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theorion.com | Wednesday, December 2, 2015 | Vol. 75, Issue 14 | First copy free, additional copies 50¢

Campus creates diversity task force Elizabeth Castillo

Students reforest 60-acre meadow buried in toxic sand from closed mine dents led by Brown step in. Patrick Wickham and Allen LaStaff Writer Grange, both senior environmental What was once a meadow is now science majors, have been working covered in up to 28 feet of sand and on the project for the past couple silt from the Walker Copper Mine years. northeast of Quincy, according to “It’s a great opportunity for peoDavid Brown, environmental sciple to do research in their field and ence professor at Chico State. I’m really grateful to be part of it,” The goal of two Chico State stuWickham said. “I really appreciate dents is to restore plant life to the being able to fix something. That’s area that is buried under runsomething that is important in scioff from the Copper ence, you’re actually applyMine, which opering it and using it to fix ated from 1915 to problems.” That’s something that 1941, according After the ore was is important in science; to the Central dug out of the tunyou’re actually applying Valley Regional nels, it was ground it and and using it to Water Quality up to get the copper solve problems. Control Board. out, which left large Patrick Wickham, senior While it’s been amounts of leftover environmental science major closed for more rock that was dumped than 70 years, there is downhill. a toxic wasteland below “What they did is they that is still more than 60 acres in crushed the rock then the sand and size. the silt which is fine and powdery,” The area covered with mine tailBrown said. “Then, they allowed ings is surrounded by forest on all it to enter the creek and it just sides, and the goal is to reforest the washed down.” area. After extracting the copper, the That’s where two Chico State stuleftover sediment was allowed to Austin Herbaugh

wash downstream into the meadow, but the Sawyer Decision of 1884 didn’t allow it to reach a major river. The creek below the mine flows into the north fork of the Feather River, which then flows into Lake Oroville, said Brown. The law forced the mining company to build a dam that held back the sand, which is why the meadow is covered in it. “It looks like a beach when you’re out there, the wind is blowing it,” Brown said. “It’s so fine that it can cause silicosis.” Silicosis is a lung disease caused by breathing in dust that has fine pieces of silica, according to the American Lung Association. Silica is a mineral present in sand, rock and ore that can be exposed by mining. Breathing in silica dust over a period of time scars the lungs, which leads to difficulty breathing. The mine has also discharged heavy metals, such as copper and zinc, along with acid mine drainage into Dolly Creek, which runs near

Photo courtesy of David Brown

Staff Writer

» please see DUST | A8

The Associated Students recently created a task force on diversity to get a better understanding of how to serve students. “The goal of the task force is to capture what students feel about diversity on our campus,” said Michael Pratt, director of University Affairs for Associated Students. “[It’s] for us to get a better understanding of the needs and wants of our student populations because right now, it’s really speculative.” Pratt is one of four members from Associated Students that works on the Special Joint Task Force on Diversity. The task force was approved by the student academic senate and with the goal to create a student diversity survey. The task force hopes the survey will provide more information regarding students input about diversity at Chico State. On Nov. 16, President Paul Zingg sent a campus-wide email that addressed issues of diversity on campus. Chico State is still working on accepting diversity as fundamentally important on campus, he said. “Our campus as a whole has not yet embraced diversity as a core value, as a core commitment, for which all of us are accountable MICHAEL and responsible,” Zingg PRATT said in the announce- Director of University Affairs ment. Several other students that currently hold seats on the task force are not members of Associated Students. Their purpose is to represent varying campus perspectives. Some of the populations represented by these students include veterans and undocumented students, Pratt said. “Far too often no one asks students,” he said. “They just assume that certain things are happening. It’s hard to really capture all the things that are going on.” The task force plans to release the survey results in the spring, according to Deanna Jarquin, AS president. The survey, which is available on the AS website, provides the chance to directly hear from students, he said. While Chico State currently has a University Diversity Council, its members are primarily composed of faculty, staff and administration. Aaron Thao, AS Commissioner of Diversity Affairs, is the only student representative on the council, Pratt said. Thao is one of the creators of the task force. It is important for Chico State to continually assess the changing student demographics on campus, he said. “Our underserved student body is more than

» please see DIVERSITY | A8

Violent city culture calls for change dent of Chico State. Avila said she spoke at the forum because administration has the power Staff Writer to foster change. A concern addressed by students at the most “I wanted to go to the presidential forum recent open forum was the need to feel safe in because I felt like our potential new president Chico. would be able to do a lot more than I can and “This is where we live. If we don’t feel safe if there’s any way I can be involved, then I’m leaving our homes, how are we supposed to going to try and do it,” she said. feel safe coming to campus?” said Another student that spoke out Griselda Avila, senior sociology against violence at the forum was and multicultural and gender studTyrell “Rex” Bell, junior commuies major. “Because so many stunication studies major. He said dents live within the 2-mile radius that Chico can sometimes be a hosof campus, more should be done tile environment for students. Bell to address the lack of action going has experienced verbal attacks on.” while walking around town. Avila spoke out at the open fo“I’ve kind of had the whole coonTYRELL “REX” rum held on Nov. 10 to discuss what calling thing happen to me a bunch BELL qualities the hiring committee of times here in Chico,” he said. Junior communicatoin studies major should look for in the future presi“People will drive by, call me a nigElizabeth Castillo

ger and tell me to go home, occasionally throw threatened, he said. something at friends of mine or myself.” Bell has seen violence affect student success Bell said he is uneasy about dealing with at Chico. Some of his friends have dropped out racism in Chico and it upsets him to have to of Chico State because they lacked support worry about violent acts happening to oth- when face with violence. ers he cares about. He hasn’t experienced as “Being a person of color from a lower somuch physical violence in Chico as some of cio-economic background, the adjustment is his friends. hard,” he said. “If a culture doesn’t seem safe “A lot of my friends have gotten or productive and it’s more destrucjumped and robbed,” he said. “It tive, a lot of people just leave and deboils my blood. It hurts me that cide to go home.” my friends end up having to go Students who are victims skip through those things.” class to avoid discussing their situBell believes safety should be ations, he said. Crimes also affect a priority for administration. his friends that are international Students who attend Chico State students. They’ve been victims of are exploring their identities and crime and since they are visiting DEANNA growing as individuals, but it can JARQUIN be hard to focus on growth when » please see VIOLENCE | A8 AS President some students constantly feel

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