Take five minutes to fight for your education
By Barbara Brazil
and John Du
These are the top 10 things that John Du, your student
government’s external vice president, can do in five minutes:
10. Tie his shoe laces.
9. Brush his teeth.
8. Move 2 feet in a Murphy Hall line.
7. Travel 1 mile on the 405 freeway during rush hour.
6. Take a dump.
5. Get through to URSA (if he’s lucky).
4. Have sex.
3. Pick his nose.
2. Bite his toenail.
1. Help you RECLAIM YOUR EDUCATION!
Here at UCLA, the Students First! officers in the Undergraduate
Students Association Council are implementing the "FIVE MINUTE
CAMPAIGN" to reclaim our education. We figure that if you can spend
five minutes performing trivial tasks, you can spend five minutes
to fight for your education. In five minutes, you can register to
vote, sign a postcard and make a phone call to your representative
or regent.
The "FIVE MINUTE CAMPAIGN" is designed with the understanding
that most students simply do not have 10 hours a week to advocate
student issues. (Even though we’d like that to be true.) At the
same time, the "FIVE MINUTE CAMPAIGN" is designed to involve
students concerned about systematic attacks on education.
Since 1991, fees have increased 135 percent, and federal
financial aid – Pell Grants, Perkins Loans, State Student Incentive
Grants (Cal-Grants) – faces potential cuts. In addition,
affirmative action programs have been eliminated by the UC Regents,
and immigrant rights are once again threatened by fear and
scapegoating. These attacks affect us all.
Rising registration fees mean shifting hours away from school to
work. Cuts to financial aid mean 60 percent of UCLA students who
receive aid will either work longer hours or drop out. The
elimination of affirmative action will result in a 50 percent drop
in African American enrollment, and a 30 to 45 percent drop in
Chicano and Latino enrollment, ultimately affecting every student’s
educational opportunity.
Over 25 percent of all UCLA students who receive financial aid
are legal residents who pay taxes and are going through the process
of acquiring citizenship. Republicans plan on passing legislation
that may deny all types of federal aid, including financial aid, to
legal residents.
We all care about the direction in which our education is
headed. Apathy is a myth that was concocted to disempower students.
If there were a way to get involved and contribute to a meaningful
cause, we would all do it, especially if it only took five
minutes.
How effective can students be if we work collectively? Last
year, students across the state, in conjunction with the University
of California Students Association, gained enough support from the
public and the state legislature to stop a fee increase. This year,
the United States Students Association played an integral role in
restoring $10 billion in federal student aid. Students worked in
solidarity all over the state in the last few months to stop
another registration fee hike for the coming year.
Students First! representatives will be on Bruin Walk and in
Campbell Hall every week Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 a.m.
to 1:00 p.m. There will be a different focus every week, like
defeating the California Civil Rights Initiative and stopping
financial aid cuts. Drop by and pick up an informational pamphlet
on these issues.
While you’re at it, take five minutes to register to vote, sign
a post card and make a phone call to your representative or regent.
Primaries for the 1996 elections are in March, so register to vote
if you have recently moved.
Brazil and Du are Students First! representatives. Brazil is the
undergraduate internal vice president; Du is external vice
president.Comments to webmaster@db.asucla.ucla.edu