Students barricaded themselves inside the English Department at Wheeler Hall. The UC regents, on Thursday in Los Angeles, voted 20-1 to raise undergraduate tuition from $7,788 to $10,302 next fall, a 32% tuition hike with a midyear increase of 15 percent starting in January.
Yesterday and today, thousands of students effectively shut down the UCLA campus in protest of the UC Regents approval of a massive 32% tuition hike. Thousands more launched strikes at UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC Riverside and UC Santa Cruz. Just a day before, CSU students, led by ANSWER and Students Fight Back organizers, confronted police and CSU officials at the Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach. http://currentb.ning.com
ANSWER sent out a message to come to the Southern California Regional Socialism Conference this Saturday to discuss the student struggle, hear eyewitness reports from student and faculty organizers and to discuss what's next for this dynamic and growing movement, on the Los Angeles City College Campus, in the Chemistry Building, from 10am-5pm. ANSWER asks people to be there to join the fight for education rights and for a better world, and support the student struggle for education.
CSU students demanded to attend the Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach on Tuesday, Nov. 17. They chanted loudly and pounded on the doors after being met with a line of police.
Students and faculty are in motion. At UCLA, banners against the hikes and for students' rights are hanging from nearly every building. Students are occupying buildings, demanding a rollback of the cuts and a cancellation of the hikes. Police have attacked the students at the behest of the school, but the students are unbowed. Right now, hundreds are linking arms to prevent the criminal Regents from leaving their meeting place.
ANSWER members are participating in the actions, as students, as organizers, and as faculty members.
UCLA professor Susan Curtiss told ANSWER from the front lines of the struggle, "I stand in complete solidarity with the students. Students are occupying the building where I teach. This is what needs to happen. We have to support the struggle for affordable education. Education is not a privilege, it is a right!"
The higher education system is mainly public, which means that the tuition fees are almost fully funded by the state and students have to pay only a small fee.
Sweden
Higher education is free for all, tuition fees are not allowed, and university funding is met by the goverment. There is a system of student grants which meet roughly a third of living costs and then loans for the remainder of costs. Both loans and grants are subject to an income test of the student but not of their parents.
Australia
Introduced in 1989, the higher education contribution scheme (HECS) is a system where students contribute to the costs of their education with interest free deferred payment arrangements.
You can repay in various ways, either upfront with a 25% discount, or paying part and deferring the rest, or deferring it all. You must start repaying when your income reaches the minimum threshold for compulsory repayment, which in 2001-02 was $23,242 (£8,576).
Youth allowance provides income support based on a student's personal and/or family circumstances.Yesterday and today, thousands of students effectively shut down the UCLA campus in... more
Estimated 600 protesters rally outside of Covel Commons
By Kelly Zhou, Iris Chen
Nov. 19, 2009 at 3:40 p.m.
An estimated 600 demonstrators continued rallying today outside of Covel Commons, protesting the 32 percent student fee increases approved by the UC Board of Regents.
After the police-student interactions during protests on Wednesday, demonstrators adjusted the tone of the rally, emphasizing student safety and holding a flash mob.
On Wednesday, student protesters broke through the barricades and pushed past university police officers, attempting to get into the regents meetings held in Covel.Estimated 600 protesters rally outside of Covel Commons
By Kelly Zhou, Iris Chen... more
Italy is gripped by crisis and unemployment and with democracy in danger, but is not the only nation in Western Europe in these conditions. Greece experience a similar situation in many respects. Even though recently there the Socialist Party won the election, still isn't ended the social unrest that followed the death of a 15 years old student, killed by police on 6 December 2008. New clashes between students and the Greek police took place on November 17. http://www.inaltreparole.net/en/world/grecia191109.htmlItaly is gripped by crisis and unemployment and with democracy in danger, but is not... more
"The Committee on Finance of the UC Board of Regents approved two undergraduate student fee increases that would raise current fees by a total of 32 percent for fall 2010.
If passed by the full board tomorrow, a mid-year increase will go into effect for winter quarter, and the remaining hike will be instituted fall 2010.
Fourteen protesters have been arrested so far.
Twice this morning, groups of protesters were taken away in handcuffs after singing "we shall overcome" and linking arms during the public comment and Committee on Finance periods of the meeting.
