Reported by Rachel Smith, Richa Naik and Marc Beja. Compiled by Thomas Garry:
Just minutes before a planned 12 p.m. rally, Public Safety officers stormed Take Back NYU's third floor barricades, according to Emily Stainkamp, Take Back NYU's spokeswoman. Just past noon, five non-NYU students walked out of the front door of Kimmel Center after they were granted amnesty from the university for their peaceful cooperation. All remaining NYU students have been told they will be expelled, Stainkamp told WSN. Four NYU students have taken to the dining hall's balcony, because they said they are fearful of fifteen Public Safety officers who have entered the barricade. All students still inside Kimmel Center will either be suspended or arrested, according to university officials. "This morning the university summarily suspended the remaining students," university spokesman John Beckman said in a statement. "Any non-NYU students will be turned over to the police for arrest as trespassers; we will notify their schools of the participation in improper activity. Any students who refuse to identify themselves will be assumed to be non-NYU students."
The Times goes into depth on their city blog about a new lawsuit filed by Chinatown tenants against a New York private equity group for the harassment they endure from their landlords. From the post:
The complaint says the harassment by the landlord includes disrupting three tenant meetings by calling the police; rejecting rent payments; frivolously pursuing legal eviction proceedings; suspending essential services for a prolonged period of time; and ordering tenants to remove Chinese cultural symbols and decorations from their doors.I find this news awesome, as these harassment tactics have long been used to kick lower income tenants from their communities. Go, CAAAV!
NYU BUILDING TAKEOVER!!!
At approximately 10pm (Feb. 18), students of Take Back NYU! took over the Kimmel Marketplace. They blockaded the doors and declared an occupation! They presented their demands to the NYU administration. They read as follows:
DEMANDS
We, the students of NYU, declare an occupation of this space. This occupation is the culmination of a two-year campaign by the Take Back NYU! coalition, and of campaigns from years past, in whose footsteps we follow.
In order to create a more accountable, democratic and socially responsible university, we demand the following:
1. Full legal and disciplinary amnesty for all parties involved in the occupation.
2. Full compensation for all employees whose jobs were disrupted during the course of the occupation.
3. Public release of NYU's annual operating budget, including a full list of university expenditures, salaries for all employees compensated on a semester or annual basis, funds allocated for staff wages, contracts to non-university organizations for university construction and services, financial aid data for each college, and money allocated to each college, department, and administrative unit of the university. Furthermore, this should include a full disclosure of the amount and sources of the university's funding.
4. Disclosure of NYU's endowment holdings, investment strategy, projected endowment growth, and persons, corporations and firms involved in the investment of the university's endowment funds. Additionally, we demand an endowment oversight body of students, faculty and staff who exercise shareholder proxy voting power for the university's investments.
5. That the NYU Administration agrees to resume negotiations with GSOC/UAW Local 2110 – the union for NYU graduate assistants, teaching assistants, and research assistants. That NYU publically affirm its commitment to respect all its workers, including student employees, by recognizing their right to form unions and to bargain collectively. That NYU publically affirm that it will recognize workers' unions through majority card verification.
6. That NYU signs a contract guaranteeing fair labor practices for all NYU employees at home and abroad. This contract will extend to subcontracted workers, including bus drivers, food service employees and anyone involved in the construction, operation and maintenance at any of NYU's non-U.S. sites.
7. The establishment of a student elected Socially Responsible Finance Committee. This Committee will have full power to vote on proxies, draft shareholder resolutions, screen all university investments, establish new programs that encourage social and environmental responsibility and override all financial decisions the committee deems socially irresponsible, including investment decisions. The committee will be composed of two subcommittees: one to assess the operating budget and one to assess the endowment holdings. Each committee will be composed of ten students democratically elected from the graduate and under-graduate student bodies. All committee decisions will be made a strict majority vote, and will be upheld by the university. All members of the Socially Responsible Finance Committee will sit on the board of trustees, and will have equal voting rights. All Socially Responsible Finance Committee and Trustee meetings shall be open to the public, and their minutes made accessible electronically through NYU's website. Elections will be held the second Tuesday of every March beginning March 10th 2009, and meetings will be held biweekly beginning the week of March 30th 2009.
