DAVE HILL/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Second-year student
Sophia Kozak and Brian Williams
look on as Chancellor Albert Carnesale addresses
students in front of his office.
By Lisa Klassen
Daily Bruin Reporter
Nineteen students, including Student Regent Justin Fong, were
arrested Tuesday after spending the afternoon in front of the
chancellor’s office demanding tenure for geography Professor
Josh Muldavin.
“Tenure is based on three principles ““ research,
teaching and service,” said Patrick Burns, a graduate student
and former teaching assistant for Muldavin. “I believe that
Muldavin more than fufills these requirements and that he deserves
tenure.”
 DANIEL WONG Seth Cohen, a second-year
undeclared student, is led to a makeshift booking station by UCPD
officers in Murphy Hall. Student Regent Justin
Fong was among 19 students arrested Tuesday night. After
spending seven hours sitting in Murphy Hall, the students were
taken to a makeshift UCPD booking station in the building. All of
them were released by 9:15 p.m.
Many of the arrestees were first-time offenders with a clean
slate.
“I think someone needs to express their outrage,”
said Sophia Kozak, a second-year sociology student who said she had
a flawless record. “I was sitting there thinking, “˜God,
I’m getting arrested,’ but it’s something I
believe in.”
After a noon protest, the students filed into Murphy Hall and
settled outside the chancellor’s office until UCPD arrived on
the scene. They demanded an independent review of Muldavin’s
work, as well as a redress of the the tenure process.
They presented four demands to the chancellor:
“¢bull; Tenure for Muldavin,
“¢bull; An independent external review,
“¢bull; Increased student participation in the tenure
process,
“¢bull; A commission to study the impact of tenure on the
quality of education.
Hours before the arrests, the tenure process and the purpose of
a research university were topics of an impromptu discussion
between students and Chancellor Albert Carnesale, who spent about
half an hour in the hallway talking to the protesters before making
his way to a student award ceremony.
The chancellor expressed he would not bow to political pressure
when it comes to tenure decisions, or comment on personnel matters.
He said the first two demands were premature, since a final
decision to deny Muldavin tenure has not been enacted.
“I know that if Professor Muldavin wants to continue this
process, it is in his hands,” Carnesale said.
He added that a tenure decision should not depend on a group of
students, including a student regent, sitting in at the
chancellor’s office.
“Then everyone should get a second shot, not just because
a group of students are upset,” he said.
Second-year urban planning graduate student Kevin Rudiger said
student movements were not incited for other professors who were
denied tenure because Muldavin is “extraordinary.”
“This is our simple and attainable plan,” Rudiger
said.
The proposal to culture a commission was met by
Carnesale’s request for more information.
Although the discussion remained courteous, students were not
impressed by the chancellor’s comments.
“De facto, he’s making a decision not to support us
by not making a decision,” said Nick Occhipinti, a third-year
ethnic studies and international development studies student.
“He’s playing deaf, blind and dumb. He’s done
that for the whole three years ““ he’s just a
puppet.”
Some students said Muldavin’s emphasis on teaching is what
caused him to be denied tenure despite having extensive research
experience as well.
Muldavin studies the transitional economy of China and other
Asian countries like India.
“He maintains a minority position on campus that is
important in presenting a complete picture which many departments
don’t reflect in their discourse,” said fifth-year IDS
student Leda Nelson.
Hours clocked by and tension grew as Fong dealt opponents a
sugarless assessment of the situation.
“Screw the process,” he said after the chancellor
addressed the crowd. “Are you willing to accept anything less
than our demands being met?”
The students crouched along walls and passed around a sheet of
paper.
“Sign if you plan to get arrested,” one student said
to another as the list made its way around the hall.
Names, e-mail addresses and phone numbers were scrawled down the
page.
“I’d rather be arrested than stand aside and watch a
brilliant professor leave,” said Kirsten Isaacson, a
fourth-year geography student.
A nearby meeting adjourned and out came platters of fruit and
pastries. The trays were met with the group’s applause.
Meanwhile, a lone UCPD officer yawned as he stood propped at the
opposite end of the corridor.
The sticker-clad protesters remained calm and quiet, while
reggae music issued from their radio. They occasionally sang songs
to preen morale.
Fong said he thinks Muldavin would be honored by the
protest.
“I think that he’d be incredibly humbled to know
what we’re doing,” he said of Muldavin. “He
inspired people to act on their beliefs and he’d be surprised
to know that students believe in him.”
By the end of the night, nearly 10 hours after the rally’s
commencement, the 19 students were booked and cited. They emerged
in two groups, and met behind Murphy Hall. Some were teary- eyed,
others caroused in circles, arms slung over slouched shoulders.
Soon after signs were rolled and a few cigarettes were lit, Fong
held an informal forum under the amber glow of street lights.
He stressed the importance of showing up to court and making a
copy of the citation for court purposes. Students said they will
contact a lawyer’s guild over the next few days.
“The university has a choice as to whether or not to press
charges,” Fong said, encouraging students to have their
parents call the chancellor and student media. “There’s
no need to go any further if it doesn’t have to. If we can
keep the repercussions down to a minimum that’s great for
everybody.”
Many protesters weren’t phased by the process.
“Any job that I’m going to apply for is going to
condone this action,” said Seth Cohen, a second-year IDS and
political science student.
Students discussed plans for a hunger strike in the near
future.
While Thursday initially seemed an opportune date, students
debated postponing the strike until Monday to attract more
followers and media attention, and to avoid fasting over the
weekend.
E-mails to members urged the use of soundbites to “dumb it
down for the media.” The same tactic won approval for the
group’s next course of action.
“I can spin the media to get them them to cover the hunger
strike,” said a protester as he addressed the post-arrest
crowd. “A lot of it’s just to get media attention …
if we do it for one day ““ just to define it as a hunger
strike.”
With reports from Barbara Ortutay and Marcelle Richards, Daily
Bruin Senior Staff.