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Women's Conference, 2010, Long Beach, CA

This year I attended the Women's Conference in Long Beach, CA. I won two VIP tickets as  a Great Giveaway Winner. This was my second time at the conference; back in 2008 I earned a seat as an Inductee into the Minerva Leadership Organization. It was a great experience, The day was hell-a-chaotic and long but all in all, a great experience. Sad part is, with Maria Shriver no longer our First Lady, the conference will NEVER be as cool or star studded.

My winning statement:

As a woman, what personal freedom do you value most?

Estella Owoimaha, 20s:

I value my freedom to defy gravity and create change. I can do so because great women have set great examples. I can be black, female, mother, lesbian, warrior and poet if I wanted to because Audre Lorde has set such a great example. I can hold a public office and run for president because Hillary Clinton has. I can own a television network and build an entire school if I wanted to because Oprah Winfrey already has. Though they have set the bar pretty high, I can surpass Lorde, Clinton and Winfrey. They are just three of the many women that serve as inspiration, guidance and standards for success. However, even if there weren't great female examples to follow, I value my freedom to be the "first" at accomplishing some task.

My name is Estella Owoimaha. I am a Minerva Leader of 2009 and for the rest of my life. I am an African American woman. I’m a lot of things. Most importantly, I am capable; capable of greatness. When I became a Minerva Leader, I also accepted the responsibility of “architect of change”. I know limits are all mental. I have the ability to defy gravity, as so eloquently stated by the Elphaba of Wicked. As an African American woman, seems like most of my accomplishments defy the laws of gravity. I am okay with that because I embrace challenge with the intent of success and triumph.

I won a meet and greet with Maria Shriver and an interview with Robert Redford. Click the link below for the interview:

Estella Interviews Living Legend, Robert Redford

And This is For Colored Girls Who Are Moving to the Ends of Their Own Rainbows

I saw For Colored Girls last night with my husband (well, he will be in 5 weeks). He was opposed to going but I nagged him enough to make him change his mind. Let me begin by saying, I am so pleasantly surprised. I went in to the film skeptical and fearful Perry might destroy such a beautiful and powerful piece of literature. (I am also not a fan of Tyler Perry's work and Ntozake Shange is one of my all time favs.)

Every phrase and every beat in the chore-poem has great depth and meaning. It is something that could have been easily lost in translation. I wan to commend Tyler Perry for doing Shange justice and translating this book well to film. Literature and film are two totally different mediums so I understand that he might have had to make some hard artistic choices to maintain integrity.

After watching the film I went home and re-read the book to make a fully informed critique of the film. I decided, for what it was, I was happy and would recommend this film to everyone - especially men.

For starters, Perry could not have assembled a better cast of women. Every performance was amazing. I have always loved Lorreta Devine and Thandie Newton and Madame Rashad. Kimberly Elise is always so moving and she definitely was in this film. I have read the book so many times and every time I notice something new. With these women and their performances I got the same feeling; there was a new emotion and interpretation with their delivery, as if I had read it all over again with fresh eyes. One example, "Somebody almost walked off wit all of my stuff...", delivered by Devine, just became so much clearer for me. Sure, I was able to comprehend the words when I read them but when she spoke them, I felt those words.

There were some great moments in the film. One was the Opera scene...no spoilers so I'll let you see it and decided for yourself on that one.

One of my favorite parts of the book is the Toussant L'Ouveture poem which was shortened dramatically for the sake of moving the film along. I understand, but its my favorite part of the book and I would have liked to hear it through. Perry of course could not remain 100% true to the book but fans of the book beware he did make a few changes.

One change that I appreciated was the "my world is now six blocks" speech delivered by Macy Gray. In reading the poem, I always imagined an older woman or a middle age woman moving about her day full of errands in Harlem. Perry's interpretation of a very much jaded woman whose given up for the most part was a different look at the character I had never seen before.

IF you have seen the 80's PBS version of the film, featuring Shange herself, you may prefer this Perry's version, much like I do. That's not to say I don't love the original, but Perry's version makes for a much better film. I also believe that Perry's version will be able to reach those women moving to the ends of their rainbows; those women who may not find the book easily accessible.

Those of you out there who might be skeptical like I was, I say give it a shot. For those of you who are Perry/Madea fans, this may not be the film for you.

