"Matthew Palm, the Commissioner of Academic Affairs for the Student Union Assembly--the student government--at University of California Santa Cruz, explains in an open letter why he's supporting the March 4 Day of Action to defend public education in California."
Very few people on this campus have experienced the absolute "inside" and the absolute "outside" of "the system" and everything in between the way I have. Please know what I am about to say is reflective of this dissonant experience, which has challenged me to really re-think my values.
Dear Friends:
I'm writing as a friend of yours, and as a fellow student. Over the last two years, I've spent countless hours sitting in meetings where administrators--the very same administrators other people want to tar and feather--sit in a conference room and pull their hair out over what the hell they're going to do about the implementation of budget cuts. In the same weeks (and in some cases on the very same days), I've also sat in on meetings of "radical" student organizers planning hunger strikes and walkouts.
Very few people on this campus have experienced the absolute "inside" and the absolute "outside" of "the system" and everything in between the way I have. Please know what I am about to say is reflective of this dissonant experience, which has challenged me to really re-think my values.That experience taught me this: There is not a single person on this campus who wants to see these cuts take place, including administrators themselves. Period. The problem is structural: The people who have the real power over things in UC are the Regents and the President, and we have no mechanism of control over them. On top of that, those 21 people are participating in a national political and social context where universities are incentivized to make decisions that hurt students.
For this reason, I will be striking on March 4th, 2010, and I am asking you to join me.