California students angry about higher-ed cutbacks rock campuses
The Students are taking to the streets and they are not happy.
BERKELEY, Calif. — Students carried out raucous rallies on college campuses nationwide Thursday in protests against deep education cuts that turned violent as demonstrators threw punches and ice chunks in Wisconsin and blocked university gates and smashed car windows in California.
At least 15 protesters were detained by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee police after as many as 150 students gathered at the student union then moved to an administrative building to deliver petitions to the school chancellor.
University spokesman Tom Luljak said campus police allowed one person inside, But when she emerged, she encouraged everyone to rush the building, he said.
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At the University of California, Berkeley, a small group of protesters formed a human chain blocking a main gate to the campus. Later in the day, hundreds gathered for a peaceful rally.
"We're one of the largest economies in the world, and we can't fund the basics," said Mike Scullin, 29, a graduate student in education who plans to become a high school teacher. "We're throwing away a generation of students by defunding education."
Organizers said hundreds of thousands of students, teachers and parents were expected to participate in the nationwide demonstrations.
Some university officials said they supported the protests as long as they remained peaceful.
"My heart and my support are with everybody and anybody who wants to stand up for public education," University of California President Mark Yudof said in a statement. "Public education drives a society's ability to progress and to prosper."
The steep economic downturn has forced states to slash funding to K-12 schools, community colleges and universities to cope with plummeting tax revenue.
It's a disgrace that the foundation of the future of America is being so severely handicapped.
Because Republicans would filibuster the cure for cancer if a Democrat found it and the Dems would roll over and let them.
Barack Obama: Change we can only imagine
I realize some think I'm just a negative on the economy but honestly nothing, nothing they are doing is going to reverse the course we are taking. If anything the law makers are making more painful and prolonged. We're in a for at least a 10 year ride with downturn and we can expect more cuts, a lot more.
Goodnight, Frau Blücher
You don't get what you pay for, either.
[Unless you put the actual URL in there, your link won't work. You can get it at the destination and edit this comment-Sitemonitor]
I went to UC Berkeley for both undergrad (in the early 1990s) and law school (in the early 00s). The university has been pulling this shit for as long as I can remember.
Sometimes it's even blatantly illegal, and I was one of the vindicated recipients of my share of a class action settlement. (I was also, incidentally, wrongfully expelled from the esteemed halls of the law school in what would have been my last semester, and had to sue the fuckers to get back in.)
But mostly, it's because California itself is an ungovernable mess.
The so called "people" can pass almost anything they want through the far-too-open initiative and referendum process. Amend the state Constitution to rescind fundamental rights? No problem. Pass two contradictory measures at the same time because nobody actually reads the measures they're voting on (and those who read them don't understand them, since they're purposely written to mislead)? No problem. Hell, I ran petition drives back in the day, and one day I convinced a whole bunch of people to "Sign here to put a third wing on chickens." People are barely paying attention.
Then there's the legislature. Want a budget? Oh, now there'll be a problem. I mean, this is serious stuff, so there must be a 2/3 majority if you're going to allocate any resources to pay for anything. Not that the people want to stop receiving the benefits. They just don't want their representatives to actually make them pay for it.
Nothing works in California. And I still have problems with the state, even after moving away. Just a few months ago, I received a traffic ticket in the mail from somewhere in San Jose. I could not possibly have been the driver of the car, but somehow the state found me, and told me I had to show up to court for running a red light I could not possibly have run.
I figured that when I moved away (which I actually did only to be with my partner, not because of the politics or the economy), I would discover the same old problems wherever I went. Not true. While I miss San Francisco living in a state that actually functions can actually be felt from day to day.
Not that California's neighbor to the north is perfect. Oregon has its share of so many problems. And I know it's a smaller state. But even the imperfect efficiency feels like heaven compared to dealing with California's idiotic, shabbily administrated bureaucracies.
I don't know what's going to happen to that state in the future. I don't wish its collapse, but I sure am glad I don't live there anymore.
