Protestors take over UC Berkeley Building (Sacramento, Montclair: houses, schools, university) - California (CA) - City-Data Forum

18Montclair · 11-20-2009, 08:49 AM

When I was an undergrad, tuition and fees were about a third what they are now.

Quote:

UC Berkeley students took over a campus building in protest this morning, a day after the University of California regents voted to raise tuition by 32 percent.

An undetermined number of protesters have barricaded themselves inside Wheeler Hall, which houses the English department. Several demonstrators wearing bandannas opened a window and used a bullhorn to denounce the regents' decision...

Protesters take over UC Berkeley building (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/20/BA611ANSAB.DTL&tsp=1 - broken link)

bayarea-girl · 11-20-2009, 11:25 AM

Glad to see that people still go out and fight for what they believe in. The tuition hikes are ridiculous, but I guess the people who are pushing the hikes don't care since after all people need to get educated and they can just take out more debt to pay for it.

yeahthatguy · 11-20-2009, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

When I was an undergrad, tuition and fees were about a third what they are now.

Protesters take over UC Berkeley building (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/20/BA611ANSAB.DTL&tsp=1 - broken link)

Couple of ?'s.. Where were these people and there parents protesting for the last 5 years when California was spending more than it took in? Where were they before crunch time came? Nowhere... Let them get the

out there system.. As guaranteed as Monday next week is to come is as guaranteed that we wont hear a peep out of these kids going forward

.

People will commit to taking action only after things get bad enough and impacts them.. Since that day hasn't come for the majority.. Look for nothing to be done about this and many other foolishness going on.

yeahthatguy · 11-20-2009, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bayarea-girl

Glad to see that people still go out and fight for what they believe in. The tuition hikes are ridiculous, but I guess the people who are pushing the hikes don't care since after all people need to get educated and they can just take out more debt to pay for it.

I don't call this fighting.. I call this group think .. The result of procrastination and making a scene.. There are real ways they can get their point across... Hey, how about trying to go to a cheaper school elsewhere... How about doing so to reduce your stay to only 3 years.. How about protesting the general way CA handles the budget .. Thereby ensuring your benefactor's health is good enough to fund you.. How about organizing students and promoting the use of that wonderful thing called technology to expand class size (satellite lecture halls) and increasing the number of students that can be served by a professor.. How about getting a national body of students together to fight the every increasing costs of education....

Protesting seems to be in people's blood from what I see though in CA..

From the looks of it.. Nothing gets done from it... It's something to do I guess.. Makes them feel all warm inside like they stood up to the man... Whatever

.. CAlifornia media isn't even giving this crap attention anymore.

coyoteskye · 11-20-2009, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yeahthatguy

Couple of ?'s.. Where were these people and there parents protesting for the last 5 years when California was spending more than it took in? Where were they before crunch time came? Nowhere... Let them get the

out there system.. As guaranteed as Monday next week is to come is as guaranteed that we wont hear a peep out of these kids going forward

.

People will commit to taking action only after things get bad enough and impacts them.. Since that day hasn't come for the majority.. Look for nothing to be done about this and many other foolishness going on.

They were in high-school 4 or 5 years ago!
Should they have been marching at the state capitol then?

humboldtrat · 11-20-2009, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bayarea-girl

The tuition hikes are ridiculous, but I guess the people who are pushing the hikes don't care

It's not that the people pushing the hikes care one way or the other. The fact is California is dead broke and there is no more money to hand out. And it's only going to get worse. We should all get use to it.

If you want to help out, you can write a check to the Franchise Tax Board and send it to Sacramento. They take all donations - but maybe, you were thinking OTHER people should pay more taxes, but not you?

clongirl · 11-20-2009, 11:57 AM

My problem with this is that the entire economy in California is in shambles..with the collapse of the housing bubble being a major factor, all the property tax that might have gone into the pot is now gone. It's just the hard fact of the matter. (Not to say that the government or university heads didn't budget wisely and more should have been done earlier).

BUT, where else exactly is the money to support these state run schools supposed to come from? It's still a bargain at 10k or so a yr to get a good education. It would cost around 30-60k a yr in tuition at a private university like Stanford or Yale. I think the students need to take a step back and be grateful that it's still very affordable compared to other schools. We're all hurting in this state..we all have to realize no one entity is going to be spared. Many other state programs (even several health programs for lower income people) have also been cut.

CAVA1990 · 11-20-2009, 12:00 PM

How about cutting labor costs instead? I'll bet a lot of professors would work for free because of the prestige and the money they get from grants. Amazing how nobody in the public sector ever wants to consider this option. Many big private companies are doing it quite successfully.

18Montclair · 11-20-2009, 08:12 PM

I read online that it actually got violent and students and protestors are refusing to leave.

I remember the Wheeler Bldg. There's a huge lecture hall there.

Anyway, Its nice to see Berkeley echo its past political activism. I remember commeting with friends how its become a bit preppy as of late-ick.

VLWH · 11-20-2009, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bayarea-girl

Glad to see that people still go out and fight for what they believe in. The tuition hikes are ridiculous, but I guess the people who are pushing the hikes don't care since after all people need to get educated and they can just take out more debt to pay for it.

The money has to come from somewhere, the state does not have the money. How do you suggest paying for it.