CSUN On Point

Thousands have made their way to the streets of Los Angeles in recent weeks to show support for Armenians fighting in an armed conflict more than 7,000 miles away.

The hostilities involve Armenia and neighboring country Azerbaijan, who are fighting for control over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. (Many Armenians often refer to the disputed are by its historical name, Artsakh.)

Southern California is home to the most ethnic Armenians of any region outside Armenia itself. Los Angeles has seen multiple pro-Armenia protests since late September.

Protesters are marching in hope of getting major news outlets to cover the conflict in Artsakh.

Many have also called on the U.S. to step in — even if it strains America’s relationship with Turkey. Turkey is currently in support of Azerbaijan.

At one recent protest, hundreds gathered outside the Turkish consulate in waving flags and signs in support of the Armenian cause.

“All we want is for the war to end,” said Harout Agzikyouchoukian, a pro-Armenian protester. “In regards to how [the war] makes me feel, at first it made me devastated. It made me feel sad for my people, but now as time goes by you get angry.

“I can’t believe,” Agzikyouchoukian added, “the world doesn’t want to interfere with this war,’ because we have superpower countries that could end this today if they really wanted to. The U.S.A. has the power to do so.”

For many Armenians, this conflict is a fight for survival.

“By terrorizing the population, by using international band cluster bombs on civilians, it makes it clear that [Azerbaijan] wants that territory free without Armanians inside it,” said Syuzanna Petrosyan, associate director of the University of Southern California’s Center for Armenian Studies.

Nagorno-Karabakh “is an unrecognized state,” Petrosyan added. “It does not get the advantages as everything else that countries get such as passports, […] its universities are unaccredited, and it cannot be part of international state treaties, security treaties, etcetera.”

For years, Armenians have protested peacefully in the U.S. to raise awareness of the 1915 Armenian genocide.

“Many Armenians are pretty well known to marching,” said Nzhde Avag-Petroysan. “The cops are really used to us marching on the streets, taking over and shutting down sections of Los Angeles.”

Avag-Petrosyan says the U.S. bears some moral responsibility for the conflict; the U.S. government has aided the militaries of Turkey and Azerbaijan.

“Without proper funding from the outside government,” Avag-Petrosyan said, “I think Azerbaijan and Turkey wouldn’t have the incentive of trying to take over.”

In August, the Trump administration imposed a new set of rules governing how schools, colleges and universities are supposed to handle sexual assaults on campus.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy Devos’ new regulations replaced the Obama administration’s rules under Title IX, a federal law that for decades has governed issues of sex discrimination, including sexual assault, on campus.

“Today marks a new era in the storied history of Title IX in which the right to equal access to education required by law is truly protected for all students,” DeVos said in a statement. “Every student should know that their school will be held accountable for responding to incidents of sexual misconduct and that it must treat all students fairly.”

According to the Washington Post, the Trump Administration’s rules include more protections for those accused of on-campus sexual assaults.

The new rules give the accused the rights to “a live hearing with multiple panel members,” the Post reported. At the hearing, the rules allow the accused to cross-examine an accuser and bar schools “from allowing one person [to] both investigate and judge complaints.”

As NBC News reports, the Obama-era rules defined sexual harassment as “unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature.” The new rules narrow the definition of sexual harassment: unwelcome conduct that is “severe, pervasive and objectively offensive” that it “denies a person equal access to the school’s education program or activity.” 

Advocates for the accused have celebrated the new rules. But women’s rights and victim advocates argue the new rule is too easy on those accused of sexual assaults, and will thus discourage sexual assault victims to proceed with the complaint. 

The Women’s March on Jan. 21, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Image courtesy of GencoSidlePhotos/Creative Commons)

Danielle Samuel, CSUN’s Campus Care Advocate, said survivors may not feel comfortable disclosing a possible assault knowing that they may have to face cross-examination later.

“The process in of itself reporting is traumatizing,” Samuel said. “[The new regulation] provides a barrier for survivors coming forward with what happened for them or coming forward with an accusation.”

As sexual assaults continue to be one of the major issues on school campuses, Jenna Parker, partner at the law firm Hathaway Parker in Los Angeles, said she sympathizes with students who might not be able to afford a drawn-out hearing. However, Parker emphasizes the importance of maintaining protections and rights for those accused in sexual assault cases.

“Having seen so many of these cases,” Parker said, “it is very important to have a hearing and an opportunity for each side to cross-examine each other, to point out the flaws in each other’s cases. A lot of times that’s just as important to the accuser as it is to the accused.”

