The Network’s ‘nine demands for the ’90s’
By Michelle Mascarenhas
It may be a beautiful day in L.A., but the future isn’t looking
so bright here or across the country. Millions of people are
unemployed and those with jobs have seen their real wages and
benefits decline while working conditions have worsened.
Because our government doesn’t adequately fund K-12 education,
millions of youths are disqualified for college admission. Many of
us who do enter the university must struggle to pay our way, only
to find when we graduate that the economy has no room for us. This
situation is intensified for most women and people of color.
I have a friend who received her economics/business degree in
December 1993 and to this day continues to work as a temporary
clerical worker while she searches for a job that will utilize her
education (she happens to be Asian American). Meanwhile, our
elected leaders blame immigrants and women on welfare, hoping to
turn our attention toward more convenient scapegoats.
The University of California is doing little to prevent this
downward slide and at times appears to contribute to it. We in the
Network for Public Education and Social Justice believe that
universities should play a positive role in our communities,
providing education to help us improve our lives as well as decent
jobs for the people who keep the campus running. Unfortunately, UC
administrators have decided to focus on research that benefits
business and the military and they cut staff pay and jobs while
rewarding upper-level administrators.
We must join together  staff, students and faculty Â
to change the direction of the university and make it more
accessible and meaningful to the communities it is supposed to
serve.
In order to foster discussion and organization towards this
goal, the Network and the UC Coalition are developing a petition to
circulate among the university community. If we don’t get
organized, our public universities will continue to slither out of
the hands of the people of California and into the hands of private
business.
So far, we’ve come up with the following "nine demands for the
’90s" but we need your active involvement in shaping the petition
and the petition drive in order to build a grassroots student,
staff and faculty movement to return the university to the people
it purports to serve.
1. Open the gates of the UC system. Higher education must be
accessible to low-income students and to communities of color.
2. Make the UC system reflect the community. The UC system must
expand its commitment to diversity, for staff as well as students
and faculty, through effective and fair affirmative action
programs.
3. Respect our unions. The UC system must recognize the rights
of all its employees (including academic student employees) to
bargain collectively, and must immediately cease all its
union-busting activities.
4. Don’t balance the budget on our backs. The UC system must
reject subcontracting and layoffs as its first response to budget
shortfalls  these don’t solve the problem and create more
work for the employees that remain.
5. Pay us fairly for our work. The UC system must not institute
merit-based pay, which penalizes workers who "rock the boat" by
standing up for themselves. Instead, the university should provide
regular salary increases to keep up with the cost of living.
6. We need a voice in running the university. The UC system must
involve students, staff and faculty in effective participation at
every level of decision-making. It’s time for a staff regent and
senate.
7. Democratize the university. The UC Regents should be elected
and accountable to the university community and to the people of
California.
8. Reaffirm the educational mission of the university. The UC
system is not a corporation and it should not be run like one.
Instead of just looking at the "bottom line," the university must
commit itself to relevant education by supporting ethnic and gender
studies programs.
9. Support human rights. The university must reject the racism
of Proposition 187 and take a stand by refusing any implementation
of its provisions. Declare the university a 187-free zone.
As we’ve learned from recent attempts to revoke affirmative
action, raise fees, reduce financial aid and cut staff wages and
benefits, we must get organized and take a pro-active stance in
order to move the university (and our country) in a progressive
direction.
Not so many years ago, students helped lead an effective
movement for social change in this country. Today, students in
Madison, New York, Los Angeles and across the country have once
again begun mobilizing against the "Contract with America" and
Proposition 187.
The time is ripe for us to organize around a progressive agenda
which puts people first. The Network for Public Education and
Social Justice will hold its first spring quarter organizing
meeting tomorrow, April 12, at noon in Ackerman 3517. All students,
staff and faculty members interested in organizing around these
issues are welcome.
Mascarenhas is a first-year urban planning graduate student in
the School of Public Policy and Social Research.