On the Cusp of a new Nation Wide Student Movement

By Estella Owoimaha

March 23, 2010

Sacramento, California

On March 22, 2010, approximately 15,000 college students from across the state marched to the Capitol Building and held a rally on its lawn. The march began at Raley Field, in Sacramento, California, and ended on the steps of the Capitol. Bodies covered the entire lawn of the Capitol building, flooding over into the sidewalks and streets. Students marched with signs that read, “Give Me Back My Classes!”, “Educate, Don’t Terminate”, and “No More Budget Cuts!” In complete harmony, 15,000 students chanted: “They say cut back, we say fight back”, “Students united, we’ll never be united”, “STUDENT POWER!”

From 1968-1969, mass, successful student movements have taken place from Berlin to Canada, all over the U.S., Poland, France and Brazil. In solidarity with past student movements, a new student movement has taken root in California and this Nation. Students of California will be written into the pages of history, next to student leaders of the past, for their tremendous feats of activism that has taken place this month.

It is fitting that California State University, Northridge (CSUN), has taken a primary role in this statewide movement just months after their 40^th anniversary of the 1969 student rebellion that established the Pan African Studies Department, the Chicano/a Studies Department, and the Educational Opportunity Program.

Fun fact: since 1987, fees for the California State University system have risen by 650%. At CSUN, and similarly on other CSU campuses, full-time faculty are subject to eighteen furlough days during the academic year, no more than nine furlough days each semester. Some Full-time faculty members, including Department Chairs, are subject to twenty-four furlough days between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010. Tacked onto to the furloughs is a 10% pay cut for all faculty members. Sadly, furloughs and pay cuts are just a fourth of the picture.

In addition to the affects on faculty and staff, students, by far, have been left to cope and piece back together their shattered education. California college students have suffered through cuts in classes, tuition and fee hikes, loss of financial aid, cuts to programs and services on campus, as well as, the loss of some great professors. Students will continue to suffer and these attacks on the higher education will continue unless something is done to stop them.

The shocking and shameful budget cuts on education have galvanized students everywhere into action. The worst of the education cuts have taken place in California. This state is suffering from its worst financial crises in decades. Officially, the state is broke. Unfortunately, California legislature has seen fit to destroy the public education system in an attempt to salvage what’s left of the world’s 8^th largest economy.

Most of what has taken place at CSUN begun in March 4, 2010 with the statewide “Day of Action” protest. Across California Higher Education institutions, students partook in a walk out followed by a march around their respective campuses. Most were peaceful with minor incident, but for Northridge, a “Day of Action” ended in police occupation, six arrest and brutal injury. In the latter hours of March 4^th, a few hundred students took to the streets and sat in the intersection of Prairie and Reseda, a few blocks away from the campus and approximately one block away from the permitted protest area. In response to the students’ actions, hundreds of law enforcement officers were brought in to diffuse the situation. Ironically, police officers only heightened the situation.

Students’ intentions were to peacefully protest around the surrounding community, chanting, with picket signs. When the city saw fit to call in at least 150 officers, for about the same amount of students, tensions continued to rise as opposed to dissipate with the tiring legs of CSUN students. Students remained strong, diligent and united. They peacefully stood together, with locked arms, in protest of state budget cuts to education. Chanting “Peaceful Protest!” students refused to be intimidated by police in full riot gear. Consequently, 5 students and one professor were arrested.

In the arrest of 74 year old Dr. Karren Baird-Olsen of the American Indian Studies Department, police officers broke her arm, threw her to the ground, trampled her with the bottom of their black boots and forced her to wait for over two hours for an ambulance. With her heart condition, this was undoubtedly a traumatizing ordeal. Dr. Baird-Olsen, still in recovery, stands in solidarity with the students who were arrested. Also arrested were Jonnae Thompson, Justin Marks, Anthony Garcia, Jose Gomez, and Angel Rodriguez. These five students and professor are now being referred to as the CSUN 6. When asked to comment on this, Dr. Baird-Olsen replied, “The Peaceful CSUN 6.” She went on to say how proud she is of the students and how amazingly honored she is to be involved. Unfortunately, CSUN’s president, Joelene Koester hastily made statements against these students without full perspective on what took place March 4^th. She referred to the peaceful protesters as “unruly”.

Dr. Anthony Ratcliff, professor of the Pan African Studies Department, had this to say, “…it is imperative that we stand in support with those students and professors who the police assaulted and arrested for fighting the deterioration of our education system through civil disobedience.”

