Photo by Kathryn Power.

Photo by Kathryn Power.

Photo by Kathryn Power.

Thousands gathered at the Capitol, on campuses and in the streets — more specifically the freeways — across the state last Thursday. Students, parents, educators and administrators from K-12 public schools, California community colleges, California State University (CSU) campuses and the University of California united to protest cuts to California public education.

UC Berkeley students Meegan Brooks, a fourth-year political science major and Eden Amans, a first-year English major, said they made the trip from their campus to the Capitol to join the group of 2,000 advocating for public education alongside the California Faculty Association.

“We’re really just showing support,” Amans said. “That’s what’s really going to get the most attention — the fact that all of us are here from all over and we’re all united in this one cause.”

The actions at the Capitol and on individual campuses garnered the attention of national media like “Saturday Night Live,” the San Francisco Chronicle, and CNN.

UC Davis specifically was criticized for extreme actions taken by protesters on campus. An estimated 300 protesters attempted to march onto Interstate 80 after gathering on the UC Davis campus. More than 120 campus, city, county and highway patrol law enforcement officers resorted to the use of force in an attempt to halt the crowd’s progress onto the highway. Officers wielded batons and fired pepper balls at the advancing crowd. They arrested one student.

On campus, protesters pulled fire alarms, disrupting classes and library patrons.

Julia Ann Easley, senior public information representative for the UCD News Service, said March 4’s events were extraordinary for the Davis campus.

“For the most part, our campus protesters are peaceful and law-abiding,” she said.

Easley, who has served on the UCD campus for more than 12 years, said the administration’s primary concern on March 4 was student and community safety.

“It’s the first time I’ve known students to try to lock up the interstate,” she said. “It made my heart sink out of the danger.”

Although rumors of violence and disruptive behavior at UC Santa Cruz circulated on Thursday, it has been determined that the protest was nonviolent, and reports by the administration of destructive behavior were misinformed. The rear windshield of a single car was broken when the vehicle attempted to forcibly cross the picket line, and, contrary to initial reports from the UCSC administration, thus far no police reports have been filed indicating the use or presence of weapons at the demonstration.

In Sacramento, representatives from the California Faculty Association and members of the legislature and state Senate addressed the crowd on the north steps of the Capitol building. Assemblyman Alberto Torrico was one of several politicians to speak at the podium, but he was the only one scheduled to do so.

Torrico focused on promoting Assembly Bill 656, an oil severance tax that would fund public education. Torrico, who authored this bill, is an advocate for higher education.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg also spoke, and applauded the protesters’ actions as a means of protecting California’s economic future.

“If we are going to create jobs, if we’re going to improve our economy, if we’re going to have a better budget, the last thing in the world to do is to cut public education,” he said.

Reid Milburn, president and regional senator representing Sacramento for the Student Senate of California Community Colleges (SSCCC), also addressed the crowd at the Capitol. Reid and members of the SSCCC are organizing a second march on the Capitol for March 22, and expect around 8,000 participants from across the state.

“I highly encourage any and all UC students — and any students or educational supporters from across the state — to join us,” she said in an e-mail to City on a Hill Press. “It is about time students stood up and helped California understand that the first priority in a fiscal crisis such as the recession should be to educate its people.”

Steinberg encouraged students on March 4 to continue their involvement in actions like the March 22 rally.

“You have already made a huge difference,” he said. “You have already changed the debate, but there is a long way to go. Let this be the beginning, and let this — once again, because of your activism, your advocacy, your stubborn unwillingness to take no for an answer — let this be the year that we begin restoring the California dream of public education.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Protesters Take to the Streets on March 4

Illustration by Kenny Srivijittakar.

Dear UCSC students, staff, faculty, administrators and the wider UC community:

It has come to our attention that serious misconceptions regarding the conduct and intentions of protesters across the state have manifested (in many cases) into ill-will or callousness toward this noble and ambitious cause. It is not appropriate to pass judgement on the efforts of an entire enterprise based on rumors of misdeeds of a select few. Administrators’ allegations — that UCSC protesters wielded clubs and knives, denied people the right to exit campus or acted in any way that was disruptive, intimidating or destructive — were untrue, and caused unnecessary panic and concern.

It would be ignorant as well as erroneous to say that the administration was caught unawares by the March 4 actions. Organizers of the campus shut-down informed Student Services and other campus departments well in advance of the event. There is no denying that every faculty member on campus was aware of the imminent shut-down, and most planned the week’s courses accordingly.

