Human Rights Board met Monday night to discuss the organization of a teach-in geared toward informing students about the controversies surrounding newly appointed University of California President Janet Napolitano.
Since Napolitano is scheduled to visit UCSB this November, Human Rights Board aims to inform students about policies she enforced when she held her previous positions as Governor of Arizona and Secretary of Homeland Security, during which the rate of deportations rose to record-breaking highs. Human Rights Board plans to hold an educational forum in order to empower students to keep Napolitano accountable for future decisions she makes for the UC.
During Monday’s meeting, co-chair of Human Rights Board Katlen Abuata said the Associated Students Senate turned down a resolution that expressed “no confidence” in Napolitano’s ability to adhere to the UC mission statement. To mitigate this decision, Abuata said she hoped to directly attract the attention of students on campus through a Human Rights Board zine, which she described as “a little magazine.”
“Activists use it to write information,” Abuata said. “We can actually produce a zine for the first time.”
According to Abuata, the zine will explore several subthemes, including summaries about Napolitano’s relationship with Homeland Security and nuclear technology, the UC Office of the President election process and what it means to be undocumented in the United States.
“The purpose [of the zine] is to show how Janet Napolitano was actually appointed,” Abuata said.
During the meeting, second-year sociology major Mohsin Mirza said the UC President currently earns a salary that is inflated, in light of the financial struggles of UC students; “Her salary is ridiculously high,” Mirza said.
In addition to the teach-in, Human Rights Board will be hosting Human Rights Week throughout the seventh week of this quarter.
Anisha Ahuja, third-year political science and feminist studies double major, said the purpose of Human Rights Week is “to have organizations collaborate with each other,” and she said the theme for the week-long event will be “under underrepresented.”
“The theme ‘under underrepresented’ [relates to] people who don’t have their voices heard in their communities,” Ahuja said.
The time and date for the Napolitano teach-in and the events for Human Rights Week are still to be determined, but the HRB web page will be continuously updated as new information surfaces.
A version of this article appeared on page 1 of Wednesday October 16th’s print edition of the Daily Nexus.