice,” said D. Del-Toro, a QSA member. “We want people to understand we respect your choices and your decisions.”
ASG Vice President Debbie Dixon addressed the campus during the second day’s events to personally apologize for the controversial display.
“This part of what had been planned for Constitution Day was never mentioned,” Dixon said. “It was kind of an earmark onto the plans for Constitution Day that the rest of us were unaware of.”
The anti-abortion exhibit by The Sanctity of Human Life Network, a religious nonprofit organization focused on anti-abortion activism, was voted unanimously onto the Constitution Day schedule by the campus ASG Sept. 2.
According to Dixon, the anti-abortion group was billed as the Genocide Awareness Project when ASG was voting on groups to invite to campus for Constitution Day. She said that the group’s misleading name, coupled with lack of information on the group and rushed voting, contributed to the ASG unanimously passing a vote to bring the group onto campus.
ASG President Steve Macias assumed responsibility for arranging the group’s unopposed presence on campus.
“I was the person who added the Genocide Awareness Project to the Constitution Day plans,” Macias said. “The rest of the plans, as far as the 12-1 events on Thursday, were put together by the Student Affairs Committee.”
Though Macias acknowledged the event did not go as smoothly as he hoped, he said that the constitutional discussion generated on abortion was in keeping with the Constitution-based theme.
“I think that much of the controversy is good and that controversy isn’t always a bad thing,” Macias said.
There is currently a petition to recall Macias circulating among students on campus.
Below is a link to a statement by ASG President Steve Macias after the event took place
http://media.scc.losrios.edu/asg/ASGPresGAP.pdf
Video produced by Cecilio Padilla, reported by Chris Geanakos and Randy Briggs, filmed by Randy Briggs
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Choose words wisely. It is not ‘pro-life’ it’s ANTI-CHOICE.
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I would like to thank Sac City college for supporting our free speech rights. Our goal as pro-lifers is to bring the awareness of abortion, that there are over 3000 babies being butchered daily in the US at your local Planned Parenthood. And “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are LIFE, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
All people from the moment of conception have an innate right to life that was given to us by our Creator!
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Not to disparage your opinion, but in the interest of fairness, I should point out that besides abortions, Planned Parenthood provides men and women with other reproductive health services such as STD testing, as well as contraceptives like condoms and the birth control pill, which reduces the need for abortions.
Demonizing Planned Parenthood and comparing them to the Nazis, as the Genocide Awareness Project did, misrepresents what Planned Parenthood actually does and the vast array of vital services they provide which are not abortion related.
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Matthew, The Genocide Awareness Project display did not misrepresent Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is the number one provider of abortions in this country. They dismember over 120,000 innocent living human beings every year in this country. Using “Your logic” we should not look down on what the Nazi’s did for they did great thinks for German pride and their economy. So what! They were responsible for the slaughter of 6 million innocent jewish human beings. Planned Parenthood has profited from the senseless slaughter of millions of innocent little human beings. Do you not see a connection here?
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Sorry, correction Planned Parenthood performed over 250,000 abortions last year in this country alone.
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Just a clarifying piece on the use of the word “Endorsed”.
The Prolife/antiabortion message of the group is not “endorsed” by the ASG, SL&D or SCC. The ASG is not allowed to deny interested parties from participation based on the content of their presentation. Furthermore the ASG does not hold a position on the issue on life/abortion, other than to protect the freedom for either side to freely express their message.
Please read the entire release here
http://media.scc.losrios.edu/asg/ASGPresGAP.pdf
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I honestly think that this is absolutely ridiculous. I read the entire article here posted on the website, as well as the release that “Steve” posted from ASG.
The first thing I am wondering is where is the investigative journalism aspect to our current Express newspaper staff?
If anyone had gone and spoke with other members of the ASG they would know the following:
(1) When this item was presented for Constitution week, it was presented as “GAP” only. When asked for further explanation…the following explanation was given: GAP is the Genocide Awareness Project.
It was not explained as an anti-abortion exhibit or anything of the like. On that note, I find it funny that Mr. Macia’s notes in his release that had another group come to the ASG and asked for permission to show an opposing viewpoint, they would have been given the opportunity, but no such group appeared. The GAP presentation was never explained for what it fully was… so how could another group come and ask for the opportunity to present an opposing viewpoint if the original viewpoint was never shown? Hmmmmm.
(2) Mr. Macias fails to mention what groups he is affiliated with. Mr. Macia’s is actually affiliated with the group that sponsored the GAP presentation. Can Mr. Macias please answer the following question… What groups are you affiliated with here on campus? And which CAMPUS club sponsored this group coming on campus??? BE HONEST!!!
(3) Mr. Macias, upon his induction into office of ASG president last spring did 2 very interesting things. I know this because I was present at this “ceremony”. Mr. Macias removed his Bible and began to share scriptures directly out of his bible with the room, letting us all know that his “spiritual convictions” would guide his presidency. Secondly, he asked the room to bow their heads and pray with him.
I bring these things up for a very important reason. Mr. Macias (if he answers honestly to my question above) IS affiliated with the group that sponsored the GAC presentation. Mr. Macias knew what it was but along with other members of his group deselected certain peices of information when sharing what GAC was with the rest of the ASG members.
Mr. Macias has an agenda, and a culture…that it is clear he would like to see more predominant on SCC campus. He has already begun trying to find a way to quietly bring it about…and it BOTHERS ME AND OTHERS to our core that Mr. Macias clearly does not understand the division of Church and state or personal beliefs and Power.
A petition was circling the quad last week to re-call Mr. Macias. Over 100 signatures had been gathered in one afternoon, and I am sure that more are on there way.
I came to SCC because I love the diversity…the celebration of MANY Different beliefs while there is no push in one direction or another. It has traditionally been an accepting, happy, enlightening school. Something began to shift last week though, and I know that many students were worried with the direction they saw the school exploring .It wasn’t that GAC wasn’t welcome, it’s that only there opinion was displayed, and that was the case because of secrecy…and that secrecy was on the part of our ASG president.
I look forward to that petition getting it’s final signature. And I look forward to a return to equal weight for all issues. I also look forward to not being asked to pray or read a scripture when I attend friends award ceremonies.
I look forward to the School I chose to come to celebrating what it has always been….and never EVER again making anyone feel like they didn’t have a place on this campus.
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It’s easy to be “pro-choice” when you are not the one being killed.
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I’m just upset that people are reacting so wild over different points of views. When pro choice groups come on campus it does not even make the paper at all. Colleges are the places for these types of debates to take place. This article does not even have a point of view from the asg. Many statements have been given. The thing is that people should not be angry but inspired to help the student body to have educated discussions on these topics. It’s a shame that students can’t have a different beliefs with out being offended. No one had to look or pay attention to the group, they thrive on reactions. Hopefully the student body can move forward and realize that different views are not a source of evil.
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Tweet your opinion @saccityexpress!
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[...] Christopher Geanakos | Editor in Chief geanakc@imail.losrios.edu Additional reporting by Genevieve Jerome, Randy Briggs, Juan De Anda and Robert Pace. Skip to video [...]
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