CSUN Library Freakout During Finals Week (VIDEO)

This latest take on the "Asians in the library meme" isn't as obviously mockable as UCLA student Alexandra Wallace's infamously racist rant, but it's still managed to make some waves on the internet.

In this YouTube clip, posted on Wednesday, an Asian student has a whispery, intense "freakout" in the Cal State Northridge Library during finals week.

The video doesn't depict what provoked the student into stomping across the room. Instead, it picks up in the aftermath of her first outburst as her provocateurs say, "Ok, this isn't a scary movie. You need to calm your dramatic a** down."

The student comes marching back to lean over their desks: "Do not tell me that. It's rude and disrespectful, ok? It's finals right now."

After a few more jeers, the student comes back one last time to ask, "What's wrong with you?" She then turns toward the entire room and says, "what's wrong with all of you?" As students in the library start speaking up against her multiple disruptions, she returns to her desk and slams it repeatedly.

The LA Weekly points out that the video has already started garnering racist video responses and a heated debate in the comments section of the YouTube page.

The video publisher tries to indemnify him or herself from the potential fallout, saying "this is not my video, i do not take credit for the recording of this video. watch and enjoy!" But one of the highest ranked comments on the YouTube post asks, "You are a bully for instigating this girl and even more so for putting this up here. Do you want to ruin this girl's life? You are mean."

Of course, this is by no means the wildest finals week shenanigan we've ever seen. At the College of William & Mary in Virginia, students rushed their library to get a good study spot, knocking someone over. At the University of California, San Diego, students camped out in front of their library to protest the lack of a 24-hour policy during finals week.

For a more light-hearted tribute to Asian-American college students and their study habits, check out the tumblr Asians Sleeping In The Library, created by "a handsome Jew who also likes to sleep in libraries."

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the sit-in occurred at the University of San Diego. It was actually University of California, San Diego.

Comments

[Crystal Blackheart]

03:00 PM on 12/15/2011

Working in higher ed, this kind of behavior is alarming. Suicide is a problem in college, especially during finals - when students are in an insane amount of pressure. This poor girl could simply be having a breakdown and possibly needed help. The people who were behind the camera and egging this girl on should really be reprimanded.

[rodeman]

01:22 PM on 12/13/2011

I'm curious as to what provoked her behavior in the first place? Seems like the video comes in mid-stream.

[jazzmonster87]

11:57 PM on 12/12/2011

I attend this school and know first hand how rude people can be in the library. I think she should have approached the situation differently but I have before, in the past, asked people to be respectful of others who are in the library to study...not to talk on the phone, not to skype out loud, not to talk loudly with friends while people who are serious about their education suffer. People are extremely rude and, quite frankly, need to grow up. Everyone at this institution pays and puts the time and effort in attempt to be successful in one form or another.... I think as a community of college students we should strive to help each other out as opposed to what these very, very immature girls did.

[Hair ShirT]

12:16 AM on 12/15/2011

Oh boo hoo. Quit crying. I think some are pushed to their breaking points with all this pressure to succeed. She made a bigger deal out of it than it should've been. It's not life and death. RELAX.

[ponyloco]

08:40 PM on 12/12/2011

I side with freak out girl.

[m66]

05:33 AM on 12/12/2011

Is this supposed to be news? It looks like sensationalist click-bait to me. What is the point here? To further embarrass her? Or start a "debate" on race here? Please.

[S Omoruyi]

03:48 AM on 12/12/2011

i cant stand when people be talking in the library

[News ToYous]

04:00 AM on 12/13/2011

Here is the correct link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4n_G00kyug

[JoshSKUM]

05:31 PM on 12/10/2011

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

[DecentHuman]

03:03 PM on 12/10/2011

I agree that this is truly YouTube era bullying, now propagated by Huffpost. What kind of lowlife scum have we brought up in this country? How sad.

[LeFlaneur]

12:44 PM on 12/10/2011

Picture yourself on your worst day, when the stress just overwhelmed you and you lost your cool.

Now picture that instead of leaving you alone, people egged you on and then filmed your reaction. And then "news sites" like Huffington Post posted the video so 500,000 strangers could laugh at you or pass judgement on a situation that they know nothing about. And you, just a person trying to get through life.

Think about that. This is why people use the world "bullying" to describe this. They key is that it's not just the girls filming who are bullies it's all of us. The simple act of posting this video is cruel. There's no other way to put it. It's cruelty to a fellow human being. I don't know this person or anything about her and I don't need to. It's an issue of basic human decency.

[DecentHuman]

03:03 PM on 12/10/2011

100% dead on. This was bullying at it's worst potentiated by the media. SHAME ON YOU Huffpost. Take it down.

[taozi]

06:10 PM on 12/10/2011

You really hit the mark on that one. I feel embarrassed for this woman, because stress is hard enough. I think this meme has gone beyond it's intended playful jest and has moved into a harsh racism.

[Hair ShirT]

12:20 AM on 12/15/2011

You guys all are wound up way to tight. There's no reason to flip out on people in the library. She's just one of those highly driven people who will never be happy with their lot in life. If you're going to lose your cool in a situation like this imagine how "real" life will treat you. That girl should've just packed up her belongings and went somewhere else. Simple really.

[doitright]

11:54 AM on 12/10/2011

The ones who should be ashamed and embarrassed are the students who jeered at this girls and videotaped her reaction for their own amusement. Not a word I use generally, but what a couple of c**ts.

[Poster pass the post]

11:18 AM on 12/10/2011

The Poster of video have no courage, no ethics,no brain. If your going post a video a least leave your name. Thats at least you can do for posting a video of some one else.

[Douglas Hart]

10:21 AM on 12/10/2011

I am an academic librarian. It's my job to make sure that everyone in my school's little library behaves. Easy job, right? Wrong. You would not believe how loud, disrespectful, obnoxious, and hateful supposedly "grown" college students can be, even ones in their thirties and forties. Example: last week, three adult students were creating so much noise that I had to call security. They refused to comply with the security guard, who carries a .38 by the way, and only left the library after the guard called the police. My sympathies are with the student who is upset. I'm only sorry her library's staff doesn't have the spine to eject improperly behaving students.

[notniuq]

07:01 AM on 12/12/2011

Doug: It's a pretty big library... and also the CSU budget cuts means hiring less student employees let alone full time staff.
The librarians at CSUN are amazing! You can't really blame anyone besides those involved in the incident.

[lovebeatsyou]

03:37 AM on 12/10/2011

this is in bad taste to post... this girl didn't freak out really... people are vile (mostly the people filming this)

[Trevor Schmidt]

11:37 PM on 12/09/2011

That's how I feel :/