The following is the list of demands presented to Fresno State President John D. Welty:
Whereas, the representatives of the people in the California State Assembly and State Senate and the Governor have chose to put the profits of corporations and the wealth of the richest Californians ahead of the basic needs of the people, including college students; and faculty.
Whereas, the administrators of the CSU system, starting with Charles Reed and the Board of Trustees have completely failed to defend the basic interests of the university with continuing to accept obscene salaries (some larger than the President of the United States) and benefits, and
Whereas, student fees have tripled over the last decade while the quality of education has deteriorated severely, and course offerings have been dramatically reduced
Let it be resolved, that the students/faculty of California State University demand that:
- That the recent student fee increase be abolished and all funds derived from the 32 percent increase be refunded to students; student fees be returned to the level they were at in the year 2000 and that no student fee increase be allowed that exceeds the rate of annual inflation or 4 percent annually, whichever is lower.
- That all administrative perks and privileges from associate deans up through the chancellor be immediately rescinded including free houses, free cars, free travel, and any other such privileges not available to faculty; and no salary exceed double the average base annual salaries for the top paid professors at each of the 23 campuses.
- That all furlough days be abolished, professors that have been laid-off be reinstated, and that all classes that have been cut be re-established.
- That current CSU Fresno budget be reviewed by a special committee of faculty and students (the committee to be elected by students and faculty members) and that any such projects and programs deemed non-essential be eliminated.
- That funding for these demands be achieved through the support of a severance tax on oil extracted in California as provided for in Assembly Bill 656 as well as a surtax of 2 percent on the income of any California citizen whose annual income exceeds one million dollars.
Let it further be resolved that all students, student organizations, student government, all faculty, faculty bodies, as well as any administrators of conscience to support these reasonable demands and a CSU system-wide walkout on October 21, 2009. Failure to comply with these demands will be met by increased levels of activism by students.
A Real Alumnus • Nov 5, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Actually Tired, athletics does NOT attract large donations to the academic side of the University. The Friends of the University (Fresno State alumni) did a study a couple years back which determined the athletic department has a negative impact upon the image of the campus among potential major donors. No one wants to donate to a campus whose public ambassadors (athletes) are committing academic fraud and the occasional murder, not to mention rampant drug abuse.
In addition, the athletic program has been a burden on the campus financially for most of the last 15 years. The program has been in the black only three out of 15 years. Two years ago, the program was $1.5 million in the red. That money would’ve paid for 200 course sections and 50 faculty (Dr. Welty’s numbers on Tuesday).
By and large, students don’t support athletics at Fresno State. And, the community has voted with its feet since Jerry Tarkanian was fired, the campus lost those lawsuits, the Ray Lopes fiasco, the hiring of Steve Cleveland over Vance Walberg, and the football team’s inability to win big games or the WAC title.
Athletics are great. However, in this time of shortages, NO taxpayers funds should be used to pay for any intercollegiate athletic program at any California public university. If the community wants it bad enough, the community should pay for it. Not taxpayers and certainly not students. The $32/semester fee for athletics should be abolished.
A Real Alumnus • Nov 6, 2009 at 2:59 am
Actually Tired, athletics does NOT attract large donations to the academic side of the University. The Friends of the University (Fresno State alumni) did a study a couple years back which determined the athletic department has a negative impact upon the image of the campus among potential major donors. No one wants to donate to a campus whose public ambassadors (athletes) are committing academic fraud and the occasional murder, not to mention rampant drug abuse.
In addition, the athletic program has been a burden on the campus financially for most of the last 15 years. The program has been in the black only three out of 15 years. Two years ago, the program was $1.5 million in the red. That money would’ve paid for 200 course sections and 50 faculty (Dr. Welty’s numbers on Tuesday).
By and large, students don’t support athletics at Fresno State. And, the community has voted with its feet since Jerry Tarkanian was fired, the campus lost those lawsuits, the Ray Lopes fiasco, the hiring of Steve Cleveland over Vance Walberg, and the football team’s inability to win big games or the WAC title.
Athletics are great. However, in this time of shortages, NO taxpayers funds should be used to pay for any intercollegiate athletic program at any California public university. If the community wants it bad enough, the community should pay for it. Not taxpayers and certainly not students. The $32/semester fee for athletics should be abolished.
