Home › Education › Education: College
Students from CSUCI rally against planned cuts
60 youths are among 1,500 protesters at the state Capitol
Download this story as a podcast!
Rich Pedroncelli / AP Tina Long, right, a student at City College of San Francisco, was among the protesters. About 60 students from CSUCI's 3,600-student campus participated.
STORY TOOLS
More from Education: College
SACRAMENTO — Had anyone bothered to count, it's likely that CSU Channel Islands would have won an award at a raucous college student rally Monday at the state Capitol: most protesters per student population.
About 60 red-shirted students from the 3,600-student Camarillo campus participated in the rally, most of whom rode up from Ventura County over the weekend on a chartered bus.
They were among about 1,500 from colleges and universities around the state who rallied to protest proposed budget cutbacks to higher education.
CSU officials estimate about 10,000 prospective students will be turned away next year if the spending reductions and fee increases are adopted.
Eric Suliga of Simi Valley, a fourth-year student at CSU Channel Islands, said the potential retrenchment will only marginally affect him, since he expects to graduate in the fall. His concern, he said, is for those who follow.
"The thought that my brother might not be able to get into college — it's just unacceptable" he said.
Student fees have about doubled since 2000 at each of the three segments of public higher education — community colleges, California State University and the University of California. Further increases, those at the rally asserted, will inevitably deny access to college.
"In order the get the American Dream, we need access to our dreams," said Joel Francis, student body president at Cal State Los Angeles.
A handful of legislators and state officials addressed the rally, including Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, who said the crowd reminded him "of my days in college in the 1960s, when we changed America."
He urged students to deliver a direct message to legislators considering the 2008-09 state budget. "The message is simple," Garamendi said. "Kick us out, we'll vote you out."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a slight year-over-year decrease in general fund payments to higher education. And his budget proposal seeks a $1 billion reduction in the amount he had agreed to give to higher education in a compact negotiated in 2004.
The proposed reduction is part of a 10 percent across-the-board cut in state spending that Schwarzenegger has proposed in order to close a $9 billion budget shortfall.
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata told the students there is an alternative.
"This is not a complicated problem," Perata said. "We need to raise taxes to continue educating Californians. It's no more complicated than that. A small increase in taxes will guarantee you the right to an education and it will guarantee me that there will be people around to pay Social Security taxes when I'm collecting it."
Perata reasserted his vow that legislative Democrats will not accede to cuts in education funding, even though all Republican lawmakers have pledged not to support any increase in taxes.
It could all add up, he said, to a prolonged budget stalemate.
"We will be here all summer long," Perata said. "If we have to watch the World Series on television from this building, we will do it."
The students from CSU Channel Islands said a retrenchment in higher education funding would have a particularly harmful effect on their new campus, which has been steadily growing since the college's inception in 2002.
"We won't grow at all next year," said senior Krista Wilbur of Ventura. "We'll have to remain stagnant."
Wilbur said she is concerned about the effect that will have on the local economy — especially at a time when she will be entering the work force with the burden of having to pay back more than $20,000 in student loans.
For CSU Channels Islands student body President Cris Powell, this was his third trip to the Capitol this year to lobby for higher education funding. He said he will back next week, accompanying university President Richard Rush.
"We'll do whatever we have to do to make education funding a priority," Powell said.
Posted by whitedove248 on April 22, 2008 at 8:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
GO CSUCI!!! FIGHT BACK!!!
Posted by collegestudentforlife on April 22, 2008 at 9:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You say cut back, I say fight back!!!
I've never been more proud to be a student in the CSU system!
Posted by heater904 on April 22, 2008 at 9:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I call bs in the fact that '60 students' actually care about this budget cut. First off, I went to the 'rally' that Csuci put on... and they basically said 'Hey! Free trip to Sacramento! Free transportation (bus) and free room! Who wants to come?!'
Yeah so alllllllll those 60 students must 'really' care sooooo much. You know more then half went because 'hey it's free! why not!'
Grow up CS system. No one will ever enjoy a budge cut... but did we forget this is a budget cut for all portions of the state budget. Also it's so that the ENTIRE STATE of California can function within their own budget and not increase our debt as a state! I don't know about all of you but I don't like the idea of tax increases over the years.
