CSUN CONFRONTATION: Cal State Northridge was the...

CSUN CONFRONTATION: Cal State Northridge was the scene of a classic ‘60s student takeover, and efforts to commemorate its 25th anniversary next week are proving no less unruly (B5). African-American students, celebrating the establishment of a black studies department in the takeover’s aftermath, invited the controversial leader of the Nation of Islam, Minister Louis Farrakhan, to speak. When Jewish students scheduled an alternative event, black student leaders accused the Jews of “Hitlerian tactics” and “blatantly undermining and disrespecting” the Farrakhan event. . . . Campus President Blenda Wilson in turn criticized the black protest as “insulting and disrespectful to Jews.”

LESS IS MORE: There’s good news and bad for Metro Rail fans in the $170-million funding bill President Clinton signed Wednesday, providing $33 million to extend the subway system to Lankershim and Chandler boulevards in North Hollywood (B5). On one hand, that’s less than the $190 million city officials wanted . . . On the other, it beats the $150 million they expected.

HAPPY FEET: Adios, salsa. Forget lambada . Today’s dance is la quebradita , which looks rather like a combination Texas two-step and Highland fling. Hundreds of enthusiasts gather on weekends at banda clubs in Panorama City and Sun Valley . . . The music, born in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, began with Mexicans playing pop music on army band instruments (no strings), says Everto Ruiz, a Cal State Northridge Chicano studies professor. Instruments meant for Mexican military marches now blare out U. S. tunes like “Under the Boardwalk,” with Spanish lyrics. See Valley Life! Page 3

PLAY NICE: Can childhood influences shape an athlete’s style? Consider for example CSUN’s Armando Valdivia, who leads the nation’s college soccer players in assists (C10). Perhaps it’s in his blood, after years of sharing beds, clothes, sorrows and joy with his hardscrabble immigrant family. . . . In photos, he says, “Back then we look so happy--and we were . . . always sharing.”