NORTHRIDGE : CSUN Recalls the ’94 Quake With Exhibits

To commemorate last year’s 6.7 earthquake, Cal State Northridge is hosting a weeklong series of exhibits, lectures and even a movie premiere about the university’s experiences during the temblor.

The university Monday kicked off the anniversary week of the university’s reopening after the quake with a slide show and talk by Mike Davis, author of “City of Quartz.”

Davis’ talk, “How Eden Lost Its Garden: The Politics of Landscape in L.A,” included remarks about the consequences of development in hazardous zones, like the homes built in the 1920s and 1930s in the hills of Los Angeles.

Two exhibits also opened Monday at the university. One featured quake photographs taken by photojournalists.

Mary Francis Smith, a CSUN student, said she enjoyed the way photographs were displayed on two rows of chain-link fence.

“It’s really effective,” she said. “I think photography is an amazing storyteller,” she added, as she peered at pictures of the devastation that accompanied the quake.

Another student, Roger Stepp, looked at a photograph of the collapsed Simi Valley Freeway and recalled that he had driven across that stretch of the freeway just two hours before the quake hit.

“Epicenter U,” a film produced at CSUN, premiered Monday night and will be shown again at 3 p.m. today.

CSUN President Blenda J. Wilson will unveil a monument to the university’s staff and faculty Tuesday at 12:20 p.m. memorializing their help in reopening the university just four weeks after the earthquake. Wilson paid for the monument south of the Oviatt Library.

Other highlights of the week include a lecture by seismologist Lucy Jones today, a live broadcast of the Michael Jackson radio show Friday, the actual anniversary of the school’s reopening, and a tribute to community organizations at the campus book store.