Raza Youth Conference motivates, educates

By Fabian Renteria

Has the Daily Bruin lent itself to attacking youth conferences
in the name of incorrect reporting? This is the approach it has
taken with Andy Jones’ misconstrued article (“Machine
politics unacceptable in USAC,” Viewpoint, April 29) on what
he called excessive costs regarding the Raza Youth Conference.

He claims that $8,612.13 was the cost of the youth conference,
but the truth is that this conference cost a little over $20,000
and that more than half of the money came from outside grants and
fundraising that is unrelated to the student fees that Andy Jones
notes. Student fees only covered some basic costs of this
conference, while the RYC committee works arduously for a whole
year fundraising, preparing and solidifying the youth conference.
Moreover, the $2,322 costs for printed programs purchased at The
Pulse did not come from student fees as he expressed. If Andy Jones
had read the ledgers correctly for the RYC Account, he would have
found that the money came directly from an outside grant.

Youth conferences like these are important, though individuals
like Jones do not understand them. The Raza Youth Conference, in
its ninth year of existence, is a one-day event where 1,200 high
school, junior high and continuation school students and their
parents from the greater Los Angeles area are invited to UCLA to
take part in a day of education. This fosters academic awareness,
social consciousness and cultural celebration.

The RYC serves to motivate students to progress to higher
education, while emphasizing the importance of community
involvement both on and off campus. Because of the lack of an
effective, comprehensive recruitment effort by the university
system, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan de UCLA has taken
the initiative to target young students and their parents, and
inform them of the opportunities and importance of pursuing an
advanced degree after high school. Through educational workshops
presented in both English and Spanish, ranging from academic,
social/cultural awareness sessions and professional careers, MEChA
seeks to achieve these goals. Some examples of the workshops
include: A- G requirements, Financial Aid, Careers in Law, Ending
Barrio Warfare, Sept. 11 and its Effects, Queer Aztlan, and STDs
and AIDS awareness to name a few.

The Raza Youth Conference will simultaneously host a parent
conference. This portion of the RYC provides parents with bilingual
workshops addressing college preparation classes, college
applications and financial aid applications, and parent dialogues
called Tlatokans. In the Tlatokans, we group all parents
participating in the conference into groups of 30 and facilitate a
discussion around issues pertaining to parents of students and
their communities. During the RYC, the youth will also participate
in their own Tlatokans, which will be discussions dealing with
issues such as academics and communities.

Childcare will also be provided at no expense in order to
accommodate parents participating in the conference.

Culture-specific entertainment and food are also provided to all
conference participants.

The goals of the conference are based around the notion of
higher education and self-awareness. Some of those goals are to
encourage students to complete their secondary school education,
inform youth about the accessibility of higher education, expose
youth and parents to the campus, expose youth and parents to
university resources, and enrich the educational, collective and
cultural experience of UCLA students and conference
participants.

Attacking youth conferences and programming that is essential
for our communities only does a disservice to all. I encourage
students, staff, and community members to become engaged through
the RYC in empowering our youth. It is you, the student, which can
commit to change.