Though Parker said the federal regulations are helpful since they provide a uniform policy authorities can look into and rely on, she thinks universities should come up with a uniform policy for all misconducts so that attorneys don’t have to read each Cal State policy. 

Sam Richman, Deputy Director of CSUN’s Equity and Diversity office, said the office has communicated with the CSUN community about the new regulations.

“Each time a student comes forward to our office with a complaint,” Richman said, “we will let the student know in the beginning what process their complaint will likely fall under and what that process will look like before they make the decision to move forward with an investigation.”

With the 2020 presidential elections coming up, Parker, Richman and Samuel agreed that even if Democrat Joe Biden is elected president, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to overturn DeVos’ regulations quickly. The new rules are likely to remain in effect for at least a year, they said. 

The show was reported by the following team:

• Sammy Fernandes, reporter
• Samuel Novicki, reporter
• Brenda Saldana, anchor
• Jessica Vaughan, moderator
• Serim Yeo, reporter 

When President Donald Trump was elected in 2016, he promised stricter immigration policy. He promised to build a wall along the border with Mexico. Trump also ended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which shields unauthorized immigrants who came to the U.S. as minors from deportation.

Four years later, the U.S. is nearing another presidential election. How will Latinos vote?  After Trump’s immigration crackdown and with DACA in danger, will Latino voters flock to Trump’s Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden?

Biden held a virtual event last month for Latina Small Business Owners titled “Nuestros Negocios, Nuestro Futuro” and has spent over $6 million in Spanish-language advertisements in an effort to reach more voters from the Latino Community. 

Among eligible voters in 2020, Latinos comprise the largest racial minority group. According to a recent Pew survey, 22% of eligible voters in Generation Z are Latino. Latinos make up only 9% of “Baby Boomers,” who were born between 1946 and 1964.

Rosa Barrientos is an organizer for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and a DACA recipient herself. 

“Right when I found out about DACA,” she said, “I knew that my life was going to change forever — and it really did. It opened the doors to get a legal job, get my drivers license… Most importantly DACA has given me the opportunity to live without the fear of being deported.”

Though the Trump Administration’s most recent attempt to end the DACA program was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court, Barrientos said the renewal applications for the program will now have to be sent out every year instead of every two years. These applications cost immigrants $495 dollars every time they are renewed.  

Clo Hidalgo, a CSUN graduate student, has been writing her graduate thesis  about how Gen Z Latinos vote. 

She said research on the Gen Z voters participating in this year’s election is scarce. However, her interviews with Gen Z voters revealed a  common concern about climate change. “We need to bring awareness to how important it is for Latinos to vote,” Hildalgo said. 

 Sara Maldonado is the founder and executive director of Powerful Latinas Rising,. Her organization has pushed to get more Latinas more involved in voting. 

“In 2016 there were about 5.5 million Latinas that were eligible to vote that were not registered and did not vote,” Maldonado said. “That’s a huge number and I think the more information we can get out there, the more that we can mobilize our community to get the vote out.”

Maldonado spoke about different resources offered to the Latino community such as “Julia’s List”, which is a directory of Latina-owned businesses. Powerful Latinas Rising also hosts virtual workshops.

Organizations like CHIRLA are doing public outreach by calling people across the state in an effort to get them more involved in voter issues.

Barrientos spoke about the presidential candidates’ efforts to tap into the Latino community.

“They have to do a lot more to reach the Latino community,” Barrientos said. “They’re the ones who are largely ignored and it is a sleeping giant.”

Hidalgo mentioned that many from Gen Z supported Bernie Sanders, who has endorsed Joe Biden, which may sway more younger voters to the Democrat’s side. 

This story was produced by the following: 

• Savanna Birchfield, reporter 
• Sophia Lesseos, reporter 
• Casey Contreras, anchor 
• Kimberly Linares, moderator 
• Amanda Alvarado, reporter

Flu season is right around the corner, and many are wondering how severe this year’s bug will be — and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has only added to the concern.

Since the coronavirus and seasonal influenza share so many symptoms, health experts say it’s especially important to get a flu shot this year.

California State University campuses are making flu shots mandatory for all students coming to campus. In an August email, Cal State Northridge President Dianne Harrison said that all on-campus students will be required to have a flu shot by November 1. This move is part of the university’s new safety plan.

