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Cut Back, Fight Back: CSULB Students Protest Budget Cuts
Photo of a 2010 student protest, by Robbie via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
Turns out that college students don't like being threatened with tuition hikes and fewer course choices. Students at Cal State University Long Beach protested on campus today against Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget cuts, which could potentially mean losses of up to $500 million for both the University of California and Cal State systems, reports the Long Beach Press Telegram. The Daily49er, the university's student paper, reported yesterday that the protesters are asking for the cuts to be taken from "executives and administrators rather than faculty and staff salaries," and that tuition not be increased. The paper adds that while students have paid more and more in tuition over the past decade, CSU Chancellor Charles Reed has seen a significant increase in his paycheck:
Reed took over as the chancellor of the CSU in 1998. In his tenure, student fees have risen from $1,506 to $4,884 per year, while his salary has gone from $254,004 to $421,500 per year, the [California Faculty Association] says.
The cuts that would be necessary to support Brown's proposed budget are painful. The Press Telegram reports that according to CSULB President F. King Alexander, they could include:
* The elimination of 5,600 courses and course sections. * Slashes in state funding for 13,300 students.
* The elimination 535 jobs.
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