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EmailOctober 5, 2007
A bit of MEChA history in Newbytes Today
By Omar Medina
In honor of trailblazing newsman Ruben Salazar's relentless efforts to chronicle the complexity of race relations in Los Angeles, the U.S. Postal Service is issuing a commemorative stamp of the former Los Angeles Times and Santa Rosa Press Democrat reporter and columnist.
Tens of millions of the first-class 41-cent stamps will be issued some time next year, Postal Service officials said. It will be among five stamps honoring U.S. journalists to be officially unveiled in Washington on Oct. 5.
"He was a groundbreaker for Latinos in this country, but his work spoke to all Americans," Postmaster Gen. John E. Potter said recently. "By giving voice to those who didn't have one, Ruben Salazar worked to improve life for everybody. His reporting of the Latino experience in this country set a standard that's rarely met even today."
It was the way Salazar died that made him a martyr to many in the Mexican American community. His head was shattered by a heavy, torpedo-shaped tear gas projectile fired by a sheriff's deputy during a riot Salazar was covering in East Los Angeles on Aug. 29, 1970. Salazar was 42.
In March 1979, SSU renamed its library in honor of Salazar. Until the dedication ceremony, the building was only called "The Library," although there had been previous efforts to change the name to The Emiliano Zapata Library and The Ronald Reagan Library that failed.
Victor Soto of MEChA, who led the effort to rename the building after Salazar, first proposed the idea to the Academic Senate in March 1977. After popularizing the notion around campus and gaining strong campus support, it was voted to approve the proposal to name the Library after Ruben Salazar. The name was submitted to the CSU Board of Trustees and approved by Board Chair Roy T. Brophy and Chancellor Glenn S. Dumke.
The official dedication ceremony was held on March 2, 1979 and the event hosted eight San Francisco artists’ galleries in the building. This is the second CSU structure to be named after Salazar; in 1976 CSU Los Angeles dedicated its South Hall in Salazar’s memory.
In 2002, after the Schulz Library was constructed, the Ruben Salazar Library became Salazar Hall, and was renovated. It has won many awards for its energy efficient design and has one of the largest solar panel grids in the northern California region. Salazar Hall is now home to many of the school’s administrative and educational offices, as well as the Journalism Laboratory and several classrooms.
