U. of California cuts protested at campus rallies
BERKELEY, Calif. — University of California students, professors and other employees rallied Thursday to protest deep budget cuts that have led to layoffs, furloughs, enrollment cuts, course reductions and higher fees.
Rallies, teach-ins and class walkouts were held at all 10 system campuses, and a union representing technical and research workers held a one-day strike to protest stalled contract negotiations.
Protesters say they are angry about state budget cuts to higher education and the UC administration’s handling of the financial crisis.
The largest rally took place at UC Berkeley, where several thousand students, professors and employees crowded into Sproul Plaza. Many waved signs with slogans such as “Save our University” and “Reform UC Now.”
Agnes Balla, a 21-year-old junior majoring in public health, said she was skipping three classes to join the walkout.
“I think the quality of education has been diminished by these budget cuts,” she said. “I don’t mind paying more for my education, but what I’m paying for is classes being cut, services being cut and a system that’s becoming increasingly inaccessible.”
It was unclear how many students and faculty members participated in the walkout staged on the first day of classes at eight UC campuses.
University administrators reported minimal disruption to classes at most campuses, said Peter King, a spokesman for the system with about 220,000 students.
To address rising costs and a steep reduction in state funding, UC campuses have laid off hundreds of workers and forced most of their 180,000 employees to take furloughs and pay cuts of up to 10 percent.
Next month, the Board of Regents is expected to vote on reducing undergraduate enrollment and raising tuition by 32 percent for most students. That hike would follow a 9.3 percent fee hike approved in May.
About 1,200 of UC’s roughly 19,000 faculty members signed a letter supporting the walkout.
Joshua Clover, a UC Davis English professor who helped organize the walkout, was supposed to teach a poetry class Thursday. Instead, he told students he wouldn’t be teaching and encouraged them to attend the campus rally.
“There’s obviously a fiscal crisis, but there’s also a crisis of priorities among the university’s administration,” Clover said. “The choices they’ve made disproportionately harm the lowest-paid workers and the students.”
University officials say the fee hikes and enrollment cuts are needed to maintain the quality of education at UC, and the furloughs are designed to preserve jobs and benefits while spreading the financial pain among all employees. Most unionized employees have not agreed to furloughs.
They say students and employees should direct their anger at state lawmakers who have reduced funding to the UC and California State University systems by 20 percent to close a massive state budget deficit.
“We understand that there’s frustration and angst on campuses,” King said. “Our only hope is the angst and frustration is directed at the true source of troubles, which is Sacramento. For 20 years, we’ve seen a steady decrease in funding.”
At UCLA, some 300 students, faculty members and workers rallied in a plaza under a broiling sun. Protesters thrust signs reading, “We are students not ATMs, freeze the fees.”
Nancy Meza, a senior in Chicano studies, said the university is cutting back services at the same time it is hiking fees. Library hours, for instance, are being cut back from a 24-hour schedule to a regular business day schedule.
“As students, we pay for those services,” the 22-year-old said. “It’s time we start pushing back.”
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Associated Press Writer Christina Hoag contributed to this report from Los Angeles.
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