On the eve of March in March, CSUN students put on “March in March Eve” to help prepare the student body for the events to follow in Sacramento. The night was filled with teach-ins, workshops, poster making, food and music. Workshops covered “Effective Student Lobbying”, Civil Rights” and the “Budget”. Nana Gyamfi, attorney of the Human Right Advocacy, spoke on effective lobbying and civil rights. Also on the panel of speakers were San Francisco 8 members, formerly of the Black Panther Party, and currently members of Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR), Hank Jones and Ray Boudreaux.

Hank Jones and Ray Boudreaux spoke of their past experiences in the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements. They spoke to help instill some inspiration and affirm to all the students they are in fact doing the right thing. Hank told the crowd, “Don’t be shamed. Be Proud. What you’re fighting for [education] is a human right. What we fought for were human rights. This is just a continuation of that movement.” The theme of Nana’s civil rights workshop was “fearless discipline” – not to be confused with recklessness.  She spoke of how, as student activists, we needed to be clear of our goals, tactics, and our limits. If these clear objectives were clear, the fearless discipline would follow and guide our efforts of fighting state budget cuts. Nana’s advice did not fall upon deaf ears.

California State University, Northridge and Associated Students were able to fill three busses and attend the march in Sacramento. CSUN students were at the march in numbers, approximately 150, including many student organizations; Black Student Union, MeCha, Central American United Student Association, Hip Hop Think Tank and others.

Assembly member Warren Furutani was among the agenda of 30 speakers at the March. He reminded the crowd that 50 years ago the California Master Plan for Higher Education was passed and one of the promises it established for the California education system was free education. “Brothers and sisters, the answer is not in this building,” Furutani said. “The answer is in your activism.”

One proposed solution to the current attack on education is California Assembly Bill 656. Presented by California State Assembly Majority Leader, Alberto Torrico, Assembly Bill 656 would create the California Higher Education Fund (CHEF) to be funded by a new 9.9% oil severance tax. Alberto Torrico was also one of the 30 guest speakers at March in March. In his speech, Torrico mentioned how California remains the only oil producing state that does not have a severance tax. The CHEF would annually allocate revenue institutions based on the following formula: 60% to CSU, 30% to UC, and 10% to Community Colleges. This bill is supported by California Faculty Association, California Federation of Teachers, CA State Student Association, California Teachers Association, Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, SEIU and UC Student Association. There is an online petition in support of this bill open to the public.

After the police occupation of CSUN on March 4^th, it is worthy to note the absence of violence or incident at the March on Sacramento. It was indeed an honor to be at such a massive, peaceful protest. It is an even greater honor to be a pat of a worthy movement. What’s next for this student movement? April 21, 2010 there will be another march in Sacramento, to converge on the Capitol Building, led by United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) whose primary message is “Fight for California’s Future”. For more information on this march, see www.utla.net/march52010.

A march will not be enough to remedy this ill; a march is merely one tactic. The movement must continue. The state of California must be held accountable; the United States of America must be held accountable. Education is a human right; an inalienable right.

For continued updates, student demands, video and photos, visit:  www.inarratefrommargins.blogspot.com

Another March on April 21st

March 5 - April 21, 2010: March for California's Future

"There’s something about a march that is very powerful. It’s a powerful weapon, a powerful organizing tool, and it has a powerful influence on those who participate."
-César Chávez
On March 5, the California Federation of Teachers (CFT) and a diverse coalition of labor, business, education, and faith groups embarked on a 48-day “March for California’s Future.”
On April 21, thousands will join the marchers in Sacramento for a major rally with one key message:
Fight for California's Future!

UTLA EVENT- March 31

UTLA is inviting all available UTLA members and their families to take part in special one-day journey on Wednesday, March 31st to be part of this historic march. If interested, see details. The deadline to sign-up is 5:00 pm, March 29th.


 See the official "March for California's Future" website: www.fight4cafuture.com.

