Teresa Avendano once hoped to send her children to a University of California. However, this dream may not easily be realized after she was laid off from her job at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center four months ago.
Since then, she has been working with her union, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, to “get the message out” about how the UCs are dealing with the budget crisis.
After participating in the walkout in September and a candlelight vigil at Regent Joanne Kozberg’s home this month, attending the town hall forum held at Janss Steps on Wednesday seemed to be the next logical choice.
The small gathering of students, faculty and union representatives met at the bottom of the steps to discuss the state financial crisis and its impact on the campus community.
With a variety of speakers, including Cinthia Flores, president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, Bob Samuels, president of the UC American Federation of Teachers, and Avendano, the forum called the campus community to action in light of the upcoming UC Board of Regents meeting in November.
“There are a lot of people getting more aware,” said Alejandra Cruz, a third-year law student who helped to organize the meeting. “This is kind of a kickoff ““ we’re going full force until Nov. 18 and 19.”
Topics discussed at the meeting included the management of money within the UC system and the affordability of a UC education if the fee increase is approved.
Samuels said that the UC’s financial difficulties could be solved by better managing funds.
“We think that instead of raising fees and furloughs, (the UC) should find ways to find internal resources,” he said.
Flores agreed with Samuels’ statements.
“For the first time ever, there will be two fee increases in one academic year if this is passed,” she said. “Student fee increases cannot be a crutch for the university.”
The fee increases also relate to a larger sense of student enrollment at UC schools, because some speakers fear that the increase in student fees would force many lower-income students to drop out.
“None of these kids from LAUSD will be able to afford this,” Avendano said, gesturing to the crowd of schoolchildren who were visiting the university.
However, many speakers emphasized that this meeting was only a precursor to their activities during the regents’ meeting.
Samuels said that AFSCME Local 3299 planned to hold rallies and pickets and set up tents during the meeting. He said he expected more than 1,000 students from across the state to come to UCLA.
He added that mobilization efforts were starting now in preparation for the regents’ arrival.
Avendano echoed these sentiments.
“Today is another step,” she said. “The next step is the regents.”