Prolific ‘Chaka’ Seeks to Change His Tag From Vandal to Artist : Graffiti: Daniel Bernardo Ramos, who served time for his scrawlings, says he has turned his life around and hopes to enter Cal State Northridge. He has even found an agent.

“Chaka,” the brash young graffiti vandal who police said scrawled his moniker in at least 10,000 places from the Golden Gate Bridge to Disneyland, causing $500,000 in damage, has applied to attend Cal State Northridge to study art.

Daniel Bernardo Ramos, 20, who served 90 days for vandalism and other offenses, now paints himself as a changed man.

“I used to be Chaka and now I’m Daniel Ramos, the artist,” he said Monday.

But university officials say Ramos’ chances of obtaining financial aid may be slim because he filed his financial aid application late and grants and scholarships are dispensed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Warren Furumoto, CSUN associate vice president for academic services, said the university is giving Ramos no special treatment because of his notoriety as Los Angeles’ most prolific graffiti “tagger.”

“I don’t know that there is anything particularly special about his application over anyone else,” he said.

Furumoto said he does not know whether Ramos has the academic qualifications to attend the university but said Ramos’ application for financial aid was due in February and was only recently turned in.

Nonetheless, many who have dealt with Ramos during his legal entanglements say they are happy that he is trying to make a brighter future for himself.

“I don’t have a problem with someone who is having trouble and is trying to change his tune,” said Peter H. Shutan, the Los Angeles deputy city attorney who prosecuted Ramos. “I know there are a lot of people who wanted us to hang him up from his toes.”

Shutan said he believes that Ramos can be an example to other taggers.

“I think he can provide some positive impact on the current explosion of graffiti,” he said.

Deputy Public Defender Yvonne Velazquez, who defended Ramos, said Ramos had a poor attitude about himself before he was sent to jail and now has a better outlook on life.

“His attitude is different,” she said. “It’s more positive.”

His probation officer, who asked that his name not be published, said: “He looks like he’s getting his act together.”

Ramos was first arrested in November, 1990, as he marked a traffic light in Lincoln Heights with his name. He pleaded no contest to 10 counts of vandalism and was placed on three years probation.

But only 24 hours after being released from jail, he allegedly struck again on a courthouse elevator door while on his way to visit his probation officer. He was arrested six months later on suspicion of trespassing in Griffith Park and possession of marijuana. He was sentenced to serve 90 days in a Sheriff’s Department “boot camp.”

As part of his sentence, Ramos was required to perform 900 hours of community service spent painting over graffiti. He said he has about 600 hours remaining on his sentence.

Ramos said he decided to turn his life around while he was at the Regimented Inmate Diversion program at the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho in Castaic.

He said he “tagged” because it was the only way to keep from turning to gangs and drugs in his Boyle Heights neighborhood. “I just wanted to get out of the Aliso Village housing projects, the ghetto life, the flying bullets and the drugs,” he said.

Ramos earned the equivalent of a high school diploma while at the county diversion program and plans to take a summer course at CSUN to prepare him for the academic demands that will be required of him.

Meanwhile, Ramos--like many good artists--has already found an agent to guide his career. Jeannette Nunez, who describes herself as an artist representative from Alhambra, said she recognized Ramos’ artistic talent by looking at his graffiti.

Nunez said she met Ramos through several other young Latino artists who have also turned to her for guidance.

“We looked at him and we saw that he was crying out for help,” she said.