Border-crossing journalism from the Sacramento Valley
by Leslie Layton
posted May 8
May 9 update: The Chico State Academic Senate approved a revised draft of the ceasefire resolution today, with only three votes in opposition.
The Academic Senate at Chico State University will consider a ceasefire resolution at its May 9 meeting that also supports what it calls “First Amendment Protections” for students opposed to Israel’s war in Gaza and for Jewish students.
by Ken Smith
posted April 5
Ricardo Orellana grew up against the backdrop of a 12-year civil war in his native El Salvador, but his childhood memories are thankfully dominated by more peaceful recollections — namely, of working with the cows at his grandmother’s farm outside the small town of Usulutá.
“It wasn’t a large farm, just five or six acres with about 25 milking cows and a few other animals,” Orellana said during a recent interview. “She also grew cassavas, tomatoes, beans and corn. It was very rural, and how I fell in love with agriculture.”
posted Jan. 23
Picketing at Chico State by striking faculty ended Jan. 22 when the California Faculty Association (CFA) reached a tentative deal with administration.
Faculty have been offered a 5% salary increase retroactive to July 1, 2023 and a possible 5% salary increase coming on July 1 of this year. In addition, the CSU will raise the salary floor for the lowest-paid instructors.
What turned out to be a one-day strike marked the first time faculty unions at all 23 campuses have coordinated a labor action of this nature, said Assistant Professor Lindsay Briggs, one of the striking faculty members. — Leslie Layton
by Leslie Layton
posted Jan. 22
About 150 faculty and their supporters joined the picket line today as Chico State University employees participated in the statewide, five-day action that cancelled many classes in the semester’s first week.
CSU faculty unions statewide — that includes instructors, librarians, coaches and counselors — are asking for a 12 percent salary increase after years of small increases that fail to keep up with inflation, said Associate Professor Lindsay Briggs.
by Ariana Powell
posted Jan. 4
It’s been two years since the start of Professor David Stachura and Chico State’s spiral into a deep hole. Stachura’s alleged decision to engage in a “consensual” relationship with one of his students started it all. Following that, Chico State decided to keep the investigation, and later reports of violent threats, from its faculty, staff and student population.
by Leslie Layton
Spanish linguistics Professor Denise Minor will be remembered for many things – for her creative approach to teaching, devotion to her family, fierce loyalty to those she loved.
She has already been remembered for her joyful laugh, her love of language and her appreciation for its evolution, all of which shaped the students she taught and the Chico State Spanish Program that hired her in 2007.
