NEWS NUGGETS

Report stings CSULB

Cal State Long Beach officials received a preliminary findings report Tuesday from the U.S. Department of Labor stating CSULB's affirmative action policies for Vietnam veterans are not in compliance with federal regulations.

Labor Department investigators have been on campus since Oct. 20, 1999, investigating complaints from the CSULB Veterans Group that administrators have not given employees equal opportunity protections guaranteed by the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment and Assistance Act.

The report is a relief to Veterans Group members, some of whom have been involved since the original discrimination complaint was filed in 1996.

"I wanted this to affect everyone who is a veteran," said Raymond Renaud, an equipment technician for audio/visual services who filed the first complaint. He expressed a great deal of relief that the investigation is finally coming to an end.

"We are American citizens who want to see the law upheld by contractors," said Walter Moore Jr., professor of communicative disorders and Veterans Group member. "The university is now trying to get itself in compliance after the horse has gotten out of the barn."

Since the investigation began, CSULB administrators have made several changes while attempting to become compliant. For example, CSULB President Robert Maxson recently appointed Troy Johnson, professor of history and American-Indian studies, to be his special assistant as well as a liaison between the veterans and himself. Johnson is himself a Vietnam veteran.

Johnson said he hopes all veterans in the California State University system "can look at what happened here at Cal State Long Beach and realize what these gentlemen did" on their behalf.

Other steps officials have taken include writing separate affirmative action policies for every minority group, veterans included, and distributing new veteran self-identification forms, said Armando Contreras, Maxson's executive assistant.

"The affirmative action law does not require a preference in applying for a job," Contreras said. "The intent of affirmative action is to promote an equal opportunity to get hired for a job based on your qualifications.

"I think where we can clearly make a big impact is in disseminating the policy. I give credit to the Veterans Group because affirmative action for veterans was really not always the highest priority" and there needs to be more awareness of their rights, Contreras said.

The U.S. Labor Department would not discuss the specifics of the 18 violations or what penalties the university may face if found in violation of the veterans act, said William Smitherman, district director of the Los Angeles office of department. Officials are near completing the investigation.

"This is all preliminary and could change by the time that the investigation is finished," Smitherman said. "All the findings are still under investigation."

Kristopher Hanson contributed to this story

This story originally ran in its entirety Feb. 16.
 

President fights for La Raza

In his final act as Associated Students Inc. president, Toby Sexton announced that he plans to veto the budget for the 2000-2001 academic year due to the A.S. Senate's decision to deny La Raza funding.

In the budget, which the Senate approved at its May 3 meeting, the student organization was denied funding because of its failure to file its grant application on time.

"It wouldn't feel right to send forth a budget that doesn't agree with my philosophy of looking at external circumstances students face," Sexton said.

Since Wednesday's meeting was supposed to be the final one of the year, an emergency meeting was tentatively scheduled for May 22 to vote on overriding Sexton's veto.

If the Senate does not gain the needed two-thirds majority to override the veto, the A.S.I. would be without a budget to present to the university's President Robert Maxson for approval. They would then be forced to revert back to this year's budget, which would mean that money collected for the Beach Pride Referendum could not be allocated, according to A.S.I. Treasurer Rochelle Williams.

The move shocked Williams.

"Personally I didn't know about this and no one else knew about it," she said. "This is going to cause a problem for the whole corporation. It almost seems like this is Toby trying to go out with a bang."

Sen.-at-Large Michael Braga was also angered by Sexton's decision.

"I will not have La Raza bully us around, and I will not have the president bully us around," he said. "It took a lot of time to make this budget."

Sexton said he could empathize with La Raza's inability to meet the filing deadline.

"People have a lot of responsibilities," Sexton said. "They work full time and go to school full time, they're going to miss deadlines occasionally. If I were in their situation, I might miss these deadlines too. You have to look at the exceptions. If you make exceptions, make them for the students."

This story originally ran in its entirety May 11.

Fees to rise; officers elected

Cal State Long Beach students have spoken.

The Beach Pride Referendum, a high profile measure that would increase the amount of funding for athletics and athletic scholarships, passed resoundingly with a total vote count of 1615.

As a result, students will have to pay an extra $21 in tuition fees to support campus athletics.

"I'm 110 percent in support of it," said Robert Garcia, who got 2,279 votes in his unopposed run for Associated Students Inc. president. "I worked hard on it. I'm looking forward to being the president the first year that it is installed."

This story originally ran in its entirety April 3.