Bakersfield College students are about to take a major hit when the next budget comes around, and it’s time that we start speaking out to our leaders in Sacramento. The outlook doesn’t look good, with nearly $300 million in cuts recommended by the Legislative Analyst’s office, but we can do something about it.
Kern Community College District’s associate vice chancellor of governmental external relations Michele Bresso is urging students to stand up, and we agree with her 100 percent.
“In the situation that California is facing, and the California community colleges in particular, nobody is more important in that situation than students,” Bresso said. “And nobody is feeling the pain like students are feeling.”
We can put a stop to this, but first we are going to have to eliminate the apathy and get involved.
Sign petitions. Call your representatives. Or just talk to your friends about the budget.
If there is anything we should be afraid of in this scary economic time, it’s the fact that students are not involved at this point.
Bresso agrees that students’ voices are heard in Sacramento, and even though she is fighting for us, they’ll listen to us a lot more.
If students can’t stand up for this, but Kony 2012 can garner millions of hits in just a few hours, then our outlook looks bleak. Don’t let this be the story of our time.
Not only could the budget refrain you from graduating by making it nearly impossible to get the classes you need, but the tradition of our school could very well be gone come next year. Athletics are on the chopping block, as is everything that isn’t “core” education, including the newspaper you hold in your hands.
If our federal government can spend over $500 billion on defense, and our state government can spend $65.4 billion on high-speed rail, then they can save the desks we sit in. We just have to demand it.
Nothing can sway a legislature’s vote more than thousands of his constituents demanding the same thing.
If all 17,000 of us from BC called, emailed or simply signed an advocacy letter, the situation would change extremely fast.
The problem is, none of us are doing any of this, and that has to change.
Those in Sacramento will say that the only objective of a community college is to transfer the students out. Say that to the veteran learning how to put together a college-level essay, or to the mother of two slowly working for her nursing degree one night class at a time.
If our stories become known to our legislatures, things will change, and they will change quickly, especially if they think they’ll be run out of the capitol come November.
So stand up Renegades, and let your voice be heard.