NORTHRIDGE : CSUN Students Launch Fund to Help Buy Books

The Cal State Northridge student government has stepped in to provide earthquake aid that relief agencies can’t.

CSUN Associated Students have created an emergency fund to help students to buy books for this semester. The move followed a special post-earthquake meeting to discuss the needs of students, many of whom were impoverished or displaced by the Jan. 17 earthquake, Lazar said.

Also in the works is a housing database that the student government is compiling to help homeless students find new homes near campus.

Student leaders wanted to provide aid that would be specific to CSUN students, whose two biggest needs are for books and apartments, said Rodney Lazar, vice president of CSUN Associated Students. “Books are one of those things no one is even thinking of now,” he said.

So far, about $20,000 has been pledged for the book fund from student government organizations at other Cal State campuses. CSUN Associated Students has committed an additional $5,000 from its own coffers and will match any new contributions. The organization is soliciting donations to boost the fund.

Only students who can show financial hardship will be eligible, Lazar said.

Meanwhile, the Associated Students began compiling listings of housing available within a three-mile radius of the campus after the college switchboard received a spate of calls from landlords offering housing. More than 100 locations are now listed on computer printouts posted in the student union building.

For more information about the CSUN emergency book fund, call 885-2477.