Tag Archives: university of california

Boulevard of Broken Promises?

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Alec Weisman, Alumni (Editor-in-Chief 2008-2011)

Originally posted on The Word From the Wise, Alec’s personal blog.

On April 13, 2011 the Associated Students at the University of California, San Diego voted to endorse a principle of neutrality on political and divisive issues and refrain from passing resolutions.

Yet this promise has faded quickly, with the announcement that the AS Vice-President External Affairs Samer Naji will be introducing a resolution on Wednesday, November 30, 2011 that will explicitly announce the Associated Students support for the Occupy movement.

Although I am generally sympathetic with some of the goals of the Occupy movement, such as their concern that big business is in collusion with government and that bailouts for banks are wrong, yet other claims, such as debt forgiveness for all and “magic” money for every pet project they could imagine are hollow demands and are stupid. In addition, the recent acts of violence in Washington DC, Oakland, and San Diego (among others) has slowly eroded their positive attributes.

In addition, the resolution conflates the recent protests that have been met in some cases with what could be characterized as “excessive force” in the UC System with the Occupy movement at large. The resolution opens with statements claiming: “reckless greed committed by Wall Street firms and Executives,” “corporations prey[ing] on the hopes and aspirations held by millions of people with the simple and selfish aim to maximize profit,” “these corporations are responsible for the eviction of millions of people from their homes due to predatory lending practices.”

Most concerning of all however, this resolution calls upon the “Associated Students [to] provide support for protests and or occupations, should students decide to set up an occupation on campus.” This means that the A.S. will be using your student fees to bring the Occupy movement to UCSD and then proceed to disrupt traffic and interrupt classes and speeches. If members of A.S. want to use their stipends to cover the “Occupy Movement,” then that is their prerogative. But it is a shame that the Associated Students at UCSD continue to try to misrepresent more than 23,000 undergraduates, display their biases in a official capacity, and for revealing their belief that they know whats best for you.

I hope that UCSD students will tell AS to keep itself out of political and controversial matters and let them get back to problems that they have direct influence over, such as improving the parking situation at UCSD, dining dollar inflation, and restoring SunGod.

To express your disapproval for the Associated Students at UCSD passing this resolution, email asvpexternal@ucsd.edu or contact the council members directly: http://as.ucsd.edu/council

Below is the Resolution in full.

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Resolution to Support the Occupy Movement

Whereas, individuals in the United States and across the world have been severely impacted by the reckless greed committed by Wall Street firms and Executives;

Whereas, these corporations preyed on the hopes and aspirations held by millions of people with the simple and selfish aim to maximize profit1;

Whereas, the profits made by the major businesses and corporations are being used to influence the American political system and the choices it makes, regardless of the impacts to ordinary individuals2

Whereas, these corporations are responsible for the eviction of millions of people from their homes due to predatory lending practices3;

Whereas, University of California, San Diego students, faculty, staff, and workers have been deeply impacted by the 2008 Financial Crisis and following recession that was caused by reckless management of domestic and international financial systems;

Whereas, billions in taxpayer dollars were committed to bailing out selfish and predatory corporations at the cost of neglecting Main Street America and cutting public funding for vital public services4;

Whereas, funding cuts to institutions of higher education, including the University of California, have led to skyrocketing tuition and fees, service cuts, and faculty, staff, and worker layoffs;

Whereas, personal and student debt has and continues to skyrocket5;

Whereas, concerned individuals have committed to peaceful occupation of symbolic centers in protest of the symbiotic relationship between corporate and government institutions, in addition to protesting public service cuts and the continual reduction of their standards of living,

Whereas, the demands made by the various occupations are closely aligned with the demands made by the University of California Student Association, including but not limited to:
The demand for corporate accountability,
The demand for a separation between corporate money and the American political system,
The demand to reform Proposition 13 to raise corporate property tax rates,
The demand to return for public higher education to return to be fully publicly funded and affordable.

