News
5
Admins Under Fire CSULB students react to lack of communication one week after alleged violent threat By Alejandro Ramos Athletics Editor and Amanda Del Cid Social Media Manager
Administrators at California State University, Long Beach are being put under the microscope after news of an underreported incident on campus broke on social channels. News of an alleged altercation involving two students and a knife in a sociology class on Feb. 25 did not come out until CSULB student Mel Gutierrez shared what she knew of it through a series of Facebook posts on Wednesday, March 2. Her posts were mostly based on hearsay, but generated a discussion that got students demanding answers. “The student who did this is still attending this university,” Gutierrez wrote. no emails were sent out to anyone, not even faculty.” The university remained silent on the matter until Thursday, March 3, when the Relations released a statement on CSULB’s Facebook page about the alleged altercation. “Since this incident took place, members of the campus community have expressed concerns about safety,” wrote Terri M. Carbaugh, Associate Vice President of Government and Media Relations. “The
is always a critical concern. While it was determined that there was no imminent physical threat, even the perception of a threat can cause distress.” CSULB President Jane Close Conoley explained that the school tends to hold back information after threat assessments come back negative. Campus leaders hold back this information from students until the event is fully investigated. “In this case, such caution caused more concern,” Conoley said in an email to Union Weekly. “Please know, however, we do this to protect both the victims and the alleged perpetrators.” Facebook comments by students on both CSULB and Gutierrez’s Facebook posts expressed frustration with the university’s disregard for student awareness. When the university did communicate with students, gaps of silence between statements from the administration left students with more questions than answers. “We get immediate emails regarding party but they wait until the students themselves make it public on social media to say something about this?” Lety Perez Correa
commented on CSULB’s Facebook post. Correa was referring to a campus-wide email sent out by the University the day after the alleged sexual assault occurred at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house, but expressed concerns with not being alerted by email about this on-campus incident until 9 p.m. Thursday, March 5—one week after it occurred. “What we know is that a male student was seen holding a small knife (2.5 inches) in a sociology class on February 25,” Conoley said in a campus-wide email sent out around 10 a.m. on Friday, March 4. “The professor perceived a threat and asked the student to leave. He did.” University Police was immediately Beach Police Department. According to Sgt. Brad Johnson, spokesperson for the LBPD, they have launched their own investigation when it became known that “a relative of the student is an employee of the University Police Department.” In the week following the alleged altercation, assistant professor Sabrina Alimahomed did not attend class and it is alleged by Gutierrez that she has taken a three-week leave of absence. Her students
were told that the person in question had
building. The resolutions they were given were not enough to settle their nerves in regards to why the incident took so long to be discussed campus-wide. “I felt that it was something other students should’ve been warned about,” said Savannah Williams, a student in the class at the time of the incident. “Other students obviously felt threatened...some students coulfrom the class and that they weren’t too shaken up by it. no criminal record.” He also allegedly likened the incident to another crime that occurred on campus: “There was a theft in the bookstore last week, do you need to know about that too?”
as requirements under the Jeanne Clery Act... The remainder of this article with up-tothe-minute information can be found on lbunion.com Bailey Mount, Andrew Linde, Lauren Hunter, Matt Gozzip and Katie Cortez also contributed to this report.
Leading Candidates Seek Nomination Super Tuesday results indicate seeming party nominees With the race to the presidency drawing sooner to the summer, the once-murky presidential election is gaining a bit of clarity. Following the results from this past week’s Super Tuesday primary elections, it was a forgone conclusion from the GOP that businessman Donald Trump was the eventual Republican nominee. With 1,237 delegates required for the nomination, Trump won most of the states on Super Tuesday and alongside Saturday’s primaries in Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Maine—brought his total number of delegates to 335. In Thursday’s GOP debates, Trump seemed to have lost most if not all of his Super Tuesday momentum as all the candidates
focused their strategy in discrediting Trump. With Trump answering questions in response to Marco Rubio’s previous insults in regards to hand size, Trump referenced sexual innuendo on CNN’s live broadcast. “I have big hands… trust me I have no problem down there,” said Trump. Trump’s inability to sternly answer
away. It may not have seemed this way from an opinionated standpoint, but it is clear that Ted Cruz to decrease the margin as Cruz increased his delegates on Saturday to 248.
By Richard Mejia Managing Editor
On the blue side of the spectrum, Hillary Clinton is gaining steady footing as she ended Super Tuesday ahead of Bernie Sanders with 1,066 delegates to Sanders’ 432. The lead might seem glaring, but 2,383 delegates are required to earn the Democratic nomination. “I congratulate Senator Sanders on his strong showing and campaigning and I am grateful to all of you who have voted for me,” said Clinton at her victory presser. Thus far, all has gone according to plan for Clinton as she’s won the delegates from states she has been projected to win. To call the nomination a forgone conclusion for Clinton would be a bit of an exaggeration. With Sunday’s Democratic debate basically a head-to-head contest
between the top candidates, Sanders still has With states friendlier to Sanders’ cause as well as an intriguing summer primary in California, Clinton will have to remain strong With the GOP seeing Ben Carson drop out of the running as well as potential Marco Rubio drop out in the upcoming week, Cruz one bound to occur on the liberal side. All eyes will look to Michigan this week, as the primary election in the Midwestern state can have major implication for both parties.