Chico State’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1975
NCAA-BOUND The men’s and women’s basketball teams are headed to the NCAA Division II tournament. Story A6
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VOLUME 68 ISSUE 7
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2012
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Rally rails lawmakers Slasher slices student’s face
Higher education march brings out thousands from state schools
Juniper Rose Natalie Lessa
ASST. NE WS EDITOR
STAFF WRITER
SACRAMENTO — About 15,000 protesters took to the streets of downtown Sacramento in a march to the Capitol building Monday for the March for Higher Education. Students from community colleges, California State Universities and Universities of California joined in the rally. Chants of “Education should be free, not just for the bourgeoisie,” and “They say cut back, we say fight back,” echoed through the crowd. Protesters hoisted signs toward the Capitol building that read “I missed class today because it was cut” and “This is what democracy looks like.” The Capitol building’s lawn was covered with protesters and surrounded by police clothed with protective gear on horseback. The march, organized and sponsored by the California State Student Association, sought to bring students of higher education together to fight for the future, according to the CSSA website. Jillian Ruddell, a student trustee for the CSU and a senior multicultural and gender studies major at Chico State, spoke at the rally. “I remember standing in the front and then looking back at the main stretch and seeing an endless sea of students all walking together toward the same cause,” Ruddell said. “Nothing compares to that feeling.” Ruddell spoke in front of the Capitol on >> please see MARCH | A3
PHOTOS BY • ANNIE PAIGE
KNOCK, KNOCK Thousands of California students rally at the state Capitol building on Monday. The march protested budget cuts to higher education from the state.
WE’RE HERE Demonstrators raise their signs and voices during the March for Higher Education. Students chanted, “They say cut back, we say fight back” at the rally.
A Chico State student was slashed across the face Saturday about midnight outside a party on West 10th and Chestnut streets. Drunk witnesses made it difficult to get a description of the stabbing suspect, but three people were said to have been involved, Chico police Sgt. Rob Merrifield said. No arrests have been made. Kevin Crowe, a senior business administration major, was slashed after people were trying to get into the party and a fight broke out, he said. Crowe works as a talk show host for the student-run online radio station KCSC. “I was trying to go for a head-in-arm lock when suddenly I felt a really sharp pain in my jaw,” he said. “He had taken out a blade and pretty much just slashed my face.” Crowe declined the medical transportation that arrived at the scene and was driven to Enloe Medical Center by two friends, he said. This wasn’t the first time Crowe has been involved in this type of incident, and he wants to raise awareness to ensure that other students don’t have to go through it. Avoiding being under the influence of alcohol can prevent these types of incidents, he said. “People might think this only happens in alleyways, but it can happen anywhere,” Crowe said. “We are a small school, and the more we stick together, the more we can prevent stuff like this.” Crowe encourages self-defense programs, as his own knowledge in self-defense made it possible for him to disarm the suspect right after >> please see SLASH | A4
GREEK
Fraternity council levies stricter sanctions on Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau violated alcoholrelated rules during its recruitment week this semester. The university placed sanctions on the fraternity, and the Interfraternity Council added its own. Juniper Rose A SST. NE WS EDITOR
Phi Kappa Tau, already put on probation by the university, had additional sanctions levied on its members by the Interfraternity Council Friday. The fraternity’s president, Marcus Dubois, plans to appeal the IFC’s sanctions, he said. The IFC, a student-run board with a representative from each of the 10 universityrecognized fraternities, excluding the fraternity in question, assigned Phi Kappa Tau additional sanctions that are stricter than those assigned by the university, said Juan Blanco, program coordinator for student activities.
THE ORION • COREY JOHNSON
PEER REVIEW Interfraternity Council representatives wait for the judicial proceedings to begin. The council represents university-recognized fraternities and placed additional sanctions on Phi Kappa Tau after Chico State imposed its sanctions.
Highway crash hospitalizes alumna; family asks for help Dan Reidel STAFF WRITER
A Chico State alumna who returned to the university to earn a nursing degree crashed while driving to campus Feb. 8 when she swerved to avoid another driver and rolled over twice. Marcella Wagner, 32, was eight months pregnant at the time. An emergency operation saved the baby, Logan Otis Campbell, and while Wagner is recovering, her spinal cord was severed and she has limited mobility in her upper body. Wagner’s family has been
staying with her in shifts at Mercy Medical Center in Redding, said Clayton Campbell, Wagner’s brother-in-law and a junior social work major. She doesn’t like being alone. “She’s been off the ventilator for at least 24 hours,” he said. The baby was released to his father, David Campbell, last week. Melissa Campbell, Wagner’s sister-in-law, tells her she is the best mom in the world, she said. “She broke her body around him and kept him perfectly safe,” Melissa Campbell said. It was the best gift Wagner >> please see CRASH | A4
INDEX >>
These sanctions would prevent Phi Kappa Tau from recruiting new members this semester or in fall and remove the fraternity’s social privileges, such as participating in IFC intramural sports, Greek Week or socials with other Greeks during this time, he said. The sanctions assigned by the university did not prevent the fraternity from recruiting in fall 2012, Blanco said. Members of Phi Kappa Tau were disappointed by the sanctions given by the IFC, Dubois said. The university had already given the fraternity constructive and educational sanctions. Phi Kappa Tau had hoped sanctions from the IFC would have been more congruent with the sanctions set by the university, Dubois said. There’s nothing positive about a year of no recruitment. “Right now we’re working with the university to do positive things and get back on campus,” Dubois said. “We feel like a >> please see SANCTIONS | A4
Concerns rise over animal shelter management Kjerstin Wood ASST. NE WS EDITOR
THE ORION • ANNIE PAIGE
REACH A dog reaches its paw through a chain-link fence at the Butte Humane Society in Chico.
Chico animal lovers are concerned about the changes that have taken place at Butte Humane Society, which will no longer be running shelter services for the city. City of Chico Animal Services re-evaluated its 25-year contract with Butte Humane Society and decided to resume maintaining and managing shelter facilities through the city, rather than have Butte Humane Society run the shelter. Butte Humane Society will no longer handle intake of stray or surrendered animals but will continue to provide adoption services, education, animal
foster care and clinic services, said John Mich, Butte Humane Society operations manager. A partnership has been created between the two organizations, and the city has not taken over Butte Humane Society, said Lori MacPhail, support division captain of Chico police. Chico for Animal Rights, a Chico State group, is concerned that the community wasn’t more involved in the decisionmaking process, said Casey Shaffer, a senior biology major and vice president of Chico for Animal Rights. “With Chico being such a small interconnected town, there is a huge love for animals,” >> please see HUMANE | A3
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The music department brings Bach baroque for this year’s Chico Bach Festival. Story B1
Features The JFusion club commemorates the anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Story B3
Opinion Siri, turn the page. Column B7