It’s Time to March Forth
Illustration by Rachel Edelstein.
These are just some of the excuses UC Santa Cruz students can use to justify not going to Sacramento on March 1 and 4 to speak up for higher education. As UC students, we are excellent at complaining. And for good reason — dissent is a vital part of democracy, and Lord knows we have plenty to bemoan. But grumbling alone will never change anything.
When Student Regent designate Jesse Cheng came to speak at UCSC several weeks ago, he echoed a scary truth. “The public seems to think that we are the entitlement generation,” he said.
We deserve quality educational institutions that are affordable and accessible, but we can’t sit back and wait for someone else to defend our opportunities. We need to show California voters and decision-makers that we back up our demands with action by marching on the Capitol on March 1 and 4. They won’t listen unless we make them, and words are not enough.
For many of us at UCSC, it’s not that we don’t care. We constantly see protests and demonstrations that go disregarded and seem to have no effect. But it’s important to remember the power that we as a student body have always had. In 1985, UC student protests helped convince the regents to divest $1.7 billion from companies operating in apartheid South Africa. This was a key part of a global movement that eventually forced the end of the racist apartheid system.
This year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed to restore $370 million to the UC budget. This isn’t the full amount that has been cut from the UC, but higher education is one of the only areas of the budget where there is any increase at all. Social programs, prisons and public transportation, among other things, are all facing cuts even larger than last year’s.
A Schwarzenegger staff member said that the widespread demonstrations around the state in support of higher education this year contributed to the governor’s decision to restore funding, even though the state’s fiscal situation is in an ever-deepening downward spiral. Now is our chance to demand even more support.
The ‘March’ for Higher Education
On March 1 and 4, members of the University of California community will rally at UC campuses and in Sacramento in an effort to gain support for higher education.
In the first week of what the University of California Student Association (UCSA) has declared “a month of action,” large numbers of students are expected to converge on the state Capitol.
“It’s the same realm of action,” said Victor Sanchez, external vice chair of UC Santa Cruz’s Student Union Assembly (SUA). “There’ll be opportunities on both days for folks to express their voice.”
Sanchez, who also serves as president of the UCSA, said the close proximity of the two events will make them that much more effective in gaining support for higher education. He predicted that this month, named the “March for Higher Education” by the UCSA, will see “continual waves” of student action.
March 1, UC Student Lobby Day, follows a weekend of workshops — beginning on Saturday in Sacramento — designed to teach students to lobby their legislators. The annual UC Student Lobby Conference provides students with opportunities to learn more about effectively lobbying their elected representatives. Attendees from UCSC were chosen by the SUA through an application process.