A Real Alumnus • Nov 6, 2009 at 2:59 am
Actually Tired, athletics does NOT attract large donations to the academic side of the University. The Friends of the University (Fresno State alumni) did a study a couple years back which determined the athletic department has a negative impact upon the image of the campus among potential major donors. No one wants to donate to a campus whose public ambassadors (athletes) are committing academic fraud and the occasional murder, not to mention rampant drug abuse.
In addition, the athletic program has been a burden on the campus financially for most of the last 15 years. The program has been in the black only three out of 15 years. Two years ago, the program was $1.5 million in the red. That money would’ve paid for 200 course sections and 50 faculty (Dr. Welty’s numbers on Tuesday).
By and large, students don’t support athletics at Fresno State. And, the community has voted with its feet since Jerry Tarkanian was fired, the campus lost those lawsuits, the Ray Lopes fiasco, the hiring of Steve Cleveland over Vance Walberg, and the football team’s inability to win big games or the WAC title.
Athletics are great. However, in this time of shortages, NO taxpayers funds should be used to pay for any intercollegiate athletic program at any California public university. If the community wants it bad enough, the community should pay for it. Not taxpayers and certainly not students. The $32/semester fee for athletics should be abolished.
Tired of The Complaining • Nov 5, 2009 at 5:51 pm
I am tired of hearing all this complaining about the increase in tuition and I think that it is being direct at the wrong people. Fire Welty his lousy $300,000 salary, free travel, let his state owned home go vacant and his vehicle stipend is not going to fix this budget deficit. I am a student who has paid for most of my college education on my own and you don’t see me complaining about the fee increase, yes it sucks but need I remind you WE ATTEND ON OF THE CHEAPEST INSTITUTIONS IN THE NATION! Our education is highly subsidized by the taxpayer. We should be fortunate to be able to receive the quality education we do for the price tag it is. Who ever came up with the whole college is a right not a privilege is badly mistaken. It is a privilege. In my opinion if you can’t afford it, overcome adversity, make it happen, heck get a student loan, there are companies ready and willing to give them and it will more than pay for itself. In response to a real Alumnus, are you kidding me? Get rid of athletics do you realize how many donors we would lose in other areas of the university as well? Fresno State athletics is what makes Fresno State Great. Its part of what gives us prestige, and personally I am proud to call myself a bulldog because of it. I think that the students who feel so strongly about what is happening at Fresno State need to change their focus to those in Sacramento that is the only place that change to fix this can be made. This is beyond Fresno State and beyond Dr.Welty the power lies with our legislators.
Tired of The Complaining • Nov 6, 2009 at 1:51 am
I am tired of hearing all this complaining about the increase in tuition and I think that it is being direct at the wrong people. Fire Welty his lousy $300,000 salary, free travel, let his state owned home go vacant and his vehicle stipend is not going to fix this budget deficit. I am a student who has paid for most of my college education on my own and you don’t see me complaining about the fee increase, yes it sucks but need I remind you WE ATTEND ON OF THE CHEAPEST INSTITUTIONS IN THE NATION! Our education is highly subsidized by the taxpayer. We should be fortunate to be able to receive the quality education we do for the price tag it is. Who ever came up with the whole college is a right not a privilege is badly mistaken. It is a privilege. In my opinion if you can’t afford it, overcome adversity, make it happen, heck get a student loan, there are companies ready and willing to give them and it will more than pay for itself. In response to a real Alumnus, are you kidding me? Get rid of athletics do you realize how many donors we would lose in other areas of the university as well? Fresno State athletics is what makes Fresno State Great. Its part of what gives us prestige, and personally I am proud to call myself a bulldog because of it. I think that the students who feel so strongly about what is happening at Fresno State need to change their focus to those in Sacramento that is the only place that change to fix this can be made. This is beyond Fresno State and beyond Dr.Welty the power lies with our legislators.
