Day 4

The word of the day in my office is "cynicism," a sentiment that abounds about the actual impact of faculty/student/staff outcry against the administration, including whether the outcry is significant and sincere. We were discussing an article on the front page of The Daily Californian, the Berkeley campus student paper. The piece is announcing the 96% vote of no confidence in President Yudoff by 10,000 members (including faculty, staff, and students) of the UC system. Yudoff refused to accept the vote this morning, and the president's office has called the vote "a publicity stunt." I don't really blame people for feeling doubtful that anything will change, or that the president's office is interested in what members of the UC community have to say (you mean, he doesn't care about my letter?!). It's fairly difficult to push "The Man" around in this world, especially when constituents show even a hint of apathy or resignation. Once the semester really gets rolling, and students, faculty, and staff start getting into mid-terms and the other busy activities of the real school year, will everyone be able to keep up this apparent fervor against Yudoff's policies? We shall see. It's also worth noting that one could potentially also label the president's office's call-to-action against the legislature (see post "Day 3") a "publicity stunt," considering the email was sent on the same day that the vote of no confidence was being tallied...

This morning, I read a letter dated September 2, written by UC Berkeley professor Catherine M. Cole. She wrote an open letter to her students and UC Berkeley students as a whole about the current fiscal crisis, and the administration's response. Said letter has now made its way around to faculty and staff not only at Berkeley, but throughout the UC system. As far as I can discern from Professor Cole's letter, she is telling students that she believes President Yudoff has disregarded the structure of shared governance at UC by ignoring the recommendations of the faculty-run Academic Senate via the Gould Commission (a committee initially sans faculty), and is working to fundamentally alter the priorities and functions of the university through his most recent allegedly budget-driven policies without the proper input and approval of faculty. Basically, she calls him a dictator and encourages a vote of no confidence. In one of the opening paragraphs of her letter, Cole tells students, "...The underlying causes of this disruption in your education have profound significance for you. At stake is the prestige of the institution that will grant your degree. The University of California will be at the top of your resumes for the rest of your life." Profound significance, indeed.


Another popular conversation topic among my fellow state employees is that the current fiscal crisis in the state of California owes its thanks-for-nothing in part to Proposition 13, a 1970s law that caps property taxes. The law has consequently let the outrageous property "values" of modern-day California slip past the state coffers because long-time owners of these properties are not paying what many feel is their fair share of taxes. Prop 13 is a popular target for blame, though I'm sure it seemed like a brilliant, citizen-friendly idea during the tough economic times of the 70s. Since the current fiscal crisis is what led to the $820 million or so budget shortfall for UC (about $140 million for Berkeley), that means that by the transitive property of equality (10th grade geometry, thank you very much), we can blame the voters of 1970 for the current increased tuition, increased class size, and decreased staff and faculty support for students at UC and throughout CAs entire public education system. Similarly, 20 years from now, Californians might be able blame the lousy over-priced educations of California citizens on the members of California's 2009 education community for watching the erosion of our education system and not doing anything about it.

Do any of you read Sports Illustrated? Every month there is a short, usually somewhat disturbing blurb that they call a "Sign of the Apocalypse." Here is one from the national education stage: President Obama plans to give a televised speech to school children to encourage them to work hard and stay in school, and the white house has issued a suggested lesson plan for teachers that includes a call for students to write down their educational goals and how they plan to achieve them. The political right has expressed "outrage" over the President's audacity in daring to attempt to indoctrinate impressionable young American minds with his Socialist ideals. One American parent opines, "I feel very scared to be in this country with our leadership right now."

On a personal note, I typically hate to let a long weekend go to waste. I usually take a short road trip somewhere to make the most of my life in this beautiful, albeit broke, new home-state of mine. But for this year's tightly-budgeted version of Labor Day weekend, I may decide to just put on my walking shoes, and take a short sidewalk trip instead.