Students Manifest Dissent During Rally
By Ali Limonadi, and Natalia Cohen and Erika Martin, Daily Nexus, Friday, March 5, 2010


Hundreds of local protesters marched through campus, Isla Vista and downtown Santa Barbara yesterday, joining thousands of Californians in a statewide “day of action” supporting public higher education.

Shouting “You say cutback, we say fight back!”, over 250 UCSB students, faculty and staff gathered in the Arbor from 12 to 2 p.m. to rally against the current state of public education. Protesters then marched across campus and into I.V. before biking or bussing to Santa Barbara to continue rallying on State Street.


UCSB

Many ralliers cited UC leadership as a main reason for the University’s woes.

“That clown, the UC president, is aloof to what is happening in his universities,” a UCSB graduate student who identified himself as Youseff called out in the Arbor.

Professor of Asian American Studies Diane Fujino said that with the UC Board of Regents’ approval of a 32 percent fee increase in November, many students are no longer able to afford the price of a UC education.

“We need to stand up for education as a human right,” Fujino said. “As a right that all people have access to a quality education that allows them to think, learn critical thinking, the skills to be creative and imaginative and to be socially responsible and civically engaged.”

Megan White, a second-year feminist studies major, denounced Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state legislature for spending more on state prisons than on education.

“We demand that California educate its leaders of the future rather than incarcerate them,” White said.

After the speeches ended, protesters moved the rally out of the Arbor into I.V. before heading downtown. Some demonstrators, however, remained on campus and entered classes in progress in Campbell, Buchanan and North Halls.

Sarah Payne, a third-year psychology and comparative literature double major, said protesters stormed through her class in North Hall after the rally ended.

“About 15 minutes before class got out, we could hear them outside saying ‘hey hey, ho ho, budget cuts have got to go,’” Payne said. “Then a couple of them came into the entrance and they were asking us to walk out with them, and some guy was like ‘Fuck the system, fuck the budget cuts. ‘”

According to Vice Chancellor for Students Affairs Michael Young, protesters overstepped their bounds by disrupting those who did not wish to participate.

“Petitioning [people like] the chancellor or me is appropriate, but the way this rally was conducted disrupted at least two classrooms,” Young said. “That is simply out of bounds.”

However, Danielle Stevens, a first-year philosophy major, said the disruptions were minor and a part of the protesters’ overarching objective.

“Our goal is to let the legislators and state know we’re not fucking around,” Stevens said.

On the whole, UCSB police Sgt. Matt Bowman said the day’s events were peaceful.

“As far as I know, no police action was necessary [at UCSB],” Bowman said. “I’m very pleased that the local community was respectful as opposed to those at [University of California] Santa Cruz and Davis, for example.”


Statewide Protests

UC Santa Cruz saw one of the most active events, with numerous protesters seen carrying clubs and knives. An individual smashing a car windshield with a metal pipe was also reported. Protesters formed human barricades at the campus’ entrances, prompting the university to tell employees not to come to work for safety concerns.

In Berkeley, over 1,500 protesters marched on Oakland City Hall and the nearby UC Office of the President headquarters following a rally at Cal.

At Davis, close to 100 protesters who had collected at the 980-880 freeway interchange were detained and transported away by bus after breaking off highway crash barriers and attempting to force police officers away.

At the height of protests at UCLA, an estimated 500 ralliers gathered in Bruin Plaza chanting slogans. In later hours, police guarded the chancellor’s office in case of a possible takeover by activists.


Santa Barbara

SBTA member Layne Wheeler said the event was an opportunity to be heard by legislators.

“Today is a show of solidarity and a show of force,” Wheeler said. “Politicians are hearing the message that these cuts are hurting students.”

Hannah-Beth Jackson, a former California State Assembly member, said she hoped that the event would lead to important legislative changes in the economic priorities of the state.

“It’s a great lesson in learning that you have to speak up for yourself, especially when big corporate interests are taking over,” Jackson said. “The solution is to make sure that the corporations start paying their fair share of taxes so [students] get their fair chance [to have an education].”

On the Courthouse steps, Santa Barbara City Councilmember Das Williams, currently a candidate for the 35th District State Assembly seat, advocated for equal access to education.

