Students for California's Future: News

November 23rd - December 6th, 2009

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States of Crises - Whether you're an oppressive foreign dictatorship or an American state in the process of committing fiscal suicide, you know you're losing the public relations battle when encounters between armor-clad riot police with truncheons and college students are broadcast on TV. Newsweek

U.S. education chief seeks billions to boost higher learning - Judging by his rapid-fire speech in San Antonio on Tuesday to state college and university presidents from across the country, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is still the high-energy guy who played pro basketball in Australia for a few years after graduating from Harvard University. Duncan will need that energy to pursue an agenda that he described as "extraordinarily ambitious." Marshall News Messenger

Calif. higher ed leaders call for more state funds - California's promise of an affordable higher education for its residents is being jeopardized by state budget cuts, the leaders of the state's college and university systems warned Monday. San Francisco Chronicle

Top college administrators urge greater support for California's higher education plan - California's 50-year-old "Master Plan for Higher Education" is not broken — in fact, nations such as China and Singapore are trying to replicate it. But it is in peril because of inadequate funding, college administrators testified Monday morning in Sacramento. Silicon Valley Mercury News

Educators have the wrong number in answering budget crisis - By slashing Cal State and University of California budgets, is the state saving money or shooting itself in the foot? Los Angeles Times

Abandoning California's commitment to higher education - In 1960, a committee of educators working under the leadership of the visionary University of California President Clark Kerr handed Pat Brown, an equally farsighted governor, something he'd long hoped for: a master plan for higher education in California. Los Angeles Times

Ruskin convenes Master Plan committee for higher education - For the last 50 years, California’s vast public higher education system has been governed by a Master Plan that sets out goals and determines student eligibility. Starting Monday, a legislative committee will begin contemplating the biggest changes in that plan in decades. Capitol Weekly

New Wave of Student Activism - Students at California public universities have been staging protests against budget cuts and fee hikes all fall, capturing local and national attention with administration building sit-ins, 24-hour library occupations and large outdoor rallies. Inside Higher Ed

Could California face a "brain drain" of college students - In the 2007-2008 academic year, California did something it had not done since the 1980s: sent more college students out of state than it received from elsewhere. Capitol Weekly

California's Public Universities: Harder to Get Into - Gaining admission to California’s public universities is becoming more difficult. Not only are the University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU) increasing student fees in response to state budget cuts, they are also reducing enrollment. The decisions to cut enrollments come at a time when applications to the UC and CSU are increasing. California Progress Report

Unified student front necessary to salvage Cal higher education - As students, we stand on the steps of our university and look out at this world with uncertainty. We think times are hard now, but they will only get worse if we do not take action before we suffer the consequences of our indecision. Daily 49er

Survey: State officials get blame for higher-ed cuts - Enrollment cuts, furloughs and frozen salaries have been felt by students and faculty of the California State University systems. Fees were hiked in May for University of California students, and trustees voted last week to add another 32 percent increase over the next two years because of the state's budget crisis. It's been a tough year for higher education, and it looks like it might get tougher still. San Bernardino Sun

How to alleviate the pain resulting from cuts to higher education in state - This past fall, California State University, Northridge, was forced to drop more than 200 classes and not hire back over 100 instructors as a result of the severe budget cuts imposed upon us by Sacramento. And now, the already beleaguered CSU is being asked to make additional cuts to our already chronically underfunded institution. LA Daily News

California's future demands bigger investment in schools - In California, we've lost sight of the basics - the security, shelter and safety that kids need to grow and to learn. A public school that doesn't fulfill this promise is conducting business as usual; a private school that tries to get it right gets tagged as "elite." San Francisco Chronicle

California hits new low in higher education - We've been paying lots of attention to the plight of the cash-strapped University of California system, where unprecedented fee increases threaten to make it more expensive to attend UCLA than a private school like Stanford, where financial aid packages are now tailored to accommodate middle-class students. Los Angeles Times

A toll road to higher education - California's Master Plan for Higher Education, adopted nearly 50 years ago, is not aging well. OC Register

Why California's Tuition Hike Might Be A Good Thing - It might seem … that raising state college tuition is plainly a bad thing. High tuitions mean students will find it harder to finance college — and may not even attend, or may drop out due to costs. And for the students who attend state colleges, many of whom are of modest means, the tuition crunch may be especially painful. In fact, that is absolutely not the case. The truth is that increasing public college tuitions are not a problem at all. Indeed, the biggest problem in pricing tuition at public universities is not that the poor pay too much, but that the rich pay too little. New York Times

Campus protests: a look back - The arrests this month of University of California students protesting a 32 percent fee increase recall a time of bigger protests: the 1960s. The events of Nov. 19 and 20, in which 50 people at UC Davis were arrested along with smaller numbers at other campuses, don't compare in size to the Free Speech Movement protests of 1964, when 750 students who had occupied UC Berkeley's Sproul Hall were removed in what the historian Kevin Starr has described as the greatest mass arrest in California history. OC Register

To California Student Protesters: Why Target the Regents? - I have to ask: what, exactly, is the goal of the various University of California student protest movements and their vocal campaigns criticizing the regents' decision to hike tuition? Politics Daily

Opinion: UC students need a teach-in on California's budget mess - Two voices called out when I heard that dozens of students on University of California campuses had been arrested for occupying college buildings in protest of the 32 percent fee increase that UC regents had passed. One was that of the indignant college sophomore who was hauled off to the city jail in Boston in 1970 after refusing to leave the plaza at Government Center during a Vietnam War protest. The other was that of my disbelieving father who asked, "You were taken where for doing what?" Silicon Valley Mercury News

Police beat UC Berkeley students during protest. Why? - There are two issues on my mind as we approach Thanksgiving Day. One is why the great University of California at Berkeley would police to surround and beat defenseless students? The other is why we seem to applaud police brutality. San Francisco Chronicle

Viewpoints: California not honoring UC commitment - Mark Yudof has been roundly criticized for likening his role as the president of the University of California to being the caretaker of a cemetery. On Nov. 18, faculty and staff learned that it is the policymakers and leaders of state government who are the caretakers for the cemetery that holds the tens of thousands of dreams of K-12 students and the countless visions of innovators. Sacramento Bee

CSUS students protest outside president's home - Several dozen students protested in front of California State University, Stanislaus, President Hamid Shirvani's home Saturday afternoon, decrying budget cuts, his management style and the direction he is taking the campus. The Modesto Bee

Effects of Budget Cuts at Cal State Campuses - The budget reduction at each campus is based on several factors, including enrollment and the proportion of students on financial aid. However, the system reduced enrollment by 4,000 students in the fall and expects to cut 40,000 more in the next two years. Los Angeles Examiner

Budget cuts hit broad swath of Cal State - Rochelle Corros is passionate when she speaks about her college major: Recreation and leisure studies is not just fun and games, she says with conviction. Graduates run city and state parks, recreation departments, hospital clinics, theaters and cruise lines. They help keep kids off the streets. So the Cal State Dominguez Hills senior was floored by an August letter from administrators telling her that admissions to the program would be suspended and courses slashed as the campus grappled with steep budget reductions. Los Angeles Times

With no limits in place, another community college fee hike likely - With the state budget hole headed toward new depths next year, community college students likely will pay more than ever for their classes. Although the 2010 state budget is still months away from adoption, college and state leaders have begun discussing the new fees. Many say there’s little chance students will avoid paying more. Silicon Valley Mercury News