California State University, Northridge
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Monday, December 5, 2011
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Volume 53 Issue 56 • A financially Independent student newspaper
SPORTS
OPINION
Pay-per-unit colleges may present cheaper alternative p. 3
Women’s basketball lose close game at Pepperdine p. 6
How LAPD broke the law, and no one was watching p. 4
CSU cancels meeting, fears protesters The board of trustees don’t want a repeat of the last meeting, which ended in arrests and damaged property ron rohky daily sundial
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he CSU board of trustees announced the cancellation of its special committee meeting on presidential selection and compensation due to safety issues regarding a broken glass door caused by protesters at a previous meeting, and threats that protesters would return. “We got word of a couple of groups that want to protest and our building isn’t in a state where
we could move a large number of people if needed,” said Erik Fallis, a spokesperson for the CSU. “What Refund California (a group demanding public education refunds) did to our front door by vandalizing it makes it impossible to maintain logistics and secure everyone if we can’t use the main entrance.” “Currently, we’re using side doors, and it’s just physically impossible with our layout right now to move large numbers of people in and out,” he added. The meeting, originally planned for Monday, Dec. 5, was
set to consider a single action item of updating its policy on presidential compensation, according to a press release. During the previous meeting, held on Nov. 16, the board of trustees voted to increase Fall 2012 tuition by 9 percent. During the vote, protesters from Refund California and police clashed outside the chancellor’s office and the altercation led to numerous people being pepper-sprayed, four arrests and a broken glass door. “We made this decision based upon our experience at the last board meeting where a large num-
ber of protesters attended, which is difficult to manage under the best of circumstances,” said CSU Board Chair Herbert L. Carter in a press release. “Our ability to guarantee the safety of crowds that we anticipate may wish to attend has been further compromised due to the damage to the entrance of our building that is still under repair. In light of all of this, and the fact that the agenda for the special meeting included only one action item, the board made the prudent decision to cancel the meeting.” The cancellation also put a
hold on a planned action by CSU students to protest the meeting. The Northridge, Long Beach and Sonoma factions of CSU’s Student for Quality Education had originally planned to protest the Dec. 5 meeting, but have now set their sights on the Jan. 24 meeting instead. “The (Dec. 5) protest has been postponed,” said Ashely Luke, a founding member of the protest’s Facebook group. “The board of trustees has cancelled the meeting after what happened after the last BOT protest. They don’t want a repeat of that event.”
Chicana/o classes join Occupy CSUN Katie Grayot / Daily Sundial
Empty tents line the grass at Occupy CSUN while participating students hold a meeting with the administration Friday afternoon.
One instructor finds lesson’s within the movement his students’ can learn from, some camp for a night kat o’neill daily sundial
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Chicana/o studies instructor asked his classes to join Occupy CSUN Thursday night and camp with protesters, making the total number of participants over 80. Gerard Meraz, Chicana/o studies instructor, said students need to stand up to the hardships
and crisis their families continue to face on daily basis. “We have our own occupy,” Meraz said. “It is part of our history and time and (we) need to be aware of what’s going on even if they haven’t been on the front-line in downtown.” Meraz said the main point of his classes joining the occupy movement is to learn how to hold public dialogue and establish a clear message. “Whether it’s the fee hikes,
gay rights, women rights, you need to learn how to refocus your argument,” he said. Some students chose to join forces with the movement to provide support to friends and other participants. “We just thought of our friends who can’t be here because of financial disability,” said CSUN student George Martinez. Martinez said he believes there tends to be “power in num-
bers” and if more people raise awareness to their friends and colleagues, change will eventually come. Some of the Occupy CSUN movement organizers were surprised to see more participants. Ashley Luke, an organizer of Occupy CSUN, said she hopes for the best with the unexpected growth. “It makes us (organizers) motivated to go after the issue to bring around some type of
change,” she said. With the recent 9 percent tuition increase, which will take affect in Spring 2012, some students are becoming more involved and inspired to bring an end to the continual fee increases. “This is a state university, we shouldn’t have to pay for our education,” said Adriana Futalca who has been camping at Occupy CSUN for over two weeks. “We are paying more for
less,” she said. Martinez said he was informed of the different committees which are supporting the movement and is thinking of joining one. “It is crucial to take action if we don’t like something and want it to change,” Martinez said. Police and school officials have not granted the movement
See occupy, page 5