Watchdogs’ Bark Wards Off Big Bite

NORTHRIDGE — Cal State Northridge administrators surely had no inkling of what to expect when Brad Marsh persuaded fraternity brother Jon Hatemi to join him in running on a student government slate last spring.

Hatemi and Marsh are no ordinary college kids. Indeed, Hatemi is no kid at all, having turned 26 on Dec. 15.

The 1989 Canyon High graduate is a six-year veteran of the U.S. Army, including three years as a military police officer stationed in Korea.

He and Marsh have become wary watchdogs of top-level decisions at Northridge and vociferous advocates of restoring four men’s sports that administrators temporarily cut last summer.

In addition to his role as vice president of the Associated Students, Hatemi has served on two committees that have made important recommendations directly affecting the university’s future.

He was among three student representatives on the task force on intercollegiate athletics, and he was on the committee whose work resulted in Northridge hiring a vice president for fund-raising.

Although younger than Hatemi, Marsh, 22, the student president, is equally tenacious. A Grant High graduate, Marsh has been involved in Northridge student government since 1994.

Marsh, an English major who plans on attending graduate school, will not run again after his term expires in May.

Hatemi, a sociology major, is not going away any time soon. He is running for student president for the 1998-99 school year. He plans to graduate in June 1999, then move on to law school.

“My army experience is definitely a plus,” Hatemi said. “The administration has learned they cannot push me around, not like an average 20-year-old student.

“I try to be as thorough as I can and understand all the information relating to an issue. I think [administrators] are used to students who blow off the details.”

Hatemi and Marsh, members of Pi Kappa Alpha, studied the fine print on a fee referendum Northridge students passed in 1995 to increase the students’ contribution to athletics from about $200,000 to more than $1.5 million.

They discovered that student leaders can hold back the cash if they disagree with the direction of the athletic department. Ten days after they took office, the pair held a news conference to say they would do exactly that unless baseball, volleyball, soccer and swimming were permanently restored.

Northridge President Blenda J. Wilson reinstated the sports through 1998-99 on Monday, but pointed out that students must again increase their contribution to athletics.

The task for Marsh and Hatemi will be to persuade students to vote for a fee hike. They believe a referendum will pass.

“I have made athletics a priority issue because strong athletics help the academic side of a university by connecting alumni and the community with the university,” Hatemi said.

The baseball team showed its appreciation by making Hatemi and Marsh honorary members and giving them jerseys.

They won’t be suiting up. But as long as at least one of them hangs his hat in the Associated Students offices, administrators know their every decision will be scrutinized.