Students rally in Sacramento against budget cuts

By Yazmin Cruz

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Thousands of students walk across the Tower Bridge, making their way to the state Capitol in Sacramento in protest of budget cuts Monday. Photo Credit: Hannah Pedraza / Photo Editor

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – CSUN students along with other students and faculty from across the Golden State who rallied on the steps of the Capitol against budget cuts were encouraged by speakers to continue their activism even after the March in March event was over.
The event’s master of ceremonies Reid Milburn, student senate for California community colleges president, said change depended on the more than 15,000 students including CSUN students that marched to the Capitol on March 22.
“It doesn’t end here,” Milburn said. “It’s up to each one of you to go back and talk to legislatures. It’s up to us to rescue education.”
The trip to Sacramento was a follow up to the Associated Student’s postcard initiative held last semester, said Neil Sanchez, A.S. attorney general. Students from CSUN’s  Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), Central American Student Association (CAUSA), the Black Student Union (BSU) and Students for a Better Education (SQE) were among some of the participants.
Sanchez said that after the March 4 walk outs, A.S. became aware that students wanted to become more involved in events like the rally. Sanchez added that the trip to Sacramento had been planned in conjunction with the California State Student Association (CSSA) and an invitation was extended to students willing to participate.
One of the students participating was senior Danny Santana, a member of MEChA and Students for a Quality Education (SQE), who said he was participating to send a message to the governor and the chancellor about the negative effect the budget cuts are having on education.
“There’s an energetic sense of unity (at the rally),” Santana, 20, said. “We are all in this together. The CSU, the UC and the CCs.”
CSUN grad student Dom Lupisan, said he attended the rally in support of education because he wants to go in to teaching and the effects will continue to affect him even after he graduates.
Lupisan, 27, said he thought the rally was more effective than the March 4 protest as students were taught through workshops how to effectively lobby.
“We have an understanding of why we are here and we are all on the same page and know this is a prolonged battle,” Lupisan said.
Senior Justin Marks, 22, one of the workshop coordinators, said the workshops held before students’ departure from campus where to inform students on how the budget crisis is affecting education.
“The workshops were to educate, to create comradity and create synergy within our own campus,” Marks said.
CSUN students arrived in three buses to Sacramento on March 22 to join others at the Raley Field where a crowd gathered in anticipation of the one mile walk to the Capitol.
Students from the three tiers of California universities began to march holding signs and banners around 10 a.m. chanting “hey, hey hoho budget cuts have got to go.”
Once on the Capitol steps a mix of speakers addressed the roaring crowed.
Assemblymember Warren Furutani, who reminded the crowd that 50 years ago the California Master Plan for Higher Education was passed and one of the promises it established for the California education system was a free education, said the rally was going to be good but the fight wasn’t over.
“Brothers and sisters, the answer is not in this building,” Furutani said. “The answer is in your activism.”
Marks said he agreed with the overall message at the rally on continuing the efforts to make change and to continue with the movement.
“One of the things we will do is increase the contact with our representatives,” Marks said. “This is a movement and it is not just about March 4 or March 22.”
Sanchez, 22, said the fight for education would continue at CSUN and student involvement was crucial but to get students to participate a “grassroots effort” would have to take place.
“It’s easy to talk about it but to get them to come out, it’s all about interaction,” Sanchez said. “There’s really no successful formula.”





 

Students rally in Sacramento

March 22, 2010 |  5:44 pm

Thousands of college students and faculty rallied Monday in Sacramento in support of higher education,  another in a series of recent actions throughout the state designed to highlight the effects of budget cuts.
The demonstration was organized by the Student Senate for California Community Colleges and drew about 5,000 participants who marched from a ballpark in West Sacramento to the north steps of the state Capitol to protest fee increases, canceled classes and employee layoffs at community colleges, California State University and the University of California.
Several legislators spoke to the crowd, as did community college Chancellor Jack Scott, who thanked the students for making their voices heard and encouraged them to continue lobbying the Legislature and governor to support education funding.
The state’s 112 community colleges — which make up the largest system of higher education in the nation — sustained about $520 million in budget cuts in 2009-10. Student speakers shared personal stories about the effect of budget cuts and vowed to continue putting pressure on lawmakers.
“The message was to invest in education; students will pull California out of this recession,” said Reid Milburn, a history major at Sacramento City College and president of the student senate group. “But our second message is that with almost 3.5 million students in all three segments of higher education, it’s up to us to continue to advocate for education and not just come up here for one day, for one big march.”
Earlier this month, students and faculty at more than 100 campuses in California and across the nation held mostly peaceful protests opposing education cuts.
In a statement after Monday’s rally, California Secretary of Education Bonnie Reiss said:
“At a time of difficult budget cuts, the governor’s budget proposal prioritizes education and protects higher education from further cuts and fee increases. We must do everything possible to ensure that every student wishing to pursue higher education has the access and the resources necessary to earn a degree and build a brighter future. I urge the Legislature to listen to these students and adopt a budget that shares the governor’s commitment to fully fund education in the state.”
-- Carla Rivera

