I took this off for a while, but after being heckled yesterday by a number of my fellow students as I was trying to get to class, it's back up! Let me make on this perfectly clear: I am absolutely opposed to the fee hikes. Education is a right, which means that every single person should have access to it, and a 32% increase over the next year and a shrinking of financial aid will make it simply impossible for lower-income (and possibly even middle-class) students to be a part of what was once the best public university system in the world. That said, the way that protesters are going about this is all wrong, and I refuse to participate in a movement that turns student against student.
September 24th, 2009: a date which will live in infamy.
Okay, so it's no Pearl Harbor, but to many University of California undergrads, grad students, faculty, and staff, this Thursday is shaping up to be a pretty big deal. On September 24th, there will be a system-wide walkout. My inbox is bursting with mass emails about the state of the California economy and I've been bombarded with flyers for weeks on Sproul, calling for solidarity with uplifting messages like, "be the change you want to see in the world." But the initial feelings of euphoria and excitement that I experienced while thinking about taking part in such a movement faded fast.
I've found that there are three main schools of thought regarding the whole "walkout" thing. This is a university after all, so the majority of students are apathetic. They're all for a walkout if it means getting out of class, but as far as taking a stand - meh, too much effort. Then there are the supporters. Very rarely have I seen such fervent support for anything on the Berkeley campus, and that's saying a lot. Then there's me. Well, I'm sure there are others, but I can really only speak for myself here because I haven't actually met any of them.
Here it goes - I am not standing in solidarity with my fellow students. That's right, folks. I am NOT standing in solidarity. I will be crossing the picket lines on Thursday, and if the protesters don't make it all the way up to North Side, I'll take a little field trip down to Dwinelle and cross just for the hell of it.
And why am I taking this unpopular position? I'll tell you why (and this is an even more unpopular position, so brace yourselves people): the budget cuts aren't Yudof's fault. Oh snap, did I just say that?! And I'll tell you something else: they're not Schwarzenegger's fault either, nor are they the fault of the California State Legislature.
Now I bet you're on the edge of your seat, just begging for someone to blame. Well, look in the mirror, California voters, because I'm sure you'll find the culprit.
Our nation's political system is pretty screwed up, and the economic situation is dire, but the good old US of A has nothing on the degree to which the system in California is damaged.
To explain the current "Crisis in California," a bit of historical background is necessary. California is one of only eleven states that have a proposition system, and it is much easier for "the people" to get legislation put on the ballot here than anywhere else in the nation. (That "the people" part was in quotes because these days it is much too expensive for a private citizen to get anything on the ballot. Most propositions are introduced by special interest groups and lobbyists.) As far as the level of importance to the everyday voter goes, Senate and Assembly races have taken a back seat to propositions. (I mean, we're talking those 4-row SUVs here, so they're waaaaay in the back.)
With each election, California voters, like any rational political actors, vote themselves more social services and fewer taxes. Today's budget is tied up in all of these propositions (some of which became constitutional amendments) over which the government has no legal control. The General Fund is shrinking while voters are demanding more of their governments without any concrete ways to fund them. Prop 13 was a big one, freezing property taxes (the largest and most stable source of state and county revenue) at 1976 levels. The passage of that gem meant that California had to depend on income tax (which was and still remains quite volatile) as the main source of state revenue. Prop 98 was another big one, demanding that at least 40% of the state budget be devoted to K-14 education regardless of the state's economic situation. In addition, the voters approved an amendment to the state Constitution that required a two-thirds majority in the Senate to raise taxes (very hard to do in this bi-partisan day and age). The bottom line is that our budget is absolute chaos. The biggest chunks, education and healthcare, can't be cut because of constitutionality issues. The prison system, the next largest chunk, can't be cut because of voter mandates including, but not limited to, the introduction of the death penalty and three strikes legislation.
That leaves us, the UC system. Even though a majority of the schools' budgets no longer come from the state, there is still a pretty sizable chunk of public funding that hasn't been affected by propositions, amendments, or mandates. It's all California has. I'm not saying that it's right that the government is taking the money that it promised the the UC, CSU, and CC systems when they were first created, but the legislature's hands are tied. Budget cuts aren't just threatening scholarship funds; they're threatening the international prestige that many UC campuses are famous for. Lack of funding is driving away key faculty, and they're taking their grants and private contracts (aka big money) with them.
What we need is a major overhaul of the system. Some people are talking Constitutional Convention, others are talking communism, and I don't have a solution at all. They only thing I'm sure of is, if they're making me pay this much for my "free" public education, I am damn well going to get my money's worth.
