Comments on: Regents! We Do Need Some Education!

By: Blogs on UC Protests « UC Regent Live(blog)

Blogs on UC Protests « UC Regent Live(blog) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:59:59 +0000

[...] http://www.newuniversity.org/2009/11/opinion/regents-we-do-need-some-education/ Editorial from the UCI Student Newspaper responded to the UC Regents decision to approve the 32% fee increase for all UC campuses. Although the protest was for a good cause, the attitude of the editorial in regards to the protest was negative as it felt that the violence that erupted from the protest discredited the student’s intentions and the credibility of the protest. The article expressed frustration against the UC Regents who seem detached and indifferent to the protestor’s stories and pleas for helps. Even though the vote has passed, the war is not over. Students should continue to organize to fight against the problems of insufficient state funding and budget cuts that are taking away from the quality of education of the UC system. The article expresses that concerns should be focused on organization and petitioning to Sacramento. [...]

By: hzm

hzm — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:27:06 +0000

This country is poorly managed; people are not (fiscally) responsible. Congress spends money for the cash-for-clunker program but not on education. State and local govts provide generous health care and pension to their workers but raises fees big-time on students. UC administrators and some students and so-called labor-rightists hand out employment and benefits to contract workers at the expense of the students. Politicians and ignorant/self-centered voters simply commit too much $ on fixed expenditures.
Yes, had this display of student activism been shown earlier, the protest would have been more effective in impact. Student activism should have been shown by writing to the Congress when it stupidly authorized the cash4clunkers program and urging it to save the $ for education. Student activism should have been shown by telling the state and local legislators to not provide all these golden parachuttes and retirement packages. Student activism should have been shown by telling Michael Drake that he should not in-source those landscape and dining workers because we cannot and should not afford it. Student activism should have been shown by …..

By: Nathan Tumazi

Nathan Tumazi — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:57:34 +0000

This is one of the most disappointing articles the Editorial Board has ever written. You would think that the Editorial Board would have the courage, or the brains, to stand with the rest of the UC community in unison over the issue of corporate-state power and elitist education given that it is causing the tasering of dozens of students and increased tuition never seen in California history.

Instead, they show their true alliance with advertisers and the Regents by automatically calling the protests ‘ineffective.’ How cowardly and shameful of these writers to denounce a now international movement for free and emancipatory education from the comfort of their UC Irvine office. How crass and elitist of them to blindly side with the top of the power structure of UC instead of joining the rest of us who will go broke or drop out because of this increase. Millions of California students will avoid college altogether because of the burden of debt. Students now have the highest rate of suicide in the US than ever before, and increasing the cost of what should be a human right (and IS in Europe and elsewhere) only causes more depression, poverty, and ignorance.

I am ashamed to be an Anteater with such a quasi-fascist newspaper editorial board writing such a scating “report.” This Editorial Board had an opportunity to be the voice of justice and economic equality, and it boldly chose to drown the UC community with contempt and socio-economic hate.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:58:30 +0000

I agree with this article wholeheartedly. I don’t know why the Regents would listen to us by throwing things and wrecking things. It just makes us seem like brats.

The silent protests would’ve been the way to go. Instead, it just looks like a lot of people cutting class (the classes they are paying for!!!) in order to be “a part of something.”

I’m not trying to generalize here; there were some people that genuinely believed in the cause but I can’t help but think that some people were there more for the spectacle than anything.