This Monday, May 1, the entire Cesar Chavez Student Center will be closed, from Jack Adams Hall to the Rack 'N Cue, thanks to a decision by the center's governing board. If you haven't heard about it, you're not alone.

The reasoning behind closing the student center is not entirely flawed. The idea is to stand in solidarity with the local immigrant population, and to give students pause to think about civil rights as a current struggle.

There is no doubt that closing the entire student center will get students' attention - but is it the right kind? Each student pays a tidy sum for the operation of the student center, which many rely on for food, the bookstore, test forms, and a place to study or sleep.

The fight for immigrants' rights is obviously a nationwide movement, and it makes sense to have location-specfic tactics - what works in the Bible Belt won't work in the Bay Area.

Perhaps the relatively poor attendance during recent walkouts led those who have the power to force their will on the rest of the campus to think of alternative means to their ends. As extremists of all kinds have proven time and again, sometimes an otherwise genuine message can be lost when the delivery is offensive to the point of distraction.

It's hard to imagine that surprising a large portion of the campus with locked doors will stir a legitimate, reasoned debate or thoughtful contemplation about immigration. It is far more likely that those who simply came to grab a burrito or catch a quick nap will be legtimately, reasonably pissed off, and might begin to contemplate why they paid fees for a center that can be closed without wider student input.

The governing board, made up of students, administrators, and faculty, may have been unanimous, but there are plenty of people on campus who might not choose to support the politics behind this move. But even those who agree are still going to be put off by the unexpected inconvenience.
The closure raises the issue of whether a political statement should be behind the closure of such a nexus of campus activity. Many don't think so, and those who actually know about Monday will likely be out in force to protest it. And everyone here knows how enlightening and productive a heated encounter between protestors and counter-protesters can be.

Only last week the [X]press came out in full support of the rights of immigrants, SF state students or not. We simply take issue with the fact that the campus population was not given adequate notice, and that a decision impacting everyone was made by a select few. Handing out flyers the day of will not be as effective as this event had the potential to be.