Just before noon, the general public section of the meeting room was closed after nearly every person in it stood up to protest.
One woman interrupted the meeting to make a personal appeal to the regents, but she was denied the chance to comment.
The woman, in tears, began screaming, and nearly everyone in the public section raised their fists into the air and joined in."
"Once again the UC Regents will meet to vote on another proposed student fee increase: now a particularly unbearable 32% over two semesters, last summer 9%. If this increase is approved, the cost of a UC education will have tripled since 2000.
This, finally, we refuse. As students, as teachers, as workers — we will not support it.
We have been told that such increases are inevitable. We have been told that like the furloughs, layoffs and cuts to services and departments, this new source of suffering has its cause in the fiscal crisis of the State of California. But one month after declaring an "extreme financial emergency," and "saving" $170 million by furloughing employees, UC chose to take on $1.35 billion in new debt for 70 construction projects. Our fees have been pledged as collateral for these construction bonds. A recent report suggests that some UC administrators are willing to sacrifice affordability to avoid accountability, that they would rather raise fees than receive additional state funding with its requirements of budgetary transparency. The UC administration has made its priorities clear: construction over instruction, buildings over people.
This, finally, we refuse. As students, as teachers, as workers — we will not support it.
All the while we have been paying more for less. We are paying more for fewer classes, and for classes with larger enrollments. We are paying more for fewer instructors, for closed libraries, for closed department offices, for cancelled programs. We are paying more for fewer staff and for staff working longer hours for less pay. We are paying more for a degree it will take us an extra semester to complete. We are paying more for an institution barricaded against the next generation of high school students, more for an institution which crowds out students of color, which makes those already struggling to get by shoulder the burden of the crisis. What have we received in exchange for these additional fees, if not more faculty or more resources? The answer: more management. In ten years, administrative positions have increased five times faster than the number of faculty. The estimated cost of this excessive bureaucracy is approximately $800 million, enough to pay the fees of over 100,000 students.
This, finally, we refuse. As students, as teachers, as workers — we will not support it."http://www.dailybruin.com/articles/2009/11/18/committee-finance-approves-32-percent-fee... more
With the help of the following applications, your phone can provide daily tips for going green, calculate your carbon footprint, and even help you charge your phone in a more energy-efficient manner.
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: November 17, 2009
The anti-sweatshop movement at dozens of American universities, from Georgetown to U.C.L.A., has had plenty of idealism and energy, but not many victories.
Enlarge This Image
Isaac Steiner/United Students Against Sweatshops
In August, members of United Students Against Sweatshops picketed a Target store in Washington, to pressure the retailer to stop selling products made by Russell Athletic.
Until now.
The often raucous student movement announced on Tuesday that it had achieved its biggest victory by far. Its pressure tactics persuaded one of the nation’s leading sportswear companies, Russell Athletic, to agree to rehire 1,200 workers in Honduras who lost their jobs when Russell closed their factory soon after the workers had unionized.
From the time Russell shut the factory last January, the anti-sweatshop coalition orchestrated a nationwide campaign against the company. Most important, the coalition, United Students Against Sweatshops, persuaded the administrations of Boston College, Columbia, Harvard, New York University, Stanford, Michigan, North Carolina and 89 other colleges and universities to sever or suspend their licensing agreements with Russell. The agreements — some yielding more than $1 million in sales — allowed Russell to put university logos on T-shirts, sweatshirts and fleeces.
Going beyond their campuses, student activists picketed the N.B.A. finals in Orlando and Los Angeles this year to protest the league’s licensing agreement with Russell. They distributed fliers inside Sports Authority sporting goods stores and sent Twitter messages to customers of Dick’s Sporting Goods to urge them to boycott Russell products.
The students even sent activists to knock on Warren Buffett’s door in Omaha because his company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns Fruit of the Loom, Russell’s parent company.
“It’s a very important breakthrough,” said Mel Tenen, who oversees licensing agreements for the University of Miami, the first school to sever ties with Russell. “It’s not often that a major licensee will take such a necessary and drastic step to correct the injustices that affected its workers. This paves the way for us to seriously consider reopening our agreement with Russell.”
