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news
A.S.I. calls
town meeting
By Lyndsey Shinoda
Online Forty-Niner
Amid a sea of panic
and shock over the "Day of Terror," Associated Students
Inc. President Wayne Stickney-Smith called an emergency town
hall meeting Tuesday at 10 a.m. to talk about what could be
done to calm the situation.
Various A.S.I.
executives trickled into the meeting, offering support and
ideas to those present.
"I don't have
any solutions," Stickney-Smith admitted. "The most
important thing is separating this from any cultural group
on campus."
Stickney-Smith
announced another town hall meeting calling for solidarity,
scheduled for today at noon in the University Student Union
small auditorium. He encouraged both students and faculty
to attend in an attempt to sort out feelings and concerns
regarding the terrorist situation.
Jim Araby, a senior
history major and part of a progressive group on campus, voiced
his opinions on what could be done.
"We need to
do something as a group on campus, get people involved politically,"
Araby said. "We don't want to overreact to the situation.
Something should be done, but nothing extreme. It's so overwhelming
right now to think of what to do."
Many students and
professors in attendance expressed concern about the stereotyping
that may occur as fingers pointing blame are directed at various
religious and cultural groups.
James Sauceda,
director of the Multicultural Center, echoed these thoughts,
saying that the purpose of today's town hall meeting is to
get campus leaders together and have somewhere to talk.
"We want to
get emotions out and talk about reactions to different cultures,
and make sure our students don't turn on each other as enemies,"
Sauceda said. "The confusion is just so rampant right
now. We need to move through this process together. It's a
difficult balance to be precautionary, but not overzealous."
In the middle of
the meeting, A.S.I. Treasurer Rosa Hernandez informed attendees
that both Brotman Hall and The Pyramid had been evacuated
thus far. Also, there were various reports of a suspicious
van that was being followed by police.
Stickney-Smith
planned to send out campus-wide e-mails and phone messages
to get the word out about today's meeting.
Tuesday's meeting
came to an abrupt halt when Stickney-Smith was informed that
there would be a campus-wide evacuation. He announced this
at 10:30 a.m., and immediately following, students in the
USU area were urged to evacuate. No reasons were given for
the evacuation.
Stickney-Smith
invited the campus community to get information and discuss
the ramifications of the East Coast terrorist attacks at today's
town hall meeting for solidarity. Information about the status
of campus closures, class cancellations and suggested emergency
precautions will be available. Additional information is available
through the A.S.I. office at (562) 985-5241.
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