Students filed into Choi Auditorium for the Associated Students of Occidental College's (ASOC) general assembly on diversity yesterday. The open discussion, led by ASOC senators Adrian Adams (sophomore), Abhilasha Bhola (junior) and Kerry Sakimoto (senior), centered on the senate's Diversity and Equity Board Initiative (DEBI), the end of Intergroup Dialogue courses and student concerns about the Multiculural Summer Institute. Students...

The number of reported sex offenses increased between 2011 and 2013 while drug violations fell over the same period, according to this year's Annual Fire, Safety and Security Report (AFSSR). The report is submitted each year by Oct. 1 and provides a compilation of both on- and off-campus crimes from the past three calendar years. All crimes mentioned in the...

Students can expect expanded key card access to residence halls and a revamped First Year Residential Experience (FYRE) program, thanks to changes made by Residential Education and Housing Services (REHS). Two new hires also joined the REHS staff this semester: Dustin Beech as the Sigma Alpha Epsilon's first graduate hall coordinator (GHC) and Thomas Wesley as the assistant director for...

Occidental's perennial debate over air conditioning (AC) in residence halls reemerged last month when a week-long heat wave and malfunction at the school's central chilling plant caused temperatures in buildings across campus to skyrocket."At the beginning of most school years we get an extra heat wave, almost without fail," Director of Facilities Thomas Polansky said. "And so folks coming in—especially...

Incoming Chief of Campus Safety Victor Clay wants to improve the frequently contentious relationship between Campus Safety and off-campus residents. He attributes much of Campus Safety's poor reputation with students to an inconsistent enforcement of policy."I was reading reports and they would say things like, 'disturbing the peace,' 'disorderly conduct,' and then you read the narrative of the report and...

Two weeks ago, I woke up in Stearns Hall feeling as if I was being suffocated. Drenched in sweat, I regretted my decision not to crash in my friend's air-conditioned room in Berkus Hall. Residents of Stearns, Chilcott, Stewie, Pauley, Haines, Berkus House, Food Justice House and Pet House were also forced to survive the heat wave without air conditioning...

Occidental Campus Dining incorporated a new labeling system in the Marketplace on Sept. 18 to increase students' awareness of food justice and sustainability efforts. The small, multi-colored labels—such as one near the salad bar mixed greens reading “RFC compliant: 250 miles”—indicate which options qualify as "real food" based on the Real Food Challenge (RFC) criteria. The RFC is a national...

Sustainability has become a hot-button issue in Eagle Rock in light of recent protests to shut down Glendale’s Scholl Canyon landfill. Located less than three miles from Occidental's campus, the landfill initially sparked debate about the garbage trucks that use Eagle Rock roads to truck in the waste. Increasingly, though, the debate has moved from one of back-and-forth local politics...

As an institution, Occidental College continuously strives for increased student engagement with surrounding communities. Off-campus living provides a vital opportunity for students to fluidly engage with their surrounding communities, while also gaining valuable life experiences. Despite this, current Residential Education policies hinder rather than support off-campus living. Per Residential Education policy, all seniors are allowed to live off campus, while...

Brazil. Researchers in Rio de Janeiro set thousands of mosquitos free on Thursday in an attempt to fight dengue fever. The researchers claim that the mosquitoes carry a type of bacteria, Wolbachia, that will suppress the fever. Brazil has the highest number of dengue fever cases in the world, with 3.2 million people infected and 800 deaths from 2009 to...