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IRVINE : UCI Student Group Starts Hunger Strike

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Members of an Asian-American student group at UC Irvine began a hunger strike and camp-out “vigil” Thursday in protest over what they see as the university’s slow response to their longstanding demands for an Asian-American studies program.

The students said they plan to live in tents outside UCI’s Cross-Cultural Center and go without food in shifts for the next month, until the academic term ends.

Organizers announced the hunger strike at a press conference Thursday afternoon after the passing of the deadline they had set for acting Chancellor L. Dennis Smith to respond to their demands.

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They want the university to allocate four future teaching positions for an Asian-American studies program, give students a role in recruitment and retention of professors of Asian and Pacific-American studies and hire two coordinators for Asian-American programs.

Asian students make up about 40% of the student population at UCI.

“How can UCI boast that it is a world-class institution when they don’t have an (Asian-American studies) program?” said 20-year-old economics major Charles Lee. “We want to show that there is definitely interest on this campus for Asian-American studies.”

Lee and the other protesters hoped that Smith would attend Thursday’s event. Instead, university officials distributed a written statement that highlighted UCI’s efforts to expand Asian-American educational programs.

The two-page statement said that the university is recruiting candidates for three teaching positions for an Asian-American studies program and that students are allowed under university policy to sit on faculty search committees.

It also listed several prominent Asian-American writers--including playwright Frank Chin and novelist Maxine Hong Kingston--who have recently given talks on campus.

The statement did little to sway the protesters, who said that the three Asian-American faculty positions had been promised for more than a year and that the university should strive to hire a total of seven.

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As for the guest lecturers, Lee said: “They don’t teach here. They give their opinions . . . and never see the university again. . . . It’s not enough.”

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