Administrative responses that disrespect student actions, to the point of circulating misinformation and evoking irrational concerns, are reprehensible and do nothing for the already precarious student-administration relationship.

That being said, responsibility does not lie solely with the administration, legislators, etc. Organizers must conduct themselves appropriately and in accordance with First Amendment limitations if they want to gain the respect of authorities.

An example of protesters legitimately crossing the line happened last week at UC Davis, where students attempted to block traffic on Interstate 80. This action not only put students and commuters in danger, but was executed in conjunction with several other disruptive activities on campus as well. Fire alarms were falsely triggered at least 16 times, agitating students and faculty who were attending classes or studying in the libraries.

Not only does this type of behavior cause resentment among inconvenienced campus community members, it is also counterproductive, because it costs the university money for the fire department to investigate these false alarms. Additionally, this activity endangered the Davis community by diverting emergency services from real potential dangers.

The California Faculty Association (CFA) and local organizers did not spend months preparing themselves and the public for the day of action hoping for ridicule. It only takes one negative incident, one irresponsible, thoughtless act to define a movement. The efforts of a thousand (or more like 35,000) proactive individuals can be erased from the public’s living memory with little more than a mention of one bad egg.

Regardless of Davis students’ disconcerting rally tactics, the cause is vital for many students, faculty members and workers statewide. It’s about time the UC and Sacramento sat down to tell us exactly where they stand on issues of privatization of education, the resegregation of education, progressive taxation to raise revenues, and Schwarzenegger’s plan to privatize prisons, and stand behind those claims through direct action and support of public education.

At UCSC, March 4 actions were well-executed. It is not unreasonable to expect the support and blessing of the administration.

March 4 was an opportunity for state, campus and system policymakers to address the concerns of people across the state and push for change. In the future, UCSC’s administration should consider taking advantage of the opportunities provided to them by students to participate in, or at the very least endorse student action instead of passing up an occasion to repair faltering student-administrative relations.

Sincerely,

City on a Hill Press

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Our Future, Our Nation; We Need Our Education

SANTA CRUZ, CA – Protesters at the base of campus on Thursday discussed the possibility of continuing protests on Friday at UCSC.

“If you want anything to change… we need to disrupt business as usual for as long as possible,” said an anonymous protester to the crowd at the General Assembly meeting on Thursday evening.

At this time, it is unclear exactly what shape protests will take tomorrow, and whether campus traffic will be again restricted.

Afterwards, a crowd of protesters marched Downtown from the base of campus, taking over the intersection of Water and Pacific around 7:20pm.

Jennifer Cain contributed to this report.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Protests to Possibly Continue on Friday

In an effort to gain more support for higher education, students, teachers, workers and members of the Santa Cruz community came together today as one voice.

As a result of the action, some campus services were reduced, while others were made completely unavailable, including transportation and dining services.

Campus shuttles were not operational and all cafés and dining halls other than College Eight/Oakes and College Nine/Ten remained closed throughout the day.

Felicia McGinty, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, sent a mid-day email to students addressing the situation.

“We understand these disruptions are inconvenient and frustrating,” the email said.

Jim Burns, a UCSC spokesman, commented on protestors actions that shut down campus.

“We salute people who want to call attention to the issue … we just don’t believe students should be deprived the right to attend classes if they wish to or need to,” Burns said.

Students arrived at the base of campus as early as 5 a.m. this morning and then began moving to other entrances to block access to the campus.

Graduate student Adam Hefty showed up with a core group of protestors bright and early.

“I’ve been here since five this morning,” Hefty said. “It’s gone great thus far, we have people at several different entrances and have stopped business as usual around here.”

Hefty said that those who do not endorse the protests should look to reactions from state legislatures.

“Look at what state leaders are saying. Governor Schwarzenegger in his state of the state address proposed changes to the state budget and a constitutional amendment,” said Hefty. “We are having an impact and our voices are beginning to be heard.”

Literature professor Carla Freccero was among several professors in attendance.

“I work with the faculty organizing committee, and a lot have shown up today,” Freccero said. “We’re all involved in what’s going on with the budget crisis.”

Freccero, much like many of the teachers on campus, has had her pay cut and has had to see her students deal with these troubling times.

“I think when the students are affected, I am affected, I’ve gotten my pay cut, much like everyone else,” Freccero said. “What’s been bothering me now, for close to a decade is the privatization of the university; I’ve been here for almost 20 years and it’s just become more and more noticeable.”

