VOLUME 49, ISSUE 55
MONDAY, MAY 16, 2016
WWW.UCSDGUARDIAN.ORG
CAMPUS
UCSD
CONTRACT CHEATING
Students Send List of Demands to University Student groups MEChA and MiRA called for changes to the DEI requirement and for community-specific housing. BY BECCA CHONG
ILLUSTRATION BY CHRISTINA CARLSON /GUARDIAN
FRUSTRATED BY THEIR WRITING ASSIGNMENTS, MANY STUDENTS TURN TO CONTRACT CHEATING COMPANIES TO WRITE THEIR ESSAYS. READ ABOUT THIS TROUBLING PHENOMENON AND THE STEPS UCSD FACULTY IS TAKING TO COMBAT IT. FEATURES, PAGE 6
EQUITABLE EDUCATION
IS UCSD READY FOR D1? A LOOK AT UCSD SPORTS BY DATA SPORTS, Page 6
FORECAST
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WHAT I’VE GAINED FROM THIS FORAY IS THAT WE, PARTICULARLY HETEROSEXUAL CISGENDERED MALES, SHOULD NOT TAKE OUR PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY AT FACE-VALUE.”
— VINCENT PHAM BOY, INTERRUPTED OPINION, PAGE 4
INSIDE DISEASE OF THE WEEK ... 2 FILTERING FACEBOOK ..... 4 BEHIND THE LECTERN..... 8 CROSSWORD/SUDOKU.. 10 BASEBALL .................... 11
See SFSU, page 3
See DEMANDS, page 3
University Officials Shut Down Display on Library Walk By jacky to UCSD administration ordered the removal of a display from the Silent Tree area in front of Geisel Library last Wednesday, citing concerns regarding pedestrian safety. A.S. Vice President of External Affairs Krystl Fabella, whose office was responsible for putting up the display, aimed to use the display to engage students and promote “critical, necessary dialogue about race, oppression, and inequality.” UCSD Communications Manager Christine Clark explained to the UCSD Guardian that was not safe for enough to be placed in such a populated area. “The Silent Tree location where the display was installed is not a reservable space for free-standing displays, stages and events,” Clark said in an email. “More importantly, this display, which consisted of 7 large boards, was not affixed to a stable supporting structure and were susceptible to being blown over. Measuring over 6 feet tall, the boards posed a safety hazard in an area used heavily by pedestrians, skateboarders and cyclists. Had the display been reserved through the proper channels, then measures could have been taken in advance to ensure they were safely installed.”
news editor After being alerted that the display threatened student safety, Fabella and her office immediately took the display down. However, though she admitted she did not complete the full procedure required to reserve the space, she disclosed to the Guardian that a university official inappropriately shouted at her in public for the incident. “There was nuanced protocol that I was made aware of that I missed, to which I took responsibility for immediately, but I was proceeded to be verbally attacked, yelled at, and patronized by an admin figure in public, accused of being disruptive and defiant,” Fabella said. “I walked him through the good-faith effort of procedure I did, describing where I might have missed authority to pass through to use the free speech zone (which is in itself so ambiguously defined) … [but] it’s frustrating, the undermining that admin takes to students in our good faith efforts of activism, the bad intentions assumed in what should be a learning grounds and a learning institution where marginalized community issues continue to be stifled.” Furthermore, Fabella revealed that the university official
See DISPLAY, page 3
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VERBATIM
track positions. Both sides also agreed to a media blackout, during which neither the administration nor faculty and students will make public statements regarding the protests and subsequent resolution for the rest of the current academic year. Andrew Jolivette, Chair of the American Indian Studies Department at the College of Ethnic Studies, told NBC that the students’ actions have helped to strengthen the College and ensure that it continues to expand. “Their sacrifice was a selfless act that make us all proud of them,” Jolivette said. “This is a huge step in advancing the healthy growth of the College of Ethnic Studies, and I look forward to the next phases of planning to bring the
Photo courtesy of Seda Byurat
HOW INEQUITIES ARE PERPETUATED OPINION, Page 4
In response to the recent chalking incidents at UCSD, the student groups Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlan and Migrants Rights Awareness created a list of 33 demands in collaboration with several other student organizations and campus entities. The demands are aimed at addressing the administration’s lack of response to the incidents as well as more widespread issues of racism and xenophobia in the San Diego and UC communities. The lists encompasses a variety of issues, including the well-being of the student population, changes to the diversity, equity and inclusion graduation requirement, the creation of more community-specific housing, increased representation of minorities among faculty and staff and an increase in accountability throughout the hiring process of upper-level administration, among others. Eleanor Roosevelt College junior Sonia Garcia Avelar, the chair of MiRA and one of the signers of the demand list, emphasized that while the list addresses the recent chalking incidents, it is meant to be proactive rather than reactionary; she explained how the demands are grounded in realistic expectations that are meant to be a starting point for improving UCSD. “We felt like we signed off on things that are very feasible and tangible, things that have already been ‘worked on’ by administration, or things that have been brought up consistently,” Avelar told the UCSD Guardian. “Ideally all 33 demands would be met, but we also have to acknowledge that [the creation of this list is] taking steps forward to make this a more diverse, equitable and inclusive university, [while] also acknowledging the fact that the foundation of the university was never meant for underrepresented communities or people of color.” Rosaura Sanchez, a professor of Latin American and Chicano literature, offered her perspective on the proposed changes to the university’s Diversity, Education, and Inclusion requirement: first changing the course to a mandatory letter-grade, adding a second course, making them more accessible to non-American students and
CSU SYSTEM
SFSU Agrees to Increase Ethnic Studies Funding The settlement ended a 10-day student hunger strike protesting proposed cuts to the department. BY MARIA SEBAS
NEWS EDITORIAL ASSISTANT After a 10-day hunger strike, four San Francisco State University students reached an agreement with SFSU President Leslie Wong to provide additional funding for the university’s College of Ethnic Studies on May 11. As part of the settlement, the administration will allocate an additional $482,806 to the ethnic studies program. The students — Hassani Bell, Julia Retzlaff, Sachiel Rose and Ahkeel Mestayer — initiated the hunger strike in response to proposed budget cuts to the College of Ethnic Studies and demanded that the university invest $8 million in the college. The hunger strikers call themselves “the Third World Liberation Front 2016,” which takes its name from
the 1968-69 protests against the neglect of indigenous peoples and people of color within the university’s curriculum and programs. These protests laid the groundwork for the establishment of the College of Ethnic Studies. In addition to further investment in the College, the students and protesters voiced support for the ethnic studies faculty’s demand that the university hire two fulltime faculty members for the department of Africana studies. Although the department approved the two candidates last fall, the administration decided last week that the department did not have enough funds to hire them. The administration will use nearly half of the promised funds — $213,120 — to satisfy this demand and to secure the two new tenure-