Hypocrites

 The latest salvo by the A.S. to freeze the funding of the Nexus underscores the hypocrisy of the A.S.   

Anyone who has read thedarksideofucsb.com knows that we frequently hammer on the Nexus for what we perceive to be articles that are sleazy or that glamorize dangerous behavior.  We often don’t agree with the focus of the Nexus.  We also criticized the Nexus for its coverage of the Cedarwood evictions.  Its coverage of the evictions was very supportive of the activists’ position.  

It is astonishing to hear what some of the A.S. board members are now saying about the Nexus.  Some of the quotes in the Nexus attributed to the A.S. activists are pathetic.  Here is a sample of the histrionics: 

“Leg Council Member Raymond Meza said he felt Stevens’ column, as well as others, represents the racism perpetuated by the Nexus, which he said creates a hostile environment for minorities on campus.

“This is the problem: We feel attacked by our campus newspaper,” Meza said. “You know why they [minorities] don’t come here? They go to Stanford, they’re smarter. Black students go to college, but they don’t go to UCSB because they don’t feel safe here.”

“External Vice President of Local Affairs Joel Rodriguez-Flores said he is uncomfortable being on a campus where the only newspaper “consistently publishes things I consider hate speech.”

“On Campus Rep. Scarlet Chan was distraught and cried while discussing the topic of racism in the Nexus.” 

All this from an A.S. Board that appears to have a higher percentage of minorities than the student population as a whole.  All this vitriol and hysteria directed at a publication that provided them with great coverage about their cause and supported them.  So much for the loyalty of the militant. 

The A.S. is attempting to punish the new owner of the Cedarwood in what amounts to little more than a tantrum.  The evicted tenants hired attorneys, had their day in court, and settled their case (for money) against their landlord.  But that isn’t enough for the activists.  They continue the fight for “families” in IV.  Note to the militants: the families have all moved from Cedarwood.  Yet the militants continue to flail away.    

The A.S. is wrong on two fronts: 

1. Their attempt to silence the Nexus is a transparent power play.  Their comments about not being treated fairly by the Nexus reveal their true agenda.  They want to control what the students hear about them.  They do not want an independent voice.   They want control of the Nexus.
2. They are wrong to boycott the property owner.  The property owner has done nothing illegal.  The fact that the activists don’t believe in private property is fine with me.  However, they should not use A.S. funds or muscle to enforce their Marxist views.  If they don’t like the balance of power between landlords and tenants, work to get the law changed.   The boycott will in no way act to lessen the ever-increasing demand for student housing in IV.  The landlords are merely responding to market forces.  (I don’t mean to imply that the landlords are always right – they are not.)   The A.S. should boycott the group that caused the families to be evicted –  students with lots of money.  The A.S. should boycott UCSB until it stops increasing enrollment.  Until enrollment is lowered, there will be upward pressure on housing costs in IV.   The reason the families were evicted is that UCSB continues to increase its enrollment and over burden housing in IV.  UCSB should be boycotted until is takes some action to solve the problems in the IV housing market.  The first step would be for UCSB to rollback enrollment levels by five or ten percent.   

It would appear that the A.S. prefers to cry (literally), scream, and shout recriminations rather than address the real issues.  If the A.S. wants its message (propaganda) put out more to its liking, start a paper.  Shame on the board of the A.S. for trying to silence the Nexus through coercion.