Environmental studies and economics student Matthew Viponde arrived at the event at nine in the morning, and was excited to see how the rest of the day went.

“Hopefully more and more people will show up throughout the day, the more speakers the better, it mobilizes the crowd and energizes the people,” Viponde said.

“I think it’s really important to show everyone across Santa Cruz, across the county, the state and the country that student activism is not dead.”

Viponde empathizes for all students who are feeling the squeeze from recent fee increases and budget cuts.

“I’m an autonomous student, and I make so little money that I get financial aid for school,” Viponde said. “I’m more concerned with middle class families, it’s a difficult time to be a student here … I just hope that this day becomes a turning point for people’s access to quality education at the public level.”

Jennifer Cain contributed to this report.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Protestors Shut Down Campus

Students protest beneath the canopy of a handmade banana slug. Photo by Soraya Danesh.

While college students in Sacramento lobbied legislators, some UC Santa Cruz students began the week with protests featuring a giant paper banana slug.

Manning a 12-person slug puppet and a rolling stereo sound system, about 40 students marched throughout the UCSC campus on Monday, March 1 from noon to 2 p.m.

Written on the giant yellow slug: “No fees, no furlough and no cuts to classes.”

One organizer, who asked not to be named, described the protesters’ motives.

“We are trying to raise awareness about March 4,” he said, “and the racist acts on UC campuses.”

The students, their faces covered by bandanas and sweatshirts, began coalescing in Quarry Plaza around noon.

They then marched, in the middle of the street, up Hagar Drive. Making a left onto McLaughlin, they marched up the right-hand lane. Many cars were left stranded in the middle of the road between students, and one campus bus was forced to let students out on the edge of the road.

On McLaughlin Drive, some masked protesters moved construction signs from both the Cowell Student Health Center and Biomedical Sciences Facility sites into the road, blocking traffic going both ways.

Students then turned onto Science Hill, making their way to the Science and Engineering Library.

From there, the protesters entered the College Nine and Ten Dining Hall, calling for awareness of the March 4 protest. Many students cheered and some took pictures of the larger-than-life slug.

Dining hall employees seemed amused by the marchers, but became angry when masked students began streaming up stairs toward Terra Fresca restaurant.

Police detained one student as protesters, standing outside the dining hall, began drumming on windows yelling “Let him go!”

Once the student was released, the protesters left the dining hall. Many pushed over dining hall signs, angering workers who were outside.

University administrators observing the march said that the protest would not be stopped unless it disturbed other students or workers inside buildings, or damaged property.

Michelle Whittingham, an associate vice chancellor who followed the march around campus relaying the student’s actions to other administrators, enjoyed the sight of the yellow construction-paper slug.

“It should be reused for school spirit,” Whittingham said.

Walking back down McLaughlin Drive, protesters stopped at the Humanities buildings, entering the large lecture hall and adjacent buildings. They then attempted to enter the Cowell-Stevenson Dining Hall but were blocked by dining hall workers.

As they made their way out of Cowell College, Gary Roe, a groundsperson at Cowell, gave the protesters some advice: “Go to Sacramento, talk to Schwarzenegger,” he said.

“It’s a great cause,” Roe said, “[but] time can be better spent going to the source.”

The protesters attempted to enter many lecture halls, including Classroom Units 1 and 2, but were forced out by professors and students.

“There is an incredibly disturbing level of antipathy [among UCSC students] toward protesting,” said Leo Ritz-Barr, a third-year politics major from College Nine.

Barr, who held up the head of the puppet slug, said it took four hours to build.

Jim Burns, the director of public information at UCSC, said the administration approves of protesting state budget cuts to the University of California, but not of tactics that disrupt learning and working at the university.

“People have the right to be concerned about the state’s divestment in higher education,” Burns said, “[but] to the extent that [demonstrating] is infringing on other people — that’s not so great.”

For Thursday, March 4, the protesters said that they had two more giant yellow paper slugs ready to snake around campus in a march for higher education.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Demonstration Kicks Off Week of Action

Hundreds of students rallied on the north steps of the Capitol building in Sacramento on Monday. Chanting could be heard for blocks. Photo by Alex Zamora.

Photo by Alex Zamora.

Photo by Alex Zamora.

Third-year Tiffany Loftin, internal vice chair of the UCSC Student Union Assembly, was one of many speakers who commanded the attention of the large crowd of students gathered in solidarity at the Capitol building. Photo by Alex Zamora.