Also, these 'wonderful, dedicated, non biased students' do they even know how much EXACTLY is being cut from CSUCI alone?! I heard the girl in charge of this in my class talk about it, 1 million dollars. Ok... fine one million, pretty penny... so let's see we have about 3,300 students attending each year... divide the number of students by 1 million... ohhh wow a whole $300 dollars (about) OH MY GOSH! I shall never be able to recover. But saying 'a 40% increase in fees' sounds so much more severe in comparison to a measly $300 dollars. Grow up and give out all the facts CS/CSUCI sytem.
But honestly $300 dollars is now a huge deal for a student. Suck it up, get a few less $5-$6 dollar coffee's, buy the shuttle ticket from Cam. Train station (so you pay only $25 dollars a semester verses an average of $150 for a parking ticket and all the hassles that come from finding a spot), and think of all the gas you would save from not driving directly to the campus from the 101 (oh about 2-4 miles a day less). Then ta-da! You have saved about $300 dollars!
Budget cuts are not fun, no one likes to be told that they will have less money to work with. But we are not the only portion of the state budget, and if I have to pay an extra $300-$400 dollars a semester, so be it! I am here for the school as a student in the long run, I am willing to put forth my part and keep the school running.
Bite the bullet and deal with it. Also... as a student of CSUCI... where is the group of students that are actually 'OK' with this budge cut being represented in these 'protests on behalf of CSUCI/CSU system'?
Just because 60 students can walk around in a line and yell a few times does not represent me or tons of other students on the campus. I am sorry but five year olds can do the same thing in front of a building. Last I checked we were all adults on the campus, instead of complaining all the time, lets figure out the solution/remedy for this now verses later.
Posted by losalgrl16 on April 22, 2008 at 10:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank you to all those students who came on this trip. You all DEFINITELY represented me extremely well. I am proud to say that I walked with 59 other students who were dedicated and committed to the fight. People will always complain and try to bring us down, but we all know that we are doing what is right for students in public higher education. We presented ourselves with respect, integrity, and class and we came with the facts and the knowledge of the issue. Thank you all so much ...GO CSUCI!!! KEEP THE FIGHT GOING!
Posted by briteasafirefly on April 22, 2008 at 4:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
CSUCI is actually going to be out $2.5 million and not 1 million as Heater904 has said. The mast majority of the people that went on this trip did not go for the free trip. They went to have their voices heard.
Even $300 is a huge deal for a student. A lot of students are supporting themselves and have a hard time getting by as it is. For many students, $300 means having to get more hours at work or getting a second job and therefore spending less time focusing on what is really important which is their education.
Our tuition fees are going to be going up, while services will be cut. All fees are being increased... housing is going up approximately $200 a semester. It will cost me at least $1000 more a year to be able to go to college. Thats an additional $1000 being added to my student loans in addition to what normally gets added every year.
Between 2002 and 2005, the CSU system had $500 million cut from their budget and they haven't recovered from that yet, so now an additional $386 million budget cut including $73 million in student fee buy outs is going to put the CSU system into a unbearable strain.
There are other places the budget can be cut, but education is not one of those places. The CSU system in an investment, in which the return is far greater than the initial investment. For every $1 put into the CSU, over $4 is returned by the students graduating from the CSU system.
I am very proud to be one of the CI students that went on that trip. There may have only been about 60 of us there, but we were probably the loudest group and we did everything the CI way! I gained far more from this experience than I ever imagined would be possible. We definitely had a big impact while we were in Sacramento and we can only hope it was enough to sway the legislature from cutting the budgets of higher education.
Fellow students please remember that no matter what anyone says, what we did in Sacramento was important. We represented CI in the best way possible! Now just start contacting our local representatives to convince them that we are a worthy investment!
Posted by Face on April 22, 2008 at 4:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Everything else is going up, raise fees vs. cutting back. I am amazed at the low turnout since this is in San Francisco's backyard, that should indicate little opposition to raising the fees. Raise fees and pump up the student loans, it's all just dollars anyway.
Posted by caskier on April 22, 2008 at 4:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
A CSUCI education is the best bargain on earth. These students need to grow up and learn that a comparable private school education costs ten times as much. Why shouldn't fees go up? Stop whining and be grateful for what you have. Spend your time protesting something more important. Or better yet, spend time in class or studying.
And its BS that anyone will be denied an education. There are loans available.
PS - my teen daughter was in Sacramento yesterday too. But she was there to LEARN about government and legislation. A much more productive experience.