“Our educational system has not only created unparalleled equality and opportunity but also economic prosperity and jobs,” Williams said. “If we fail to invest in public education, we are endangering not only that equality but also the economic future of our state.”

Labels: 35th-Assembly-District, california-assembly, california-budget, california-education, higher-education, state-budget

Containing the damage to our public education and public health systems done by recent state budget cuts is at the top of my priorities. To move our state forward, we need leaders who will hold the line on basic progressive values of fairness and opportunity, and who will fight to ensure that our people have access to the best education and health care, a strong environment, and an intact public safety system.

Recognizing that our children are our future, I’ll make sure our children have all the resources and skills they need to compete for and win jobs in the global economy, and I will support efforts to reform our state’s longtime broken health care system.

I’ll also seek to rebuild our middle class by creating new jobs and pushing our state to invest in new technologies and industries. I’ll expand alternative energy and sustainable, clean ways of living and doing business, and will unite our state’s environmental and labor constituencies behind a pro-jobs agenda to ensure that California is not left behind.

As your representative in the Assembly, I’ll work for lasting change and success by looking beyond the short-term gimmicks and political expedience of cuts-only state budgets, and will push the state to find new revenue streams, such as increased tobacco taxes, oil severance, and single-use bags, as ways through our current fiscal crisis.

Labels: 35th-Assembly-District, california-assembly, california-education, environmental-protection, public-education, public-health, public-safety

Recently, Das had a Letter to the Editor printed in the Santa Barbara Independent about the negative effects of student fee increases:


We Need More College Grads, Not Fewer
Student Fee Increases Will Hurt Our Economy

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

by DAS WILLIAMS


We are all painfully aware that times are tough and that difficult decisions must be made about the funding of various public programs and services. But I ask, are California’s colleges and universities really the smartest place to look for savings and cost cutting? Aren’t our students—the future leaders of America—the key to our long-term prosperity and our path out of this fiscal crisis? Apparently not, at least if one looks at the recent actions of our state’s policymakers.

The University of California Board of Regents’ recent decision to raise student fees by 32% comes on the heels of what has been our governor’s and legislature’s complete failure to protect or prioritize higher education, or, for that matter, education at any level. Now, after almost a decade of fee increases (300% to be exact) and cutbacks, California students are seeing some of the biggest hurdles to college admission and graduation they have ever faced: higher tuition, less aid, fewer grants, and more years to graduate.

Our state’s production, job market, and overall fiscal outlook are certain to suffer. Our higher education system is California’s economic engine. And California’s role as a global economic leader has always been due to its world-class education system and its investments in high quality, accessible academic institutions that encourage innovation, stimulate job growth, and create new industries.

In order to make an economic recovery and continue to compete in the global economy of the 21st Century, it’s clear that California is going to need more college graduates, not fewer. Now is not the time for actions that put the dream of a college education out of reach for thousands and make it harder for current students to stay in and graduate. Now is the time to embrace education and embolden the students in our colleges and universities.

The UC Regents have argued that they had no other options but to raise student fees.Yet students and workers have come forward with a variety of viable alternatives to student fee hikes, program cuts and staff furloughs. Some options included cutting the $350 million in bonuses to executives; applying salary reductions to the top 2% of earners—saving over $220 million; utilizing a portion of the millions in profits from medical centers; and using the $7.2 billion Short Term Investment Pool.

As a Santa Barbara Councilmember and local school board member, I have grappled with budget deficits and helped balance the city’s books. I know what it’s like to have to make choices in the face of minimal resources and maximum obligations. As a teacher and UC graduate, I also understand the negative effects that fee increases, program cuts and staff furloughs will have on our higher education system as a whole. But in the midst of challenging economic times, decision makers need to share in the sacrifice while prioritizing the protection of a high quality and affordable education system.

Maintaining access to this system for all Californians is one of the most important responsibilities of our state government. We must work towards more equitable and innovative solutions that protect students and workers, while also ensuring our higher education system remains the envy of the world.



Das Williams is a member of the Santa Barbara City Council and a candidate in the Democratic primary race for the California State Assembly, 35th District.

Labels: california-education, school-funding, state-budget, student-fee-increases