Letters
to the editor
Students
can save money
I
can’t deny that prices are increasing
everywhere for 49ers. All commuting students
know this when they buy gasoline at the
pump and purchase parking permits for
the semester, nearly double the price
of what they were. Same goes for textbooks.
I don’t remember paying $120 for a flimsy, soft-cover, 200-page book
with cheesy monochrome illustrations my freshman year.
As outrageous as all these prices may seem, I am totally unsympathetic to all
the people (I am not one of them) who do nothing but whine and complain
about these new hardships.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the point of college to teach
us to be outside-the-box thinkers and independent problem solvers? Why
is it that so many people here at our beloved university whine for years on
end without curbing their own behavior?
For example, when gas prices went up this summer, I decided that to save money,
I am only going to bring my lunch to school.
I did a little calculation, it turns out that the average price of my lunch
if I brought it every day is about 80 cents. Compare that to the delicious,
yet unhealthy meals I used to buy regularly at the Outpost Grill. I
save about $16 per week on lunch alone this way.
This easily covers the extra money I pay for in gasoline costs and parking
permits, and as an added bonus, I’m eating less grease.
It’s the little strategies like this that all students must
adopt before they can become successful, independent professionals in
tomorrow’s workforce.
We can all get by if we just stop to think and find a way.
— Christopher Hoskins,
senior, aerospace engineering major
Student
not in agreement
I
am responding to the article entitled “Schwarzenegger
works to rebuild, renew California.” While
I see where you are coming from, I respectfully
dissent. The following explains
why.
The reason in the article Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s approval rating
has dropped (it is now 34 percent as of Aug. 26) is because he “hasn’t
appointed a lot of Latinos to his administration” and “teachers
feel Schwarzeneggar is ignoring the problems with our public schools by not
putting enough tax dollars in.” You further state that money is
not the only answer.
It is true that the quality of teacher instruction is part of the problem. However,
myself having been a teacher aide and a tutor at Los Angeles Harbor College,
I can tell you money is a major problem.
To use a Biblical analogy, schools cannot run on reserves and donations alone. They
need currency to obtain the supplies and personnel they need to provide the
essential tools for educating today’s generation of children and college
students.
Our tuition here at Cal State Long Beach will go up by another 10 percent,
no matter what we say and at my previous college, they may once again not have
a tutoring program due to the negligence of the state Legislature and Schwarzenegger.
In my opinion, we are no better off now than we were when Gray Davis was governor. That,
in my opinion, is why Schwarzeneggar’s approval rating is at 34 percent. That
and this ridiculous upcoming election which is going to waste $50 and $80 million
dollars.
So to me, the question is this. Former Governor Gray Davis and Schwarze-negger:
Besides physical appearance and party affiliation, what’s the difference?
— Andrew Brooks
junior, political science major |
