Rebel Girl saw Red Emma off early this morning. It's a big day for the Red One. The
Day of Action to protest education budget cuts. Red's the president of his local, representing UCI's librarians and the dwindling pool of hardworking lecturers. (Lecturers are what TAs become when they graduate.) About 40% of UCI's lecturers are facing layoffs.
Red was in top form wearing his American Federation of Teachers t-shirt, blue jeans and red high-tops. Cute. Rebel Girl felt badly about waving goodbye. It wasn't that long ago (okay it was that long ago, still) when she and Red would depart to demonstrations together, ready for a day of marching, sitting in and possible arrest for disobedience of the civil kind. Sigh.
No such rallies or action planned at IVC or Saddleback today despite the fact that community colleges are suffering too – and indeed, things are hopping at other colleges today. Rebel Girl isn't going to complain too much about the lack of activity because then she'd have to do what good activists must do and look at herself first. She should have organized something, anything. But she didn't.
She thinks sometimes that they count on us being too busy, too tired and sometimes too scared. She'll cop to the first two but not the third because she imagines that the last time she was truly scared was when she left home at 15 and that was a long time and another story entirely.
Still, Rebel Girl was sheepish when she returned to her coffee and computer this morning. The she found this:
Hi Ms. Alvarez,
I hope you remember me (you knew me as S---- P----, and I've since gotten married). I was in one of your remedial writing classes in 2004. I went on to get my BA at UCLA and I'm continuing my education at the law school there. The Los Angeles Times Book Fair is just around the corner, and for some reason it always makes me think of you. Your class had such a big impact on me. I am so happy to be at this stage in my career and my writing skills have helped me every step of the way. I just wanted to say thanks - you gave me a great foundation to build on.
Best Wishes,
S----- L----
UCLA School of Law
J.D. Candidate 2012
The plot line reads like this: remedial writing student at Irvine Valley College in 2004 = UCLA undergraduate 2008 = UCLA Law School, JD candidate 2012.
How would this student – a child of immigrants, by the way, - fare today? Cutbacks in government grants? 32% hike in undergraduate fees? Rising "surcharges" for graduate students? Limited enrollment?
Her plot line is remarkably similiar to mine (and maybe yours too): El Camino College 1980 (first in my family to go to college) = Cal State Long Beach undergraduate 1984 (Pell Grant recipient) = UC Irvine MFA in Writing 1992 (fellowship).
That's what it's all about, folks.
Even after the sun sets on today's
Day of Action, it isn't over. There's lots more to do to protect the best interests of our students and their future, the one we hope to share with them. Ultimately, it's not enough just to go through our days. We must do more, somewhere, somehow.
*
Take action links:
Courage Campaign
Defend Public Education
UC-AFT
Stand Up for Schools
Red was in top form wearing his American Federation of Teachers t-shirt, blue jeans and red high-tops. Cute. Rebel Girl felt badly about waving goodbye. It wasn't that long ago (okay it was that long ago, still) when she and Red would depart to demonstrations together, ready for a day of marching, sitting in and possible arrest for disobedience of the civil kind. Sigh.
No such rallies or action planned at IVC or Saddleback today despite the fact that community colleges are suffering too – and indeed, things are hopping at other colleges today. Rebel Girl isn't going to complain too much about the lack of activity because then she'd have to do what good activists must do and look at herself first. She should have organized something, anything. But she didn't.
She thinks sometimes that they count on us being too busy, too tired and sometimes too scared. She'll cop to the first two but not the third because she imagines that the last time she was truly scared was when she left home at 15 and that was a long time and another story entirely.
Still, Rebel Girl was sheepish when she returned to her coffee and computer this morning. The she found this:
Even after the sun sets on today's Day of Action, it isn't over. There's lots more to do to protect the best interests of our students and their future, the one we hope to share with them. Ultimately, it's not enough just to go through our days. We must do more, somewhere, somehow.
*
Take action links:
Courage Campaign
Defend Public Education
UC-AFT
Stand Up for Schools
5 comments:
The College Administration is fond of forwarding email after email, dire updates from Sacramento - but never do they, personally, ask us to take action. Glen just forwards, forwards, forwards - but what does Glen himself THINK? It's as if these emails - forwarding and reading - is all we have to do.
Perhaps it's related to the fact that many of our College Adminstration and Foundation Members support the very people and forces who are trying to systematically de-fund our schools.
So, one one hand they "pretend" to support public education - and on the other hand - the hand that gets paid and pays out - they de-fund us. This is all brought to you by the Republican machine.
I'm afraid that little can be done unless the rabid anti-tax minority that controls the legislature are removed. We're all held hostage by them.
It's so depressing.
People don't care because they don't know how it works - and yes, they get misled by all this tax talk. Geez.
And most of those in power - here, there, everywhere - often just want their paycheck, nothing else. That - more than politics - is why they do nothing. They don't care. They don't even know that they're part of the machine.
Nice high tops!
This is a well written explanation of what's going on...
http://darwinbondgraham.blogspot.com/2010/02/disaster-capitalist-university.html
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