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Student Should Voice to the Elected Officials

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Submitted By sallyxie
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Student Should Voice to the Elected Officials

for California State University (CSU)

Do you know California State is facing a severe budget crisis? On May 14, 2012, Governor Jerry Brown released the Governor's Budget May Revision 2012-13. It reveals that a budget deficit is projected to reach $15.7 billion in 2012-13 fiscal year. To combat the budget deficit, the Governor’s proposed 2012‑13 budget includes $8.3billion budget cuts across the state. It contains General Fund reductions for the state’s university systems about $250 million even though state support for the CSU had 750million reduction in 2011-12 fiscal year. (Brown JR.)

On December 2, 2011, a message about budget cuts and fee rising at California State University, East Bay was posted on the CSUEB website by the President, Leroy Morishita. In this message, president point out the campus community faces reducing administrative overhead, consolidating operations, not filling vacated positions, and the students are affect to get a quality education at an affordable cost. (Morishita) So he encouraged students to voice their concerns to the State legislators and to the President’s office for the CSU budget cuts and fee rising. In my opinion, students should follow President’s suggestion because this is their civil rights, social responsibility, and their voices can change the policy determines.

Students should take action to make their voices hear in the elected officials for the CSU because this is their civil right to fight for own interests. Freedom and democracy are core values of American, and Freedom of speech is guaranteed under the First Amendment of the U.S Constitution, so students have right to publicly voice their concerns and dissent by the various peaceful actions such as e-mail, assembly and demonstration. (Legal Information Institute) Since the Constitution gives this precious right, students should be appropriate to use it to protect their own interests. In recent years, CSU budget cuts and rising tuition have impacted students’ life, education and families. They are facing some dilemmas like unaffordable fee or student loan, severe shortage of classes and enrollment cuts. For example, according CSU systemwide applications and admissions for fall 2011to show that the CSU denied access almost 22,000 qualified new undergraduate applicants under a nearly $1 billion reductions. (The California State University of sites) These dilemmas that students are facing and they are damaging students' right that accepting an affordable and high quality education. If students want to change these situations, their dilemmas should express to the elected officials through their voices. Thus, students should take action and raise their voices immediately, then exercise their civil rights to affect the elected officials’ decision and preserve personal interests.

Moreover, students should voice to the State legislators and the President for California State University because they have the social responsibility to safeguard the interests of the state. When national interests are jeopardized by the budget reductions, the students should no longer be silent. First, the students should help the elected officials understand that continuing budget cuts in the last few years have been seriously impacted the quality of California higher education. For example, the CSU have to take some measures such as the faculty’s wage and benefit reductions, the staff reductions, increased the workload, and extended unpaid leave. These measures led to the loss of excellent professors. This situation will greatly damage the quality and reputation of the CSU. California Faculty Association Bargaining Team members,Elizabeth Hoffman, Kevin Wehr & Andy Merrifield, in their article Impact Of Privatization On CSU Faculty And Bargaining Our Contract, sadly said:"We find that they are abandoning rapidly the notion of a public university that creates opportunity for all Californians to affordable, quality higher education regardless of each student’s ability to pay." (Hoffman) Unfortunately, Governor Brown still proposed more budget cuts in 2012-13 fiscal year. In response to this governor’s suggestion, students’ voices are indispensable. Next, students have responsibility to express their concerns that State’s competitiveness in the future will be impacted by higher education budget reduction. Since always, the higher education plays a key role in social and economic development and the training of human resources. It likes an engine to give the power for economic development. Clark Kerr, president of the University of California (UC) in 1960, said:"The universities were bait to be dangled in front of industry, with drawing power greater than low taxes or cheap labor". (California's Public Universities Excellence for Fewer) Under the increasingly fierce global competition, more and more public begin to question that State’s competitiveness whether will be impacted in the future because the higher education don’t have enough money to maintain its accessibility and quality. The elected officials need to understand these risks in the future and the importance of support for higher education and the CSU when they make the decision to cut the higher education budget. Therefore, the students have the social duty to communicate the risk of higher education and their concerns to the elected officials.

Participate in the actions that voice to the elected officials for the CSU is not only students' civil rights and social responsibility, but also their actions change the policy determines of the elected officials.

Work Cited

Brown JR., Edmund G. Governor, State of California. "Governor's Budget May Revision 2012-13." May 14, 2012 released. http://www.dof.ca.gov/documents/2012-13_May_Revision.pdf

Legal Information Institute [LII], Cornell University Law School of sites. "First Amendment: An Overview." August 19, 2010 posted. http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/First_amendment

Morishita, Leroy M. Interim President, CSU East Bay, Fall 2012 Fee Increase and Budget Proposal, December 2, 2011 posted. http://www20.csueastbay.edu/about/administration/messages/student-budget-proposal-december-2011.html

The California State University of Sites. "CSU Faces Unprecedented Demand, Limited Space." May 21, 2012 posted. http://www.calstate.edu/pa/News/2012/Release/fall2012.shtml

Hoffman, Elizabeth, Wehr, Kevin & Merrifield, Andy. "Impact Of Privatization On CSU Faculty And Bargaining Our Contract." Spring 2012 CFA Magazine, March29, 2012 posted. http://www.calfac.org/node/3475/email

"California's Public Universities Excellence for Fewer." The Economist Post Sep. 10, 2011. http://www.economist.com/node/21528635

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