Socialist Action /April 2001
Youth in Action
Students March for a Higher Living
Wage for Instructors
By CARLOS PADILLA
(Students For Justice)
SAN JOSE, Calif.-In these years of student violence
and campus shootings there exists a student movement that is socially conscious.
On March 8, the media presented to the world the
classic anti-youth propaganda it has been broadcasting for about two years
(even the wonderful demonstration for affirmative action held at UC Berkeley
was trashed by the media). In the mist of all this negative coverage on
youth, students at Evergreen Valley College in San Jose organized a walkout
in solidarity with their oppressed teachers.
Students marched with anger and rage to the San
Jose City (SJC) and Evergreen Valley College (EVC) District office. The
district is located about a mile from EVC's campus. The students united
to fight for respect from the district and for better living wages for their
teachers.
Evergreen Valley College and San Jose City College
have the lowest paid teachers in the Silicon Valley. The average teacher
is making about $45,000 a year and has to commute to San Jose.
"Teachers just cannot live in this city with
what they make," says Adiya Kines, a Students For Justice member at
EVC.
Students For Justice is a student group whose main
goal is to cause political and social awareness to students. They are at
many different campuses and they have the perspective of uniting the students
and showing our society that the students have a voice.
Students For Justice and other members of the student
body organized a walkout that had the district disoriented and scared. The
day before the walkout, the district sent threats to the faculty demanding
them to keep their distance from the students.
The district board met on March 6 to discuss the
student walkout and even went as far as calling a teacher to find out if
he was in charge or involved with the walkout. Teachers were being blamed
for the walkout.
"It is an insult that the district board believes
that our teachers thought and planned the walkout," says Ivan Moran,
a Students For Justice member. "This shows the students how the district
feels about us. They believe we are ignorant and apathetic."
The Faculty Association (FA), the conservative
union representing the faculty of EVC and SJC, which is interested more
in keeping their jobs rather than fighting for teacher's rights, sent out
an e-mail to the faculty stating the danger of a student walkout. The FA
believed that the negotiations between the faculty and the district would
be in jeopardy. The FA's president even went as far as trying to talk Students
For Justice into canceling the walkout.
In a meeting with the FA president, Mark Newton,
Students For Justice members explained that the students felt the anguish
the teachers were feeling about the negotiations.
Students For Justice commented on how the teachers
felt they were not being heard and how they felt the FA was doing nothing
to push the district into giving the faculty a raise. "After a heated
argument with us," says Eric Elemen, a member of Students For Justice,
"he proceeded to call us selfish, ignorant, and naive."
On the day of the walkout whistles were heard in
the air. As students gathered at Cesar Chavez Grove, located in the center
of EVC's campus, they chanted: "EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK." The
students then proceeded to march to the district, grabbing the attention
of classes and teachers.
Over 200 students walked in solidarity with their
teachers. The walkout was the biggest event EVC had seen since the opening
of the school 25 years ago.
"Evergreen Valley College has never seen an
event that has brought together this large amount of students," states
Robert Mead, a student who participated in the march, " This was my
first political action but it will not be my last."
The students gathered at the district, where they
read their demands. As the demands were read, raised fists rose from the
crowd in solidarity with what was said.
The students' demands were:
1) Announcements of district meetings shall be
posted on campus for the eyes of students to see.
2) Genuine respect for all faculty and students,
especially at district meetings.
3) The demands of the faculty should be met, for
they are deserving and just.
4) Our actions shall have no repercussions on the
faculty.
These demands were read again to the chancellor
of the district. The chancellor allowed 40 students to meet with her and
express their concern on the issue. Students stood up and spoke their concerns
to the chancellor. The students spoke very passionately and politely about
their teachers, bringing attention to the fact that the teachers are the
foundation of all societies.
"It is sad that we live in a society which
puts education second to profit," Adiya Kines points out about our
present situation as a society. "The district is spending lots of money
on a new logo and a new image to attract more students, yet we can't attract
new faculty because of the way we pay them."
The district has been spending thousands of dollars
on "changing the image of EVC," and yet they state that according
to their budget they do not have enough to pay the faculty a livable wage.
