VOLUME 45, ISSUE 29
WWW.UCSDGUARDIAN.ORG
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2012
LAWSUITS
UC Regents Hit With Disability Lawsuit UCSB student claims system discriminates against hiring those with disabilities. By Laira Martin Associate News Editor Alexander Stern, a fourth-year student at UCSB, is suing the University of California after he was unable to receive a job at the university due to his disability. The lawsuit Andrew Stern V. Regents of University of California prevents disabled students under the Disabled Students Program from receiving university jobs. In response to Stern’s lawsuit, UCSB officials announced that the DSP has modified its policies to aid disabled students in receiving jobs. “As of January 26, student clients of DSP will join all other undergraduate and graduate students in being able to immediately access the department’s online applications for the student note-taker and test-proctor positions at DSP,” UCSB News Director George Foulsham said in a statement. According to a Jan. 25 article in The Bottom Line, Stern said that the director of the Disabled Students Program Gary White claims that hiring an individual with disabilities creates additional liabilities and his job is to minimize potential liabilities. Although the 1990 American Disabilities Act made job discrimination against individuals with disabilities illegal, Stern claims that the uni-
DIVISION I NEW CONCERNS OVER COUNCIL’S NEUTRALITY
leaked email spurs d-i debate
By zev Hurwitz Associate News Editor
By Nicole Chan Associate News Editor
A
.S. Vice President of External Affairs Samer Naji admitted to showing a letter, supposedly written by a student athlete, to students before it was leaked to Facebook. The letter, which began circulating Wednesday night, alleges collaborative efforts between A.S. Council and the Athletics Department towards securing the Division I referendum vote. The referendum was approved by Vice Chancellor Penny Rue Feb. 2 and first passed by A.S. Council during Week 3. “If students are doing this alone, it’s fine,” Naji said of the letter. “If campus administration was trying to skew the vote, there’s a big problem with that and I think that’s something worth looking at.” Naji said he first saw the letter posted in A.S. Council’s private Facebook group. According to Naji, an unnamed A.S. councilmember received the letter and then decided to share it with A.S. Council. “I don’t think there was the willingness of A.S. [Council] to look into administrative influence on the election, so I figured students should look at it,” Naji said. See D-1, page 2 photo illustration by arielle sallai /GU ardian
See LAWSUIT, page 3
UC SYSTEM
Davis Spent $100K on Crisis Consultant
UC administrators reportedly spent six figures on a media crisis consultant to assist with UC Davis’s response to the infamous pepper spray abuse incident last November. UC spent $100,000 to hire a consultant to help with damage control after a UC Police officer doused a line of “Occupy UC Davis” protesters, damaging the university’s image and angering many people worldwide. According to the Davis Enterprise, the consultant — a senior member of Marsh Risk Consulting — arrived on campus several days after the video of the incident surfaced and helped the university plan
sSPOKEN
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a response to the issue. UC Office of the President’s Associate Vice President of Communications, Lynn Tierney, suggested that UC Davis hire the consultant because the university was hit unexpectedly with the issue. “In that situation, when you have the kind of worldwide attention they had at Davis, it would be easy to put out misinformation if it wasn’t well-contained,” Tierney told the Enterprise. “We wanted to make sure we got the most timely information to the right audiences.” Some students at UC Davis were bothered by the fact that funds were used to preserve the UC Davis image rather than applied toward other areas. “I would have rather the money go towards
FORECAST
THIS IS WHERE A QUOTE WILL GO WHEN WE GET ONEa.” Annie Wethe
UCSD Women’s Soccer Senior Captain
MONDAY H 69 L 48
Wednesday H 65 L 46
Tuesday H 61 L 49
Thursday H 70 L 47
NIGHT WATCH
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday Thursday
UC EAP Receives Federal Grants Nearly $1 million is awarded to the Education Abroad Program.
Student leaders question the feasibility of the D-I referendum after an anonymous email surfaces.
By zev Hurwitz Associate News Editor
STUDY ABROAD
education,” UC Davis protester David Roddy told CBS Sacramento. “I think it just reinforces the position of the protesters here that the administration is willing to throw money around as long as they don’t face the actual problems that are facing students.” CBS also reported that the money used to cover the consultant’s fees came out of a fund reserved for insurance costs. UC President Mark G. Yudof had previously announced that former LAPD Police Chief William Bratton would lead a full investigation into the incident. The full report will be released Feb. 24. Readers can contact Zev Hurwitz at zhurwitz@ ucsd.edu.
Studying abroad will now be cheaper for some UC students due to over $800,000 in new federal grants. The UC Office of the President announced Jan. 19 that 215 Gilman Scholarship students from across the UC system would each receive up to $5,000 from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to earn units while studying abroad as part of the UC Education Abroad Program. “The success for UCEAP students results in a significant financial contribution to the University of California and is a testament to the quality of the UC education system as well as the students themselves,” Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director of UCEAP Jean-Xavier Guinard said in a UCOP statement. According to its website, Gilman Scholars must be UC students, already receiving a Federal Pell Grant and planning to study abroad for at least four weeks. Applicants go through an application process, which includes submitting an essay. This academic year, 34 UCSD students were named Gilman Scholars. According to the UCSD Program’s Abroad Office, approximately 1,200 UCSD students are expected to study abroad in some capacity in 2011-12. UCSD Programs Abroad Office Director Kelly O’Sullivan said the federal grant would help many students with financial troubles that may otherwise have prevented studying abroad. “We are extremely appreciative of the State Department’s commitment to the Gilman Scholarship Program, especially in light of the fact that 40 percent of UC San Diego students who study abroad rank as High Need for financial aid eligibility,” O’Sullivan said. “Our office has increased the number of Gilman Scholarship information sessions and scholarship essay writing workshops to improve the competitiveness of our UC San Diego students’ applications.” Readers can contact Zev Hurwitz at zhurwitz@ucsd.edu.
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Tuesday Height: 1.5-2.5 ft. Wind: 7-15 mph Water Temp: 57 F
Wednesday Height: 4.5 ft. Wind: 7-14 mph Water Temp: 57 F
Thursday Height: 2 ft. Wind: 5-13 mph Water Temp: 57 F
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INSIDE Birdland..................................2 Lights and Sirens....................3 Field Notes.............................4 Letters to the Editor................5 Uncommon Folk.....................6 Sudoku...................................9 Sports...................................12