DEMANDS for the March 4th Day of Action

The day of action is THIS WEEK! Here is a list representing what the students at U-Mass are demanding through this day of action:

1. Make Public Higher Education Less Expensive By Not Instituting New Fees!
· An end to the flagship and Com. Col. fee proposals
· Stop the use of our fee money to build the $12.5 million new police station and other new buildings in general.
· A participatory budget process that allows students to have a say in where their money is being spent.

2. No Budget Cuts That Affect Student Health and Safety
· Immediately Provide Free transit to Cooley Dickinson and a rape crisis center.
· Restore full funding to UHS and keep it open 24 hours a day.
· Eliminate the $250 deductible increase
· Create a student-run campus transportation system at night to prevent rape and assault

3. Treat Our Faculty Fairly!
· Provide a living wage for all UMASS employees.
· Stop the firing of faculty members immediately, and rehire workers laid off due to budget cuts
· Lower salaries in administrative positions.
· It is unacceptable for Jack Wilson to get a $73,000 raise while the cost of UMASS goes up and budget cuts lessen the stability of departments and faculty/staff job security.

4. Improve the Campus Climate at UMASS.
· Eliminate police presence in dorms.
· Support a better educated student body by implementing fewer restrictions on how we apply for classes.
· The requirement for students to be majors in a department to take many classes tells students learning for the sake of learning is not a priority at UMASS, while graduating as a number with a degree is.
· Stop the reorganization of colleges, departments, and resource centers on campus which are currently located appropriately and important to students and UMASS employees.
· End contract with Follett to lower the cost of textbooks, and end contract with Coca Cola.
· Create more options for affordable, healthy food.
· Stop the rent increase in UMass Family Housing.

Principles: What We Stand For!

1. Free public higher education (paid for by cuts in homeland security, etc).

2. The end to all US wars and occupations.

3. Sustained organization after March 4th.

4. Get UMASS in line with national average for state funding.

5. Tax the rich, too! Raise the income tax on those who can afford it.

6. Make college affordable to undocumented immigrants--allow high school graduates to attend public colleges at in-state rates and to obtain federal loans.

Flyer!

This blog can only do so much in the public sphere; it can only do its job if people check it.

Here is an official flyer. It also includes information about the next meeting.
Print it. Post it. Make people pay attention to it.

First Movements at U-Mass for March 4th

SGA members brainstorm ideas for March 4 “Day of Action to Defend Education” by Alyssa Creamer

meetings at U-Mass

from Natalia Tylim:

UMass, Budget Cuts and How We Can Fight Them!
Wednesday February 17th
5pm
Room TBA

While Obama announced last week that there will be a complete spending freeze on all discretionary spending (of course this does not apply to the military!) education is on the chopping block. These cuts have not been met without a fight, students, labor and community member are organizing across the country to start putting our agenda on the table, an agenda that puts education before occupations and bailouts. California has been at the forefront of this movement, and has called for a NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION TO DEFEND PUBLIC EDUCATION K-UNIVERSITY on March 4th. Come participate in a discussion about the state of the budget cuts in MA, what they mean for UMass students, and how we can follow in the footsteps of the California school system that has already been able to interrupt business as usual.

Join us for our next planning meeting!
Tuesday, February 9th
5pm
Campus Center Room 174-76

Email Natalia at ntylim@gmail.com for more information

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