The average pay for a district member is $100,000 a year. If you compare
that with the average teacher's salary, less than half that, you can see
the hierarchy that lives through our educational system.
"To the district it seems that we are just
products of making money and the teachers are their workers," says
Adam Welch, a Students For Justice member. "They seem to want to only
concern themselves with their own image, so when they run for city council
they will be voted for."
"I feel like our school is being run by a
bunch of greedy politicians, looking for profit and not for the betterment
of our education and well-being" says Ivan Moran. "The teachers
at our school are similar to the working class in our society, because even
the janitors are making better money than our teachers."
What happened at Evergreen Valley College marked
the beginning of a student movement, which will grow. The students have
now felt the beauty of unity and will unite again if the demands of the
faculty are not met. Many students left the march feeling amazed at what
had just happened and were thrilled to be a part of it.
"I felt we really made our presence known
and I believe this is only the beginning," states Elizabeth Gonzalez,
a student who is concerned where society is going. "I think it is about
time that we, the students, educate ourselves and learn to fight for a better
world."
After the event students were given a flyer with
the next district meeting date and location. The students were very excited
to see what will happen with the negotiations. This event proved to the
district board and to San Jose that there are not just computer wizards
in San Jose, but also students who will be heard.
Join the Northern Moblization to
Free Mumia!
History has proven, from the civil rights movement
to the labor movement, that the place to win gains is in the street, mobilizing
through mass protests and strikes.
Youth for Socialist Action recognizes that the
same type of mass mobilization will be crucial in winning freedom for Mumia
Abu-Jamal. With this in mind, the YSA in northern Wisconsin has issued a
call for a regional mass action coalition, the Northern Mobilization to
Free Mumia.
The Northern Mobilization is seeking to cover northern
Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and Upper Peninsula Michigan, recruiting
activists from the high schools, the universities, the workplace and the
community.
To date three local committees have been set up
as part of the Northern Mobilization, in Duluth, Minn.; Ashland, Wis.; and
Stevens Point, Wis. Activists working in the Northern Mobe so far come from
groups such as the Greens, YSA, Amnesty International, and the Progressive
Action Organization.
We invite all activists in the upper Midwest to
join us in this united front. For more information on how to join the Northern
Mobilization to Free Mumia, call Mark at (715) 685-0093 or e-mail him at
om8755@northland.edu.
UCLA Students Demand Affirmative
Action
By JAVIER ARMAS
LOS ANGELES-"UC Regents, I see racists" was one of the fiery
chants of protesting students at UCLA on March 14. The protest was largely
by students of color who are reacting to the institutional racism that exists
from graduate school all the way down to grade school in California.
Affirmative action is an historic victory of the civil rights movement.
Across the country, affirmative action laws were passed to enforce racial
representation in social institutions. But in 1998, the University of California
board of regents banned affirmative action in admitting new students. Enrollment
of Blacks and Hispanics has plummeted since then.
The value of affirmative action was expressed by many of the activists
at the March 14 event, such as Ryan Smith of the African Student Union,
who said he was demonstrating not just because of his personal frustrations:
"I fight today for people who fought for equal access before us and
for their future generations."
The mood of the protest was not to achieve simple crumbs and concessions
but to take a stand until affirmative action is reimplemented. Some estimate
that about 1000 students were present at the protest-others put the number
closer to 1800.
The protesters met at Westwood Plaza and marched across the campus. They
then returned to the plaza, where students and community leaders spoke on
the effects of a white-dominated campus.
The protest had a second surprise when the protesters marched to Royce
Hall and 300 militant students took over the building, where a debate among
Los Angeles candidates for mayor was scheduled to take place. The students
did not compromise with the threatening police and held their ground.
Because of the social pressure that was created, the university chancellor
and other administrators were hesitant to order the police to make mass
arrests. The students, after several hours, exited the building without
the police making one arrest.
The Affirmative Action Coalition at UCLA plans to keep protesting in
strength to pressure the UC regents to restore affirmative action policies.
Protests have also taken place on the UC Berkeley campus.
