Volume 62 Issue 15

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FOR THE WEEK OF TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2014

Highlander University

Volume 62

of

C a l i f o r n i a , R ive r s i d e

highlandernews.org

@UCRHighlander

Senators pass amendments to 2013-14 Elections Code

UCR Highlander Newspaper

► SEE ASUCR, PAGE 4

UCRChannelH

Student petition condemns truncated winter break

Lunar Festival 2014

MICHAEL RIOS Senior Staff Writer

WINNIE JENG Senior Staff Writer

After a long night of debate at the Jan. 22 ASUCR senate meeting, senators unanimously ratified the new 2013-14 Elections Code, which aims to establish fair competitions in future general elections. The climax of the night’s discussion encompassed the removal of an election mandate that required a two-thirds majority of the voters to approve a constitutional amendment if and only if at least 20 percent of the student population participated in the voting. During the meeting, senators also passed a resolution which condemned a racial hate crime that happened at San Jose State University. Elections Director Chris Sanchez went over point-by-point all the changes that had been made in the new Elections Code. Some notable changes included the addition of a preamble section in the Elections Code, an increase in CNAS and BCOE senator-candidates’ required nomination signatures from 25 to 50, a decrease in

Issue 15

Serving the UCR community since 1954

Downtown Riverside brought in the Year of the Horse at the Fourth Annual Lunar Festival.

Features, Page 10

VINCENT TA / HIGHLANDER Downtown Riverside hosted its annual Lunar Festival, celebrating the Year of the Horse.

UC Riverside will be shortening the length of winter break from three weeks to two this upcoming school year as a direct response to a UC policy requiring universities to change their academic calendars to avoid conflicts with the Jewish holidays Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It’s a move that has gained some support from members of the UC community, but has also garnered criticism from students who argue that the change is inconvenient for those not affiliated with the holidays. The Jewish holidays sometimes take place during move-in day at quarter-based UCs. Members of the Jewish community expressed concern over the UC move-in day, which overlapped with the holidays back in 2006. A year later, the UC implemented a policy that would go into effect in fall of 2014, which would shift movein day up one week since it will take place during Rosh Hashanah. This means that instead of having move-in day during the third week of September 2014, students will move into residence halls during the final week of the month. This, in turn, creates a domino

UC Board of Regents: ‘5 percent is not enough’ SANDY VAN Senior Staff Writer

UC President Janet Napolitano is blazing a trail for several initiatives, which includes, but is not limited to: reducing the UC Office of the President’s (UCOP) budget by 6.5 percent, finalizing contract agreements with UC labor unions and reaching a carbon neutral standard by 2025. The president’s announcement occurred during the UC Board of Regents meeting at the UC San Francisco (UCSF) Mission Bay from Jan. 22-23. The meeting revolved around the 201415 proposed state budget, which allocates a 5 percent increase — about $142 million — to the UC budget, falling $120.9 million short of what the regents requested in Nov. 2013. Napolitano planned to enact a freeze on systemwide tuition, which is needed to obtain the state’s $142 million allocation, but board members argue that proposed state funding levels will not be enough to support unfunded pension liabilities and increasing UC student enrollment in the future. The two-day discussion also included a rare meeting between three leaders of the state’s public higher education systems: former UC Riverside Chancellor and current

California State University (CSU) Chancellor Timothy White, UC President Napolitano and California Community College (CCC) Chancellor Brice Harris discussed revamping the 1960 California Master Plan for Higher Education — a blueprint for making public higher education more affordable and accessible to students in California. UC president lays groundwork for further initiatives Napolitano plans to pursue a budget over the next two years that will determine the “appropriate size, shape, and roles of the Office of the President,” while gathering input from the 10 UCs. With the intent of “leading by example,” Napolitano has pledged to curb administrative expenditures by reducing travel expenses by 10 percent and capping overall staff at UCOP. “Any replacement positions will be subject to prior approval by me or my designees, and departments will be required to develop staffing plans that address future needs and attrition,” reported Napolitano. She will also provide support for undocumented students through her onetime allocation of $5 million for each UC campus. The funds will provide in-house staff training at student resource centers,

create undocumented student advisory-group meetings, and offer additional financial support, such as UC student loans and workstudy positions. The UC president is also supporting postdoctoral and graduate students through her previous allocation of $10 million. Part of the fund will go to the President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP) — a program that provides financial support for STEM scholars who are interested in becoming UC faculty members. The funding will also offer diversity fellowships to graduates who faced difficult conditions or situations that disadvantaged them academically and to undergraduates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) who are admitted to UC doctoral programs. “Currently, only about 3 percent of Ph.D. students are African American, 1 percent are American Indians and 8 percent are Chicano/ Latino, all less than the representation of these groups in California and the nation,” revealed the UCOP research and graduate studies report. Also, Napolitano stated that she is taking steps to improve faculty diversity in the wake ► SEE REGENTS, PAGE 6

► SEE PETITION, PAGE 4

INSIDE: Yale punishes innovative thinking student Sean Haufler, but chooses to challenge authority. OPINIONS

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Vicky’s Burgers is too far and too low quality to justify traveling 20 minutes from campus. PAGE 12

FEATURES

In all their indie-rocking glory, of Montreal took the Barn by storm. ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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Peyton versus the “Legion of Boom.” We preview football’s biggest game, the Super Bowl. PAGE 19

SPORTS

UPCOMING EVENTS

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STAFF

PAGE 7 PLEASE RECYCLE AFTER READING


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