Posted on March 05, 2010
By Yazmin Cruz with the CSUN Daily Sundail
The five students who were arrested during the March 4 demonstrations held a press conference denouncing the force used against them by police and the misrepresentation they received in the media.
The conference was held in front of the Oviatt Library where Anthony Ratcliff, a professor of Pan African studies and Beatrice Cortez, an associate professor of Central American studies, spoke in support of the students.
More than 60 people attended in support of the students arrested and of Associate Professor of Sociology and American Indian Studies, Karren Baird-Olson, 73, who was also taken into custody and who suffered a broken arm and multiple injuries during the protest on Reseda Boulevard and Prairie Street. Baird-Olson was taken to the hospital later that evening.
“As students were faced with police brutality they united,” Cortez said. “They stuck to each other and protected each other.”
Cortez said they also wanted to express their discontent with the statements made by several media outlets calling the protesters “unruly,” “not peaceful” and “violent.”
“The media should have more responsibility in the way they represent us,” Cortez said.
One of the students who was taken into custody was senior Jonnae Thompson, 22, a senior English major, who spoke at the conference.
“Some of you might say, ‘This isn’t the way to go about it,’” Thompson said. “I don’t know of any other way. Being quiet has gotten us exactly to the point where we are right now.”
Thompson said she was upset University President Jolene Koester had released a statement stating she was “disturbed and saddened by the less responsible actions of a few.”
“I guess she’s referring to us standing here,” Thompson said.
Justin Marks, 22, a senior double majoring in Pan African Studies and English, who was also taken into custody also spoke at the event and said he was disappointed with A.S. President Abel Pacheco because he had stated the event was not organized and did not have a leader.
“A.S. President Abel Pacheco should either step up or step down,” Marks said.
After the press conference students marched to University Hall where the protesters read their demands to William Watkins, acting vice president of student affairs and Harry Hellenbrand, provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Students also demanded an immediate apology from the Los Angeles Police Department and demanded justice for Baird-Olson and that no charges must be placed against her and her medical fees paid.
Along with a public forum with Koester and Pachecho, in order “for their grievances to be addressed and for actions to be taken in response.”
The CSUN administration stated that no punishment will be pursued against those that participated in the protests and those who were taken into custody, but once students step outside university jurisdiction they are faced with state and local laws, said Hellenbrand.
CNN iReport: CSUN protest in Northridge CA
Furloughs become a protest
CSUN: Teachers organize march, teach-in to blast state budget cuts.
By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer
For Full Article: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_14328947
Budget cuts and furlough days at California's public universities have become all too common as the state struggles to close massive deficits.
But some California State University, Northridge professors believe "the learning must go on" at the largest higher education system in the country.
More than a dozen professors in the Chicano/Chicana Studies Department boycotted a scheduled furlough Wednesday, opting instead to organize a march and teach-in with some 200 students.
"We have been forced to close our classes, limit the number of students we take per class, and we've had to take furloughs," said Yarma Velazquez, a professor in the department. "But today we are honoring the true mission of a university, which is to create a space for the open discussion of ideas."
Over the last decade, tuition fees at CSUN have ballooned even as students have seen fewer professors and course offerings.
Velazquez said the idea Wednesday was to use a day off to turn students on to the crisis facing the educational system and hopefully encourage them to get involved.
David Rodriguez, chair of the Chicano/Chicana Studies department, said Wednesday's teach-in was the first of several that faculty members on campus plan to have with students.
"We cannot fall into a slumber like we did last year ... because things will get worse," he said.
CSUN spokeswoman Carmen Ramos Chandler said she understood and shared the frustrations ......
Los Angeles Times: CSUN Instructors Stage Protest Between Classes
November 19, 1998|KARIMA A. HAYNES, TIMES STAFF WRITER
For Full Article: http://articles.latimes.com/1998/nov/19/local/me-44397
NORTHRIDGE — Cal State Northridge professors' union staged an informational picket Wednesday, calling for better pay, benefits and good-faith contract negotiations.
Some 40 members of the California Faculty Assn. held signs aloft, yelled into a bullhorn and walked in a circle on the campus quadrangle as folk music blared from a boom box.
The demonstration was one of several played out on the 22 campuses of the California State University on Tuesday and Wednesday to pressure CSU Chancellor Charles Reed and the board of trustees back to the bargaining table.
At CSUN, the two-hour protest did not interrupt classes. Faculty members walked the picket line during free periods and were replaced by colleagues when they were required to be in class....
89.3 KPVC Southern California Public Radio: Education rally near CSUN leads to several arrests
March 4, 2010 | Julio Morales | KPCC
For Full Article: http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/03/04/education-rally-near-csun-leads-several-arrests/
A CSUN professor and six students were arrested in a confrontation with police officers, says university spokesman Vance Peterson.
Peterson said a group of about 25 people marched into an intersection at Reseda Boulevard and Prairie Avenue and sat down, blocking traffic late Thursday afternoon....
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