In the fast-paced world of City College, new plans are constantly being drafted, programs are facing cuts and important leaders are being appointed. These constant changes leave the uninformed student in the dust.
The Channels strongly urges students to stay clued-in on campus and citywide issues, because many of these will affect their post-City College plans.
For example, the University of California Board of Regents decided to standardize all guaranteed transfer agreements between the universities and all California community colleges. For some, this could affect access to UCSB. For others, it could spell serious trouble.
Though Transfer Center counselor Cesar Flores said that it will take time to get the message about this change out to the students, the burden to find out this stuff is ultimately on students. It’s their education, after all.
Furthermore, plans were recently discussed to solve the much discussed parking problem on campus. One proposal called for hiring MTD buses to shuttle students back and forth to campus from nearby church parking lots and would have cost $136,000 over the ’05-’06 school calendar. The plan fell through. The school was not convinced students would take advantage of this pricey service.
Moreover, parking options have been discussed at length, such as the $9 million parking garage. Students complain of poor parking, but most haven’t even considered alternative methods of transportation, which could have the potential to save City College millions.
Another missed opportunity: when the college offered 300 harbor parking passes for half the normal price the city would charge, there were 200 takers including faculty and staff.
Some of the most valuable education offered requires direct participation.
The Associated Students Senate works hard to lobby for student’s rights. That is reason enough for students to know at least know one of their names. They make important decisions for the student body and have a one-third say in the decision-making process in many college issues, such as if students should get their work-study paychecks once a month, or if campus smokers should be confined to red benches.
They speak for students and it is time students let them know how they feel. Only 1.7 percent of enrolled students voted in the latest student body election. Evidence of apathy can be seen in the fact that half the senators are international students. Good for them-they’re taking full advantage of great opportunities. However, what this really means is that the student senate doesn’t accurately represent the student body.
The crux of the problem is this: most students have reached a high level of obtuseness with respect to keeping themselves informed. The level of which students are informed goes hand-in-hand with student participation. The worst result of student apathy is that there is little to no actual student input in many of the decisions made on their behalf. Administrators are so hopelessly out of touch with the student body it is laughable, and the vast majority of students are doing nothing to remedy the situation.
