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VOLUME 141, ISSUE 5 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2022

STUDENTS HOLD PROTEST JOINING IN PUSH FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN IRAN, AFGHANISTAN Iranian students share their stories and thoughts following the death of Mahsa Amini BY SONORA SLATER campus@theaggie.org

JOANNE SUN / AGGIE

Content Warning: This article contains discussion of violence which some readers might find disturbing. Note: Some names have been concealed for the safety of Iranian student sources.

At 12 p.m. on Oct. 17, students crowded the front of the Memorial Union carrying signs that read “Women, Life, Freedom,” “Free Iran” and “#MahsaAmini,” in a “[show of ] solidarity with the women of Afghanistan and Iran, who are putting their lives on the line to fight for their basic freedoms and rights,” according to an Instagram post by the UC Davis Afghan Student Association. The undergraduate group organized the event in collaboration with the Iranian Graduate Student Association at UC Davis in response to ongoing protests against the Iranian government sparked by the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini and other young women in Iran. According to an article published by IranWire on Sept. 15, Amini was on a trip to the capital with her family when she was arrested by the Iranian “morality police” on the grounds of improper wear of her hijab. Agents told Amini’s brother that she was being taken to the station for a one-hour “re-education class,” but when he got to the building, he heard screams coming from inside. Soon after, according to the article, an ambulance left the building, which was later found to be carrying Amini to the hospital. Tehran Police issued a statement claiming that Amini had suffered from a pre-existing heart condition, despite multiple eyewitnesses testifying that

they saw officers beat her in the police van after her arrest, according to an article by NPR. The article goes on to say that Amini’s death has become “the heart of a rallying cry for Iranians who want more freedoms and rights for women,” as many women burn their hijabs, protesting the government’s restrictive laws against women and calling to dismantle the morality police. Students who gathered for the UC Davis protest listened to second-year mathematics and physics double major Parnian Sartip give a speech addressing the situation in Iran before marching around the Quad and chanting phrases similar to those written on their signs. “In some countries like the U.S, women and men alike are granted the

ability to wish for a trip to the moon,” Sartip said in her speech. “Even here [...] we have a long way to go to get to gender equity, but only a few glances away on a world map, these dreams change. [...] In Iran and Afghanistan, no one thinks about going to the moon. Men and women are hungry there. They do not have the privilege of a respectable job and a good education. Forget privilege, people lack human rights there.” Sartip then anecdotally described the experience of women in Iran and Afghanistan, referencing a lack of choice in attire, rules against showing their hair, limited options for education, arranged marriages at a young age and even an inability to legally ride a bicycle. “I’ve had no voice in these laws,” Sartip said in her speech. “I cannot

UC DAVIS GRADUATE STUDENTS VOTE IN FAVOR OF STRIKE AUTHORIZATION VOTE Workers rallied at the quad demanding better treatment from UC Davis

become a judge. At court when called to testify, my word is worth half a man’s. So is my inheritance, so is my life. If I am half the population, if I am the mother of future generations, if I am human, then why am I worthless?” She went on to say that in Iran and Afghanistan, women have “always been voiceless,” but noted that she believes the “righteous fury” over Mahsa Amini’s death was a turning point that inspired many to action. “Today, standing next to Memorial Union, we remember these women,” Sartip said. “We continue to stand with them and shout with them, as if we are of one heart, in one place. The truth is simple: we all deserve bread, work, life and freedom. Whether we are man or woman. Better yet, if we’re just human.” Dena Sayrafi, a fourth-year

biomedical engineering major and the president of the UC Davis Afghan Student Association, said that many Iranian and Afghan students have expressed “[feeling] helpless, since they cannot directly fight for Iran’s freedom.” According to Sayrafi, this protest was one way she felt students could use their voices to help. “Through protesting, we have gained the attention of the world on the horrendous acts transpring in our home country,” Sayrafi said via text message. “As students, we have the opportunity to mobilize and use our voice and that is what this protest is about. Iranians have come together on this day to show the world that things must change, our people must be given their basic human rights and that every individual is entitled to their own freedom.” A statement attached to a petition created by “allies of the IranianAmerican community at the University of California” calls upon readers to “publicly [condemn] state violence against the people of Iran,” and endorse a Sept. 20 statement made by the Association for Iranian Studies and the Middle East Studies Association. “The international community has not condemned this violence strongly enough,” the statement reads. “[It] is thus signaling to Iran’s security forces that they have full immunity in their suppression of peaceful protesters. Now more than ever, we need to show solidarity.” On Sept. 28, UC Davis released a joint statement issued by UC Davis Chancellor Gary May and others in leadership at the university, providing “resources and support for those impacted by unrest in Iran.” IRANPROTEST on 6

DAILY PARKING RATES TO INCREASE FOR ON-CAMPUS RESIDENTS WHO WILL NO LONGER RECEIVE AFFILIATED RATE Residents of on-campus housing will now return to paying the nonaffiliated rate of $15 per day

