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Cal State students go on hunger strike

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A dozen students from six Cal State campuses, including four in the Southland, are on a hunger strike to press their demands for tuition cuts.

The action began Wednesday and is intended to end next Wednesday, when the California State University Board of Trustees meets at the Long Beach campus, where the hunger strikers hope to present their demands, the San Fernando Valley Sun reported.

The group heading the effort is Students for Quality Education, an organization at Cal State schools. The 12 students attend Cal State campuses at Sacramento, San Bernardino, Dominguez Hills, Fullerton, Long Beach, and four are from Cal State Northridge, according to the Sun.

The students decided on a hunger strike because they said Chancellor Charles Reed and Board of Trustees Chairman A. Robert Linscheid didn’t adequately respond to their demands, according to the Sun. They’re hoping the hunger strike will get their attention.

`We felt that we had exhausted the (impact) of marches and rallies. We have no other choice than to escalate our actions,” Edgar Ramos, 22, a Cal State Northridge art major, told the Sun.

The students’ demands include a five-year moratorium on student fees, the elimination of all 23 campus presidents’ housing and car allowances, no more cuts to classes and student services, and a designated free speech area in each campus.

Ramos told the Sun the hunger strikers have been preparing for the fast in recent weeks, reducing their food intake. Until the strike ends, they plan to consume only juices and water.

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