There were people sitting in a tree on my way to work this morning. That should not be unusual for students here at UC Santa Cruz after yesterday’s violent/crazy/loud rally against the Long Range Development Plan. In an effort to get their opinions about the costly plan heard, hundreds of students marched from our little plaza to somewhere near the middle of campus where a few of them proceeded to climb a tree and are now currently chilling there in protest.
The LRDP is UCSC’s answer to inevitable growth. It includes physical, academic and student-life solutions to expansion and has been in the works since I was a freshman (Fall of 2003). At it’s most basic form, it involves cutting down a lot of trees (much of which has already begun with the addition of the Humanities building and the expansion of one of the libraries) to accomplish its goals.
Normally, I’m all for rallies. I have fond memories of speaking out for student-initiated outreach funds my first year at UCSC. Then the enemy was pretty clear. Lack of affirmative action meant underrepresented students had to support and retain each other, but we needed funds to do that and the university was sitting on funds given to us by the state and that was Just. Not. Cool. We eventually passed a referendum which expires this coming spring but has brought much success to the student-initiated outreach and retention realm.
Rallying against the LRDP, however, posed a conflict of interests. As much as I care for the trees (and I’m not just saying that to be spiteful of Santa Cruzians), I care for my fellow students and following generations more. The expansion, though it may seem to many as a mismanagement of funds by the university, is necessary. Without the expansion, we as students of color cannot hope to see more of our communities better represented and supported on this campus. On the other hand, those same communities may not be able to afford their education because they are the ones who will be paying for the massive additions and growth UCSC has in store.
In that case, I don’t think the LRDP is the right force to be fighting. The problem is nationwide. With less and less money going to education and tons draining away in a bottomless war, UCSC has no option but to shift the burden to the students. In California, where prisons are getting more attention money-wise than education, this creates a crisis, one which students should organize around.
Protesting the LRDP is one way to attack the problem of effectively funding higher education; however, as UCSC’s organizing history shows, it’s more likely that the plan will remain in effect until is completion. Taking the issue statewide and forming coalitions with other organizations working to improve California’s education system seems to offer the better benefits.
You can read more about the resistance’s purpose on the “website”: http://www.lrdpresistance.org/learn.php.
The image used for this article was originally uploaded by mrmatthew.
Comment
I think you are right on. Issues around rising tuition, our shrinking faculty of color, over crowded classrooms, and draining of affirmative action programs are items we should unite around. These issues effect students all over the country.
In regards to UC students, to increase our quality of education will take massive grassroots action. We need to think big and understand that only the UC bureaucrats will only do what is needed when the majority of students will take united action.
To be clear, this may take years to build. If we are going to organize a UC strike it will take organization.