Brian Trat

Sec A01

October 11, 2015

Blog #4

Response to "Fighting Privatization, Occupy Activists at CUNY and UC Kick Into High Gear"

            Seeing the corruption and the influence of private industries at UC Davis wasn't something that immediately caught my eye. Not even after visiting all three of the Starbucks™ on campus did I notice how deeply entrenched our administration is with for-profit organizations. It almost seemed like our own university was a for-profit organization itself. If it is, then that would explain the tuition hikes and why some of my friends are $200,000 in debt. Some of my friends dropped out because they couldn't afford to learn anymore. You know, the more I think about it, the more obvious it seems. There is nothing more profitable than selling an ideology - the idea that you need a degree to be successful and to make a living wage. Things like loans are seen as necessary evils, and the UC regents have successfully exploited this strategy, raking in the money and the power. 

            But the people will never go down without a proper fight. Students in both the UC and CUNY system have shown incredible bravery and determination in the fight to reclaim their universities. The goal is simple: to take back higher education from the hands of corporations, and give them back to the public. We as students have a civic responsibility to stand up against such blatant exploitation. We deserve better from the administration that is there to serve us, the people.

Why do tuition hikes always coincide with administrative raises? Why are raises necessary?