Community college students protest at Capitol

Nanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/22/BA5R1CJR1S.DTL#ixzz0j4JU4ZO8

They converged on Sacramento on Monday from community colleges across California.
Among them were Iraq war veterans, people with disabilities, ex-prostitutes, students who are the first in their family to attend college and thousands more who believe their future depends on a public education system that is crumbling beneath them for lack of funding.
"We fought for our country, but when we get back here, we have to continue fighting," said Jordan Towers, 26, one of at least 26,000 returning veterans who are depending on California's two-year colleges to retrain them for the workforce.
A Marine veteran and student at City College of San Francisco, Towers feels the impact of deep budget cuts personally. Reduced staffing at the college means it takes months for GI benefits to reach him - so long that he had to sell his television set and computer keyboard last semester to pay his rent.
Courses, counseling, library hours, book assistance, summer school - all have been cut at community colleges statewide.
"Veterans have done all that's been asked of them, and now they're suffering as schools across California face cuts," Towers said.

Civil but pointed

On Monday morning, he joined a vast crowd at Raley Field in West Sacramento as they marched a couple miles past a gauntlet of mounted police to the Capitol. Carrying signs and banners, the protesters chanted, "No cuts! No fees! Education should be free!"
It's a familiar refrain. Students from public colleges and universities have been protesting since last fall, when courses were cut way back even as fees soared by 32 percent in response to the state's latest budget deficit, now at $20 billion.
To bridge that deficit, lawmakers will spend the next several months debating what state programs to cut and whether education will again be among them.

Seeking practical solutions

Unlike previous protests, which were organized largely by University of California students and often resulted in arrests for civil disobedience, Monday's rally on the Capitol steps was noisy but civil, the effort of generally older community college students standing side by side with administrators and lawmakers.
They emphasized practical solutions to the education funding dilemma: bypassing the gridlocked Legislature to place a measure on the statewide ballot for higher education funding; supporting Assembly Bill 656, an oil tax that would send proceeds to public colleges and universities; getting signatures for a ballot initiative to reduce to a simple majority the votes needed for the state to pass a budget or raise taxes.
Most of all, the students vowed, they would use their numbers to vote out politicians who fail to support their cause.
"This year at the ballot box, we are going to hit them hard, and hit them fast," said Jesse Cheng, an incoming student representative to UC's Board of Regents. "In November, like they made us pay, we will make them pay."
The crowd roared.

Not enough classes

Jack Scott, chancellor of the 3 million-student community college system, said that some 200,000 students will be unable to enroll next year because there aren't enough classes for them.
"The state doesn't give us enough money," said Scott. "We're not going to go away silently."
After the rally, some students coursed through the halls of the Legislature to tell their stories to any lawmaker who would listen.
Six yellow-shirted classmates from Mount San Antonio College in Walnut (Los Angeles County) knocked on the door of their assemblyman, Charles Calderon, D-Whittier (Los Angeles County).
He wasn't there, but the students told his aide, Vanessa Lugo, that without college, recovered addicts, prostitutes and hustlers would still be on the street.
That described some of them, they acknowledged.
"I know what it feels like to hustle on the street," said student Evelyn Vargas, tears welling in her eyes. "It's only because someone at school said I could do it that I'm succeeding."
Lugo nodded and promised to inform Calderon about the tutoring, book scholarships and low-income student grants at their school.
All had been cut.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/22/BA5R1CJR1S.DTL#ixzz0j4JhGRd7