Everyone is equally entitled to the pursuit of happiness. Wasn't that once self evident?
But I now have to ask…
Did they ever put that 3rd wing on the chickens?
It became an unfunded mandate.
How they got 2 wings on a buffalo.:)
What is your conceptual, continuity?
they mandated a third bedroom for the henhouse at the same time they took away the rights of roosters to marry.
“Why would anyone with a functioning brain believe this guy?”
Some guy with an eating disorder
Did they ever put that 3rd wing on the chickens?
There's probably someone out there working on it. ;)
We actually used that as a stress reliever when out campaigning. We had some really important issues we really believed in. It can get frustrating with so many people barking at you that you're wasting everyone's time trying to petition to change things. So, one way to make those moments fun was to lapse into silly mode, and petition for something ridiculous like that.
I was astonished to encounter a very different kind of citizen when I did so. Never failed. There would always be one person who would sign to put a third wing on chickens, needless to say, not even reading what s/he was signing.
Everyone is equally entitled to the pursuit of happiness. Wasn't that once self evident?
Does my heart good. ;)
Everyone is equally entitled to the pursuit of happiness. Wasn't that once self evident?
Hate to say it, but Raytheon should be paying more for their research & intellectual hot-beds. Back in the day, a school could rely on these people, but now it's all third quarter losses-this and some tech firm in Kentucky-that.
Lets not forget how we got here people. It started in force with a war for lies and no accountability for treasonous activity ,abuse of power and we can go on and on. These forces are still present for the most part. This is probably not part of the students position but it should be.
Oh for petes's sake the good people of CA think they don't have to pay taxes for schools, or police or fire, they think it runs by magic, tell the students to get their parents to pay for the schools and to MAKE their elected reps do their jobs
Just the Facts ma'am just the facts
At californiansfordemocracy.com, you can download and sign (or circulate) an initiative petition to end the Republican 1/3 + 1 minority rule principle. As with the US Senate, California is stuck with a situation where all it takes is a 1/3 minority to strangle any chance of funding the schools.
Thanks to Ronald Reagan and Howard Jarvis, we're sinking to Third World status - just as they planned. After all, you can't be a noble if the peasants are educated...
and vote for petitions. Circulate one ending I&R.
“Why would anyone with a functioning brain believe this guy?”
Some guy with an eating disorder
Again the blame is on the bogus Republican/Conservative's who want to purposely and gleeful destroy public institutions so they can Privatize the system. The 'Big Con' of Privatization is all about profit and kickbacks to the Republican Party in the guise of campaign contributions. Can you say political Mafia-ism, otherwise known as Fascism.
"The California Legislature is run by a minority of 37 percent - extremist conservatives who think that government should NOT serve public needs. They have taken a pledge not to raise revenue and are happily forcing the budget cuts that are hurting so many Californians and destroying our system of public education."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/...
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/...
Then why participate, raise money, and build the base?
few shots at the people who want to balance the budget on the backs of people who can least afford it.
I know I've given up on being able to attend university. Too bad that so many others have given up too, and the rush of enrollments in community college is already making life harder on those of us who attend community college.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
I participated in the strike at UC Davis, and I really hope this nationwide demonstration for public eduction will have a serious impact. This country needs to get its priorities straight.
Also, it's funny that President Mark Yudof pretended to endorse the strike. The UC strikers were, among other things, demanding that Yudof resign.
AP (video): Millions Protest Education Cuts in California
May this be the beginning of new generation's willingness to hit the streets. This nation needs youthful activists championing fundamental rights, like education.
I was a student at Berkeley. The occupation by National Guards. The daily confrontations with the cops. The army helicopter that gassed Sproul Plaza. The day they gassed the library. Ronald Reagan riding to national prominence by beating up on hippie liberal students.
Marching in the streets! Banging the Drums!
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
is being spent on BOMBS!
Halliburton, XE, Goldman Sachs, these 'individuals' are being paid 3 to 5 times more for services formerly done by 'civil servants' who didn't work on an 'open bid', let's keep the war going, how can I screw the American-Taxpayer mentality.
