One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
USC Students Protest Crazy New Security Measures
(Photo by sandeep_shenoy via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
A group of USC students are rebelling against the panopticon-like safety measures taken by the university in the name of extra security.
The measures were created after two separate incidents last year: A shooting at a Halloween party that left four people wounded and the killing of two graduate students last April.
KPCCreports that the new security additions to the campus include a fingerprint scanner, license plate readers, security cameras and random ID checks. Campus police are also strengthening ties with the LAPD to patrol communities surrounding the campus. But the centerpieces of the new fortified campus are a series of gates surrounding the campus that were erected last January. The gates are intended to lock the campus from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
With the construction of the gates, many have accused USC of closing itself off to the surrounding community. Allegations of racial profiling, which are not new to the campus, have also permeated talks of the new security measures. In an L.A. Streetsblog article published last January, a young African-American resident of the area claimed that he was stopped and profiled so many times that he now avoids the area.
On Twitter, students are using the #USChangeMovement hashtag to bring attention of the security measures to university president C.L. Max Nickias.
"USC is a community space," USC graduate student Makiah Green said to The Daily Trojan. "Community members who have been here for years can't access the space anymore. We are in someone else's neighborhood. It's not our neighborhood and to restrict access all of a sudden sends a very harmful and disrespectful message."
A student-organized petition, "Take Down the USC Gates," currently has 387 supporters, but has yet to provoke a response from university officials.
Sponsored message
In addition, many on campus are saying that the mandatory security fees - $57.50 per student per semester - are too expensive and should be used for other things on campus.
KPCC has reported an overall decline in crime statistics on campus since 2008.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
