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April 25, 2016
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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
ASI President calls for investigations and probations
Issue 212.05
Ani Nalbandian Staff Reporter
The battle for respect continues to wage on between the Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) and President Covino. In early March, ASI called for the resignation of President Covino on claims of his mismanagement of the Ben Shapiro speaking event that was met with a massive student protest. Covino is now under fire from ASI once again for failing to protect student interests.
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Prince reign comes to an end Alejandro Ortega Julian Garcia Contributors
Last week, ASI President Ejmin Hakobian submitted a draft Grievance against Cal State LA, the University StudentUnion Board of Directors and Personnel. In the document he asserts that President Covino and his staff should be reprimanded for negligence and unprofessional conduct. The Grievance calls for a reprimand of the UniversityStudent Union (U-SU) for disregarding CSU policy. Hakobian also requested for a full investigation of the U-SU under the grounds of unethical and unlawful practices. At the center of the argument was the Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Jose Gomez and the U-SU. Hakobian called for the probation of Dr. Gomez, as well
| Photo by Pablo De La Hoya
as a reprimand of the U-SU chair based on violation of CSU policy and recurrent unprofessional conduct.
INSIDE:
At a U-SU meeting in late February, three students were to be nominated to the Board of Directors, however two were
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ASI ELECTION DEBATES IN FULL SWING
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Inspirational speaker tackles eco-injustice Marrian Zhou
Managing Editor Professor Philip Clayton delivered an unforgettable presentation entitled “Toward a sustainable civilization: New Directions in Environmental Philosophy,” at the inaugural lecture event hosted by the Joseph Prabhu Fund for Interfaith Peace and Justice, College of Arts and Letters, and Cal State LA Philosophy Club on Thursday, April 21. Professor Philip Clayton currently holds the Ingraham Chair at Claremont School of Theology. He works to formulate constructive responses to challenges of violence and injustice around the world. In this special lecture, he brought to light the overlooked issues of eco-injustice in the modern
world. Clayton suggested that we have a gap nowadays between environmental concerns and actually evoked social change, with landfill being the most important, and yet overlooked environmental issue.
| Photo Sherry Yuen-Ruan
In one of his case studies, he mentioned the “toxic doughnut” in Altgeld Gardens, located in the South of Chicago, also known as the “ring of toxic.” It was originally established as a federal housing project for World War II African American veterans.
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PG 5 The community was surrounded by 50 landfills, 382 industrial facilities and it had 250 leaking underground storage tanks. The toxic living condition directly contributed to the excessive rates of prostates, bladder, and lung cancer of the residents. Since the community was mainly composed of African Americans and a large percentage were below the poverty level, the “toxic doughnut” case also became an example of environmental racism. Other cases were also presented, such as Chester in Pennsylvania and Dickson in Tennessee. “We’d like to think that poor people had a rougher time maybe, or that folks in [these communities] are somehow responsible for this treatment, it’s not true,” Clayton said. “This is a case where those who are not able to speak up for their rights, who were less important about environmental conditions, or simply less powerful, became the dumping grounds for others who have the power, the money, and the know-hows.”
Multiple Grammy Award-winning musical artist Prince died early morning of April 21 at 57 years old. Prince Rogers Nelson’s body was discovered in an elevator at his Paisley Park compound in Minnesota, according to a report by TMZ. His death was confirmed by his publicist Yvette Noel-Schure, stating that he was “fighting the flu.” “It is with profound sadness that I am confirming that the legendary, iconic performer, Prince Rogers Nelson, has died at his Paisley Park residence this morning at the age of 57,” Noel-Schure said. Continues on page 7 Clayton proposed to change our perspectives on the relationship between humans and nature. We should not view ourselves as conquerors of nature, instead, simply as members of nature; to teach each other to see earth as beautiful and aesthetic, which will motivate us to do good and just actions. He incorporated J. Baird Callicott’s quote to this idea, “We need a new narrative, to tell the story of nature.” Kirianna Florez, Clayton's research assistant, commented on the idea of creating new narratives. “The community in Chester that was affected by [landfills] so badly fought back but lost to the political government in the city. They used their ability to create narrative--a sense of community, to tell stories of their family members who were having issues such as cancer,” Florez said. “One of the
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