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By Dominque Smith / Staff Writer
By Dominque Smith / Staff Writer
California’s state budget is in a record state of decline.
Talks around Riverside Community College District have matriculated into major conflicts, with most of the blame lingering above the administration, and is that fair?
Is it fair to point the fingers at any one during these socio-economic problems?
Or should we look in-ward, not just into faculties or professors or even clubs and associations on campus, but every student who attends RCCD and other students at the 112 community colleges in California.
Students may want to be here, many have gotten multiple degrees or they could just be a student here to collect money or insurance benefits. Maybe, just maybe, you don’t care. For some students, it’s just something to do.
RCC students may not know that behind the scenes there are people working round the clock to find the best option for students and their studies.
Mark Selleck, for instance, has not only been fighting to keep the faculty protected under contract by serving as the vice president of the Faculty Association and Grievance Chair.
He has also been honoring his duty as a responsible professor by sticking with his class and educating the enrolled students.
This is a person who sees why students have been having a hard time being in class.
“There are students who simply can’t afford it or they have jobs, or they have children, or they have family members that are sick,” Selleck said. In other words, he understands that there are reasons behind a student’s behavior.
Many members of the student body were first time voters during the 2008 campaign, many of them voted for the changes that they are mad about.
The reason why the senate and the government are not listening to students, is because many students haven’t cared for so long about the future, that law makers started making decision for them.
Many students come here every day with passion to be a part of the student body, but they lack the support, they lack the resources, or they lack the abilities to stay in these classes. In their case, defeat is the only thing they can accept.
Students seem to have a jaded mentality when it comes to education.
It is not something someone just gives to someone; that person has to work at it.
It’s like expecting to just lose weight after two weeks of working out. You’re not going to see any kind of results unless you put for the effort. Only then will you see the change.
Students will not get a degree by enrolling in 12 units and only completing five of them because they didn’t like the professor.
The 2012 fiscal year is a month away from starting and these changes to the RCCD budget will start in-acting, people are outside camping in the streets demanding change, asking law makers to change their mind.
It seems everyone has short-term memory when it comes to realizing those people were voted for. Everyone’s to blame for the fact that these lawmakers even get a say in the future.
It’s because most people stand silent out of fear or a lack of understanding.
Californians are literally the walking dead in regard to the situations at hand.
With the minimum wage at $8 an hour, the work and the types of hours that are required of most students make it difficult for them to maintain and keep up with a steady course load during school.
If we all want the same thing, which is a better education, and a clean and safe place to go to school, then working together is going to have to be the main focus and priority.
In response to the recent wave of budget cuts, the less classes available, the more students will drop out of RCC. This hinders their goals of a higher education
The students and the teachers are the ones that have to carry the burden of these budget cuts.
One thing is definitely for sure: it’s time to wake up. Life is happening at a rapid pace.
Community colleges, Cal States and University of California campuses are going to be harder to get into, and a student’s acceptance rate won’t depend on how active they may be or how fantastically well-written their acceptance essays may be.
In the end, it will be based on numbers and capacity. It may be too late to even stop this from happening.
Instead of placing the blame and pointing fingers on every level and tier, there needs to be a revolution.
Speak up and go to the meetings, for example. Let your presence be known because the less students that care for their education, the more policy makers will continue to count their money and limit your future.
These lawmakers can’t keep getting away with forcing the educational institutions to pinch their funds and cut beneficial programs.
To them, this is a game of political chess and education is in the cross fire.
