Campaigner clarifies a few issues

Wednesday, May 1, 1996

By Sabrina Smith

Would you rather raise your registration fees 75 cents or $750?
Seventy-five cents is a small price to pay to two student-run
organizations which have been at the forefront of fighting against
fee increases and for financial aid.

This year, your student government has placed a 75 cent
referendum for the United States Student Association (USSA) and the
University of California Student Association (UCSA) on the ballot.
USSA, the oldest and largest national student organization, is
based in Washington, D.C. and lobbies and organizes on issues which
affect students education. UCSA is a coalition of the 10 UC
campuses, and the official voice of students to the UC Regents and
the UC Office of the President.

I know it seems hopeless as we watch administrators and
politicians chop away at our education. Fees rise, financial aid
diminishes, affirmative action and 30 years of civil rights vanish
in one regents meeting.

This past year, the UC Regents once again attempted to raise our
registration fees. The UC budget, which is supposed to reflect the
university’s "wish list," included a 10 percent fee increase. In
fact, UC administrators are planning to raise fees as high as
$6,000 a year. They argue that more financial aid will offset the
fee increase, yet we all have seen how unstable federal financial
aid funding is as Congress proposed $17 billion in cuts this
year.

Can you imagine, fees once were around $30 a quarter to cover
registration and Ackerman Union costs. In February, 1968, over
3,000 UC students stormed on the State Capitol to protest the first
fee increase, proposed by Governor Reagan. That was one of UCSA’s
first campaigns, and since then, UCSA has become one of the top 10
most effective lobby organizations in Sacramento.

Students can impact these decisions ­ UCSA has proven that
the united, educated and mobilized student voice of students is the
most basic power we have. These past two years, we stopped fees
from rising, we’ve saved $17 billion in federal financial aid, and
we’ve resisted the attacks on affirmative action.

Even though we have not forced the regents to rescind their
decision to eliminate affirmative action, UC President Atkinson
delayed implementation of the decision by six months. Plus, we’ve
educated thousands of students and California citizens on the
danger of the California "Civil Rights" Initiative.

We’ve had a rocky history, especially recently, but UCSA is
definitely growing stronger as more and more students become aware
of and voice their opinion on system-wide issues.

In regards to allegations of me campaigning for Students First!,
I only say that Students First! is sponsoring the referendum to
continue to support UCSA. The Students First! student government
placed the UCSA/USSA initiative on the ballot, and this year’s
Students First! candidates have fundraised for us, included us in
their literature and supported our efforts to build as an
organization.

I will campaign for any candidate that supports UCSA.
Unfortunately, the United Students slate does not support us and is
campaigning against the referendum. The United Students’
presidential candidate has stated in the Daily Bruin that UCSA and
USSA are "ineffective" and that a 75-cent-membership fee is "too
expensive." He has also stated that external issues are not
important, and that student government should not prioritize issues
like fees, financial aid and affirmative action. But nearly every
on-campus issue is linked to system-wide regent policies ­
from how many checks you make out to the UC Regents, to what
classes and majors are available at UCLA, to who becomes the next
chancellor. Never underestimate the importance of system-wide
advocacy and solidarity.

Student governments on other campuses that also felt that UCSA
was "ineffective and too expensive" defunded our organization,
weakened UCSA and forced us to cut staff right when the UC Regents
proposed the first of the 135 percent fee hikes. We are all still
paying the price for having a weaker system-wide voice. Since 1991,
fees have increased 135 percent. Now, UCSA is on more stable
grounds, and we’ve been able to stop $700 fee increases for two
years.

So you can either go out and buy a coke or a candy bar, or you
can vote yes to UCSA and USSA, yes to student-run statewide and
national coalitions, and yes to continue the fight to save
financial aid, affirmative action and low fees.

Smith is a field organizer for UCSA.