Wednesday’s public town hall meeting on Janss Steps might have been cathartic for faculty and student activists facing indiscriminate cuts to their departments, but thus far, the meetings have failed to attract the attention of the administration, the UC Board of Regents or the average student.
In the absence of an objective moderator, gatherings like this can too easily dissolve into a roast of the administration and the Regents instead of a discussion about realistic steps that can be taken to improve the state of the university.
For one, attendants of town hall meetings are rarely representative of every level of the community being affected by the budget cuts ““ or your average Joe Bruin.
The issues regarding the budget are being tossed back and forth within the same group of students who are already well-versed in the effects of UC-wide cuts. Students who take the initiative to attend an informational meeting in their free time are not the ones who need to be targeted in educational efforts.
While this board recognizes the efforts made by organizers to hold public meetings, we feel that in order to produce the tangible changes participants are calling for, the rest of the student body should be mobilized as well.
The issues under scrutiny can’t be blamed on one person. The detrimental effects of the budget cuts merit attention, but administrators are more likely to listen to organizers who are committed to staying informed and finding real, workable solutions to convoluted problems.
Take Night Powell, for example: The abrupt closure of the College Library’s 24-hour service this summer triggered angry letters and “Save Night Powell” groups on Facebook. The Undergraduate Students Association Council President Cinthia Flores met with Chancellor Gene Block on Oct. 16 to discuss what actions would be necessary to reinstate the program.
The program would cost about $125,000 to reinstate, and after efforts by both the chancellor and students, it has received $50,000 from a donor. If the donation is matched, Night Powell could be reinstated by sixth week.
The same means of rehabilitation that prompted a donor to salvage Night Powell should be applied to recently axed programs such as the Covel Commons writing tutorials that were shut down last spring. Instead of simply drafting angry letters and throwing out numbers that may seem abstract, organizers should focus their attention on specific programs that students can relate to and are realistic enough to be salvaged.
Activists must realize the magnitude of the issue at hand and pick their battles to affect change that is reasonable, given the bleak circumstances. They must urge students to take smaller steps, reach out to students in large General Education classes and remind them of why some students are forced to sit on the floor in lecture, along with other cuts.