Letters
to the editor
Protesters
should do homework before walkout
For
those who were involved with the recent
demonstration on campus about “Saving
CSULB -- No More Cuts,” I have one
question. Where is the money going to come
from to pay for your education? California
is out of money. The treasury is in debt.
The state has four basic choices. It can
either (1) decrease items in another part
of the budget to increase the CSU portion;
(2) increase taxes; (3) float a bond or
(4) increase fees.
I
am sure that the legislature will take advice
on how to save money in some other part
of the budget. However, do you really want
to decrease the amount of money flowing
into healthcare for the poorer citizens?
If you increase taxes, you will force more
companies out of the state. We are now on
the wrong side of the Laffer curve for taxes.
Higher
taxes will not bring in less state revenue,
not more revenue. People will continue to
move to other states. There will not be
a good job market when you graduate.
If
you float a bond issue, the state will have
to pay more in interest since the credit
rating will decline some more. I would like
to receive 8 percent on my California Bond
Fund instead of the 6 percent I currently
receive. Do you really want to pay for the
increase by floating bonds and paying investors
for 20 years?
The
final option is to increase the CSU tuition.
Last year was the first year in eight years
students had a fee increase. The taxpayer
picks up more than 75 percent of the costs
for students to attend CSULB. Is it fair
that taxpayers pick up more of the costs?
I also wish to keep fees low but until you
pressure your legislature to control the
overall CSU costs and suggest how to minimize
the costs you will continue to have tuition
increases. You can either pay now or pay
in the future. There is no such thing as
a free lunch. I suggest that the costs if
deferred to the future will be much larger
for you and your generation.
-- George A. Kuck
lecturer of physics and astronomy
Story
falls short
Re
“Social work graduate students join
to change thesis program,” News, May
4: After reading your article this week,
my sentiments can only be expressed by the
word bittersweet.
Yes,
you told the facts accurately, and yes,
some students will continue into the summer
session to finish thesis; however your emphasis,
and the emphasis of one graduate student
within this article, felt less than suitable
to the story that should have been told.
It
should have been about congratulating the
students who saw fit to put their signatures
on a petition to advocate for change. Furthermore,
to point out that change is possible from
a student level. I am proud to be graduating
from this university, and I am proud of
the education I received here. This education
has more than prepared me for the “real
world” in the field of social work.
To focus on one student’s plight throughout
the thesis process was not appropriate in
my viewpoint.
This
is a professional degree with many career
roads to choose from after graduation. I
am a proud graduate student, and I accepted
the challenges that went along with the
pursuit of this degree. To tell our story
of advocacy and change from an individual
student’s seemingly disgruntled viewpoint,
quite frankly left me disappointed.
--
Jim Hurley
graduate student, social work
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