Tired of The Complaining • Nov 6, 2009 at 1:51 am
I am tired of hearing all this complaining about the increase in tuition and I think that it is being direct at the wrong people. Fire Welty his lousy $300,000 salary, free travel, let his state owned home go vacant and his vehicle stipend is not going to fix this budget deficit. I am a student who has paid for most of my college education on my own and you don’t see me complaining about the fee increase, yes it sucks but need I remind you WE ATTEND ON OF THE CHEAPEST INSTITUTIONS IN THE NATION! Our education is highly subsidized by the taxpayer. We should be fortunate to be able to receive the quality education we do for the price tag it is. Who ever came up with the whole college is a right not a privilege is badly mistaken. It is a privilege. In my opinion if you can’t afford it, overcome adversity, make it happen, heck get a student loan, there are companies ready and willing to give them and it will more than pay for itself. In response to a real Alumnus, are you kidding me? Get rid of athletics do you realize how many donors we would lose in other areas of the university as well? Fresno State athletics is what makes Fresno State Great. Its part of what gives us prestige, and personally I am proud to call myself a bulldog because of it. I think that the students who feel so strongly about what is happening at Fresno State need to change their focus to those in Sacramento that is the only place that change to fix this can be made. This is beyond Fresno State and beyond Dr.Welty the power lies with our legislators.
Garth Clifton • Nov 5, 2009 at 12:50 am
“AB 656 will not and cannot add on to what consumers pay at the pump. It’s written into the bill.”
How can the regulate the supply and demand of gasoline and oil.
Sure they can prohibit oil companies from passing the tax along to consumers, but then Oil Companies will just drill elsewhere, reducing the supply of oil in California, reducing the tax revenue to the state, driving out the oil industry jobs, and yes, increasing the cost of gasoline as the supply of oil to the state is drastically cut. Common sense economics.
The legislature cannot just decide to repeal the law of supply and demand. Get a grip.
Garth Clifton • Nov 5, 2009 at 8:50 am
“AB 656 will not and cannot add on to what consumers pay at the pump. It’s written into the bill.”
How can the regulate the supply and demand of gasoline and oil.
Sure they can prohibit oil companies from passing the tax along to consumers, but then Oil Companies will just drill elsewhere, reducing the supply of oil in California, reducing the tax revenue to the state, driving out the oil industry jobs, and yes, increasing the cost of gasoline as the supply of oil to the state is drastically cut. Common sense economics.
The legislature cannot just decide to repeal the law of supply and demand. Get a grip.
Garth Clifton • Nov 5, 2009 at 8:50 am
“AB 656 will not and cannot add on to what consumers pay at the pump. It’s written into the bill.”
How can the regulate the supply and demand of gasoline and oil.
Sure they can prohibit oil companies from passing the tax along to consumers, but then Oil Companies will just drill elsewhere, reducing the supply of oil in California, reducing the tax revenue to the state, driving out the oil industry jobs, and yes, increasing the cost of gasoline as the supply of oil to the state is drastically cut. Common sense economics.
The legislature cannot just decide to repeal the law of supply and demand. Get a grip.
A Real Alumnus • Nov 4, 2009 at 3:10 pm
If we eliminated the $5+ million of State support dollars that goes to the Athletics Department, 500 more course sections and 150 more faculty could be restored. The intercollegiate sports program is a luxury that should be paid for by the community (they benefit the most from it, not the students). Academics first, play time second!!
A Real Alumnus • Nov 4, 2009 at 11:10 pm
If we eliminated the $5+ million of State support dollars that goes to the Athletics Department, 500 more course sections and 150 more faculty could be restored. The intercollegiate sports program is a luxury that should be paid for by the community (they benefit the most from it, not the students). Academics first, play time second!!
A Real Alumnus • Nov 4, 2009 at 11:10 pm
If we eliminated the $5+ million of State support dollars that goes to the Athletics Department, 500 more course sections and 150 more faculty could be restored. The intercollegiate sports program is a luxury that should be paid for by the community (they benefit the most from it, not the students). Academics first, play time second!!
Matt • Nov 4, 2009 at 10:15 am
So, according to your logic, a bill that taxes ca residents 100% of their income to fund higher education also wouldn’t be pathetic? I think you need to stop buying into liberal propoganda: college isn’t a right, and Fresno state tuition is the lowest in the country. There is no corporate conspiracy here, but maybe if the university conducted itself like a corporation we wouldn’t be in this mess.
