Dear Editor,
Please take a stance in support of higher education and the UC walkout. Despite just recently graduating, these educational price increases are still highly important both to me and to future generations of California students. I am already in enough debt from my undergraduate career, and tuition hikes would make graduate school a distant dream for future UC students
It is simply unacceptable that the UC administrators are giving themselves raises while using the budget crisis as an excuse to raise student fees.
Moreover, their adoption of special emergency powers has shut out faculty and students from participating in important decisions at this crucial hour, and contradicts the democratic ethos of the University of California.
Again, please take a stance on this all-too-important issue. It should be the responsibility of the student paper to make students aware that they are being forced out of their education because of unaffordable prices. Hopefully, the Guardian can join in the protest against these outrageous tuition hikes and send a clear message to the UC Regents that they have no support among the student body population.
‘mdash; Anya Schukin International Student 2008-09
Dear Editor,
I am an ethnic studies graduate of Eleanor Roosevelt College and I was active in the UCSD community, participating in the Summer Bridge Program through Oasis, serving as a resident advisor at Sixth College for two years, acting as the political awareness coordinator for the Asian and Pacific Islander Student Alliance and co-chairing the Student Affirmative Action Committee.
I am writing because I encourage you to demonstrate the same courage that the editor of the UC Berkeley newspaper did in endorsing the UC walkout.
Since my freshman year of college, I have rallied students against tuition hikes and cuts in financial aid, funding to the libraries and student affairs at our campuses. Now, the current cuts will adversely affect low-income students and students of color even further. But these changes will also impact the quality of instruction and student support services of all UC students. We must remain united ‘mdash;professors, students, staff and alumni ‘mdash; to take a stand and defend the best public education system in the country. If we don’t, the UC Regents and the state of California will balance the budget on the backs of all of us, impacting our futures irreparably.
I support the Guardian and have read it regularly.’ Respectfully, I ask that you take a stand. This is an issue that demands the utmost action and attention.
‘mdash; Mohan Kanungo Eleanor Roosevelt College Alumnus, 2007
Dear Editor,
I’m writing as a recent graduate and sibling to future UC students. The walkouts held at campuses throughout the state are an important opportunity for students, faculty and staff to send a message to both the public and the regents that we will not stand by while the cost of education skyrockets. Nor will we stand to see the funding devoted to education dwindle.
Please unequivocally endorse the walkout and use the weight of the Guardian to show a united student front. It will influence the decision-makers who can help ensure that the great UC educat
ion so many have had the privilege to obtain remains available to all future students who seek it.
Thank you for all your efforts to produce a great campus newspaper and best wishes for a great year.
‘mdash; Abraham White Eleanor Roosevelt College alumnus, 2009
Dear Editor,
I’m writing to urge you and the rest of the editorial board of the Guardian to stand in solidarity with your peers, your faculty members and your staff members by endorsing the UC-wide walkout on Sept. 24. UC Berkeley’s paper, The Daily Californian, did so in an editorial published on Sept. 22, and it’s crucial that all members in the UC system have an equal opportunity to learn about the ways to support each other. Needless to say, school papers such as the Guardian play a crucial role in that educational process. Please push for participation in the walkout and related events such as teach-ins, and please go further than the Daily Californian has, and frankly confront the role of the administration’s mismanagement of funds and power in the current crisis. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your public response.
‘mdash; Xander Lenc Junior, UC Berkeley