Propositions Protest Goes On Despite Rain

Rain may have put a damper on a planned rally at Cal State Northridge on Wednesday to protest two June 2 ballot measures, but it did not drown out the vocal opposition expressed by CSUN faculty, students and staff over the initiatives.

At the noontime rally, which due to rain was moved from the Sierra Quad to the overpass connecting Jerome Richfield Hall and Sierra Hall, CSUN political science professor Jane Bayes expressed her opposition to Proposition 226, a measure that would require unions to obtain members’ approval for political contributions.

“It’s an evil, evil proposition,” said Bayes. “It’s an anti-worker initiative which shuts unions out of the political process leaving no voice for working families.”

Jorge Garcia, dean of the College of Humanities, voiced his opposition to Proposition 227, a measure that would dismantle most bilingual teaching programs in public schools.

“Basically, it’s bad because it provides a rigid one-size-fits-all approach to move people from a language other than English into English, and it’s going to create chaos and hardship,” Garcia said. “We had English-only English immersion before and it didn’t work.”

A planned protest march from campus to the corner of Nordhoff Street and Reseda Boulevard was canceled due to the rain.

The march has been rescheduled for next week, said Judy Branfman, who organized the rally in cooperation with the California Faculty Assn., California State Employees Assn. and the Service Employees International Union.