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The scene on Wednesday at UCLA outside a UC Regents committee meeting (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
During a UC Regents meeting, students reportedly "stormed" and "took over" a building at UCLA on Wednesday. SF Chronicle reports that the "[s]tudents, furious at the increase that will bring their yearly fees above $10,000 for the first time, rushed the UCLA building where the regents were meeting, throwing food, sticks and vinegar-soaked red bandannas meant to look like blood."
A total of 12 students, the Daily Cal reports, were arrested.
As for today, a few students and faculty are still protesting outside the UC Office of the President.
Yesterday, if you recall, UC students put down their no. 2 pencils and books (students still use those, right?) and took to the streets to protest UC-wide fee increases.
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Man I WISH my tuition at USF was only $10000.
Good for them.
We may soon storm Sacramento the same way if they don't start balancing the budget.
I'm confused. You congratulate the students for protesting a fee increase and staff cuts, and then call for the state budget to be balanced -- which will require fee increases and staff cuts.
They both speak to bad government.
The state needs to make cuts but cutting education while not cutting a penny from bloated union payrolls that fund the quasi-corrupt government is a little disingenuous to say the least.
How bout we reevaluate our incredibly shortsighted approach to property taxes?
Some people seem confused. The state is broke, and is therefore dramatically cutting funding to higher ed. "bloated union payrolls" have almost exactly nothing to do with the budget problem, and I have no idea who came up with this idea.
Why are we broke?:
Two things: Prop 13 and the initiative system
Prop 13:
Proposition 13 had two major provisions:
1) property taxes (commercial and residential) can only be increased at 1.5% a year, regardless of the property assessment. Before prop 13 local governments funded most everything through property taxes. Since prop 13 local government income fell dramatically, but the costs of building roads, paying teachers, etc did not go down. So the state made up the difference with block grants. This resulted in huge increases to the state budget, while actually funding of services declined.
2) 2/3 rule: prop 13 required that any increase to taxes must have a 2/3 in the legislature...and local elections to increase taxes or fees ALSO require a 2/3 majority of voters to pass. So, as city income from property taxes went down cities could not raise revenues other ways, because getting 2/3 to vote for a tax increase is nearly impossible, even in SF. Then, when the state was liable for even more (block grants) they couldn't raise money to meet the shortfall.
Ok so...now you get the state and local governments could not raise money. So the question is, why not cut spending? Firstly, spending has been cut, massively, since 1978 (per capita). We used to have school buses, and our roads were nice and smooth. Secondly, when spending was cut, to things like education, roads, police, people got upset, because they didn't want to pay for these things, but they also weren't willing to give them up. Luckily (or rather unluckily) its particularly easy for direct democracy in our state. If you get 8% of the people who voted in the last election for governor to sign a petition you can get something on the ballot (you can pay people to gather signatures). And if 51% of the people who vote that day vote for it, it can become a binding part of the california constitution. (remember prop 8?) So, when the people found out the state wasn't going to give them a bridge or a highway or whatever they went and passed initiatives that required the state to take out loans (bonds) to pay for things so that taxes wouldn't go up. Then people got nervous about crime, so the people in there wisdom voted for the three strikes rule, resulting in a massive increase in the prison population. Prisoners who cost a lot of money, but can't be release because of the consitution. Then people started to worry about k-12 education. So they passed prop 98 in 1988, requiring that 40% of the state budget be spent on schools.
So...yeah, we are screwed. And its not because of runaway spending, illegal immigrants or unions.
vinegar-soaked red bandannas meant to look like blood
what.
Let's rewrite this to read:
"Students, over 70% who never take a penny out of their own pockets to pay for tuition, books, meals or even keg deposits, needed a day off from class. Once their mac laptops and ipods were safely stashed away in their dorm rooms, civil disobedience spontaneously broke out."
Those sissies at UCLA would protest a nickle increase in a package of Twinkies to get out of class, even though mommy and daddy still give them their snack money.
Wow, generalization-much? I'd highly encourage you to do some research on the percentage of students at UCLA who are there on some kind of scholarship.
I'm not sure what the situation is now with who has to pay what (I read something about a "Blue & Gold Program" elsewhere that most certainly did not exist when I went to a UC), but all I know is that I still owe about $10K in student loans, despite getting Pell Grants, Cal Grants, etc., and that I'd probably owe more like $30K now under current conditions, assuming I could have gone to school at all.
By the way, my parents didn't pay for a damn thing so kindly shut the hell up with your stereotypes. Thanks.
100%-70%=30% It's basic math guys, come on. I paid my way through school too.
And that's about as much of a generalization as saying that 1 in 4 of those Pete Wentz looking kids in front of the Academy of Art got in on talent, the other 3 are bored rich kids.
The only barrier to entry at Academy of Art is the ability to pay.
Are those riot control cops wearing bicycle helmets?!?!?!
Sheesh guys, where's your pride. I want full-on paramilitary-style helmets with face shields, black padded uniforma, Plexiglass shields and baseball bats.
I'm a masters student at a CSU school and we're getting a crazy fee/tuition increase, too.
crap, this means moms gonna have to take out a bigger plus loan and I might have to settle for just a $700 Win7 laptop instead of a $1200 Macbook - plus, what about my iPhone? you mean I gotta settle on some cheap phone w/ no web access? OH THE HUMANITY! I'M DOOMED! how will I ever finish college!!!! wait! you mean I gotta drink PBR cuz it's all I can afford instead of doing it cuz it's hip?
this sucks!