“Are you fired up?”

Hundreds of demonstrators on the north steps of the Capitol building echoed a response to this galvanizing inquiry: “We’re fired up!”

As the 66th California State Assembly speaker was sworn into office on Monday, student protesters literally made their voices heard in the halls of the state Capitol.

“While we appointed a new assembly speaker we could hear you,” California Labor Federation secretary and treasurer Arch Palaski told City on a Hill Press in reference to the demonstrators. “Your voice is being heard.”

Monday, March 1 was Lobby Day at the Capitol, where chancellors and students advocated for higher education. This day kicked off a week of action in defense of public education, and was a precursor to a statewide strike on Thursday, March 4.

The March for Higher Education on Thursday is a “K through Ph.D.” action that will include University of California students as well as all members of the California education system.

UC President Mark Yudof and UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal accompanied student lobbyists to meetings with members of the legislature throughout the day.

Though Monday’s activities were focused on lobbying, student demonstrators rallied both inside and outside the Capitol. One demonstration, a sit-in at the office of Assemblyman Jim Neilson (R-Yuba City), resulted in the arrest of five UC students.

Second-year Gabi Kirk, one of three UCSC students among the five UC students arrested, described the scene as nonaggressive.

“The coolest thing for me was how beautifully calm and peaceful it was,” Kirk said. “Protests don’t need to be loud and in-your-face — sometimes they can involve students sitting in business suits in an office reading books.”

The five students were arrested for assembling without a permit, and were charged with an extra misdemeanor for disrupting state business, according to Kirk. Because the state Capitol is under the jurisdiction of the California Highway Patrol (CHP), the students arrested were taken by van to CHP headquarters, where they were cited and released.

The demonstration inside began when several students — independent of any organization — gathered outside the offices of Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assemblyman Nielsen, intending to present them with a letter containing two demands.

According to a narration provided by Kirk, the demands were: first, a commitment of nonapproval for a budget that does not increase funding for higher education; second, guaranteed funding for “student-initiated outreach and academic preparation, yield, and multicultural student development programs.”

“We need to see some real results, now more than ever,” said UCSC second-year Claudia Magana, who was among the five students arrested. “We need to hold our legislatures accountable.”

Steinberg met with a group of students and arranged for a follow-up to discuss their concerns on March 25. Nielsen, however, declined to speak to students.

The sit-in began when 11 students refused to leave Nielson’s office until they were allowed to meet with the assemblyman. After asking them to vacate the office, CHP officers zip-tied the wrists of the five individuals who had decided to stay and escorted them to CHP headquarters.

“These actions were taken by individuals to take it to the next level and push the envelope of prioritizing higher education,” UCSC first-year Natan Tietz said. Tietz was among the group of about 100 students gathered outside the offices in support of the sit-in.

Present at the protest for a short period of time was Dolores Huerta. Huerta is considered by many to be a significant figure in the history of grassroots activism, due in part to her role as co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association with fellow civil rights activist Cesar Chávez. A building at Oakes College is named in her honor.

“[Dolores Huerta] is an amazing figure in terms of activism and support for education,” Magana said. “To have someone who is so historically significant in social activism support your issue is very empowering.”

In the hours preceding the sit-in, students and members of the legislature spoke to the crowd of hundreds of supporters on the north steps of the Capitol. Many students spoke to the importance of rallying for public education.

“From all across the state, we’ve come together to say that education is a right and not a privilege,” said Victor Sanchez, UCSC’s Student Union Assembly (SUA) external vice chair. Sanchez also serves as president of the University of California Student Association (UCSA), whose members organized the day’s events.

On the north steps, over the noise of another speaker, Democratic Assemblyman Warren Furutani explained his reasons for supporting the student mobilization.

“We need to circumvent the legislative process,” he said. “Grassroots is the way to go.”

Furutani went on to discuss the significance of bringing the struggle to the Capitol.

“On my desk I have a green light and a red light,” he said about the process of passing legislation. “Often we forget that we are voting on people’s lives. When people come to Sacramento it puts a face [to that]. It humanizes it and makes it about the people.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Students Storm Sac

Photo by Soraya Danesh.

Photo by Soraya Danesh.

Photo by Soraya Danesh.

Manning a 12-person paper slug puppet and a rolling stereo sound system, around forty students marched throughout the UCSC campus on Monday, March 1st from 12 – 2 pm.

