The Girl Effect

4,000 Students March on Sacramento

CONTACT:
Miles J Nevin, CSSA Director of University Affairs
Cell: 562-761-4109

March for Higher Education Brings 4,000 to the State Capital

Sacramento, CA, April 22, 2008 – On Monday the California State Student Association organized a major protest in response to the Governor’s proposed $386 million cut to the CSU system. CSSA was joined by students, parents, and teachers from the CSU, UC, and Community Colleges in marching from West Sacramento to the steps of the State Capitol. Over 4,000 protesters, mostly students, supported the historic March for Higher Education. A press conference on the capitol steps culminated the march.

As the passionate chants of over 4,000 people permeated the capitol building, many legislators were present to show their support. Lt. Governor Garamendi, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, Assembly Members Anthony Portantino and Julia Brownley, Senator Pro Tem Don Perata and Senator Pro Tem-elect Darrel Steinberg all spoke on behalf of the students’ message.

That message is simple, according to Dina Cervantes, chair of the California State Student Association and organizer of Monday’s March for Higher Education. “Slashing the budgets of California’s colleges and universities will deny access to qualified students, result in increased fees and greatly limit the state’s ability to maintain an educated workforce – a critical component in ensuring a healthy economy.” Cervantes noted that raising fees amounts to nothing more than taxing students, a tool used to balance the budget on the backs of those who can afford it the least. Cervantes continued that “our state is increasingly funding the corrections system and decreasingly funding higher education; we are on our way to having world class prisons and second class universities.”

For every $1 invested in a CSU student there is a $4.41 return to the state economy. The purpose of CSSA’s March for Higher Education is to send a message to the Governor and Legislature that funding higher education is not a wasted expense, but an investment in the future of California.

Additional Coverage: Golden Gate Press

Budget Cuts Means Less Students Admitted, Less Classes Available

I received the following email on some CSU alumni listserv today:

Dear Zahra,

The state budget proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger on January 10 reduces funding to the California State University by a total of $386.1 million. This reduction includes a direct cut $312.9 million and fails to fund $73.2 million necessary to avoid raising student fees by 10 percent for the 2008-09 academic year.

The proposed budget reduction – which comes in addition to $522 million in funding cuts between 2002 and 2005 – means that CSU will be unable to provide access to 10,000 qualified students. All CSU campuses have closed enrollment for first time freshmen as of March 1.

Considered the “economic engine” of California, the CSU returns $4.41 to the California economy for every $1.00 invested by the state. In addition, the CSU plays a major role in the state’s workforce in the areas of nursing, teaching, agriculture, business, public administration, and technology. It graduates 90,000 students each year, including 87 percent of education graduates, 64 percent of nurses, 65 percent of business professionals, 82 percent of those involved in public administration, and more than half of the state’s graduates in agriculture-related fields. As an example of the CSU’s impact, it is estimated that California will need 47,000 additional nurses by 2010 just to keep up with demand.

At the CSU’s current rate of economic return, the proposed budget cuts to CSU would remove more than $1 billion from the state’s economy as California leaders grapple with an ongoing budget deficit. The cuts would mean larger class sizes, less student support, and less course sections, resulting in students taking longer to graduate.

The negative impact on student access would fall disproportionately on students from underrepresented communities, erasing recent gains made in college enrollment by students from these communities. For 2008, freshman applications to CSU for Latinos are up by 21 percent and African Americans by 11 percent over previous years.

Although it is not yet known what the specific budget impact would be on CSU Long Beach, a 10 percent budget reduction would be $16 million to our current budget. This would affect every aspect of the campus from compensation to student rates of graduation. CSU Long Beach will be unable to accommodate 1000 qualified students in the 2008-09 academic year as a result of the proposed budget cuts.

CSU Long Beach provides an important contribution to the California economy, graduating over 8,066 students a year, including 668 teachers, 275 nurses 439 engineers and 375 scientists each year.

Locally, CSU Long Beach generates a total economic impact of $1.024 billion to the regional economy. This impact sustains 17,222 jobs in the region, and generates more than $64.8 million per year in tax revenue.

Sincerely,

F. King Alexander
President

Higher Education Action Alert

(In case you need a break from the LAPD stuff. . . )

After almost 10 YEARS of waiting, the Higher Education Act is finally on the move!

The Higher Education Act was originally introduced in 1965 to help "strengthen educational resources of our colleges and universities and to provide financial assistance for students in postsecondary and higher education." It is the single most comprehensive bill dealing with higher education access on the federal level. HEA is supposed to be renewed every 5-7 years, but hasn't been reauthorized since 1998!

On Friday, the House Education & Labor Committee introduced the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 (Higher Education Act Reauthorization). The committee will make changes to the bill this week and the full House will vote on the bill soon.

Today, you have the chance to make sure college is affordable and accessible for generations to come.

Passage of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 will:

* Simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application by allowing the Department of Education to use IRS information already available

* Expand higher education access for low income and underrepresented students by making the Pell Grant available year round, strengthening early intervention & outreach programs such as GEAR UP & TRIO, and expanding funding for graduate students at historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and other minority serving schools.

* Restore the integrity and accountability of student loan programs by requiring schools to adopt codes of conduct, providing student borrowers with full information about their federal and private loan options, and protects students from aggressive marketing practices by lenders

Congress needs to hear from students and their families about the need to make higher education more affordable and accessible!

Flood your Representatives' phone lines WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY and urge them to make higher education a right!

Click here for a sample call-in script!

For more information on the Higher Education Act, visit www.usstudents.org or email us at ussa@usstudents.org.

The Ten Most Dangerous Organizations in America

9) Muslim Student Association

Call me crazy, but as a Jew, I am very nervous about organizations that would like to see death to Israel. It’s just a personal preference of mine that Israel be left to… I don’t know… survive? That is why the Muslim Student Association (MSA) made the list.
. . .
MSA is a group that supports radical Islam that calls for the death of Jews, the wiping out of the United States, raises money for Hamas, and has many other ties to terrorist organizations.
. . .
2) Universities and Colleges

Anyone familiar with my column at Family Security Matters knows my thoughts on the Left’s stranglehold on American colleges and universities. Unfortunately, many professors use the various organizations on this list as a part of their curriculum, often selectively ignoring facts that don’t support their far-Left agenda.

Full Story: Family Security Matters

(Hijab tip: Rose Mishaan)