Department of Journalism

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Statement from Dean Robert Bucker Regarding Summer Session 2009

The current economic crisis has severely impacted the California State University system and Cal State Northridge, forcing us to restrict the number of students we can enroll in Academic Year 2009/10, which begins with the summer 2009 semester. As the state economy worsened after the budget compromise was forged, the Chancellor’s office for the CSU alerted campuses to the possibility of additional budget shortfalls. Campuses were asked to employ a variety of strategies to meet but not exceed revised enrollment targets.

For this reason, MCCAMC summer enrollment was lowered prior to summer registration by canceling a number of classes to assist in meeting the College's reduced enrollment target. The College made this reduction in summer courses to preserve enrollment for the rest of the 2009/2010 academic year. However every effort is being made to accommodate graduating seniors who require six or less units to complete their degree during summer 2009.

Wm Robert Bucker
Dean, Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication

Sundial Editors for Summer and Fall/Spring Announced

Lilianna Oustinovskaya and Marla Schevker have been selected as Sundial editors for the upcoming academic year.

Marla will be the editor of the Summer Sundial, which will be an online only product for the first time this summer. Marla is well suited for this challenge, she has spent the last semester as the online editor for dailysundial.com. During the fall she was a staff writer and was one of the first students to start a blog about life in the dorms.

Lily will also embark on new territory as Sundial editor in chief -- the position is now a yearlong appointment starting in the fall. Lily is the features editor this semester and was a staff writer in the fall. She and current EIC Chelsea Cody, started the Sundial's first blog, The Paper Trail, and she has fully embraced multimedia and our rapidly changing industry.

Both Lily and Marla, along with key staff members, are working to reinvent the Sundial, from content to positions to the layout of the newsroom. They possess the skills and passion necessary to lead our student media through these exciting times.

CSUN Graduate Student Imprisoned in Iran

Esha Momeni, a mass communication graduate student at CSUN, was arrested in Iran on Oct. 15 and is being held at the Evin Prison in Tehran without bail. She has not been charged with any offense.

Momeni, 28, had been in Iran for two months, visiting her family and conducting research for her master's degree thesis on the Iranian women’s movement, which included filming interviews with members of the Campaign for Equality in Tehran.

Last week, Momeni was pulled over on a highway by undercover police in Tehran for allegedly passing another vehicle illegally, said Change for Equality, a women’s rights organization, in a statement. She was then taken to her family's home, which was searched and her computer and video footage were confiscated.

“One of the great joys of being a university professor is working with bright young people who help you see the world in a different way. Mass Communication graduate student Esha Momeni is one such student,” said Dr. Melissa Wall, a professor and adviser for CSUN's mass communications graduate program, in a blog post.

On Oct. 20, Momeni’s family visited a branch of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran and was told the case was under investigation and no details would be released until it is complete.

CSUN is actively working with numerous international groups to secure her release. CSUN President Jolene Koester said that the university is reaching out to government officials in support of her cause, including U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Rep. Brad Sherman, the U.S. State Department, Iranian government officials and the United Nations.

"She is a student invested in learning and understanding current conditions in the country of her family's origin. Anyone who values knowledge and the role of academic inquiry in shedding light on the human condition should be concerned" about the arrest, Koester said in a statement.

Momeni was born in Los Angeles and her family returned to Iran when the revolution began.  According to Wall, she earned a bachelor of arts degree in graphic design from Azad University of Tehran in 2002. In addition, she taught art to orphans. Momeni returned to the United States a couple of years ago to study for her master’s degree.

She is a member of the California branch of the Campaign for Equality, a group aimed at ending discrimination against women in Iranian law. They are collecting 1 million signatures to seek better treatment of women in Iran.

“Esha is incredibly talented and artistic. We are anxious to have her back safe and sound,” said David Blumenkrantz, who taught Momeni in photography classes at CSUN