The Viet Nam War was STOPPED by 3million people showing up on the White House lawn.
It's time for this generation to have it's 'Hell No We Won't Go' moment.
Grover Norquist is creaming his pants. This is his ultimate wet dream. Like all conservatives, he hate public education worse than welfare since an educated public is less likely to buy their bullshit.
"Grover Gets His Due." An unsolved mystery.
Hey kids, you fucked up, you and your parents trusted us!
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
Conservatives have been attacking education since the Reagan administration. They want an electorate that cannot discern between data and rhetoric. It is conservatives who are talking about teachers not teaching them that teachers are overpaid. It is conservatives who have targeted teachers unions in an effort to undermine education.
it is good to see students finally fighting back.
That those kids are assholes enough not to know how to behave themselves at a protest. Smashing windows? Throwing rocks? WHAT THE FUCK??
How is attacking the university employees, who have NOTHING to do with setting policy, supposed to help matters? Yeah, smash the car windows of the receptionists and librarians, that'll help get your classes back.
Fucking hooligans.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
bunch of assholes hiding behind a cause.
And we would have had those cars turned over by now. After a few years, however, we magically fell in love with Reagan. At least according to some knowledgeable substantive commentators around these parts.
“Why would anyone with a functioning brain believe this guy?”
Some guy with an eating disorder
pissed off people who see no hope have very little care or control of their gun sights.
That's what makes them dangerous. That's why they get attention.
The question isn't right or wrong at this point.
It's - "What The Fuck is going on that makes hundreds, possibly thousands of citizens believe random violence is a reasonable recourse"?
It's a legitimate question for a supposedly civil and just society to start answering.
The demonstrators in Iran were doing some of the same things and worse...and many championed them and their cause.
Sucks when it's your own country in disarray, hey?
students should be protesting Goldman Sacks who is controlling their destiny.
I love the smell of riot in the morning. Brings back the fond memories of my youth.
instant self gratication on the road to generational wallowing in greed to me.
“Why would anyone with a functioning brain believe this guy?”
Some guy with an eating disorder
california students? Come on, Crooks and liars - it was elementary school students, teachers, workers, and students just to name a few. Get the story straight - this is not solely a student movement anymore in California.
As for the insinuations students attacked workers - you're full of it. Campus workers and the students marched arm in arm today from SF to San Diego. But I'm sure you wouldn't know that from watching Faux News.
Good for the students! If we don't fund education and place all of the hope for the future on the children of the rich we will have to wait a long time for Paris Hilton to discover a cure for cancer and the Walton family daughter, the one who cheated through college, to stop global warming. The future of the world rests on educating the youth of today. We however spend our money fighting nonwinnable wars so that there is no money left to fund what is really necessary. Mr. President get on board with this cause!
Walking around with signs protesting isn't enough. Even if you don't have kids, people need to be stopping by the dollar store and spending 20 bucks or so buying pens, pencil's, crayon's, and notebooks. I do it once or twice a month. Drop them off at your neighborhood school. Trust me they will be grateful to get it. Here's a real good thing to do. Fill out the paperwork to volunteer a few days a month in a class. I guarantee there is a kid sitting in that class that could use the help.
_Somebody_ stood back and didn't give a rat's ass while I.O.U.s for trillions were signed with China so we could try to occupy the Middle East and _somebody_ seemed to think tax cuts for multi-millionaires should be a top priority over human and structural infrastructure. Maybe your parents were among them?
But don't worry. The important thing is that you want your life to make a difference. So take a hard look and maybe you'll realize that you should change your priorities to reflect those of your country. America will value your contribution as a soldier in Iraq far more than they ever will as a teacher or social worker. Free education, medical care, clothing and housing, you name it. It can all be yours if you just shut up and play the game.
and my parents are retired, dyed-in-the-wool Republicans. They live in a gated retirement community in sunny Florida. The conservative echo chamber they exist in is perfectly happy with the Bush wars in the Middle East, find no problems with the Patriot Act or massive government domestic spying, and would love to see taxpayer-funded social programs slashed -- everything EXCEPT their Social Security and Medicare. Their attitude basically is "I've got mine - FU if you can't fight for yours." Oh, and you will never guess which radio stations they listen to, or to which television programs they watch ... ( well, maybe in one guess.)
