UT
NIVERSITY IMES
May 4, 2015
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C A L I F O R N I A S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y, L O S A N G E L E S
General Scholarship improved
Issue 209.6
Protest on campus sheds light to
Running out of funds? Use AcadmicWorks to apply for on-campus scholarships.
behind Black
Gerardo Amezquita Staff Reporter cial aid award letter for next year, Jose Ramos looks distraught. The letter presents his worst nightmare—he will have to pay over $2,000 out of pocket each quarship soon. This year though, the yet to release the general scholarship forms to students. “What am I going to do?” worriedly asks Ramos, a 22 year old junior and Biochemistry major. cial relief by searching for on and off campus scholarships, though usually he depends on the general scholarship sponsored by the Fiquarter. Like many other students at Cal State L.A., Ramos depends scholarships to fund his education. However, for the past four months the Center for Student Financial Aid and Scholarships has displayed a red-clad ‘coming soon’ posting for the general scholarship application. Eager students wanting to apply wait without any indication why there is a delay by the Financial Aid of-
Director of Student Financial Aid Tamie Nguyen and Associate Director Jonathan Choy, respectively, are aware of student sentiment. They have partnered up to improve the application the upcoming launch of a new
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program. The program enhances scholarship management experience that reviews, matches, and 400,000 scholarships offered. AcademicWorks is projected to go live sometime in May without
AcademicWorks will advance student experience through a student wider access by having an online application. Students can correct any errors or supplement any missed information 24/7 until the deadline date. When applying, students will not have to submit the usual information because the material would be provided from student record data, with the exception of community service and extracurricular activities. Students requesting letter(s) of recommendation from faculty will only submit them on AcademicWorks, thus ending the endless paper trails. Over a year of collaborating with the Division of University Advancement and faculty support they have initiated efforts to implement an improved system to get students quicker, up-to-date information about their application’s status. Choy Continues on page 3.
Black Lives Matter = All Lives Matter
Angeline Bernabe Staff Reporter In the wake of the death of Freddie Gray, a young black man who died while in police custody, many around the country in the past week organized in solidarity against police brutality. Among those who organized peaceful protests included Cal State L.A. students of the Pan African Studies department. On Thursday, April 30th, students and faculty assembled in the free speech zone in front of the bookstore to show support toward Gray’s family and shed light Lives Matter.” The biggest misconception that some people have toward the term “Black Lives Matter” is that it only speaks of African American lives at risk by law enforcement. In fact, it represents all people of color. With the multitude of recent accounts of police brutality in California, it than a black issue, but an issue that affects every race. Cases include Ezell Ford, a mentally ill black man who was killed by the LAPD last August, and Hector Morejon, a Hispanic teen who
in Long Beach this past month. “In California alone, we’ve seen so many Latino brothers and sisters shot by the police and suffer at the hands of police brutality left and right,” explains Rosa Clemente, a Professor of the Pan African Studies Department. She says, “The way we see Black Lives Matter includes those that are Latino, Latina, Asian folks, Muslim folks—all centering the African American struggle around police brutality, but understanding the global blackness and how the state responds to us as people of color.” At the rally, students of many backgrounds stood together and voiced their concerns with what is happening in Baltimore and around the country. Some even expressed their own experiences of situations being stopped by law enforcement on the road as on suspicious acts because of what their race was. A student of Latin descent who shared her experience at the rally of being stopped on the road by the cops one night simply cried, “I didn’t know why they stopped me, I’m just living!”
successful for organizers, it had a shaky start during the beginning of the week after Pan African nal elements of the rally. As news of the rally spread around campus word of the event eventually travelled to campus police, who contacted Professor Clemente for information on the students who were behind the organization of the protest. At the rally, Clemente voiced her opinion of the act saying it was wrong for police to interfere. Clemente explained, “College campuses should be the bastions of any type of academic freedom.” In her 15 years teaching on college campuses, Clemente says being approached by police to dispel information about a solidarity rally was unacceptable. She further stated, “Their job is to not have any type of interaction with faculty governance or curriculum. What we say in our classrooms are sacred spaces for students and faculty.” With the focus of the rally being about the importance of lives of all backgrounds, the rally concluded with a solidarity circle of all participants joining hands in harmony.
While the protest was seen as
LA ONDA: ORIENTACIÓN GRATUITA PARA BENEFICIARIOS DE DACA
ASI GENERAL DEBATE UPDATES
ARMENIAN STUDENT ASSOCIATION REMEMBERS GENOCIDE
SPREADING THE MESSAGE OF EARTH DAY
CAL STATE L.A. VETERAN GIVES BACK WITH A 5K RUN
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