One organizer, who asked not to be named, described the protesters motives. “We are trying to raise awareness about March fourth,” he said, “and the racist acts on UC campuses.”

Written on the giant yellow slug was: “no fees, no furlough and no cuts to classes.”

The students, faces covered by bandannas and sweatshirts, began convalescing in the quarry plaza around noon.

They then marched, in the middle of the street, up Hagar Drive. Making a left onto McLaughlin, they marched up the right lane of the street, leaving many cars in the middle of the road, stranded between students, and forcing one campus bus to let students out on the edge of the road.

On McLaughlin Drive, some masked protesters moved construction signs, from both the Cowell Student Health Center and Biomedical Sciences Facility sites, into the road, blocking traffic going both ways.

Students then turned onto Science Hill making their way to the Science and Engineering Library.

From there, the protesters entered the College 9 and 10 dinning hall, calling for awareness of the March fourth protests. Many students cheered and some took pictures of the gargantuan slug.

Dining hall employees seemed amused by the marchers but then became angry when masked students began streaming up stairs towards Terra Fresca.

Police detained one student as protesters, standing outside the College 9 and 10 dining hall, began drumming on windows yelling, “Let him go.”

Once the student was released, the protesters left the dining hall, and many pushed over dinning hall signs, angering dining workers who were outside.

University administrators said that although the protest was not sanctioned, they would not stop it or make any arrests unless the protest disturbed other students or workers inside buildings, or damaged property.

Walking back down McLaughlin drive, protesters stopped at the humanities quad entering the humanities lecture hall and adjacent buildings. They then attempted to enter Cowell dinning hall but were blocked by dining hall workers.

On their way out of Cowell College, Gary Roe, a grounds person at Cowell, gave the protesters some advice: “Go to Sacramento, talk to Schwarzenegger,” he said.

“It’s a great cause,” said Roe, “[but] time can be better spent going to the source.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Students and Giant Slug Protest Fees, Cuts and Racism

Click here to view the embedded video.

To garner awareness for a week of actions against cuts to higher education, the group “Take over UCSC” planned a dance party that took place last Friday, Feb. 26. Organizers classified the event as “a night of mayhem and debauchery” on their Facebook page. The event was to build momentum for the upcoming week of action, which includes lobby day on the first and the march on the capitol on the fourth.

“Take over UCSC” is a student group that is skeptical of the UC budget crisis, and opposes budget cuts.

The dance party began at 9:00 p.m. in Porter quad. Around 60 individuals danced on the raised stage in the quad and various people spilled from the stage out into the quad smoking cigarettes and talking.

At around 10:30 p.m., the dance party began its trek around the campus that went from college to college, attempting to pick up students along the way.

In Porter, an ambulance was called because one student was dangerously intoxicated. Among the traveling dance party were various Campus Security Officers (CSO) who ensured student safety and monitored the presence of any open containers of alcohol.

“We look out for student safety,” said a CSO who preferred to remain anonymous. “We want to make sure no one gets hurt.”

After leaving Porter quad, the procession moved to Kresge classroom 327, and then after about a half hour, to the courtyard of Owl’s Nest Café, across the Kresge Bridge, and slowly up to Colleges Nine and Ten, flooding into the street on McLaughlin Drive. Music was played from a cart that housed a laptop computer and speakers, which three to five individuals picked up and pushed down stairs and up ramps.

In College Ten, a large group, including those pushing the cart blaring music, went into Building R6 for about 10 minutes, going up the stairwell briefly. Next, they headed to Cowell College, and at this time the crowd had swelled to around 250 participants. The group traveled down McLaughlin Drive and spent another half hour behind Cowell Coffee Shop. The dance party then moved to Quarry Plaza, where the other dances had been held, as its final destination.

By the time it reached Quarry Plaza the crowd was back to its original size, with around 60 students dancing in front of Joe’s Pizza and Subs. One student, who was dancing in the quad, described her opinions on the dance party, yelling over a blasting song by French electronic duo Justice.

“It shows that people come together and do something about [the budget cuts] in a fun productive way,” said third-year Erin Souders, a psychology major from Cowell College.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Dance Party Travels from College to College

Illustration by Joe Lai.

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.

Lobby Day will begin with a rally at the Capitol. Following the rally, students will put the skills they learned at the conference to use, advocating for higher education.

UCSC spokesperson Jim Burns said in an e-mail to City on a Hill Press that several UC chancellors will join student lobbyists, including UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal.