TAPS is raising the parking rate for residents living in West Village and residence halls to the non-affiliated rate of $15/day. (Kayla Bruckman / Aggie)

BY SYDNEY AMESTOY campus@theaggie.org Protesters speak at rally in favor of UAW strike authorization vote. (Chris Ponce / Aggie)

BY CHRIS PONCE city@theaggie.org On Oct. 13, UC Davis workers rallied together at the quad, calling for a strike authorization vote as part of the Union of Postdocs and Academic Researchers’ (UAW) October Mass Membership Meeting. The UAW’s Davis chapter list of demands include decreasing rent burden, a higher

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minimum salary, better childcare and more. According to a Tweet by the UAW, over 600 workers gathered for the cause. According to a Google spreadsheet created by The UAW, issues that are on the negotiation table include but are not limited to: appointments, benefits, childcare, compensation, housing, layoffs, leaves of absences, management and academic rights, no strikes, parking and transit, President’s Postdoctoral Fellowships, reasonable accommodations, relocation reimbursements, work authorizations, duration and international scholar and immigrant support. Graduate student employees and organizers took to the megaphone to explain why they are voting yes on a strike. Sarah Gooding, a Ph.D student with the UC Davis Neuroscience Graduate Student Association (NGSA) spoke about her and her partner’s experiences as expecting parents and graduate students. “The cost of infant child care in Davis is over $2,000 a month,” Gooding said. “It costs $432 a month minimum to add a child to our UC SHIP Health plan. That’s [my partner’s] stipend — it’s gone now. That leaves mine to cover rent, our utilities, food, vehicle cost, everything else you need to take care of a family of three. How many of you feel really good about supporting a family of three on your monthly stipend?” The crowd of concerned workers booed as a response to this question.

One person in attendance even shouted that they can barely support themself with the stipend. Gooding criticized UC Davis for their lack of family care. “They can not call themselves champions of gender equity or diversity in academia while they continue to champion policies that are fundamentally incompatible with being a parent,” Gooding said. Multiple speakers followed, sharing their stories of feeling unsupported by UC Davis. Wen Guan, a Ph.D student and teaching assistant in the sociology department, talked about her experience as an international student at Davis. “As an international student, just like all of the other ones, we crossed the oceans and continents, come to this country, this school for better education and better life,” Guan said. “We never ask [for] money from this country. Now our first demands is stop taking more money out of our pockets.” Before the authorization vote, organizers passed the megaphone to people in attendance, each of whom shared why they are voting yes on authorization. One person said, “I’m voting yes because half of my paycheck goes to rent.” Another added, “All we’re asking for is to be able to afford our rent, to be able to buy groceries, to be able to not have a heart attack when we’re putting gas in our cars.” STRIKE on 6

On-campus residents who drive to campus, including those who live at the Green at West Village, can expect a price increase in their Parkmobile daily parking bill, according to information on the Transportation Services (TAPS) website. This change comes as TAPS has switched on-campus resident drivers from the affiliated rate of $3.50, which they received access to during the pandemic, to the nonaffiliated rate of $15 that they paid pre-pandemic. Those living in residence halls and in oncampus apartments were informed of the switch through their student email accounts before the change occurred. On-campus residents paying the nonaffiliate rate is a policy that is not new, but was only temporarily changed, according to the executive director of the service, Dr. Perry Eggleston. “Since the campus was on reduced operations due to the pandemic, University leadership allowed Transportation Services to offer affiliate rates to residents these past two years,” Eggleston said via email. “Now that the campus population and vehicles have returned, the University leadership asked us to reinstate the policy.” TAPS encourages students to use alternative transportation to get around campus to avoid the daily charge, according to Eggleston. “Resident students have access to Unitrans, biking, walking, and other travel amenities,” Eggleston said. “Thus, storing their cars on campus only adds

to the traffic congestion with the return to ‘normal’ operations.” The ASUCD Senate had this issue brought to their attention by Senator Vaneza Gonzaga during the open discussion period of the Oct. 6 senate meeting. “A lot of students have gone into this academic year planning on driving everyday, so that’s the investment they’ve made with their cars and such, so if it’s going to be $15, that’s extremely expensive,” Senator Gonzaga said. “Bikes are also expensive, which is one of the solutions they offered as an alternative.” Senator Zeph Schnelbach also shared their thoughts during the discussion. “[Transportation Services] sees it that if you live on campus, you don’t need to have a car, but I would like to remind the table that the Green is over a mile away from campus,” Senator Schnelbach said during the meeting. Senate discussion continued on the topic during the Oct. 13 meeting regarding what, if any, action the senate would take about the reinstatement of the policy. “I asked the internal vice president [JT Eden] for an update on the plans, and we are currently planning for some reps from transportation services to come to a meeting so we can ask them questions about the increase,” Senator Gonzaga said. “[We want] to see if there are solutions that work with TAPS and are still fair for students living on campus.”

GREENTAPS on 6