Posted by collegestudentforlife on April 22, 2008 at 4:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well said, briteasafirefly! It isn't a simple matter of tacking on an additional $300 to each students' tuition (and I seriously question the ways used to arrive at this number) -- the budget cuts are far more complicated than that. A budget cut of $300 million dollars from the CSU system will cost the California economy approximately $1 billion dollars in revenue. So yeah, cutting even $300 from every student has quite visible, quite long-term effects that are hard for many to see through a short-term lens. Further, from the 90,000 students the CSU system graduates yearly come a huge chunk of California's teachers, nurses, criminal justice employees, and civil servants. Under Schwarzenegger, it's been documented that California will need 100,000 public school teachers to begin replacing the baby boomers who are beginning to retire, and already there's a significant shortage of educators. Budget cuts will directly reduce the number of teachers available to enter the workforce in California -- and this is only ONE example of how far-reaching these proposed budget cuts are.
As for parking at the train station and taking the bus to campus: unless you're taking public transportation to the train station, this is not really a good solution if you’re looking for students to save money and contribute it back to the government. It’s a fine idea, but theory doesn’t always equal reality.
Posted by collegestudentforlife on April 22, 2008 at 4:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
caskier: the 48 hours I spent driving to Sacramento, in Sacramento, and driving home again were some of the most educational hours I've ever spent. I was able to meet with Assemblywoman Strickland's head of staff and discuss AB 2365 with him. I spoke with other students and heard from the Lt. Gov. how the political system works. I studied the timeline for doing the state budget. I know the review process and who gets what in what order. So you can't tell me that what I learned wasn't beneficial.
I'm an English major, not a political science major, so none of these things comes naturally to me. Save my high school government course and my Title V college-required course, I've never had any formal instruction. Sunday and Monday were some of the most instructional, educational, and thought-provoking days of my life.
Posted by losalgrl16 on April 22, 2008 at 5:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank you to all those students who have written positive messages regarding what we've done in Sacramento. To those other students or individuals, I would recommend learning more about the issue as opposed to throwing out ideas that are simply not feasible and being critical without having full knowledge of the issues. Someone said why shouldn't we raise fees??? Why should we? Public higher education was first thought of as FREE (PUBLIC) for those people who cannot afford to go to college. When tuition was actually first put in place in the early 70's, students were outraged because the whole idea of public higher education is that it's free. That dream was once lived, why not live it again. Just because you can afford raises in your tuition does not mean that others can do the same. Instead of being selfish and looking at the issue from one perspective, we must all look at it from various different perspectives so that we thoroughly understand all the issues. I am disappointed to see that there are people criticizing the efforts of those 60 students who were up at the capitol trying their very best to represent Channel Islands in a respectful and well-mannered way. EVERY SINGLE ONE of those students was dedicated to the cause and committed to going out there to make a difference, regardless of what ANYONE says. So, if you didn't go on the trip what makes you think you know anything about how those students were feeling and what actually happened while we were up there?
Regardless of anythign I would once again, like to reiterate that I am so proud of those students who went up there and represented Channel Islands. This is a fight that we will continue to the end to ensure that students are given the opportunity of affordable education. And to those others, please take the time to research the facts and take the time to appreciate those others that go out there to fight for you. If you see things differently, then YOU should be out there advocating.
THANK YOU CI STUDENTS!
Posted by Face on April 22, 2008 at 6:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow, tuition didn't exist before the 1970's? Somebody should have told the students that went to public university since the 1700s, they got ripped off. I assume you meant early 1700's vs the 1970's.
Posted by briteasafirefly on April 22, 2008 at 10:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
face99: there were 300 students from SFSU alone. In addition, Sacramento wasn't the only location that had a March for Higher Education event...Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Riverside were all locations for the event.
Posted by JohnGC on April 23, 2008 at 8:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
How many dollars did CSUCI pony up for travel and per diem expenses for 60 participants? Where did the money come from? Surpluses in the discretioary fund perhaps? No, couldn't be from surplus funds, that would be self defeating
Posted by collegestudentforlife on April 23, 2008 at 2:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The money came from funds that had already been allotted to ASI. It wasn't extra money that needed to be "ponied up"; rather, it was money that already existed for activities such as this. The whole college experience is not simply about the education a student learns in the classroom and accordingly, money should be invested on co-curricular activites as well. One of CSUCI's four pillars is civic engagement and service learning, and funds that go to support that are funds well-invested and well-spent.
Posted by r_sandberg on April 26, 2008 at 4:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
re:Posted by heater904 on April 22, 2008 at 9:51 a.
Well said!
(Requires free registration.)
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.