“The whole world is watching! The whole world is watching!” the protestors chanted.
Maybe not the whole world, but for a moment, California was watching.
The May 18 protest at the intersection of La Jolla Village Drive and Villa La Jolla Drive stopped traffic for about half an hour. Demonstrating against the continual budget cuts to California’s public schools and constantly rising fees for higher education, at least 150 students from around San Diego marched from Price Center to the street in a loud, boisterous show of unity. This protest, of course, did not in itself lower student fees. Like campus protests of the war in Iraq and the College Republican flip-flop protest at the John Kerry rally in Price Center, the budget cut march did not force politicians to alter their agenda.
But it let them know that they should, in a way that no public opinion poll could convey.
Politicians listen to voters who engage in protests more than they would listen to them otherwise. When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed cutting aid to California’s disabled population, disabled people and their caretakers protested in front of the state Capitol. Camera bulbs flashed and film rolled, and people throughout the state heard their cries. The media spotlight brought attention to their cause, and the governor reversed his decision to cut disabled benefits.
Some protests accomplish nothing in terms of policy change, but they can still make a difference. Millions of people across the world protested impending war in Iraq, but the United States still invaded. Yet the Bush administration and its allies abroad knew from the protests that they needed to explain more fully their reasons for going to war. Subsequently, the beleaguered world leaders took to the airwaves to defend their plan. The intended policy shift — no invasion — didn’t happen, but the protesters still accomplished something. A seemingly failed protest can still effect change.
The UCSD protest of rising fees and budget cuts was especially successful because of the way it was executed. The organizers planned everything in advance. It was nonviolent. They notified the media and the police ahead of time, as evidenced by the horse-mounted officers, officers on motorcycles, and more in cruisers and on foot. Print, radio and television journalists covered the story, with at least three separate television cameras and a live report from KOGO radio’s Wade Douglas, who wielded a cell phone to relay the events.
This was the right way to do a protest: Warn the police ahead of time, so they know what to expect. When cops get jumpy, accidental shots can be fired. In the heat of the moment, a wallet can look like a gun or a cell phone can be mistaken for a pipe bomb. Effective protests ask for permits ahead of time, when possible, to ensure the safety of participants. Since this protest was contingent upon performing an illegal act — unlawfully obstructing traffic and refusing to disperse — bringing the police in on it was the safest course of action.
The students got the public’s attention, just like the protestors for the disabled population did in Sacramento. Blocking traffic is an effective (if annoying) method of getting uninterested people to pay attention to you. The hundreds of motorists forced to detour around the intersection would listen to the news that night, wondering why they couldn’t get through. They would hear about the drastic student fee increases, straight from the mouths of the arrested students.
Normally, many of the motorists would have no reason to worry about student fees. Given a choice between a higher “car tax” or higher student fees, the average rational, self-interested Californian would choose to save his or her money on vehicle registration. Californians have finite attention spans and most are not thinking of rising student fees right now. They are more concerned with rising gas prices, rising property values and a volatile stock market. But when their busy lives are interrupted by a bunch of kids blocking the roadway, they have a reason to listen. Even if they do not agree with the protesters’ tactics, they will still gain at least a superficial understanding of their collective plight. When the media report that students blocked an intersection to protest rising tuition, listeners can’t help but hear “rising tuition” along with “blocked an intersection.”
It is as much a goal to raise awareness about the price of education, reasons for war or a presidential candidate’s questionable actions as it is to actually lower fees, stop the war or force a candidate to be honest. With every new group of people made aware of an issue, there are a few converts who will choose to do something about it. By getting people to pay attention, every protest is a success, including UCSD’s. After all — you’re reading this, aren’t you?
