As students of the higher education system in California, we have rights and responsibilities, but we have given our silent consent to others. We are not taking the initiative to become active in determining our future.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard students say, “All I want is a C because C’s get degrees.” In my opinion, this is pathetic. This is an example of students not wanting to make an effort to distinguish themselves.
To parallel this argument, I want to connect the lack of effort and complacency with the financial crisis we’re experiencing. Many people think we can sit on our hands and allow others to make decisions for us because it’s easier to blame them for their misdeeds than it is to blame ourselves for not taking action.
I never imagined myself writing or saying anything like this in public; I am terrified of speaking out to the public for fear of rejection, but I find this problem worth the effort and criticism.
If you can’t find a leader, then be a leader. I haven’t found anybody willing to speak openly about solutions, so I will try convincing you to stop sitting on your hands even if I have to light a fire under your ass!
I lit my own fire by talking about the financial issues and solutions with friends, family, colleagues and professors. The problems we have cannot be left to others, like the Cal State Long Beach administration or the California State University board of trustees.
We must take a stand to pressure them with our own solutions and confront the problems together; if not for our sake, then for the sake of future students hoping for a higher education that is affordable and the best quality it can be.
Help me find a solution to the higher education budget crisis. This year is only the beginning and is looking to shortsighted solutions for long-term problems. The Academic Senator, a publication of the CSU Academic Senate, states that California has taken out “three years of Federal Stimulus money in one year.”
This means there won’t be much, if any, stimulus money for the CSU. The publication also says income taxes were raised 0.25 percent and the state has borrowed “$1.7 billion from taxpayers through 10 percent increased withholding to be repaid in April 2011.”
The borrowed money from our taxable wages will be reimbursed by 2011, but analysts estimate the state deficit will reach $7 billion dollars or more by then. How is the state going to refund the taxed wages by 2011 if it’s going to be in an even larger deficit than it is now? Will we sit back and allow continually rising tuition fees? Will privatizing public institutions solve our higher education problems?
Proposition 98, the initiative giving 40 percent of the general fund to education, would have provided California colleges with $10 billion and would have allowed skilled graduates to become contributors to the state’s revenue, but was rejected by the state.
The State Superintendent of Public Instruction in California, Jack O’Connell, wrote in a statement to the California Department of Education in July, “Proposition 98 was passed by the voters of California to provide a floor of funding for our schools. Suspending it simply pulls the rug out from under our students and the future of our state.”
He’s right! It’s already difficult to find a simple retail or service job, but imagine how hard it will be to find a career unless you move out of state. I don’t want to move out of California. It’s an incredible place to live and one could argue there is no place like it on Earth.
There must be a solution to our state and educational budget crisis. Therefore, I am taking a stand to find a resolution to our budget crisis because our higher education is both our future and the future of California.
We, as individuals and as a student community can never fail — as long as we try. If we don’t try we will fail. I have hope we will try to find an active solution to the problems we face and continue trying to succeed until we accomplish what we set out to do.
Tom Jacobson is a senior history major and a contributing writer for the Daily 49er.