Hunger strike to begin May 2

California State University — Students from six Cal State University campuses have announced a hunger strike in protest of six years of tuition increases in a row.

They will supposedly fast until an agreement is made to meet demands such as a freeze in tuition and an administrative roll back in administrative and executive salaries.

The students are also asking for more free speech rights on campus, as well as an elimination of housing and car allowances for the presidents of each of the 23 CSU campuses.

According to the Los Angeles Times, CSU has had to cut classes, lay off faculty and staff members and deny the entry of thousands of students and has lost nearly $1 billion in funding since 2008. A 9 percent fee increase this fall will raise the rate to $5,970 for undergraduates.

—The Daily Titan
By Roxanne Telles

Credit card companies still advertise to college students

University of Houston — A survey conducted by a UH professor indicates credit card companies are still advertising to students under the age of 21, despite a 2009 bill passed by President Obama forbidding it.

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act is a bill that was passed in hopes of changing the unfair practices within the consumer credit plans.

What interested UH Law Center assistant professor Jim Hawkins was a revision to the 1970 Fair Credit Reporting Act, which stated credit card marketing companies could not get information about anyone under the age of 21 from organizations providing credit reports to offer credit cards. The bill also encourages limits on the promoting done by the companies on college campuses.

Based on Hawkins’ survey of more than 500 students, 68 percent of students said they had received credit card offers in the mail within the past year, and 40 percent said they witnessed credit card marketing companies promoting gifts to students since the bill was put into effect in 2010.

“Credit cards can be really useful and really dangerous,” Hawkins said. “It’s really easy to spend money on a credit card, so it’s important to be disciplined and not affect yourself and even your family members.”

—The Daily Cougar
By Courtney Johns

Oklahomans rally against ‘Personhood Act’ for women’s rights at Capitol

University of Oklahoma — About 300 people congregated Saturday at the Capitol in Oklahoma City to protest recent legislation dealing with women’s reproductive issues.

Much of the rally’s focus pertained to SB 1433, or the Personhood Act, which states life begins at conception.

The rally began at the First Unitarian Church, 600 NW 13th Street, and from there, participants marched to the Capitol building while chanting slogans such as “Right to life, your name’s a lie! You don’t care if women die!”

Ashley Skinnell, who was among the Oklahoma City rally’s organizers, began the speaking portion of the rally at the Capitol steps.

“Nowadays, so often we hear that the ‘war on women’ doesn’t exist or that the word ‘war’ used in this context is simply too extreme,” Skinnell said. “How then is it possible that an issue backed by over 1,000 pieces of legislation all negatively targeting the same group of people can simply just not exist?”

—The Oklahoma Daily
By Sam Higgins