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News article from the Huffington Post regarding the California movement:<br><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-samuels/when-students-strike-back_b_453404.html"><br>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-samuels/when-students-strike-back_b_453404.html</a><br><h1><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-samuels/when-students-strike-back_b_453404.html" title="Permalink" id="title_permalink">When Students Strike Back: The New Social Movement at the University of California</a></h1><br>On November 20th, a group of Berkeley students held Wheeler Hall
hostage, and their first demand was to rehire 38 custodians. The
administration and the media were confused by this request; they asked
themselves, why do the students care about janitors? From the
perspective of the UC administration, students should only be
protesting against the escalating fees they are being forced to pay;
however, students, unions, and workers have begun to form a new type of
coalition that cuts across traditional class and employment divisions.
By uniting around a group of diverse demands representing different
social groups, the UC activists have pointed to the future of
progressive social movements. <BR>
While many pundits and politicians have been arguing that the only
political movement on the ground these days is the loose band of
right-leaning tea partiers, the protests at the University of
California offer an alternative political force. On the one side, we
have the libertarian anti-government tax revolt that often takes its
marching orders from conservative talk show hosts and Fox News, and on
the other side, a coalition of university students, faculty, and
unionized workers supporting equitable taxes and a defense of public
institutions. This battle demonstrates the real fight for the future of
the country, and like so many other things, it all starts in
California. <BR>
<strong>The California Tax Revolt</strong><BR>
We can trace the origin of the current tea party movement to the
late 1970s when California led the way to a new form of tax rebellion
by passing Proposition 13, which capped property taxes and required
that new taxes could only be raised if 2/3rds of the state legislators
voted for the increase. Since this time, not only has the limit on
taxes reduced the available money for education and other public
programs, but this proposition has determined the structure of
Californian politics. Republicans in the state have learned that they
can be elected to office by simply attacking any hint of raising taxes,
and not only are they able to label opponents as "tax and spend"
Democrats, but Republicans, who represent a small minority of the
voters, have also paved the way for tax breaks for the wealthy and the
deregulation of several industries. This anti-tax, pro-business
ideology helped to land Ronald Reagan the governorship and later the
presidency, and of course, Reagan, gained his conservative credentials
by opposing the Berkeley student movement as governor; we are now
witnessing a similar opposition between a conservative governor and a
progressive student body. <BR>
Even though most people consider California to be a liberal state,
the left coast has helped to create the current libertarian culture
dominating American politics. Central to this libertarian mindset is
the idea that the ultimate values are free speech and the free market,
and anything that stands in the way between a person and his freedom is
the enemy. One reason, then, why radio talk shows in California are the
natural allies of the tea party movement is that these programs
celebrate free speech by giving average Joes the ability to vent their
populist rage to an encouraging audience. Moreover, since the hosts of
these shows do not have to present any positive policies or support any
specific politicians, they are free to attack everything and everyone. <BR>
The power of these radio talk shows should not be underestimated. In
fact, in Southern California, politicians shake in their boots with
just the mention of the "John and Ken Show." These two libertarian
attack dogs will start a public campaign against any politician who
endorses raising taxes or regulating businesses. By calling for radio
Fatwas on Republicans who dare to even mention the possibility of
raising revenues, John and Ken have been able to channel SoCal's
libertarian rage. <BR>
<strong>A New Progressive Coaliton</strong><BR>
In opposition to this anti-tax, anti-government populism, the
students, faculty, and unions have been calling for the need to change
the way the state votes on taxes and budgets. Led by the Berkeley
professor George Lakoff and his California Democracy Act, the UC
coalition has been arguing that the state should not be held hostage by
the Republican legislative minority that has taken a pledge to never
raise any taxes. While no one wants to pay more taxes, students have
understood that the recent increase of student fees (tuition) by over
41% in one year is the same as a tax hike. In fact, while the wealth in
California has become concentrated at the top, the richest Californians
have seen their tax rates lowered. Meanwhile, since the state cannot
raise taxes, and it must pass a balanced budget by a 2/3rds vote in
both houses of the legislature, the only thing the Democrats can do
currently is to cut the funding for education and other vital social
services. <BR>
While pushing for higher taxes and more state funding may not seem
like a radical gesture, the UC coalition has extended its political
actions by tying the legislative stalemate to the larger issues of
privatization and corporatization. Although the UC President Mark Yudof
and the Board of Regents would like the students and the faculty to
blame the state for all of the university's problems, the coalition has
directed its anger in multiple directions and has effectively
criticized both the state and the UC administration. For instance, when
students protested the most recent move to raise students fees, they
not only called for the legislature to restore the system's funding,
but they also protested the regents decision to support compensation
increases for top administrators. <BR>
The broader message of the UC coalition is that they do not think a
public university should be run like a private corporation, and they
also do not think that the most diverse and prestigious public
university system in the world should be transformed into a boarding
school for the super wealthy. What students fear the most, perhaps, is
that their beloved university will simply give up on state funding, and
instead will decide to increase its enrollment of high-paying
out-of-state students and thus shut its door on Californians and the
non-wealthy. <BR>
To understand what it means to privatize a public university and
move to a high fee, high aid model, we san simply look at what has
recently happened to other flagship public universities. As Peter Sacks
has documented in his book, Tearing Down the Gates, in 1992, a third of
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) students were from lower-income
families, but by 2002, only 13% were eligible for Pell grants. This
precipitous loss of lower-income students also occurred at the flagship
public universities of Virginia, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Between 1992
and 2002, the percentage of students receiving Pell grants at the
University of Wisconsin at Madison went down 28%, while University of
Illinois Urbana-Champaign went down 15%. Furthermore, after reducing
its reliance on state funding by rapidly increasing its tuition, the
University of Virginia saw its percentage of students eligible for Pell
grants drop to just 8%. <BR>
This protest against the privatization of the university is
fundamentally a rejection of the replacement of public values with
corporate values. For instance, the students and many of the
progressive faculty bristle when Yudof talks about the university as a
group of buisnesses, and they do not think that the "fiscal emergency"
should be used as a pretext to eliminate programs, lay off teachers,
attack unions, and shrink the non-profit oriented programs. <BR>
Ultimately what has united this coalition is a shared dislike for an
abrasive administration that continues to reward itself with bonuses
and salary increases, while everyone else is asked to do more for less.
Moreover, students, faculty, and unions are taking a stand against a
thirty-year war on public workers, public institutions, and public
spaces. This defense of the public is the only hope for our collective
future. <BR>
<strong>March on March 4th</strong><BR>
The next big move of the UC coalition is to hold a series of
protests, rallies, and strikes throughout the state on March 4th. Under
the general banner of "Defending Public Education, Defending Public
Workers," this day of action will bring together teachers, students,
and workers from K-PhD. The central demands are to stop the fee hikes,
rehire layed off workers, increase enrollments, and bargain in good
faith with the unions. The coalition is also asking to stop the
re-segregation of education by protecting the educational opportunities
of underrepresented students. <BR>
Not only is the UC coalition fighting to save public higher
education in the state of California, but, this group of students,
faculty, and workers is giving hope to all of the people who are not
happy with the status quo. Recent protests and rallies in the UC system
have spread throughout the country, and a new social movement is being
born. While it is hard to sum up the goals and strategies of this
political and social force, we are witnessing a rebirth of the idea
that people can change history and improve the lives of others. <br> <br /><hr />Hotmail: Free, trusted and rich email service. <a href='http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469228/direct/01/' target='_new'>Get it now.</a></body>
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