Disobedience. About 300 hotel workers. The event was
Jonathan Moore I Daily Trojan
to be arrested Thursday, Sept. 28, in protest of the low wages earned by immigrant Are America Coalition and UNITE HERE.
Hotel workers protest
Labor unions push for Los Angeles hotel workers to combat low wages.
By JACQUELINE LEE
Staff Writer
About 300 protesters volunteered to be arrested for civil disobedience on Thursday’s 2,000-person peaceful demonstration in support of immigrant hotel workers along the Century corridor by the Los Angeles International Airport
The event was organized by We Are America Coalition, Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees and Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees, who are striving to unionize hotel workers in the area.
Labor unions cited statistics state “hotel workers on the Century corridor earn 20 percent less than hotel workers in Los Angeles County as a whole.”
Eulogio Gutierrez, 56, who works at the Sheraton . gateway hotel, said he also has to pay more for health insurance through the hotel. For him and his wife, coverage totaled $169 per month, but when his wife joined a union at her workplace, they paid $39 a month for health care instead.
“I think part of it is gaining an awareness of what is
I see Protest, page 3 I
Hip-hop converges for financial summit
Music artists join in panel discussion on financial empowerment.
By ASHLEY ARCHIBALD
Staff Writer
USC’s cardinal and gold have never looked so good as when the red carpet and glint of gold teeth came together at Saturday’s Hip-Hop Summit.
A horde of hip-hop stars and industry moguls flooded Bovard Auditorium, bling flashing. Louis Vuitton backpacks met diamond-studded watches; every smile was a weapon as the sun glinted off metal and jewels.
The hip-hop community was out in force, and it was there to talk about one thing: finance.
The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network’s fifth annual Hip-Hop Summit brought in an audience from USC and the surrounding area to discuss this year’s topic: “Getting Your Money Right.”
“This is about utilizing pop
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culture to do some positive social change,” said Benjamin Chavis, president and CEO of HSAN.
Chavis, who hosted the summit, said a huge number of youth ruin their credit before the age of 25. That’s why hip-hop, a medium whose target audience fits in that range, is so perfect for spreading the word on financial literacy, he said.
“Hip-hop is the culture of young people today, across lines of race, across lines of ethnicity,” Chavis said. “Hip-hop is a common denominator in the world of young people.”
As they strutted their stuff down the red carpet, the panelists and celebrity-supporters said they planned to learn as much as they taught.
“They’re talking about keeping your money right, and I need to get my money right,” said Taraji Henson of “Hustle & Flow.” “It’s right, but I can do better.”
The pull of the hip-hop creme de la creme was unmistakable. Nearly every seat was full, and audience overflow made do with the stairways I see Summit, page 18 I
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Fasting comes full-swing for students
Religions see fasting as a means of cleansing and spiritual connection.
By JODIE 0XMAN
Staff Writer
A time of holiness, cleansing, prayer and reflection for Muslims and Jews?
Ramadan, the holy month during which Muslims fast from sunrise to sundown to commemorate the giving of the Quran to the prophet Muhammad, began this year on Sept. 24. Each day ends with the celebratory iftar, or breaking of fast. The month of Ramadan ends on Oct. 23.
Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement dedicated to fasting and prayer, began at sundown on Sunday.
Jews observing the holy day will fast, abstaining from all food and drink, beginning at sunset on Sunday evening until three stars can be seen in the sky on Monday night.
The fasts of Ramadan span 30 days, and the fast on Yom Kippur lasts about 25 hours.
Rabbi Jonathan Klein of USC Hillel said fasting is a means of removing oneself from a world of materialism, which then enables one to connect more with the spiritual world.
Similarly, Mesbah Ahmad, a junior majoring in business administration who celebrates Ramadan, said, “fasting is a means of cleansing yourself ... it makes you closer to God.”
Waseem Malik, a senior majoring in business administration who also celebrates Ramadan, said fasting “builds patience and makes me reflect back on advantages we have. It helps me reflect back on God and to be conscious of events in the world.”
Malik attended one of many
Reflection. More than 70 Muslim students showed up Wednesday, Sept. 27, to eat and pray as part of Ramadan, a fast that lasts for 30 days.
Ramadan dinners on campus coordinated by Ahmad to pray and break the fast of Ramadan. The dinners will continue throughout the month.
More than 70 Muslim students and faculty members came together to pray and eat Wednesday evening. Last year 22, dinners were held during Ramadan thanks to donations made by students and their families, alumni and small businesses. Ahmad said an average of
about 110 people attended the dinners last year, and the dinners this year are starting out about the same.
Klein said Jews do not only refrain from food and drinks during this time.
“We also don’t bathe, we don’t wear leather shoes, we don’t have sex, and we don’t anoint ourselves with oils,” he said.
Similarly, Muslims do more than I see Fasting, page 18 I
INSIDE
Wide receiver Steve Smith helped propel the Trojans to a narrow victory against the Cougars, 28-22. 20
Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912
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October 2, 2006
No. 29