At this point, it's pretty obvious that whatever praise or criticisms I give will sound ripped off the commentaries of CU-Strike, Spec, and Bwog. So I'm going to let my commendations remain on the previous entry and move on.

It's easy to package campus events into convenient, airtight time frames; on Facebook, many happenings have set beginnings and ends in a typical "8:00-9:30 PM" fashion. It seems that the CU-Strike blog's sudden silence and packing up of South Lawn tents have marked an equally definitive end to the past two weeks' madness. The general climate on campus seems lighter and happier (partly due to the impending break). So has the wish, "We just want this shit to end", been granted? Can the groups against the Hunger Strike rest in peace?

During last night's IRC One Love/Open Mic event, over a heavenly plate of baked mac & cheese, a friend and I shared some casual conversation about these concerns.

And this is what I learned: Yes, students involved with the strike have consented to hitting the books again. Since South Lawn was cleared, the Kulawiks of Columbia/Barnard don't have to worry anymore about the Gentrification Octopus intruding on their finely-sliced-and-doused-with-wine lives. But they should savor the peace and quiet while they can, because Expansion into Harlem (Demand #3) has mostly been left untouched.

The Manhattanville expansion issue is another time bomb waiting to explode. The Harlem community and groups on campus have been working closely together since before the strike, so don't expect #3 to go ignored (Sorry, Colombo - we see how schlumped and bored you get after meetings). Plus, given the rate at which things have been going, I wouldn't be surprised if some campus riots were to take place in the next few days or weeks.

(Note: there's also a new Barnard dialogue tent. Figure it out.)

It seems so. Read about it here.

From my crappy but beloved camera phone:


A candle in a Dixie cup.


Supporters at the vigil. About 200 showed up.


That is a candle on David's poor phone.

The Justice Will Be Served! campaign is alive and kicking. Check out their newest action against Ollie's, (blogged by the NYT here) another chapter in the fight against discriminatory practices at restaurants like Saigon Grill and Flor de Mayo, among others. Nice going!


In other news, my sister's gifting me a copy of Chang-Rae Lee's Native Speaker when I get home this winter. Will The Blaaag start doing book reviews? (Uhm, depends how quickly I finish...) Oh wait, don't we have two Blaaag writers in Wen Jin's Asian American Literature? Riiight.


P.S. There's good news over at the hunger strike blog. Check it out! (Three of four issues conceded upon? Yes.)

P.P.S. Our co-editor Mar got a picture in the Spectator h-strike vigil slideshow. (Picture nine, here.)


Awww!

At noon, a reporter from Al Jazeera approached Bryan Mercer for an interview.

Yes, the Al Jazeera.

As many of you are aware, many individuals including one of our own have been on a hunger strike for the past 4 days. Unfortunately, due to the extrenuating circumstances, aretha felt ill today and is currently recovering at St. Luke's.

Lena, David, Shilpa, and I are at the hospital right now and according to the people tending to her, she is doing fine and recovering well.

please join me in wishing her the best as she has our unconditional love and support.

C

---

Read about it here.

Also: as one striker exits, five more (incl. a professor) enter.

Community members and students gather on Low Steps to show solidarity with banners, posters, flyers, and speeches.

We, members of the Asian American Alliance Political Committee, stand in solidarity with the hunger strikers and the demands that they have made, and extend our political, personal, and emotional support to the strikers and the movement for which they stand.

We deplore the acts of hatred and racism that have shocked and tainted our campus over the past several weeks, and, like the strikers, seek an administration that will better hear the concerns of student populations that are so easily and readily marginalized. We have been active participants in advocating the amelioration of Ethnic Studies programs for years, and see our intellectual and organizational endeavors as part of this collective campaign for student demands to be met. Moreover, we recognize the inextricable ties between the different issues and concerns that the strikers have put forth, and that any one matter cannot be abstracted from the others.

We celebrate a long-standing history of Asian American students’ participation in struggles for justice and equality, including in the student protests of 1996 at Columbia that led to the formation of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race and Asian American Studies as a discipline—-and similar efforts on campuses all across the country. We encourage all concerned students, Asian American or not, at Columbia or elsewhere, to also stand in support of the strikers, and for what they fight.

As famed Asian American activist Yuri Kochiyama once said, "I don't think there will ever be a time when people will stop wanting to bring about change." May this be the next chapter in that legacy of struggle.

