Protest Targets Student Newspaper

A Chicano student group at Cal State Northridge has launched a protest against the campus paper over what it says was a harsh and insensitive editorial supporting a new state requirement that sets penalties for remedial freshmen who fail to catch up.

The editorial was published in the Sundial a week ago under the headline “How Did They Get Here in the First Place?” It endorsed a measure that requires freshmen in the California State University system to be flunked out if they fail to fulfill remedial requirements in their first academic year.

The editorial added: “If students who attend CSUN cannot pass a remedial English or math class, do not admit them into the university to begin with.” It ends with the rhetorical question: “Isn’t it better to pull the weed out by its root, instead of merely snipping the ends?”

The editorial did not mention any ethnic group, but some Latino students said it indirectly targeted them. Last fall, 75% of Latino freshmen needed remediation in math, as did 70% in English. That compares to 63% of all Northridge freshmen needing remediation in math and 59% in English. Statewide, 54% of all fall 1998 freshmen needed remedial math and 47% needed remedial English.

At an Associated Students meeting Tuesday, two members of MEChA--an acronym for Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan--criticized the paper and suggested that its funding be cut off.

“They say they are an independent paper, but they receive $16,000 in student fees,” said Astrid Martinez, a member of the student government and MEChA. Martinez said she objected to the harsh tone of the editorial and said MEChA members felt singled out because “stereotypically, they are the ones taking remedial classes.”

Robert Hanff, president of the committee that oversees funding for the Sundial, said funding would not be withdrawn.

Marjorie Garcia, another MEChA member, said the editorial was insensitive. “It wasn’t tasteful at all,” she said.

Meanwhile, the paper’s editorial board has refused to apologize for the editorial, which sparked a protest by 30 Latino students at the Sundial office a week ago. Sundial Editor Brian Franks filed a complaint with the campus police against the protesters for allegedly disturbing the peace and making threats.

Franks said the Sundial will publish an editorial today suggesting that kindergarten through 12th grade schools do a better job. In addition, the editorial will suggest that high school graduates not ready for four-year universities should first attend community colleges.

“I’m in a confusing situation here,” he said. “I support their right to protest and I can see where they’re coming from, but at the same time we have a 1st Amendment right to publish an editorial.”

The state measure, Executive Order 665, took effect last fall to signal to California’s primary and secondary schools the need for tougher standards and to shift the focus of first-year college students from remediation to college-level work. The Cal State system has been overburdened with remedial students, officials complain.

“It’s very clear to us who they were targeting,” said Gerald Resendez, chairman of the Chicano studies department. “They’re saying minority students are here and should not be here, and are taking the places of other students that should be here.”

The measure has been the subject of several protests, and minority students have been among its most ardent critics. By fall 1999, 193 students, or 8% of Cal State Northridge’s fall 1998 freshmen, had flunked out because of the measure. Systemwide figures are not yet available.

Franks said it was not the paper’s intent to offend any minority, and he plans to discuss the matter in a meeting today with MEChA leaders.