Thousands of college students in the streets in

[malaise]

33 states with professors over Tuition costs, lay offs, etc.

Bravo students - stand up for your rights. :yourock:
Ed Shultz discussing this now

[heli]

1. It's about time for college students everywhere to rise up

and ask hard questions.

[RKP5637]

4. We did it in the 60's, now it's the new generation's turn. Maybe this will start the

ball rolling toward real solutions to problems in this country. I would rather see college students protesting for the betterment than these damn fool tea baggers.

[Peregrine Took]

10. Amen! n/t

[Nite Owl]

2. Music to my ears!

That's our kids out there, the apple didn't fall far from the tree here.
Good for them.

[heli]

3. Deja vu:

[malaise]

7. We all faced out tear gas for

our rights. Young people will learn that every right was fought for in the past. Forget the stupid spring break and defend the right to an education.

[malaise]

5. We are the crisis

I'm lovin' it.

Lots of photos here - this is huge.

Thanks Ed Shultz.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/04/americas-largest-tuition_n_473562.html

[RKP5637]

6. Ed Shultz is great!!! n/t

[jody]

8. Sad but states like CA are broke, can never meet retirement obligations, and higher education will

suffer.

I expect out-of-state and foreign students to pay much higher tuition and many programs with low enrollment to be closed.

Expect large class sizes to be common and distance learning to be the standard for general studies courses.

On the other hand peace might break out and we can return to the glory days of higher education.

[readmoreoften]

9. So why were the protests nation-wide then? Texas has a surplus of 2 billion and still cut university

funding, while increasing the pay of administrators and giving the football coach a million dollar raise. The football coach's annual salary is enough to fund 400 additional courses in the humanities per year.

In most states, the crisis is an excuse to privatize. Pure disaster capitalism.

[jody]

12. I assume each state has different reasons for reducing college budgets. Still, states are broke and

some have constitutional limits that prohibit deficit budgets.

You might want to browse the Pew report Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril.

[readmoreoften]

16. If they want to reduce the budgets, why are they giving admin raises?

You can justify this bullshit all you want; the reality is, university administration is a shady business filled with back patting and back door deals. There is a very specific agenda at work here: more money for sports and stadiums and property expansion--with education and educators as an afterthought and justification.

Texas is operating at a $2 billion surplus and they're cutting education and raising tuition while giving admin raises.
California is cutting education, raising tuition, and also giving admin raises.

If administrators can find the money to give themselves exorbitant raises (a $2 million dollar salary is absurd) they can find the money to fund the actual--you know--school part of the school.

A university is not a corral for teen target-marketing.

[jody]

20. I agree administrators in general are too many and overpaid. Problem is that public higher ed is not

properly managed by a state's governor or legislators.

University professors rarely are united on anything and view quasi unions like the American Association of University Professors as unbecoming for membership.

As a result, state oversight boards of higher education do as they please.

I haven't answered your question but IMO the problem can only be solved when a state board of higher education gets involved.

[malaise]

21. ABC just carried this but only mentioned

and showed demonstrations in California. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[jody]

22. IMO CA with its 37 million people and massive debt all spawned by progressive programs is an

indicator of what other states might expect.

[malaise]

17. 100% correct n/t

[newtothegame]

15. Actually, I finished up grad school a couple years ago, and the foreign students got TONS of aid.

I hate to give the racist RW'ers any more fodder, but our College Dean actually said flat-out to me that money goes first to international students, than anything left goes towards students with work experience.

My best friend was a Pakistani with no more work experience than me, and he came out of the same grad school with ZERO debt (tuition scholarship and a grad assistant job). I got nothing.

As an American male in my 20's, I didn't stand a chance.

ed for sp

[jody]

18. I hope all DUers read your post and understand the point you made.

:thumbsup:

[crazylikafox]

41. I didn't know this. Did the Dean give you a reason for the money going to international students?

Sorry to be dense. I always thought that foreign students often got priority in admissions because they came with their own money & could afford to pay without financial aid. What is the reasoning for giving them more financial aid for graduate study?

[newtothegame]

42. Diversity. Apparently being gay and from a poor, single-parent home didn't make me 'diverse' enough

I needed a different skin color.

[Hannah Bell]

29. The pocket change of California's billionaires could cover the entire phony deficit.

They're "broke" because they decided they'd rather put the screws to the workers than give any of their ill-gotten gains up.

[readmoreoften]

11. I was at the protest in Texas. Here's a running blog of the protests nationally.

http://socialistworker.org/2010/03/04/live-from-the-day-of-action

[malaise]

13. Thanks

Something's got to give.

[inna]

40. Thanks for the link!

:hi:

[asdjrocky]

14. My daughter is one of them, and yes, I'm very proud. nt

[malaise]

19. You should be proud

:fistbump:

[asdjrocky]

24. Text I got earlier today:

"Going to the protest with my roomies!" Looking forward to seeing some of the pictures.

[Dappleganger]

23. Good for her! nt

[OhioChick]

25. Bravo. Good for them! n/t

[lovuian]

26. I love you guys

:yourock:

[lonestarnot]

27. Yesssss!

They do rock! :yourock: college students professors

[anonymous171]

28. If education can't be free to students then it should at least be cheap.

[Odin2005]

30. K&R

[Hannah Bell]

31. kick

[freddie mertz]

32. It's long overdue. Glad to see young people remembering that they have considerable power.

I hope the PTB are shivering in their suits.

[Echo In Light]

33. Outstanding

[piratefish08]

34. Our college students need to get PISSED OFF about tuition hikes and a dozen other

issues. Protest is chicken soup for the soul!

Nice job kids - keep it up!

[glinda]

35. Rise in Health Insurance rates = higher tuition. The States that had the Universities with the

highest tuition rate hikes also are the States that had massive hikes in Health Insurance. This is then Union related. I think there is a big push to break up the Unions under all of this. Students loose. Replaced by shittier teachers.
I know tuition is nuts but I think the students protesting are also shooting themselves in the foot by not bringing this HC and tuition connection to the fore.

[Powerdot16]

36. Need more of this

Money for war but not education, health care or heating programs.

Seems bi-partisan. We need action in the streets on every issue.

[slackmaster]

37. How far we have fallen since the 1960s

Back then students protested an ILLEGAL WAR.

[BeFree]

38. Standing up for themselves?

Man, kids these days. Imagine them standing up for what's right.

Anyway, why isn't Arne Duncan focusing on this problem? Why is Obama talking about little school boards, meanwhile letting this big 'whale' swim freely?

The secretary of education is failing. Big 'F' for that dude.

[earth mom]

39. Yippee!

:woohoo: