It's no secret to anyone in the world that California is in deep fiscal trouble--so much so, that some experts have said that in order for this state to keep trudging along, as mangled as it is, we'd need a bailout focused on keeping businesses afloat and whatever is left of our economy intact.
California has worked itself into a position that would require it to first find a solution to this $23.4 billion deficit (and hopefully involves more than just chopping money out of educational budgets) before they can make any major moves because, frankly, there is a lot that needs to be sorted out with little money to do it.
Despite this obvious predicament, state legislators are looking to broaden the horizon of things they're involved in, hoping to absorb UC autonomy and steer the flagship of our education any way they see fit.
As it stands, the UC Regents operate like the board of a company, determining the direction of the university in regards to policy and budget. What the state is looking to do is strip that power from the Regents, shift it over to the state government and have them (that is, the same people running our state, billion dollar deficit and all) represent the voices of students, staff and faculty alike.
The state, however, has not shown us that it's capable of handling the UC system, which is more than just a bag of money to re-direct. Education has taken cut after cut over the past few decades, mostly by the hands of the people who are trying to take control of it now. How can they think--with all their lost money--that they are the cool, collected heads we need to get us through this recession?
The Regents have made some questionable decisions in the past; opting last minute to have a public meeting by phone conference which included hiking student fees up by 9.3 percent in the name of budget constraints, and shelling out pay-raises to people whose six- figure salaries weren't large enough to withstand the crisis.
Where we find ourselves then is questioning not who should come in and fix things, but considering the odds of which side can, or at the very least, try harder. And the reality is that we don't know, but it looks like the state legislatures care more, which might win them this case. We hope that doesn't happen.
A bill has been introduced looking to freeze the salaries of state officials making over $150,000 a year until the budget crisis blows over. If this passes, and members of the government of the seventh largest economy in the world take a pay cut (at least until there's money to pay them) then how will this make the Regents look?
Maybe this is the first time we find ourselves hoping that the Regents do stick around, but it's important that they start communicating that they're at least half interested. That way the rest of us can deal with the budget short falls we have now, and not have to worry about members of government from the future finding a way to cross the space-time continuum and terminate public education as we know it.
Highlander editorials reflect the majority view of the Highlander Editorial Board. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Associated Students of UCR or the University of California system.
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