The activist students generally distrust those politicians that are supposed
to be their representatives and realize that only through large actions
can they have their voices heard. But the danger remains that student leaders
might decide to put their energy into collaborating with some of the "good"
regents. In that case, affirmative action will never be achieved but will
become simply a policy that "must take time to pass." This is
what we often hear from the two-faced Democrats who attempt to represent
us in these types of struggles.
A major coalition of students must be built that remains politically
independent from the parties and the establishment that initiated the racist
attack against affirmative action. It is necessary to obtain the backing
of working-class communities and organized labor for the struggle.
Such a coalition can become a political force powerful enough to turn
the universities from institutions of professionals seeking the betterment
of their salary to institutions that serve the interest and needs of the
social groups that are subjected to racism, impoverishment, and brutal exploitation.
The universities can become a major factor for the betterment of these social
conditions.
Young People on the Iron Range Face a Grim Future
By ADAM RITSCHER
DULUTH, Minn.-The Iron Range is the birthplace of Bob Dylan and millions
of tons of taconite, an iron ore used in the making of steel. Situated in
the seemingly endless expanse of northern Minnesota wilderness, this mining
area has produced almost as much tragedy and despair throughout its history
as it has produced profits for the capitalists that got rich from its ore.
Its non-Native inhabitants came here from places such as Finland, Slovenia,
and Italy. Some came because they were duped into buying worthless farm
land. Others signed on to work the early mines in the hopes that they could
save enough money to create a better life.
After many bitter struggles and bloody strikes, the miners of northern
Minnesota were able to win the wages, working conditions, and other concessions
that convinced many to stay on in this harsh land. Vibrant communities developed
around the mines, and the miners developed a way of life that led them and
their families to cherish the natural beauty and challenging reality of
the Northland.
Today however, more than a century later, the massive forests are threatening
to reclaim these mining communities. This threat isn't coming from footloose
rogue trees, or some species of suddenly carnivorous wildlife though. The
threat is of a much more sinister variety. The mining companies are packing
their bags and heading to warmer, and more profitable, climes.
Recent mine shutdowns in Hoyt Lake and Hibbing have resulted in several
thousand miners and their families being deprived of a source of income,
in an area where mining is the only game in town.
Mine shutdowns are nothing new on the Iron Range. A wave of shutdowns
and layoffs swept the region as recently as 20 years ago. This time, though,
the companies are saying there is little chance of the mines ever being
opened again.
For young people the implication of these shutdowns is particularly devastating,
since the shutting down of the mines amounts in many cases to the shutting
down of their future. Until recently, it was said that young people on the
Iron Range had two choices in life: go to work in the mines right out of
high school, or take classes at the community college for two years-and
then go to work in the mines.
Many towns on the Iron Range, besides the mining, offer no employment
outside that which is available at the local gas station and grocery store.
What non-mining jobs that there are tend to pay little. On average, starting
pay with such jobs is $15,000 a year less than in the Twin Cities.
Phil Fitzpatrick, a writer for the RipSaw newspaper out of Duluth, captured
the essence of the situation by saying: "The customary search for a
good job on the Range and the subsequent raising of a family are now part
of a cruel paradox: leave home and earn more, or stay home and earn less."
Many young people see no alternative than to leave and look for jobs
elsewhere. A student at Virginia High School told Socialist Action that
almost half of his friends were planning on leaving the area as soon as
they got out of school. In his particular high school, enrollment has dropped
15 percent over the past four years as families pack up and leave, leaving
the school district hard hit.
A number of programs, such as auto mechanics and music, have already
been dropped. The local community colleges have little offer, and the state
of Minnesota has done little to alleviate the crisis.
Such bleak futures are increasingly becoming all too common across the
United States. What is happening on the Iron Range is unique only in its
particulars. More and more, as young people leave high school and college
to join the workforce, if they're even able to find a job, what they find
is low-pay, little or no benefits, and promises of a future that's about
as bright as a burned-out street light.
The lessons we need to draw from all of this is that capitalism cannot
be relied upon to provide for us, and the only solution is a society that
places people and the quality of their lives over profit.
Socialist Action /April 2001 |