Chicanos, WHRB To Meet Again To Resolve Programming Conflicts

A meeting to be held Friday afternoon will determine the fate of a request for a Spanish-speaking radio program on WHRB made by members of a Chicano group.

After an hour of pointed discussion in a meeting between the Chicanos and WHRB held last Friday, William Zayas, a representative of Afro-American Studies 105a, presented the Chicanos' final request to WHRB.

Zayas asked for a meeting in which "decision-makers from WHRB (including a bilingual Anglo whom the station will provide) would hear a complete program which will be prototypical of what we can carry through the next term and afterwards." WHRB president Michael F. Kraley '71 agreed to Zayas's proposal.

Zayas was also acting as a representative of La Organization, a group of Puerto Rican Ed School students which is supporting the class in its demands.

Pilot Program

WHRB and the Chicanos have arranged to meet at the station next Friday to listen to a taped broadcast which Alex P. Saragoza, the Chicano spokesman, suggested could serve as the first in a series of all-Spanish broadcasts.

At one point during the meeting, Rogelio Reyes. instructor in Afro-American Studies, had declared that "the essential issue is whether you are going to give us two members of our choosing to represent the Chicano community on WHRB."

After Kraley replied that it was impossible to meet Reyes's request forChicano autonomy in WHRB programming, the Chicanos made the compromise proposal which was finally accepted.

According to Reyes, the dispute arose when WHRB informed the Chicanos that since no one of the WHRB staff could monitor the all-Spanish broadcasts, there was no point in continuing discussion.

Waiting Game

Reyes, however, contended on Friday that no mention had been made of the need for monitoring the program until the stage of discussion the Chicanos considered final. Nevertheless, Saragoza said that the group offered at the time to provide a transcript for each broadcast.

Kraley cited other problems. At the meeting, he said he had not realized students would be actively involved in the programming. When he discovered that they would be, Kraley said he felt the best way to resolve the conflict would be to have students from the class try out for WHRB.

"Once they are on the station as full members, they can do whatever programming they wish," Kraley explained. He also said that the regular Chicano members of the WHRB staff could monitor the all-Spanish programs broadcast by the group. Kraley first proposed this to the Chicanos on January 27 in a letter transmitted to them by Dean Epps.

Epps had been asked by President Pusey to mediate the dispute after the Chicanos had sent a letter to Pusey charging WHRB with racism. The meeting last Friday was held in Epps's office.

At His Disposal

In response to Kraley's contentions, Reyes replied, "We made it clear from the beginning that we had several students from the class at your disposal to do whatever you felt needed to be done."

While willing to continue discussion, Saragoza said after the meeting, "In a way I'm sick to my stomach. We're once again bowing to values that are being imposed upon us. We're doing everything possible to submit ourselves to another test. I think we've shown that we're bending over backwards."