8. That the first two orders of business of the Socially Responsible Finance committee will be:
a) An in depth investigation of all investments in war and genocide profiteers, as well as companies profiting from the occupation of Palestinian territories.
b) A reassessment of the recently lifted of the ban on Coca Cola products.
9. That annual scholarships be provided for thirteen Palestinian students, starting with the 2009/2010 academic year. These scholarships will include funding for books, housing, meals and travel expenses.
10. That the university donate all excess supplies and materials in an effort to rebuild the University of Gaza.
11. Tuition stabilization for all students, beginning with the class of 2012. All students will pay their initial tuition rate throughout the course of their education at New York University. Tuition rates for each successive year will not exceed the rate of inflation, nor shall they exceed one percent. The university shall meet 100% of government-calculated student financial need.
12. That student groups have priority when reserving space in the buildings owned or leased by New York University, including, and especially, the Kimmel Center.
13. That the general public have access to Bobst Library.
Along with this, students have issued a
SOLIDARITY STATEMENT
We, the students of Take Back NYU! declare our solidarity with the student [sleepovers] in Greece, Italy, and the United Kingdom, as well as those of the University of Rochester, the New School for Social Research, and with future [sleepovers] to come in the name of democracy and student power. We stand in solidarity with the University of Gaza, and with the people of Palestine.
From Sayaka Hanada:
I am contacting you on the behalf of Wincheng Lin and All4Win for help in finding Wincheng Lin a bone marrow match, a life saving cure to her leukemia.
Please join All4Win, OCA-NY, the Greater Chinatown Community Association, DKMS and NYC Councilman John Liu for our second round of registration drives.
*Saturday, February 21 from 10am - 3pm*
*Charles B. Wang Community Center *
*268 Canal Street (between Lafayette & Broadway)*
Thank you for your support! If you would like to volunteer for thisevent, please contact Bertha Cheng (bertha.cheng@gmail.com)
In 1998, Jeanette Moy and Wincheng Lin (University of Rochester, Class of '02) held a bone marrow registry drive at the University of Rochester to find a match for their high school friend David Li, a MIT undergraduate. On June 9, 2006, 27 year-old Wincheng Lin was diagnosed with AUL, an extremely rare combination of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, with a tumor the size of a grapefruit in her chest. She completed several rounds of chemotherapy and emerged from Rochester General Hospital in good health and strong spirits.
It has been approximately two years since Wincheng achieved remission on December 15, 2006. However on December 31, 2008, Wincheng learned that the leukemia had relapsed. In order to beat this cancer, she will need a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, neither of Wincheng's two sisters are bone marrow matches for her. So far, no match has been found. It's up to us to help her find a match.
All4Win is a cadre of UR alumni, Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority, Inc. sisters, close friends, and family (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2433106193#/ ) that have been organizing various efforts to help Wincheng find a match. You can find out more about the Registry, how to join the Registry, upcoming bone marrow registry drives, how to receive a free registry home-kit, and more.group.php?gid=60219780730
To learn more, please see our Facebook group All4Win, email us at all4wincheng@gmail.com, or visit Wincheng's day-to-day blog http://all4win.wordpress.com/. Our next bone marrow registry drive is in NYC's Chinatown on February 21, 2009. Hope to see you there!
Please encourage your fellow members to stop by. And remember - only 15% of minority leukemia patients successfully find a match.
If you're interested in organizing a bone marrow drive on campus, please let me know and I would be more than happy to help you. Thank you so much for your time and support!
-- Sayaka Hanada (sh2792@columbia.edu)
It's amazing how much the internet loves this guy. He's shown up on my Google Reader at least five times.
Our beloved Dean Nair, who departed Columbia last summer to tread Penn's waters, has kept himself busy. His book, which was released in October, finally has a release party! See below:
Celebrating the hard work of the editors & contributors to this great collection of essays about South Asian American identity and hip hop
Saturday, February 21, 2009
6:00 - 8:00 pm
Hall of Flags (Houston Hall)
3417 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA
Hosted by UPenn South Asia Society
We still miss you, Dean N.