Other colleges are expected to do the same. Analysts say the college market occupies a significant part of Russell’s business. Because Fruit of the Loom does not detail Russell’s sales, it is not known how large a part.
In its agreement, not only did Russell agree to reinstate the dismissed workers and open a new plant in Honduras as a unionized factory, it also pledged not to fight unionization at its seven existing factories there.
Mike Powers, a Cornell official who is on the board of the Worker Rights Consortium, said Cornell had canceled its licensing agreement because it viewed Russell’s closing of the Honduras factory as a flagrant violation of the university’s code of conduct, which calls for honoring workers’ freedom of association. He applauded Russell’s agreement, which was reached with the consortium and union leaders in Honduras over the weekend.
“This is a landmark event in the history of workers’ rights and the codes of conduct that we expect our licensees to follow,” Mr. Powers said. “My hat is off to Russell.”
John Shivel, a spokesman for Russell and Fruit of the Loom, said, “We are very pleased with the agreement between Russell Athletic and the Workers Rights Consortium, and look forward to its implementation.”
He declined to discuss why Russell had adopted a friendlier attitude toward unionization after years of aggressively fighting unions.
In a statement Russell released jointly with the apparel workers’ union in Honduras, the company said the agreement was “intended to foster workers’ rights in Honduras and establish a harmonious” relationship.
“This agreemehttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/business/18labor.html?_r=1
Labor Fight Ends in... more
Recently, the city of Richmond has been the center of a media frenzy following the brutal gang rape of a teenage Richmond resident. But, in spite of the doom and gloom, young people are determined to make Richmond a better place. Recently, Mo Project held a day-long event to empower Richmond youth to take ownership of health and wellness issues in their community, schools, and neighborhoods.
An 18-year-old Loyola University student has recanted the report she made earlier this morning about being sexually attacked in her dormitory room, police said.
The woman said the assault occurred at about 1 a.m. in a dorm room on the 1100 block of West Loyola Avenue, said Chicago police News Affairs Officer Ronald Gaines.
The woman told police she was in her room drinking with three males who she claimed sexually assaulted her, Gaines said. She was being evaluated at Weiss Memorial Hospital, Gaines said.
Police said she is not likely to be charged with filing a false report.An 18-year-old Loyola University student has recanted the report she made earlier this... more
Today thousands of students took to the streets in many cities of Italy for the right to study and against the cuts made by the government and euphemistically called a reform of public schools and universities. On saturday 14, the CGIL union brought 50,000 people in Rome to call for effective measures against the crisis. In the last month there have been many other demonstrations, the protest against racism, the one of soccer fans, the protest of the police left without funds. http://www.inaltreparole.net/en/resistance/manifestazioni171109.htmlToday thousands of students took to the streets in many cities of Italy for the right... more
I was watching Obama's town hall meeting with students in Shanghai last night. As he wrapped up his prepared remarks, stepped away from the podium, and began to explain the format of the town hall portion I realized that this might be absolutely foreign to many of these students. Here is a country's President, a very famous and powerful man, asking them to raise their hands and ask him a question. Whatever they asked him, he'd answer. We obviously take this sort of thing for granted - heck our most recent town halls seem to have devolved into purely shouting at our elected officials. But I couldn't shake the feeling that Obama, who was not joined on stage by any major Chinese official, had smuggled a little democracy into the PRC.
[Video is featured. This video of his introducing the concept is from CNN and their anchor, predictably, talks all over him, but you can hear the second half. If anyone can find a clean video - I'll replace this one with it.]
He also, and this was the headlining remark, asserted the American position that it's okay for everyone to use Twitter.
"President Barack Obama pointedly nudged China on Monday to stop censoring Internet access, offering an animated defense of the tool that helped him win the White House and suggesting Beijing need not fear a little criticism...."I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable," Obama told students during his first-ever trip to China. "They can begin to think for themselves."
If the President's goal was to sneak a little democracy into the People's Republic, it seems to have not reached too many citizens. The event was not broadcast nationally - only on local Shanghai stations - and the live feed from the White House web site was reportedly choppy and hard to watch in China.
