About 20 students met with a prominent member of the state
assembly Thursday evening to discuss how to best resist Gov.
Schwarzenegger’s proposal to cut funding to outreach
programs, which would jeopardize minority enrollment at the
university.
The informal forum was part of a Day of Action that included all
of the University of California. Earlier in the day, UCLA students
and outreach staff took to the microphone to discuss the importance
of outreach to the university and the local community in a campus
rally.
In December, the Schwarzenegger administration made a 50 percent
cut to outreach and proposed eliminating outreach funding for the
2004-2005 academic year.
Though the university has said it is committed to funding
outreach, it may find itself hard-pressed because Schwarzenegger
has proposed cutting its budget by $372 million.
The forum with Carol Liu, the chairwoman of the State Assembly
Higher Education Committee, partly signifies a change in tactics
for outreach lobbying groups, said Yousef Tajsar, one of the
organizers.
“Last year we had put pressure on the Legislature, but we
put more pressure on the (UC Board of) Regents,” he said.
“This year, we switched it around.”
Liu, in what was largely an informal back-and-forth exchange of
ideas between herself and the students, said she was committed to
not cutting outreach, and she said there was “no way”
her committee would eliminate it.
She also said there was “huge concern” among
assembly members over the proposed 40 percent fee increase for
graduate students, and that she would like to see financial aid
match any fee increases that are made.
Liu offered an insider’s glimpse into the inner workings
of the state capitol. When discussing the presence Schwarzenegger
brings to the political playing field, Liu sighed,
“It’s tough to fight a movie star.”
Students and outreach staff floated their own ideas of how to
deal with state budget cuts and discussed their plausibility. Liu
expressed her willingness to participate in another similar forum
and suggested that other assembly members be involved.
The day’s events were sponsored by the University
Neighborhood Learning Outreach Coalition, the teacher’s
assistant union and various Undergraduate Student Association
Council offices.
As part of the campus-wide Day of Action, organizers also
petitioned students on Bruin Walk in the morning, held silent
marches through different classrooms, and staged a rally at the top
of Janss Steps at noon.
During the rally, over 60 undergraduate, graduate and high
school students, university staff members and representatives from
local unions declared their opposition to the cuts to outreach.
Allende Palma/Saracho, the internal vice president of USAC, said
the governor’s cuts to outreach could trigger a
chain-reaction that threatens the livelihood of members of the
lowest income bracket.
“You’re basically affecting the lowest, impoverished
community,” he said. “You’re cutting the ability
for them to get an education and cutting their ability to get
jobs.”
The demonstrators chanted to students flowing to and from class
during one of the busiest times of the day on campus. Students
largely seemed disinterested in the rally, and some were even a bit
put off by the demonstrators’ tactics.
Patrick Nagler, a third-year religious studies student, said he
was a bit taken aback when the demonstrators chanted,
“Education is a right, not just for the rich and
white.”
“I think education is a right, but you can’t break
it down by race,” he said.
Nagler said he mostly agreed with the principles of the
protesters, but that they risked alienating poor white students who
were also hurt by budget cuts.
During the rally, Saul Antonio, a junior at Santa Monica High
School, described to the crowd how outreach counselors turned him
from someone disinterested in going to college into a student
determined to do so.
“I had no idea I wanted to go to college or how important
it is,” he said.
Antonio’s sister, a former student at Santa Monica High,
also had no aspirations to go to college until outreach counselors
encouraged her. She is currently a first-year at UC Irvine.
Neither of Antonio’s parents attended college, though
Antonio now has his sights set on UCLA, UC Berkeley and
Stanford.
When asked where he would be had it not been for the outreach
counselors, Antonio shook his head.
“I’d be on the street,” he said. “I
wouldn’t care about college.”