From Cayleen Nakamura:
The Go For Broke National Education Center is proud to partner with the Yamada-Scott Family Foundation to present the Eiro Yamada Memorial Scholarship program. This program offers college-bound high school seniors, undergraduate and graduate students who are descendants of World War II Japanese American veterans, an opportunity to receive financial scholarships ranging from $500 to $1,000. Deadline to apply is April 6, 2009.
Details of the scholarship criteria, as well as application form is attached and will be posted to the Go For Broke National Education Center's website shortly. Please help us in getting the word out on this scholarship opportunity and encourage students you know to apply.
Any questions, please feel free to contact me via email at cayleen@goforbroke.org or by calling Julia at 310/222-5710
Thank you.
It's that time of the year again! The time when a few NYC schools gather and plan the crazy awesomeness that is the New York City Asian American Student Conference (i.e. NYCAASC, i.e. Nye-Sack). We'll keep you updated on what's to come, but for now, here is the "official" postcard:
This year's NYCAASC theme is ACT: Empowering Our Generation. The conference will take place on April 18th, 9:30 AM, at the New York University Kimmel Center (60 Washington Square South). As soon as the site's up and running, register at www.nycaasc.com!
Magnetic North & Taiyo Na Boston Tour (2.20 -2.21.09)
Friday, February 20, 2009
8 pm
$3
East Meets West Bookstore
934 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02139
http://bostonprogress.org/
(Limited seating, so come early)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
7 pm
$8 advance / $10 at the door
Boston University
alpha Kappa Delta Phi and BU China Care Fund present...
The Fourth Annual HOPE: A Cultural Freestyle 2009
Also featuring Kevin So!
871 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA 02155
http://people.bu.edu/buccf/
Saturday, February 21, 2009
8 pm
No admission fee (NU ID +1 guest)
Northeastern University
Curry Student Center Ballroom
360 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115
http://www.northeastern.edu/
From Rahel Aima:
As some of you may know, the faculty have composed a letter addressing President Bollinger's silence regarding academic freedom in Palestine. They have collected over a hundred faculty signatures thus far, and are now hoping to gather student signatures in support.
This letter will be made public Monday, but it would be great to have an already sizable list of student signatures. Please take a minute to show your support.
To read and sign the letter: http://www.academicfreedomcolumbia.org/
Please forward this far/wide!
Our favorite ladies Diana and Jen from Disgrasian have started vlogging! Their first piece is on the "pantless" trend that has been circulating lately:
Fierce.
Event alert!
Gender, Sex and Intimacy: Translated for students of color
Satow Room
Thursday 2/19 @ 6:00PM
The United Students of Color Council would like to invite you to be part of "Gender, Sex and Intimacy: Translated for Students of Color." Along with Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Program (SVPRP), USCC wants to have this workshop to create a space for discussion about these important issues that students of color tend to avoid and are not usually talked about.
We will be exploring issues of consent, sexual violence, and gender role socialization, both as an outcome of internalized stereotypes and our volitional efforts to conform to them, in communities of color. In particular, we will look at how gender roles and stereotypes differ among racial groups and how that effects relationships, the devaluation of female student leadership on campus, and the silence on gendered violence as an attempt to prevent internal discord within disadvantaged groups and to preserve the image and praxis of a unified community of color. We will also be examining how these issues are influenced by greater institutional forms of inequality like racism and class-ism. The purpose of this workshop is to see how we can apply what we learn in order to create institutional memories for each group to build a culture of consent within our own communities.
Free dinner provided!
MANOJ from Zia Mohajerjasbi on Vimeo.
Via the A Song For Ourselves blog, embedded here is a wicked mockumentary about a comic named Manoj - making fun of accents, comedy, white fans... Check it out and soak up that irony. The real life comic goes by the name of Hari Kondabolu, and can be found here and here.
This isn't the first time I'll be linking the A Song For Ourselves blog, which I found via Angry Asian Man (see sidebar). (This blogging thing is nuts!) Tons more of interest.
Enjoy!
PaperDoll, who performed at CultureShock, is headlining the "Bronx Underground Revolution" at Bruckner Bar (1 Bruckner Blvd) in the Bronx next Saturday. The show is 18+, $7 cover and $5 if you print out the flyer below:
