Wake up and smell the desperation

Citrus students must no longer take the cuts to our education lying down, and instead be proactive in urging our legislature to consider us  before finalizing the state’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Our community college peers at Pasadena City, Santa Monica and Mt. San Antonio colleges have all seen demonstrations of student unrest due to the continuous depletion of the funds the state allots to education.

Citrus College is facing the same cuts, $5.7 million in cuts this fiscal year to be exact.

It is projected that if Gov. Brown’s tax initiative does not pass on the Nov. 6 ballot, cuts to public education will have summed up to $6 billion.

While beads of sweat collect on the foreheads of the adjunct faculty whose jobs are in jeopardy, students seemingly think nothing of the possible loss of over 150 class sections in the upcoming sessions.

If the initiative does pass, education will receive $2.9 billion, $3 million specifically to Citrus.

California community college chancellor Jack Scott has named it “death by a thousand cuts.”

The state taking away our education and making us pay more for it with less resources has become the norm for us.

As of July 1, there will be newer and more discriminating requirements to receive the Pell Grant and the interest rate for a subsidized Stafford loan will double to 6.8 percent.

Meanwhile, California spends $8,667 per student a year, and roughly $50,000 per inmate.

By keeping quiet, we are saying that this inbalance is ok.

The legislature may not realize that California is losing its own students, who have turned to out-of-state universities and taking advantage of the Western Undergraduate Exchange.

By doing this they are receiving scholarship money, lower housing costs, and most importantly lower out-of-state tuition.

Because of this, enrollment in both the CSU and UC systems have dropped by one-fifth.

It should raise some eyebrows that the time has come when it is actually cheaper to attend an out-of-state university, than attend a Cal State or University of California school in your homestate.

Though community colleges will continue uphold its open door policy on admitting students, the continous cuts to funding have forced the campuses to ration enrollment by expanding class size and reduce course offerings.

It is up to us to be active participants in the community if not by public demonstrations, then by voting and being informed voters on Nov. 6.

Gov. Brown’s tax initiative is not the cure-all for the budget crisis our state is facing but it will surely help to bridge the deficit and give our state universities a break.

Vote for Gov. Brown’s tax initiative on Nov. 6 and rally others to do so as well.

Our generation seems to care more about a trendy cause than what is happening to their own education.

So “stop budget cuts 2012.”

“Occupy voting polls.”

Wake up and show our legislature that our campus, too has seen enough of these cuts to our education.