In trying to talk rationally with them about what's actually going on in this country, and about the Bush crimes against this country and our Constitution, I got cold blank stares, a bunch of rambling Beckian quotes, and then "concerned citizen" phone calls to the FBI and the DHS Anti-Terrorist Hotline.
AFAIK, those of the "Greatest Generation" have lost their immortal souls to the "Darth Vader" Dark Side.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
-- John F. Kennedy
Don'tchew mean rap the campus?
I swear kids today were born old, and their music bores me silly.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
It's a disgrace that the foundation of the future of America is being so severely handicapped.
What's wrong with these students? They've been taught since they were blastocysts that government is not responsible for their education, or any other of their needs. If they or their parents cannot provide the sufficient monies needed to attend these higher institutions, then the fault lies there.
What? They want a handout? As it is, State funded schools are an abomination. A bleeding hemorrhoid on the asshole of our freedoms. Get with the program slackers. Ya ain't got the scratch to go to college...then...dip dip dip dip dip dip...boom booom boom boom boom boom....get a jooooooooob.
Ok...snark off.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
When they gutted the property tax system in CA, the present crisis was just a matter of time. Boom times? Lots of income taxes and increases in gov't programs to make the state a better place. sour times? it goes unfunded and things fall apart. In the mean time, the prison industrial complex takes over more of the budget at the expense of education. Instead of rebuilding cities and developing greenbelts for future food produciton, sprawl was encouraged, and this dovetailed with the Prop13 nonsense, creating massive bubble economies.
Californians basically shat in their own beds, used the sheets to wrap the mess up, and now they're complaining about the smell. Losers. They only have themselves to blame. I lived there for 15 years. I love SF, and the Sierras are gorgeous. But the rest of the place sucks. I hate LA, and the central valley is a cesspool of lunatic rightwing madness. I left 4 years ago and haven't been back since, and don't really care to go. It's a beautiful place, and there are many fine people there. But they are a microscopic minority compared to the rightwing suburban dullards.
It's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.
-George Carlin
does it take to change a light bulb?
1. form a committee
2. take said committee's results to the chancellors office
3. contact local residents of said action and form a bipartisan
committee of residents and uc officials and students.
4. take results of bipartisan (now a commission) committee
to maintenance department.
5. submit application to state for funding of new bipartisan
commission of "application of lighting apparatus"
6. notify students/faculty of said action.
7. alert local air quality board, in case said light bulb is
dropped and broken releasing harmful gas in to the atmosphere
8. contact cal-ohsa to get proper permit for scaffolding
9. go on strike for better pay.
http://ucpay.globl.org/
http://changinguniversities.blogspot.com/2009...
where were these students as we are having our trillion dollars wars?
not one student joined in last year while protesting the iraq war on a college campus. too busy talking on their cell phones.
it has to hit home before we humans awaken to our immoral society.
yes they protested during the nam war but only due to the draft not because of the vietnamese we were killing daily.
we are a selfish immoral society but we will learn but at a very high cost. third world status.
cant happen here you say. better read up on the history of imperialist nations.
we are imperialist and self righteous to the core. and of course some arrogance to go along with our self righteous.
mega profts off the sick and needy and finding ways not to pay for medical care. if that is not immoral somebody tell me what is.
politicans owned by corp fascist america if that is not immoral please tell me what is.
open borders for cheap labor if that is not immoral tell me what is.
wars for profits if that is not immoral then what is.
need I go on???????????
keep protesting students I guarantee you those protesting are paying their own way with loans those not protesting mom and daddy are footing the bill for their college education.
experiences the stuff of life.
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