Students and faculty petition against budget cuts
The Alliance for the CSU fights the budget cuts on the front lines.
By: Joshua Burton
Issue date: 4/29/08 Section: News
A standee of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator stood underneath a canopy where the Alliance for the CSU cajoled passing students to speak out against looming CSU budget cuts.
"I just don't want to pay more for school," said Jason Yun, a marketing major at Cal State Fullerton, as he signed a petition. "I mean, it only takes a minute of my time to do it [sign]."
Members of Alliance for the CSU and volunteer students raised their voices above the crowds of people swarming around in the quad. Petitions were stacked on tables for people to fill out and sign. The individual sheets would later be faxed to the governor's office.
Alliance members offered their phones to students, so they could call the governor's district office in Riverside. They also provided a script to read to the office's secretary.
The Alliance for the CSU is an organization composed of teacher, staff and student organizations that banded together this past spring in order to get the California state government to lift the proposed $386 million cut to the CSU system.
The Alliance is led by the California Faculty Association, which is fighting to communicate to people the importance of the CSU system to the state.
"[The CSU system] is an investment in the long-term health of the state. By cutting out the CSU, it's like cutting out a vital organ in order to lose weight," David Freeman, a CSUF history lecturer, said.
The CSU system produces $4 for every $1 invested, which provides the state economy with the money it needs to crawl out of its $16 billion deficit, Freeman said.
"Employers look at the work force when they consider moving into an area. Reducing the CSU as an entity reduces the scope of its reach," Freeman said, adding that it is also the most inexpensive means of upper division education in the state. Through schools like CSUF, lower to upper-middle class people have a means of climbing the social ladder.
Freeman said he blames the governor's proposed across-the-board budget cuts on the amount of interest groups angrily demanding a smaller piece of the budget-cut pie.
"I just don't want to pay more for school," said Jason Yun, a marketing major at Cal State Fullerton, as he signed a petition. "I mean, it only takes a minute of my time to do it [sign]."
Members of Alliance for the CSU and volunteer students raised their voices above the crowds of people swarming around in the quad. Petitions were stacked on tables for people to fill out and sign. The individual sheets would later be faxed to the governor's office.
Alliance members offered their phones to students, so they could call the governor's district office in Riverside. They also provided a script to read to the office's secretary.
The Alliance for the CSU is an organization composed of teacher, staff and student organizations that banded together this past spring in order to get the California state government to lift the proposed $386 million cut to the CSU system.
The Alliance is led by the California Faculty Association, which is fighting to communicate to people the importance of the CSU system to the state.
"[The CSU system] is an investment in the long-term health of the state. By cutting out the CSU, it's like cutting out a vital organ in order to lose weight," David Freeman, a CSUF history lecturer, said.
The CSU system produces $4 for every $1 invested, which provides the state economy with the money it needs to crawl out of its $16 billion deficit, Freeman said.
"Employers look at the work force when they consider moving into an area. Reducing the CSU as an entity reduces the scope of its reach," Freeman said, adding that it is also the most inexpensive means of upper division education in the state. Through schools like CSUF, lower to upper-middle class people have a means of climbing the social ladder.
Freeman said he blames the governor's proposed across-the-board budget cuts on the amount of interest groups angrily demanding a smaller piece of the budget-cut pie.
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robbie
posted 4/30/08 @ 6:44 AM PST
Budget cuts for schools are always a stupid idea, the students are going to be the future of the country and you want them to be as educated as possible. (Continued…)
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