According to the CDC’s website when other viruses besides the flu are going around — the flu vaccine has reduced the risk of people going to the doctor by 40-60%.

“We encourage everybody to get the flu shot because it either prevents the flu or keeps you from getting as serious a case of flu,” says Dr. Linda Reid-Chassiakos, director of the Klotz Student Health Center at CSUN.

Reid-Chassiakos explained the flu vaccine available for college-aged groups and older is a “killed vaccine,” meaning no live influenza virus is inside the shot. The new vaccine out right now protects against four strains of flu.

“We’re highly recommending [getting a flu shot] because of COVID-19 situation that we are in — although they are two different viruses,” said Marisol Garcia, lead RN at CSUN’s Klotz Student Health Center. “It will hopefully reduce the amount of people who need to get hospitalized.”

While there’s no data on how severe this year’s flu season will be, there are precautions everyone can take to help prevent influenza.

“A lot of the public health prevention measures that we’re recommending for COVID actually will help prevent against influenza,” said Kaitlin Bahr an associate professor of health sciences at CSUN. She listed measures like “wearing masks, washing your hands… and then add to that the flu vaccine.”

CSUN has put in place safety protocols all over campus by taking into account the recommendations from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the CDC and the American College Health Association. The university launched the “CSUN as One” website that contains all health and safety protocols that students can expect.

It is not only CSUN taking precautions. Other Cal State University campuses are also doing their part in protecting their students.

“They just announced that our health center is now doing flu shots by appointment,” said Brianna Marroquin, a student at Cal State Channel Islands. “Once again they’re keeping that distance of six feet apart.”

CSUN’s health center is also offering the flu shot at a cost of $15 dollars for students who have insurance. Uninsured students can get the shot for free.

Marroquin says that most of the people she knows have either received their flu shot already or have an appointment for one. “It’s important for all of us to make sure we stay safe,” says Marroquin.

Reid-Chassiakos said the university has limited means of enforcing the mandate for all on-campus students to receive a flu shot.

She said CSUN is counting on community enthusiasm and cooperation to help ensure everyone stays as healthy as possible.

This summer, millions attended protests to voice support for Black Lives Matter in over 2,000 cities across the U.S. and over 60 countries around the world, according to Wikipedia.

The Black Lives Matter movement began in 2013 in response to the death of Trayvon Martin. The movement never stopped, but it gained new momentum after the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020.

This summer’s protests were also chaotic. Some police officers have responded to the protests with force — used both against peaceful protesters, and against those in the crowds who smashed shop windows and looted stores.

“My experience with protests have been terrible, to say the least,” said Kori Skillman, who has attended numerous protests this year. “I remember the first protest I went to I was in the middle of the street away from other protesters and all of a sudden this cop starts like running at me screaming…and then all of a sudden I get yanked back by another cop by my hair.”

Although protesters get arrested, tear gassed and hit with rubber bullets by the police, it does not stop some people from organizing protests.

Alexandria Brown, a San Diego Unity Protest coordinator, said her passion made her want to start organizing protests as an outlet to connect people to the news.

“I think just having the passion to do it, the resources and the platform and just being that gateway for people who necessarily don’t feel comfortable protesting,” said Brown.

The protests Brown organizes are peaceful. She says her organization makes sure to take safety precautions by knowing what to expect in the area such as rubber bullets.

Some lawmakers have tried to advance police reforms in response to this summer’s protest.

In June 2020, the House of Representatives, controlled by Democrats, passed the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. This legislation is intended to hold police accountable, change the culture of law enforcement, empower our communities, and build trust between law enforcement and our communities by addressing systemic racism and bias to help save lives, as stated on Congresswoman Karen Bass’ website.

The Republican-led Senate has not taken up the House’s proposal. Democrats in the Senate blocked a GOP-backed police reform bill.

Although changes are being made, protesters want to defund the police. Defunding the police, will reallocate funding away from the police department to other government agencies funded by the local municipality. Protestor Taya Lee believes there has not been enough change systematically.

“It has been interesting to see different companies and different people step up but there is still a lot more work to be done at a macro economic-systemic level,” said Lee. “So I hope we continue to grow towards that.”

Brown and Lee urge the public to head to the polls and vote this upcoming election, not only for the presidential election but also in local races.

Election day will be on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

This show was reported by the following team:

• Nikiko Burnett, producer
• Tayler Lawson, moderator
• Tia Lawson, anchor
• Yahaira Joaquin Flores, producer
• Jeanie Rodriguez, producer