-the Asian American Alliance Political Committee

This Blaaag'er here just did a nine-hour late night shift at the tents.

More pics up soon... but here is some other news.

1. We are hosting an speaker on Saturday - Mayor Jun H. Choi of Edison, NJ will speak in a lecture titled, "Campaign Management & Political Advocacy: Preparing for the 2008 Elections". We are partnering for this event with Columbia's Korean Students Association as well as our law school's Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA). Do join us - Lerner Cinema, 11:30am - 1:30pm. As one of the first and only Asian American mayors in the United States, his lecture will no doubt be an informative one.

2. Intercultural Benefit Dinner! Talk about a classy affair... The Chinese Students Club is putting on this semi-formal event bringing together foods of different cultures to benefit Action Against Hunger. Check it out: Lerner C555, Saturday 6:00pm to 8:00pm.

3. Diwali Celebration by the Hindu Students Organization and Ahimsa! I just get really excited about this every year. Celebrate the festival of lights this Saturday from 8:00pm to 10:00pm in Roone Arledge Auditorium. RSVP at CUDiwali@gmail.com and bring the suggested $3-5 donation for Engineers Without Borders!

Late, but written nonetheless.

From the Gentrification Panel in 602 Hamilton:





Speakers came together from different groups and regions of NYC, including: Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE - Brooklyn), Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence (CAAAV - Chinatown), El Movimiento por Justicia del Barrio (East Harlem), Fabulous Independent Educated Radicals for Community Empowerment (FIERCE), and Community Group 9.

When asked what students can do about gentrification, panelists encouraged outreach to the campus body and, more importantly, interaction with members of the community. Near the end, Victoria Ruiz, one of the hunger strikers, stood up and explained that "this is what we're fighting for."

Students trickled out at about 9 pm, a little before the Q&A session, to begin the nightly vigil. Those who peered out their windows could see candles lit and placed atop the sundial. Supporters gathered in (once again) the piercing cold, their hands gripping the melting wax that tapered into Dixie cups. People walked by, bewildered and confused at these actions. Pausing in front of the banners, three jocks read slogans and laughed loudly amongst themselves.

And so it goes on.

"The Blaaag gets full access," Bryan Mercer remarked as I apologetically pulled out a camera and snapped flash photos of our surroundings. At 11:10 pm, the temperature outside was below 40 deg. F (and dropping), thus stiffening bodies that were already layered in coats and blankets. Strikers and supporters debated spending the night in Malcolm X Lounge due to the cold; before David and I left at 12:30 am, everyone settled on staying outside and began undoing their sleeping bags.

Strewn across the grass were articles for warmth. The third tent held rolled up banners that read: "CORE REFORM"; "THE PEOPLE WILL RULE"; "ETHNIC STUDIES NOW"; "EXPAND WITH RESPECT".

Apart from the unchanging group of hunger strikers, students constantly came in and out to help set up, bring blankets, speak to peers, and crack jokes. Some went onto Facebook with their laptops and phones, making updates and reading messages of encouragement. Discussion ensued about Thursday's rally and the nightly vigils. All in all, the setting was enthusiastic, tense, supportive, aesthetically lacking (one supporter observed "this place looks like a shantytown!"), and hopeful. All of the things one might expect from a first night.

Most importantly, some administrators had informally met with students to plan future negotiations. As compared to the nine days that it took for administrators to speak to students in '96, this step shows unprecedented promise. Such progress that has been set in motion by the strike is exactly what participating students are fighting for. Yet it is one minor change and there will always be room for greater ones.

To learn more on how to help, visit:

• Support the Hunger Strikers! on Facebook
• The blog Columbia Hunger Strike!

Tomorrow, six Columbia students will be participating in a hunger strike advocating demands released on October 31 by an ad-hoc coalition of students and activists.

This moment of escalation is not out of thin air. The issues of ethnic studies, expansion and gentrification, and the Core as well as the administrative struggles that have accompanied these movements have brewed too long with zero recognition from those in power. The time to take action is now.

Of course, The Blaaag has the exclusive on this one. Why? One of our writers is hunger striking, another (me) is helping the support and outreach teams for the strikers, and two more will be working negotiations and outreach for these demands while the strike and further escalation occurs.

Read the demands here. Join the Facebook group. ... and here's the campus media.

Join the strikers and all of us at the Sundial on College Walk at noon tomorrow. Wear blue to show your solidarity. Come to vigils nightly at 9pm also at the Sundial.