College cuts fire students up By Sarah Rohrs Posted: 03/23/2010 01:00:15 AM PDT Chanting "No more cuts!" and "Education should be free!" Solano Community College student Tara Norman joined a large crowd of college and university students Monday for a boisterous rally and protest in Sacramento against more cuts to higher education. More than 1,000 college students from across California converged on the Capitol to decry slashed budgets and rising fees at public universities and community colleges. "I was excited to see so many people were there caring about higher education and we were all there for the same cause," Norman said. The March on March for Higher Education included students walking from Raley Field in West Sacramento to the North Steps of the Capitol to demand more funding for public education. Lasting several hours, it was the third such major protest this month. Nearly 25 Solano College students took part, some carrying a large banner, and signs with such slogans as "Don't Kill My Education" and "No More Cuts. I Need My Education." Nearly 30 students from Napa Valley College also participated, including Alex Shantz, who is worried about higher tuition and other fees. "It was empowering to a lot of people," Shantz said. "People were demanding and were fired up. They are angry because the economy is bad and they are cutting so much for education." Another student, Amoriah Hartley, 31, a sociology student at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, said she was worried her campus would stop providing Advertisement free tutoring and writing assistance to students because of budget cuts.Hartley, who hopes to transfer to a four-year university and become a social worker, urged Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature to consider raising taxes to protect education funding. Cuts in state funding have led to class cutbacks, staff layoffs and sharp fee hikes at the 10-campus University of California, the 23-campus California State University system and 110 community colleges. California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott spoke, drawing attention to the $520 million in cuts the community college system sustained this year. Scott said he hoped the strong showing would persuade state lawmakers to protect funding for two-year colleges that have seen funding cut by 8 percent this academic year despite record demand for classes. "I hope legislators will understand how deep students care about their education," Scott told The Associated Press. "By denying students their education, we're going to hurt our state economically." California Secretary of Education Bonnie Reiss issued a statement following the rally, urging state lawmakers to ensure higher education does not withstand further cuts. "We must do everything possible to ensure that every student wishing to pursue higher education has the access and the resources necessary to earn a degree and build a brighter future," Reiss said. Amoriah Hartley, 31, a sociology student at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, said she was worried her campus would stop providing free tutoring and writing assistance to students because of budget cuts. Hartley urged Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature to consider raising taxes to protect education funding. "If we are all a bunch of tightwads, we're not going to get anywhere as a country," she said.

On the Spectrum -- California must invest in higher education

by Cynthia Parkhill -- Focus Pages Editor

Updated: 03/22/2010 05:20:33 PM PDT

My objective seemed simple enough: enroll in a California State University and earn a Master's degree. But what should have been a straightforward quest has instead been fraught with frustration and anxiety.
A complex online application process failed to disclose, up front, what documentation I would need in order to complete the form. I had to advance through multiple screens abruptly demanding information. If I left an answer blank or my answer made no sense, I was subjected to screen after screen of do-overs, highlighted in glaring red.
In the end, my effort was pointless because the cost of tuition is so far out of reach ... only, somehow, the Web site failed to make this clear until after I'd submitted a nonrefundable application fee.
Due to a limited amount of state support and a large number of students, the program that I wished to apply to was not admitting students into its state-supported program for fall 2010. Instead, the only option available is a so-called "special session," which is not supported financially by the state of California. The fees are "highly competitive" (I prefer the term "draconian") at $474 per unit.
So, for now, I've decided to give my business to a community college. It charges $26 per unit and I can take online courses in my field of study.
Maybe it won't be as prestigious as a master's degree but I believe these community college courses will be of benefit for the information that they provide me.
I think it bodes ill, however, for the state of California if it prices higher education so far out of reach. Some jobs require the completion of a master's degree: a librarian, for example. Will California have to do without librarians when those in the work force retire?
California must invest in higher education that is accessible to all, or else must suffer the consequence of failing to prepare its citizens to serve in positions that it needs. But instead, current events demonstrate a different trend.
The legislative analyst's office for the state of California states that Governor's Schwarzenegger's proposed investment of $11.5 billion in general fund support assumes that UC and CSU systems will enact fee increases and that access to financial aid will be reduced and restricted (http://www.lao.ca.gov/analysis_2009/highered/highered_anl09003002.aspx).
Discussing my problem with a professional in my field of study, she told me she had earned her master's degree in another state. The question then occurred to me: if people have to leave the state in order to attend colleges, what will entice them back to California to benefit our society?
Consider that during the course of study, these students may put down roots. You cannot assume that they will invariably live singly, unattached, in dorms. They may be in partnered relationships and raising families of their own.
How much easier and more convenient for themselves and for their families to seek employment close to the area that they have come to view as home: where their partner or spouse may go to work and their children may attend school.
Of course, for those blessed few who come from wealthy families, cost will not be an issue. They can go full-time to school in California or anywhere else.
But the rest of us will have to ask ourselves how our college education will be paid for. We'll have to jockey for available scholarships or take out exorbitant loans that leave us in debt for years after we've completed our course of study.
We may have to leave California and hope that other states place a wiser priority upon funding higher education.
Or we may take community college courses and hope that on-the-job experience helps offset the lack of a degree or hope that circumstances permit us to pursue a degree later on in life.
In any case, California will reap the consequences of the priority it fails to place on making higher education affordable. It will only serve us right.