With California State University students and Associated Students, Inc. representatives across the state scrambling to find a way to prevent tuition fees from rising yet again, it seems that Cal State Long Beach’s very own ASI may be out of sync with the rest of the CSU system.
Unlike the other CSUs, which have been actively fighting against the increases since last year, neither CSULB’s ASI President Mark Andrews or any other elected member of our student government has publicly objected to the 10 percent tuition hike being shoved down our throats.
In fact, no ASI member from The Beach, as of yet, has signed the student-led initiative to freeze tuition, spoken publicly against the fee increases, or even sent a letter to the student body informing us of the impending blow to our wallets.
If members of the elected student government are going to pocket perks like lowered tuition, padded résumés and BlackBerries, they should be doing everything they can to represent the students who voted them into office.
This means they need to get off their behinds and start doing something to fend off fee increases. Occasionally, leadership requires actually leading.
Other ASIs have already signed the student-led initiative to freeze tuitions and have sent out e-mails informing students about the urgency of signing the petition. Some ASIs have even gone so far as to travel to Sacramento to protest Schwarzenegger’s ploy in person.
Obviously, ASIs across the state are taking things into their own hands and fighting the fee increases.
In contrast, our reps were conspicuously silent at the one event where ASI members were encouraged to speak out: Wednesday’s board of trustees meeting, which was held right here in Long Beach.
All student representatives were offered the chance to tell CSU Chancellor Charles Reed just how concerned they are about the assault on our pockets. ASI members from CSUs as far away as Stanislaus and Chico came to present their constituents’ outrage.
Had CSULB, which boasts itself as the flagship of the system, spoke up, it would have sent a clear message that too many people will feel the brunt of this assault.
Because our presence wasn’t felt, however, Reed and the others may never realize how much pain our community will suffer.
We offered Andrews multiple chances to defend our governance for the “no show,” but, unfortunately, he ignored our numerous requests. Perhaps his BlackBerry is broken.
If our student officials are going to ignore their obligations to this campus, maybe they should step down.
We suggest to ASI that if addressing our student body’s critical issues are too much work, then maybe a position on some minor committee with less responsibility might be a better fit.
We’re pretty sure some local high school’s prom committee could use an extra body or five this time of year. We’ll be sure to put in a good word for all of you.