Matt • Nov 4, 2009 at 6:15 pm
So, according to your logic, a bill that taxes ca residents 100% of their income to fund higher education also wouldn’t be pathetic? I think you need to stop buying into liberal propoganda: college isn’t a right, and Fresno state tuition is the lowest in the country. There is no corporate conspiracy here, but maybe if the university conducted itself like a corporation we wouldn’t be in this mess.
Matt • Nov 4, 2009 at 6:15 pm
So, according to your logic, a bill that taxes ca residents 100% of their income to fund higher education also wouldn’t be pathetic? I think you need to stop buying into liberal propoganda: college isn’t a right, and Fresno state tuition is the lowest in the country. There is no corporate conspiracy here, but maybe if the university conducted itself like a corporation we wouldn’t be in this mess.
The helper • Nov 4, 2009 at 10:05 am
Garth Clifton: AB 656 will not and cannot add on to what consumers pay at the pump. It’s written into the bill.
The helper • Nov 4, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Garth Clifton: AB 656 will not and cannot add on to what consumers pay at the pump. It’s written into the bill.
The helper • Nov 4, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Garth Clifton: AB 656 will not and cannot add on to what consumers pay at the pump. It’s written into the bill.
Matt Ford • Nov 4, 2009 at 9:33 am
You should be ashamed of yourself as a student for calling a bill that would fund public higher education “a pathetic bill”. You’ve been listening to the administration and your republican friends too long.
Matt Ford • Nov 4, 2009 at 5:33 pm
You should be ashamed of yourself as a student for calling a bill that would fund public higher education “a pathetic bill”. You’ve been listening to the administration and your republican friends too long.
Matt Ford • Nov 4, 2009 at 5:33 pm
You should be ashamed of yourself as a student for calling a bill that would fund public higher education “a pathetic bill”. You’ve been listening to the administration and your republican friends too long.
Garth Clifton • Nov 4, 2009 at 9:30 am
“That funding for these demands be achieved through the support of a severance tax on oil extracted in California as provided for in Assembly Bill 656 as well as a surtax of 2 percent on the income of any California citizen whose annual income exceeds one million dollars.”
This will never pass the state legislature. And its a bad idea anyway. 2% tax on millionaires will drive jobs from the state, so you’ll have no job to obtain to use your degree, because face it, millionaires create jobs. A tax on oil, will harm students by driving up gasoline prices. (Well except those of you who ride bicycles or stay in the dorms, but most of us drive.)
And the fact that any tax increase requires a 2/3 vote of the state legislature to pass and you have to have Republicans to vote for it and no Republican would vote for such a pathetic bill, and rightly so.
Garth Clifton • Nov 4, 2009 at 5:30 pm
“That funding for these demands be achieved through the support of a severance tax on oil extracted in California as provided for in Assembly Bill 656 as well as a surtax of 2 percent on the income of any California citizen whose annual income exceeds one million dollars.”
This will never pass the state legislature. And its a bad idea anyway. 2% tax on millionaires will drive jobs from the state, so you’ll have no job to obtain to use your degree, because face it, millionaires create jobs. A tax on oil, will harm students by driving up gasoline prices. (Well except those of you who ride bicycles or stay in the dorms, but most of us drive.)
And the fact that any tax increase requires a 2/3 vote of the state legislature to pass and you have to have Republicans to vote for it and no Republican would vote for such a pathetic bill, and rightly so.
Garth Clifton • Nov 4, 2009 at 5:30 pm
“That funding for these demands be achieved through the support of a severance tax on oil extracted in California as provided for in Assembly Bill 656 as well as a surtax of 2 percent on the income of any California citizen whose annual income exceeds one million dollars.”
This will never pass the state legislature. And its a bad idea anyway. 2% tax on millionaires will drive jobs from the state, so you’ll have no job to obtain to use your degree, because face it, millionaires create jobs. A tax on oil, will harm students by driving up gasoline prices. (Well except those of you who ride bicycles or stay in the dorms, but most of us drive.)
And the fact that any tax increase requires a 2/3 vote of the state legislature to pass and you have to have Republicans to vote for it and no Republican would vote for such a pathetic bill, and rightly so.