Mock $650-million bills printed with Gov. Jerry Brown’s face as the center-piece were passed around the Maxson Plaza on Wednesday. Students were asked to write message to the governor describing how state budget cuts to higher education have affected them.
The Buck Starts Here, which began Nov. 7 at San Diego State University, is a California State Student Association campaign that aims to collect student testimonies throughout the Cal State University’s 23 campuses and submit them to Brown during Sacramento’s annual March for Higher Education on March 5, 2012.
Bills will be available today at the Speaker’s Platform outside the bookstore from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and may be filled out anonymously.
According to ASI Secretary of system-wide affairs Jameson Nyeholt, budget reductions have been sweeping the CSU, University of California and California Community College systems since 2007 because the California Legislature has not been receiving enough revenue through taxes, forcing the state to make cuts to “essential services.”
The California Legislature targets budget cuts at higher education expenses because, according to Nyeholt, students generally react passively to increases and “not many lawsuits are going to arise from these cuts.”
Alongside the mock $650 million bills, voter registration was also available at the event.
The goal of The Buck Starts Here is not to invoke immediate change in the California Legislature, but to raise awareness and rouse CSU students to actively support higher education through voting in future elections, Nyeholt said.
“Because [students] we’re not protecting ourselves legislatively, we are getting the brunt of the cuts,” ASI Senator Jorge Soriano said.
According to CSSA’s website, there will be a loss of one million college graduates in the 2025 workforce if tuition trends continue.
Jeanette Lin, junior English major, also believes education is a cornerstone to society. She was among the first students to submit her testimony yesterday.
“Budget cuts are making students compromise going to work versus spending time learning how to look at the world differently,” Lin said.
Business finance sophomore Jeff Anderson wrote on his mock $650-million dollar bill how tuition increases have forced him to rely more on loans than he had during his first two semesters at CSULB.
“We’re forced to work to pay off our debt while trying to get an education to get a job to pay off that debt,” Lin said.
Finance professor Hamdi Bilici said that, based on what he observed from his classes, students are “somewhat” aware of the degree of cuts the California Legislature has made to higher education. However, all students are probably less aware than his class.
“Education should be free,” Bilici said. “That might be a radical thing to say, but cutting education is like killing a goose that lays golden eggs.”
ASI Senator Lizelle Felix shouted for student support at The Buck Starts Here while wrapped in a giant paper $650-million bill. She described herself as feeling very passionate about the event.
“I’m paying out of my own pocket,” Felix said. “I was supposed to graduate in five years, now it’s five and a half years.”
UC Berkeley graduate Nile Taylor simply observed the event from afar.
“I graduated in 2005, so I’m fortunate the cuts skipped me,” Taylor said.
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