By snoadmin
There is no denying the U.S. has seen better day than its current “recession.” Whether we use the “R” word or the adorable catchphrase, “economic cool-down,” California has been one of the hardest hit.
The state’s slowing economy, partnered with the crumbling real estate market, has lead Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to make drastic cuts to the California State University system’s budget. And with California’s deficit currently estimated at $16 billion, optimism has been elusive.
His bare-bones cuts will undoubtedly lead to faculty reductions, crowded classes and lost educational opportunities.
The anxiety and trepidation felt throughout the entire system will be aired during the California Faculty Association’s advocacy forum this afternoon, but it might already be too late to prompt the Cal State Long Beach community with panic.
The debasing of the dollar abroad is difficult enough, but budget cuts to the CSUs will only worsen California’s position.
The “R” word seems inevitable and students are aware that jobs will be increasingly harder to find, even if we are lucky enough to graduate college.
Out of the 23 CSUs many, including Dominguez Hills and Fullerton, have already held events to in opposition to the cuts. CSULB seems apathetic at best.
There have been attempts to gather signatures for Tuition Relief Now’s student-led initiative, but it amounts to a mild public relations campaign.
Any tangible resistance is in danger because not everybody wants the same thing done in the same manner. One advocacy group just wants the budget cuts to go away, while another wants to settle the deficit by taxing millionaires. It’s hard to predict unity between the vying interests.
We don’t need to profess every single repercussion these cuts will have on students. We already know that these slashes will inevitably lead to tuition hikes, more heavily impacted programs, a decreased number of educated workers in the state’s employment surplus and so on.
We passed economics, but did our governor?
His financial solution to the state’s gaping deficit is to slash and burn. Maybe we need to give him the benefit of the doubt.
After all, he has only been governor for five years. Either way, somebody needs a night course in Economics 101.
We are hoping he has thought long and hard about his 10 percent across the board cuts. We are sure that he completely understands the fact that for every $1 invested in the CSU system, it in turn generates $4.41 in spending.
And he has to know about the 200,000 jobs CSUs create, or the fact that capitalism will not work at its full potential unless educated human capital is an investment priority.
We are sure these facts were considered. Right?
One thing is for sure – he’s smart enough to not pull this crap in an election year.
So maybe he would be a little surprised to know that college graduates earn more money and, because of this, pay more taxes.
The governor’s proposal to invest $500 billion in infrastructure over the next 20 years seems slightly counterintuitive considering CSU graduates make up the majority of the state’s engineering, agriculture and business degrees.
The impact of California’s economy can already be felt as many of us have to push back our graduation dates because summer school classes are being cut.
This should be a caution to those who don’t think spring and fall semester classes could be next.
Faculty, administration, students and concerned community members need to join forces to drive home the message: Cutting money from the CSUs is irresponsible.
The “investment” into the CSU system is the solution to California’s budget crisis, says Elizabeth Hoffman, the CSULB representative for the California Faculty Association.
We have to make the case for the CSU system, says Hoffman, in what she refers to as the “common cause for the common good.”
A best-case outcome for today’s rally would be for our entire university community – on-campus and statewide – to reject the budget cuts with unified voices and to have them heard by the Educ-Hater in the state capitol.
We would like to think that the governor would heed our collective outcries and reconsider his audacious balancing act.
Maybe while he’s jetting back and forth between Sacramento and Brentwood, he should invest in an “Economics for Dummies” handbook.
We are sure it’s probably available on CD.