In response to a request from SUA, the UC Office of the President (UCOP) has agreed to provide up to $2,500 in non-state funds to the campus to go toward the cost of student transportation to the Capitol on March 1, Burns said. The money is part of a $10,000 expenditure that UCOP is making in an effort to help students attend the event.

Lobby Day will be followed by the March 4 Day of Action in defense of public education.

Sanchez said that though there will be a difference in tactics used by protesters on the two days, the geographically broader scope of action on Thursday, March 4 will be the most significant distinction between them.

While actions on March 1 will be centralized in Sacramento, on March 4 protests will take place all over California.

Across the state, high school and college students, teachers and workers will be striking for public education. While many intend to march on Sacramento, student organizations have plans for on-campus activism as well.

“We have 1,700 signatures from students pledging to strike on March 4,” said Mary Virginia Watson, a member of both the Graduate Student Organizing Committee and the March 4 Strike Committee. “We plan to have gatherings at the main and west entrances to shut down campus.”

Watson said her group has and will continue to make a serious effort to warn the community that transportation to and from campus will be hindered by the protest. This preemptive move was made in light of criticism directed toward protesters who blocked campus entrances in last November’s demonstrations against fee increases.

However, Watson said, sending this message to the administration is worth the trouble it might cause people going to and from campus.

“What the government and the UC are trying to do is shut the doors to the campus,” she said. “One day of inconvenience is worth it.”

Watson would like to warn students that though the protesters intend to let certain people through the barricades — like parents with children in on-campus childcare — there is a chance the police will close down streets near campus. She said her group has sent a representative to talk to local law enforcement in hopes that this scenario can be prevented.

Watson advises UCSC students who want to get involved on March 4 not to attend classes, and to ask teaching assistants and professors to cancel classes. She also invites students to attend the gatherings at the main and west entrances of campus. The March 4 Strike Committee will be meeting on Tuesday, March 2 at 6:30 p.m. in Kresge 327 to discuss plans for the day of action, and Watson hopes interested students will attend that as well.

In Sacramento, actions will begin with a rally at the Capitol building at 11 a.m.

Protests will include an “Educate the State” rally hosted by California Faculty Association (CFO) representatives from California State University, Sacramento (CSUS). Kevin Wehr, CSUS CFO president and a UCSC alumnus, said protesters will hold mock classes for legislators on the importance of public education to California — complete with a lectern, desks and a chalkboard — on the north steps of the Capitol.

Transportation from UCSC to the Capitol will be available through SAVE the University, a UC Berkeley faculty group. Students can sign up for limited seating at SaveUC.org.

Wehr said the actions planned for March 4 were designed to send a message to the government about preserving the state’s already limited education funds and to advocate for additional state support.

“Our message is simple,” he said. “We want to demonstrate the importance of public education, K-16, throughout California, and send a message to the legislature to protect and expand education funding: … Hands off that money.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at The ‘March’ for Higher Education

Illustration by Rachel Edelstein.

“I have class.” “It won’t make a difference.” “I’m not an anarchist.” “I don’t even know what’s happening.”

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.

Any type of action that you can participate in on March 1 and 4 is positive. Demonstrating on campuses is better than doing nothing, but showing our presence on the steps of the Capitol is really key. It’s important that we keep our local administrators alert, but there will be no money for them to be accountable for if it does not come from Sacramento. The legislature holds our fate in its hands much more than our chancellors do.

March 1 is Lobby Day, when members of the UC Student Association and other students will speak directly with legislative leaders. March 4 is a march on the Capitol made up of a coalition of educational supporters, from K-12 to higher education. Both have different event plans, but both are opportunities for students to show up and voice their opinions.

Some of the excuses you come up with to stay at home might be legitimate. But think about what your sacrifice of one day could mean for the future of the state.

The legislature is currently in the process of passing the 2010 budget. Even the small increases to higher education that the governor has proposed could easily be chopped. Our presence can make or break higher education’s budget for next year, and the coming years after that. The budget isn’t just a number — it’s one more student who is accepted to school, one more who gets a scholarship, and one more student who will be the first in his or her family to attend college.

Think about everything you hate seeing at UCSC now: packed classes, students going back to community college or their home states, piles and piles of loan debt accruing in young people’s names. History has shown that together, we can stop injustices in our state and even the world. California is a democracy, but it might as well not be if none of us claim our democratic rights and duties. No one else is going to do it for us. We can’t afford to be lazy.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at It’s Time to March Forth