HIGH LIFE : Leading Questions Asked of Students

Standing before what appeared to be an ordinary summer school class, social science teacher Jim Antenore said students would be viewing a “short vignette.”

Above the normal noise of the students, Javier Ayala, 17, asked what a vignette is.

Antenore turned to Ayala and fired back a definition straight out of Webster’s Dictionary. “A vignette,” he said, “is an important part of something bigger.”

For Ayala and 60 of his peers from throughout California, that definition can also be used to describe the lessons they have learned at the fourth Knowledge and Social Responsibility seminar.

The 10-day seminar, which concluded Tuesday at UC Irvine, was co-sponsored by UCI’s Educational Opportunity Program and the National Conference of Christians and Jews. Its goal is to teach its young participants that they will be the leaders of tomorrow.

“KSR is designed to help identify future leaders and assist them in obtaining a greater vision of their potential,” said Manuel Gomez, program director and assistant vice chancellor of academic affairs-student affirmative action.

Participants lived in campus dormitories while engaged in intense, around-the-clock study and debate of world issues. The seminar featured a round of college classes, research work, films and discussion groups.

Scheduled guest speakers included Robert Scheer, author and Los Angeles Times reporter, on “U.S.-Soviet Relations”; Francisco Ayala, UCI distinguished professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, on “Darwin and the Bible,” and E. Bradford Burns, UCLA professor of history, on “Central America.”

“We do call this the boot camp of the mind,” Gomez said. “The name itself really explains a lot. Knowledge is power, and with it comes responsibility to generate the greatest benefit to the greatest number.”

Out of 140 applicants, 61 were selected to take part in this year’s seminar. Those who attended were chosen for their high academic achievement in school and for their civic and school leadership.

The schedule began at 7:30 each morning, and impromptu discussions often lasted well into the early morning hours of the next day.

“In the first stage of the program, the students usually complain that the schedule is too much to handle,” said Gerardo Mouet, program coordinator. “At first we had thought they might be burned out, but it turned out that the pressure made them band together and work harder.”

Mouet described the instruction as being Socratic in nature with small numbers, allowing for one-on-one communication. The excitement over the topics, he said, often spilled into late-night rap sessions.

“We’d go to sleep at 3 or 4 in the morning,” said Servite High School student David Youn, 16. “You really get into critical thinking in group discussions. The thought of quitting never enters your mind.”

With only five minutes left of class, just about the time many students have already packed up in anticipation of the bell, the students in Antenore’s social science class suddenly picked up on a new topic.

Gaby Kafie, a 17-year-old from Dana Hills High School, instigated the discussion with his comment that “women are not concerned with getting lines of credit and credit cards.” He quickly became the center of attack by a majority of his classmates.

“The reason that the teachers and students are not open to what I am saying is because of my political background” said Kafie, a self-described “hard-core conservative.”

“I think the teachers should teach without a bias,” he said. “All the teachers are biased to the left here, and nobody else’s opinion is ever correct. They get their information and sources from groups with similar political views, so of course they’ll always be right.”

Though classes and speakers were designed to represent both sides of debate, students generally agreed that the program emphasized the liberal viewpoint. While a minority of the students objected to academics with a political slant, most agreed that it helped to open their minds.

“Every day you are exposed to a new idea. Your ideas are being constantly challenged and you are forced to re-evaluate things,” said 17-year-old Brenda Flynn, a student at West Los Angeles’ Notre Dame Academy. “I am trying to be as controversial as I can be,” said Antenore, who teaches full time at Irvine High School. “I think that a healthy dose of controversy is good. It is said that he who doesn’t understand his opponent’s argument won’t understand their own.”

Christy Valdez, a 17-year-old student at Rosary High School, agreed with her teacher. “Other viewpoints serve as a channel for me to analyze my own point of view,” she said.

According to Gomez, the recent sociopolitical concern expressed by students throughout the country is an indicator of the future.

“It is a renaissance of sorts, with the young people concerned with social, environmental and political issues,” he said. “They know it is important for them to participate.”

With the program winding down just as the Republican National Convention was beginning, program administrators decided on a theme of civic duty for the seminar, which culminated in the students staging a mock presidential election Tuesday.

Democratic candidate Michael S. Dukakis received 77% of the votes, Republican candidate George Bush received 16% and 7% abstained.

Besides the political lessons being learned, there was an almost-hidden agenda at the seminar.

Participants were divided into study groups and roommates were put together according to differences in their religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.

“It is almost like a mini-United Nations with all different ethnic, religious and economic backgrounds mixing together to discuss topics,” Mouet said.

Living and working together 24 hours a day for 10 days, the participants not only opened up better lines of communication between groups but also broke down stereotypes.

“I am from Santa Ana,” said Frank Quinonez, a 17-year-old student at Santa Ana High School. “The first thing people think of when I say that is that there are gang fights, razor blades and drug dealers all in between classes.”

David Layden, another 17-year-old from Santa Ana High, jumped into the discussion: “Everyone thinks that about us. They are wrong. When I first met my roommate here, we found out that we were both people with similar concerns no matter where we live.”

Administrators and participants in the seminar believe they can make a difference in their world.

“It is when KSR students act on their knowledge that the program really pays off,” Gomez said.

“What they learn are two things: They understand their convictions and the basis of those convictions. And they gain the courage to act out those convictions, which is really what leadership is all about.”