An assassination took place in Westwood in 1982, but most students have probably never heard of it. Unless you’re Armenian, it’s unlikely that you know the names Hampig “Harry” Sassounian and Krikor “Koko” Saliba or the fact that they were involved in the assassination of Kemal Arikan, the Turkish consul general in Los Angeles, just […]
Author Archives: Aram Ghoogasian
Aram Ghoogasian: GSA investigation of president needs transparency to earn back trust
The ongoing graduate student government drama is the gift that keeps on giving. The controversy whirling around Graduate Student Association President Milan Chatterjee gained its second wind last week as the GSA Forum, the governing assembly of the GSA, launched an investigation into his actions. This comes after Chatterjee’s emails in October revealed he tried […]
Aram Ghoogasian: UC lecturer contract negotiations need immediate attention
The University of California is laboring to find a solution to one of its most pressing issues. Murmurs of a work stoppage loomed large as renewed negotiations between the UC and the University Council-American Federation of Teachers, or UC-AFT, the union that represents all of the University’s lecturers and librarians, began last week after the […]
Aram Ghoogasian: UC’s divestment from private prisons will increase awareness of issue
Christmas came early for student activists last month after the University of California divested from private prisons. The UC quietly sold off its $25 million holdings in the Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group, Inc., the two biggest for-profit prison companies in the United States, and G4S, the largest security company in the world […]
Olive Tree Initiative sanctions Armenian genocide denial
It was my mistake. I didn’t have to walk to Bunche Hall after work on a Wednesday night to attend a meeting where I knew my fellow students would attempt to whitewash the Armenian genocide. But, being the fool that I am, I decided to witness first-hand what I had heard so many others talk […]
Aram Ghoogasian: Graduate Students Association President Milan Chatterjee should resign
Reports of free speech’s death on our campus are often exaggerated. But now that the UCLA graduate student government has violated the First Amendment in its attempt to silence student activists, such claims carry a bit more weight. At the center of it all is a chain of emails sent by Graduate Students Association President […]
Aram Ghoogasian: UC Merced stabbings investigation must be made public
Almost two weeks after four people were stabbed in the early hours of the morning at the University of California’s youngest campus, questions remain about what exactly transpired. The perpetrator of the UC Merced stabbings, a freshman at the university, was involved in a chase where he turned toward a university police officer and was […]