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VOLUME 124, ISSUE 32
Spring Concert provides good vibes
See A&E page A4
Art by Zak Brady
This illustration shows an interpretation of a student’s opinion of the Latino Research Center, which has been run by a student for eight months. The assistant director resigned in September and the director has been on leave since the beginning of the school year.
WHO’S THERE? University says LRC future looks bright, students think otherwise By Karolina Rivas Last year, the future of the Latino Research Center at the University of Nevada, Reno, remained unclear after the former Assistant to the Director Iris West resigned and Director Emma Sepulveda remained on administrative sick leave. Thus, a period of eight months remained in which the LRC faced an absence in staff due to West and Sepulveda
being the only two employees operating the organization. West left an impression on the university when she shared her fourpage resignation letter with the UNR community. In her letter, she detailed the troubles she faced during her time at the university, particularly with the university administration regarding the prioritization of diversity and inclusion on campus. “I refuse to be used as a prop that allows the College of Liberal Arts
and the current university administration to pretend they care for diversity and inclusion […] I have experienced nothing but exclusion and disrespect for many years,” West wrote in her letter. After much consideration, the Director of the LRC officially resigned on April 11, 2018. “I think I felt that because of the environment at the university it was time for me to go,” Sepulveda said. “It was one of the hardest decisions that I have taken in my life because I love the students, I have a passion for teaching, I love what I did with the creation of the Latino Research Center and the incredible work that we did over the years. It was a very difficult decision but I needed to step away from the university.”
When Sepulveda mentions the environment at the university, she is specifically referring to experiences she describes as hostile during her time as a director — instances in which her car was keyed in the school parking lot and explicit images were placed in her university mailbox on multiple occasions. Sepulveda says that she also did not agree with the decisions President Marc Johnson has made regarding issues of diversity such as appointing Chief of Staff Patricia Richard as chief diversity officer. Richard faced criticism for being appointed to the position due to her lack of experience in diversity work. “We did not always have the
See LRC page A2
UNR introduces new employee family program By Olivia Ali As tuition is at an all-time high and due for another increase this upcoming year, the University of Nevada, Reno, is introducing a potential solution to some students’ struggles. The university announced that by fall 2018, the Classified Employee Family Opportunity Program will be in place at the institution. The program will allow family members of university employees to have a portion of their tuition fees to be paid for by the university. “As members of our classified staff continue to grow their careers at our university, it is our hope that their spouses, domestic partners and dependents will use this new benefit to further their access and pursuit of an education at our University as well,” President Marc Johnson said in a statement. According to the university, a committee made up of members from Administration and Finance, Human Resources and the Staff Employees Council under chair Meghan Ezekiel are responsible for the development of the eligibility guidelines for classified staff. The university speci-
fied in a statement that recipients must be spouses, domestic partners or financially dependent children of employees. The employee must be working at least .53 full-time equivalent at the university. For financially dependent children, the university is allowing any natural, adopted or stepchild to partake in the program as long as the child is not financially dependent and under the age of 24. The child must be claimed as an exemption for federal income tax purposes under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. The university is also requiring an attesting that the child is financially dependent each time a tuition reduction is issued. The program will cover reductions for all for-credit classes included in the weighted student credit hour calculation for state funding. In addition to regular classes, the reduction will apply to NevadaFIT, studies abroad, Summer Session classes and 365 Learning online classes. There is not a limit of credits the program will cover.
See EMPLOYEE page A3
It’s hot, we get it, stop complaining
Nevada Baseball off season happenings Reno City Council approves affordable housing By Olivia Ali Photo courtesy of Kerri Garcia
Kevin McReynolds stands with Chief of Police Adam Garcia at Coffee with Cops on March 13, 2018. McReynolds started the nonprofit to encourage students to become police officers.
Nonprofit launched after incident with UNRPD By Madeline Purdue
After being involved in a racially charged incident with University Police Services last year, UNR student Kevin McReynolds is starting a nonprofit organization to encourage diversity within lo-
cal police stations. McReynolds found himself at the heart of the university’s diversity issues when a UNR police officer joked about shooting McReynolds during a routine traffic stop on campus last semester.
See PROJECT page A2
As the homeless population in Reno reaches an all-time high, a local charitables foundation is attempting to solve the problem with an alternative solution. At a Reno City Council meeting on Wednesday, April 25, board member Jim Pfrommer of The Community Foundation of Western Nevada presented a solution to the city’s homeless problem. Pfrommer asked the council to sell a lot at 250 Sage Street currently owned by the city for $1 to develop affordable housing. The council voted unanimously in favor of selling the
land to pursue the foundation’s plan of building the affordable housing complex. City council members across the board are excited about what the development will do for the housing crisis in Reno. Reno’s housing crisis is something that citizens have been concerned with for years, and due to the close proximity to California, it has only gotten worse. As of March of this year, the average rent in Reno was $1,700 according to real estate company Zillow — a price just not within reach for most residents.
See HOUSING page A2