FW: Budget Cuts and Fee Increases: What more can the SSCCC & local ASOs do? What more can MJC do?

[R Milburn]

More great suggestions and ideas…

 

Reid E. Milburn
Executive Secretary, State Senator, Region V,
Student Senate for California Community Colleges
Cell: 209) 409 - 4209
Reid.M...@gmail.com
www.StudentSenateCCC.org
www.GoColumbia.edu
http://groups.google.com/group/RegionVSSCCC

 

From: Wendy Byrd [mailto:by...@yosemite.cc.ca.us]
Sent: Friday, November 14, 2008 10:34 AM
To: Taylor White; Troy Carter; Richael Young; Reid Milburn; Bundit Kertbundit; Brandon Sisk; David Fisher; Stell Bahrami; SavannahSt...@gmail.com; Tokuin Hankins; Sara Yakhi; Christian Amatulli
Cc: Julie Kurenkova; Lauren Cisneros; Don Bunce; Yashlee Nazi; Tony Villafana; ASCCPresident; Francisco Loayza; Mallory Michael; Paris Dixon; Christopher M Rodriguez; Elisa Duke; Anthony Torres
Subject: RE: Budget Cuts and Fee Increases: What more can the SSCCC & local ASOs do? What more can MJC do?

 

Hi Taylor,

 

Visuals are always good. Here are a few ideas for you all to think about!

 

You could flood the campus with posters and yard signs to get students attention. You can come up with a variety of quotes such as:  NO on Budget Cuts; Students Against Budget Cuts; We Are Your Future; Don’t Balance The Budget Off the Backs of Students, etc. See photo’s in the Student Development Office of what Chris Rodriquez did when his student government group protested budget cuts. He used a big white sheet to make a banner that said NO TO BUDGET CUTS. We marched with it, it stood out and was very noticeable.   

 

You can also ask Monika to design you a large banner to put on the fence on the corner of Coldwell and Tully. That is a high traffic area. You want attention!

 

You could also get students to stand on the corner of Briggsmore and Tully with signs opposing the Budget Cuts in order to raise community awareness. Go on local talk shows.

 

You could call a press conference in front of the steps of the Student Center to oppose the cuts. It would make a nice backdrop to have hundreds of students standing behind you.  Invite the media, they like those kinds of things. Work closely with me and Linda Hoile’s office on things like that.  

 

You can organize a march to Senator Denham’s office and have students carry large signs and banners opposing the budget cuts

 

You could purchase an ad on a bill board opposing the cuts or purchase a one page ad in the Modesto Bee. They may give you a discount, not sure.

 

You can plan a trip to the capitol or hold a rally on campus.

 

You can get with MJC’s video dept. and ask them to record human interest stories. They would go around campus or into classrooms with a video recorder and conduct video interviews with students about how the increase in fees would affect them. I bet they could put together a nice video for you and mail it to our representatives. You could also try to get it onto some of the public access channels.  

 

You can flood the Governor’s office with phone calls opposing the cuts at (916) 445-2841; faxes are also effective (916) 558-3160

 

Use some of the same internet techniques that President Elect Obama used to win his candidacy. Since President Obama is big on education, it wouldn’t hurt to express your concerns to him during a time when he is prioritizing his national agenda.

 

Talk with our Marketing Dept, see if they have any ideas. Use the whole campus as a resource. The more dept’s you get involved, the greater your campaign will be. Talk to EOP’s and to the Financial Aid Dept. about collaborating on campaign projects because they see students who are in the greatest need.   

 

Check around and see what other schools are doing.  The main thing is to get started on something fast because this is a time sensitive issue that requires an immediate and dramatic response in order to influence opinion before decisions are made. The Governor has presented his proposed budget. The legislators will review it and come up with their ideas. There will probably be a compromise. But in most cases, “the squeaky wheel gets the oil” so its time to make some noise student leaders………… Stand up and fight for your rights!!!!!!!!!!!!!   This is your future!

 

I’ll keep my thinking hat on and get back with you if I think of anything else.  I spoke with IT about allowing you to use student emails for campaign purposes.  They have a meeting on Wed. and will put it on their agenda to discuss. Might be a good idea to have a student rep go and make the pitch or clarify for the group the big 5 questions (who, what, when, where and how).  

 

Best Wishes!

 

Wendy  

 

---

From: Taylor White [mailto:taylor....@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2008 9:29 PM
To: Troy Carter; Richael Young; Reid Milburn; Bundit Kertbundit; Brandon Sisk; David Fisher; Stell Bahrami; SavannahSt...@gmail.com; Tokuin Hankins; Sara Yakhi; Christian Amatulli
Cc: Julie Kurenkova; Lauren Cisneros; Don Bunce; Yashlee Nazi; Tony Villafana; ASCCPresident; Francisco Loayza; Mallory Michael; Paris Dixon; Christopher M Rodriguez; Wendy Byrd; Elisa Duke; Anthony Torres
Subject: Budget Cuts and Fee Increases: What more can the SSCCC & local ASOs do? What more can MJC do?

 

To all:       

We are all keenly aware of the threat that budget cuts and fee increases pose to the California Community Colleges, the community college students, and to the future of the state.  I have seen that we have already started to get some things done to organize and to mobilize.  It's heartening to see that schools have already started organizing letter writing campaigns and that a protest/rally/appearance was organized for awareness.  I also like seeing our limited use of the internet (facebook, myspace, etc).

With that said, I have a few questions:

1.  What MORE can we do?  Do you folks have any ideas on additional ways we can organize or methods of getting the message out?

We are all pretty much aware of the traditional methods of activism (i.e. letter writing, rallies, protests, forums, viral videos, petitions, etc.).  Are there any other good ideas out there on what we can do?

2.  How can we at MJC help organize our efforts aside from the work we are already doing at school? 

We just started to go to classes and get letters signed for our representatives and for the Governor.  Moreover, we'll be circulating the online petition and getting out the word via internet and possibly at campus rallies.  Lastly, we have the will and the resources available to bring anywhere from 100-250 people to the capitol for a rally/protest.

Our ASO is very active this year and we have a number of strong Executive Officers, Senators, and club members that can be used to help organize the effort.  I'm sure the Council could use help in a number of different areas.  Just let me know what you need and I'll get the word out. 

Keep on trucking!

Taylor White
President
Associated Students of Modesto Junior College
209-312-7467