The 7th Annual International Student Film Festival Hollywood (ISFFH) drew to a close on Sunday, November 8, 2009 at Beverly Garland’s Holiday Inn in the NoHo Arts District of North Hollywood. More than 26 awards were presented to the top filmmakers this year. The Festival received more than 250 submissions from junior high schools, high schools, colleges, universities and private film schools worldwide, including such countries as Vietnam, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Romania, Israel, Canada, Australia and the USA.
Michael Greenspan was presented with the Inspiration Award for his achievements since winning an award for his film “The Legend of Razorback” at the very first ISFFH in 2003. Michael is currently directing the feature film “Wrecked,” starring Adrien Brody who won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in “The Pianist” in 2002.
Throughout the Festival, filmmakers had the opportunity to mingle with each other and industry professionals. Each screening segment was followed by a question and answer period encouraging the filmmakers to actively engage the audience in discussion to further build their enthusiasm, self-confidence and public speaking ability.
Michael Greenspan handed out this year’s awards along with the ISFFH Founder and President, Robin Saban. The winners were Best Junior High School Claymation: “Fabio” directed by Jared Harris; Best Junior High School Animation: “Astronuts: Lunar Mission” directed by Kaya Ogmen; Best Junior High School Docu-Animation: “The Resister” directed by Noah Schneider; Best Junior High School Music Video: “The Lie” directed by Joshua James; Best Junior High School Documentary: “Homelessness in the United States” directed by Sarah Marshall and Rose Johnson; Best Junior High School Drama: “Letters to Lincoln” directed by Robert Rickert; Best High School PSA: “Listen to the Truth” directed by Brendan Michaelson; Best High School Music Video: “Hideaway” directed by Kerry Furrh; Best High School Documentary: “Omer” directed by Emma Strebel; Best High School Drama: “In The Dark” directed by Sam Medina; Best High School Comedy: “2 People” directed by Adam Buchsbaum; Best High School Claymation: “Lucky” directed by Max Maddox and Brady Serwitz; Best High School Animation: “Super Gecko!” directed by Yuko Takeoka; Best Foreign Language High School Dark Comedy: “You and I are About to Die” directed by Idan Shamay; Best Foreign Language High School Documentary: “Between Two Worlds” directed by Nina Kardashov and “Shay-El” directed by Tomer Buskila; Best Foreign Language High School Drama: “A Long Way Down” directed by Lior Levi and Shay Eyal; Best Foreign Language Drama: “Elkland” directed by Per Hanefjord and “In the Dark” directed by Alex Fazeli; Best Animation: “Mushroom” directed by Robby Sanguinetti; Best Documentary: “One Sister at a Time: Positive Women's Stories” directed by Deborah Craig and Veronica Deliz; Best Sci-Fi: “S.S. Humanity” directed by Matthew Ladensack; Best Horror/Thriller: “The 4th” directed by eNKee Nguyen; Best Dark Comedy: “Delaney” directed by Carles Torrens; Best Comedy: “Fiasco” directed by Nadia Hamzeh; Best Children Drama: “Rocket” directed by Phillip Austin Wilson; Best Drama: “Open Your Eyes” directed by Susan Cohen; and Grand Jury Award: “Beholden” directed by David Jibladze. Congratulations to all of the filmmakers!
The ISFFH is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the next generation of filmmakers, please visit the ISFFH website for more information on this important event and to support the festival www.isffhollywood.org.
We thank the following sponsors for supporting the next generation of filmmakers. American Building Supply, Wells Fargo, CRA/LA, CISCorp, LA 411, Saban Enterprises, Marilyn Bradbury, Rotary Club of Studio City and Sherman Oaks, Gloria and Lou Weintraub, Creative Handbook, Actors Certified Training, A Matter of Pixels, Turkla.com, Entertainment Partners, NoHoArtsDistrict.com, and LAGrip.com.The 7th Annual International Student Film Festival Hollywood (ISFFH) drew to a close... more
Colorado Rocky Mountain School is an independent high school in the heart of the Rocky Mountains where student-initiated philanthropic clubs abound. From Operation Smile and Face Aids to Peace Jam and Souls4Souls, CRMS students continually expand their interest in, and fundraising efforts surrounding, global humanitarian causes. And while all these clubs enjoy strong membership, an amazing thing happened the other day when one student proposed starting a Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) chapter. Based on an international foundation that promotes kindness (established in 1995 as a 501c3 nonprofit organization) the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is a resource for people committed to spreading kindness.