And whereas, local police departments, including the University of California Police Department, have resorted to forceful eviction and suppression of peaceful demonstrators, in violation of their First Amendment rights to peacefully assemble6;

Let it therefore be resolved that the Associated Students of the University of California, San Diego endorse the Occupy movement;

Be it further resolved that the Associated Students provide support for protests and or occupations, should students decide to set up an occupation on campus;

Be it further resolved that the University of California, San Diego Chancellor sign a pledge, ensuring students’ rights to free speech and assembly on campus;

And let it finally be resolved that the Associated Students strongly condemns and demands that the University of California, Davis, and the University of California, Berkeley Chancellors and Police Chiefs resign immediately for authorizing the use of force by the University of California Police Department on UC students, faculty, staff, and workers

1. http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/109/bradley.html
2. http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/10/13/the-10-biggest-corporate-campaign-contributors-in-u-s-politics/
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12184365

4. http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/national/200904_CREDITCRISIS/recipients.html
5. http://www.npr.org/2011/05/16/136214779/college-student-debt-grows-is-it-worth-it
6. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/nov/03/occupy-militarisation-policing-protest

Berkeley Students Ballistic Over ‘BikeBusters’ and Fines

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Gabriella Hoffman, Advertising Manager

In September, I warned about the advent of bike bans at American universities. McGill University in Montreal, Canada implemented similar “reforms” and faced scrutiny from its student body. At UC-Berkeley, similar measures discouraging bike riding on campus are underway. Universities are asking for unhappy campers if they go ahead with fining students for “disregarding bike rules.”
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Illegal Immigrants Entitled to In-State Tuition, CA Supreme Court Rules

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Gabriella Hoffman, Chairwoman for Young Americans for Freedom at UCSD

As a California student at a public university, I am dismayed by the recent California Supreme Court ruling upholding in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. Students who graduated from state schools with high school diplomas would qualify for in-state tuition at California’s public universities and colleges under this new law. With more tuition hikes imminentat the University of California and the California State University systems at 8 percent and 15 percent respectively, this development is slated to enlarge our state’s budget problems and growing appeasement to those without U.S. citizenship.

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Living in a Failed State, Illegal Immigration and AS

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Peter Anthony Tariche, Content Editor

I often question California’s inability to understand anything with regards to fiscal matters. But under these circumstances, I must speak out. Unless you have been trapped in a Chilean mine for two months or have a year-long pass to Disneyland, you’ve probably noticed our state is in a large fiscal crisis. While the rest of the country is attempting to balance their budget, California continues its march towards “progress” -a very subjective term. California is a large welfare state, so big, we give illegal immigrants grants for education. Now, I’m not your typical individual, I’m a Libertarian. I want the smallest government necessary. And, I cannot stand the welfare state and the dependency it places over society. I could honestly state, I think the state is a leech, all it can do is take. Hell, I’m for open borders, but the welfare state must end first. Being the child of immigrants myself, I’m not usually bothered by illegal immigration. I understand the nature of markets and I believe borders are arbitrary lines created by the state. I understand many people come to the states to find work, provide for their family and make their lives better for themselves; these are all good things. But, benefiting from the state is coherently evil. I could explain why taxation is theft, or why government is a monopoly on force, but I will restrain myself. I’m highly disappointed in California; I’m highly disappointed in government. Yet what antagonizes me more than anything right now are arbitrary privileges’ to illegal immigrants.

In 1991, the auditor general of California, reported illegal immigrants costed the state $206,411,969 in social services. Over the past 19 years illegal immigration has increased dramatically, surely the same could be true with the cost of social services. Now, the past decade under Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and a Democratic state congress we, like the federal government, have entered into a fiscal crisis. Meanwhile, our judiciary system and state congress have progressively pushed for more benefits for students who are illegally in the United States. Today, the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of allowing illegal immigrants to continue to pay for in-state fees rather than out-of-state fees. To this decision, I must appeal towards morality; this decision is unjust. While California taxpayers fork over the cost of social services used by illegal immigrants in a fiscal crisis, illegal immigrants continue to benefit at the expense of legal immigrants. Now, you could say illegal immigrants are California taxpayers, and this statement would be true. But, the average income of an illegal family is $15,364 dollars, which means most of their tax revenue is returned to them and in-fact pay the lowest taxes while requiring some of the most costly social services. With an income of $15,364 a year, students of illegal immigrants become fully eligible for an all-expense paid experience at the University of California. Around 25,000 illegal immigrants are thought to receive in-state tuition rates in California. Also, currently federal law bars illegal immigrants from government financial-aid programs.
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