The Occidental Weekly

Several residence halls on campus were subject to break-ins and thefts during winter break. Two laptops, five Wii games, a Wii remote and money were stolen from rooms in Norris Green, Norris Yellow and Braun Halls with no evidence of forced entry.

Concerned students and representatives from over ten campus clubs and organizations met on Monday, Jan. 24 to discuss a response toward the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. The meeting was the inception of the Student Haiti Support Coalition.

On Jan. 23, Occidental students joined a nationwide commitment to service as part of the Martin Luther King Day of Service Challenge. Approximately 400 Oxy students and faculty gathered to donate their time to 24 organizations around Los Angeles in a full day of community service.

Vince Cuseo, Oxy's former dean of admissions, was formally named vice president of admission and financial aid on Jan. 13, and was confirmed by the Board of Trustees on Jan. 26. He replaced Bill Tingley, who announced his retirement last fall after serving 12 years at Oxy.

On Saturday, Jan. 30, The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (ORSL) hosted the Los Angeles-based Irish minstrel Ken O'Malley, who performed a concert called "All Their Wars Are Merry and Their Songs Are Sad: A Musical Journey Through The Times of Troubles and the Times of Peace" in Herrick Chapel.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled his state budget proposal for 2010 on Friday, Jan. 8th during his annual State of the State. The proposal's major focus was to decrease state expenditures and ultimately reduce the $60 billion deficit. In the weeks since its release, the proposal and the Governor have faced overwhelming criticism from Senate and Assembly Democrats, state labor unions, public employees, environmentalists and the state's Legislative Analyst.

As a precursor for the 2010 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau is traveling to the Occidental campus as they go across America over the next few months to educate the public about the importance of participating in the government- sponsored poll. Occidental students will be included in the nationwide survey effort. Representatives from the Census Bureau will make stops on campus starting this March once the counting process is underway.