So Grady, a CRMS senior, announces at a weekly all-school meeting that he would like to start a RAK chapter and to simply reply to his email if anyone is interested in being involved. Well, as a small school with only 145 students and 35 faculty/staff, over 55 people immediately responded and joined his effort. So one week into the new RAK club, over one-third of the school is involved in promoting kindness and unexpected gifts of gratitude
This week on The Real Recovery we're looking at how the recession is affecting college grads. It's tough to graduate into such a tight job market. Especially if you've got loans. For many, going to college automatically comes with a big chunk of money that must be paid off. As finding a job gets harder - that amount of money can hang like an albatross from your neck.
The image featured here, posted on The Broke Grad Student, shows average student loan debt by state - and no matter where you live, that average is somewhere between $13K and $26K. That's a lot of money!
But despite the high costs the question for many American high schoolers is not whether to go but where to go. Are too many Americans going to college?
From the Chronicle of Higher Education:
"Marty Nemko: Increasing college-going rates may actually hurt our economy. We now send 70 percent of high-school graduates to college, up from 40 percent in 1970. At the same time, employers are accelerating their offshoring, part-timing, and temping of as many white-collar jobs as possible. That results in ever more unemployed and underemployed B.A.'s. Meanwhile, there's a shortage of tradespeople to take the Obama infrastructure-rebuilding jobs. And you and I have a hard time getting a reliable plumber even if we're willing to pay $80 an hour—more than many professors make."
It's estimated that on average college grads tend to make about 80% more per year in salary than those without a degree. That's a pretty significant and motivating number, especially when you take into consideration the higher unemployment numbers for those without a college degree that we looked at yesterday. But if you've got loans - some of that has to go to paying them off. And for grad students it's even worse.
Faced with a difficult job market and high student debts, many folks with a B.A. duck back into graduate school to forestall repayments they can't afford. But as you can imagine - that just leads to more debt. Forbes has a controversially titled article that tackles the high debts a law degree can come with: The Great College Hoax.
"Accepted into the California Western School of Law, a private San Diego institution, [John] Kellum couldn't swing the $36,000 in annual tuition with financial aid and part-time work. So he did what friends and professors said was the smart move and took out $60,000 in student loans. Kellum's law school sweetheart, Jennifer Coultas, did much the same. By the time they graduated in 1995, the couple was $194,000 in debt. They eventually married and each landed a six-figure job. Yet even with Kellum moonlighting, they had to scrounge to come up with $145,000 in loan payments. With interest accruing at up to 12% a year, that whittled away only $21,000 in principal. Their remaining bill: $173,000 and counting."
Should you go to grad school? Most experts agree it only makes sense if you have a specific goal in mind. Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist lists several points against enlisting in grad school to hide out from a recession:
"1. Grad school pointlessly delays adulthood....3. Business school is not going to help 90% of the people who go....5. The medical school model assumes that health care spending is not a mess."
So what's your experience? Did you go to college? Grad school? Did you have an albatross of loan debt? Tell us your story on The Real Recovery.
Grants for online college courses are relatively easy to acquire for students who put an effort into their scholarships search.Grants for online college courses are relatively easy to acquire for students who put... more
Who is faring the worst in this recession? Everyone is doing poorly - but some groups have been more affected than others. The NY Times Economix blog broke down the numbers by huge swaths of demographics last week.
The graph that caught my eye was the very first one - apropos of our Real Recovery topic this week - how are recent college grads affected?
(That said, when you break it down by education, college grads have done comparatively well - those with less education have been more adversely affected.)
The worst affected group is young, African-American men who are less educated. This neat interactive graphic compares all the different demographic slices. Where do you fall on the graph? Has that been your experience?
Those of you that have lived or indeed still live in student houses will know the problem with housemates, food and the fridge. Well this may need not be a problem anymore:
"Tired of friends and family eating your stash of goodies in the fridge? Worry no more, as the Fridge Locker is here. Touted as your "Personal Snack-urity System", it's basically "a small cage that you use for storing your own private food." Available now, priced at $19.99.
The metal combination lock keeps your food safe from "Refrig-A Raiders" (poor joke courtesy of the manufacturer)."
