Well it’s not exactly SDS and the 1960′s, but when students at Montclair State University heard that the lieutenant governor of New Jersey was going to be on campus for a Red Tape Review Panel, they came out with some big red signs. Governor Christie proposed cutting $173 million, or 7.7 percent, of state funding for higher education. That is in addition to an $820 million budget cut for public education.
Student protestors started out near University Hall, where the Red Tape meeting was being held, but were herded off to the quad in front of the student center, where protests are officially supposed to take place. One girl was taken away by campus police and was later seen in the dean’s office, Kristie Cataffi reported from the scene.
how many protesters, 4?
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead
At least make neater and bolder signs! BIG BLOCK letters, maybe blue letters with a red background or black on yellow, so it POPS!
Based on the picture, I am very thoroughly unimpressed with the quality of the message.
“$850 Million in school Aid cuts! WTF?”
Yes, that’s the headline, sonny. WTF about it? These are tough times. Might you have something more substantive than “WTF”? Maybe try this: “$850 Million in school Aid cuts! I better get a part-time job!”
“Education is a PRIORITY + this $ is CRITICAL
-CHRiSTIE
I agree. Every $ is CRITICAL when it goes from my hard-working wallet to your entitled self, so maybe polish the message a bit. For example, delve into why the $ more CRITICAL for your MSU time than for my mortgage or health insurance payments. I do like the little “i” for the middle of Christie’s name, though.
Hmm. how to tolerate a 7% cut in state aid? for MSU: cut some expenses, some layoffs. raise some fees. for students: put away $$$ you probably spend on i-phone, blackberry, cell phones, starbucks.
I went to MSU. I worked my way through. It took me 7 and a half years going nights with no sememesters off(and no walleroo or RoC it wasn’t because I failed courses. I got my degree and it didn’t cost anyone else a dime.
If you want a college degree there are ways to get it other than public funds. Try it, it builds character.
sememesters = semesters
Why do you always see the typos the second you hit “submit”? It’s that damned ‘on-no’ second.
Can anyone explain to me why, in these extremely difficult economic times, MSU continues to build dorms? They just keep borrowing to keep building. It makes no sense. Save money. Stop building. The campus is an eyesore now with too many buildings–and huge ugly ones at that–crammed into too small a space. And yes, I’m an alum, both undergrad and grad school when it was MSC, and I paid my own way. Worked three jobs to do it, but it really did build character.
Montclair public school teachers acted like COWARDS this week when they accepted the paid freeze. If they keep giving up what was hard fought for we will all have nothing. Stick together and tow the line.
I would think that a “union man” like leftylaser would be warmed by the decision taken by the teachers to forego a raise in an effort to preserve their colleagues’ jobs.
But no, that would make too much sense. Instaed, he would have them make sure to get theirs and to hell with everyone else. He sounds a lot like some other posters here.
Of course, we can expect this sort of “courage” from leftylaser once The Turk comes for his job/raise, right?
Every talks about a bloated state/county/town budgets, everyone complains about high property taxes but nobody is willing to sacrifice.
I worked my way through.
Bully for you. Are you sure Bonnie the Bunny didn’t contribute?
no walleroo or RoC it wasn’t because I failed courses.
Hey! I didn’t say anything.
Every talks about a bloated state/county/town budgets, everyone complains about high property taxes but nobody is willing to sacrifice.
I don’t think the kids in this picture had been talking about bloated state budgets and high property taxes.
Well then they should be.
Karen,
It’s very admirable that you worked your way through MSU.
However, this doesn’t mean that the MSU doesn’t warrant public funding. Personally, I find MSU a bargain (for my youngest son) compared to what I paid for my eldest son (Hopkins and now med. school). That said, I do feel lucky that I can pay for my kid’s college education (and they both work too, btw). But I do, of course, understand that many parents can’t help (especially in this economy). This issue is simply not black and white. Also saying that you “didn’t take a dime” doesn’t make you better than anyone else (plus it came off as really sanctimonious). Again, this is taking nothing away from your hard work (and I’m sorry if this sounds too harsh.
Certainly there’s a lot of fat in most school budgets).
At least they put a barrier up for these 4 radicals
Anyone who attends a public/state institution “takes a dime”.
The school is funded by taxpayers. The tuition, even if the student is paying the whole bill and getting no loans, assistance, etc., does not cover the full cost, so public funding makes up the difference.
This is why it is called Montclair STATE University, after all.
But state schools are exepmt from the tax burdens that are choking the rest of us (I’m still looking but so far all colleges as far as I can tell are tax exempt) – so in crunch time shouldn’t their funding be cut as part of this belt tightening? They don’t contribute to the money pool so why expect to dip into it? Education is important, but when the public school system is making cuts shouldn’t higher educationas well?
There’s a certain “Monkees” vibe about the kids in that picture.
State higher ed IS having cuts to their funding as well. 175M in Christie’s budget, with perhaps more to come. how did you get the idea that they were being spared?
I also question your contention that they “don’t contribute to the money pool”. Every employee of the school pays state and federal taxes, they buy goods and services in the surrounding towns. There are businesses that target college communities and locate in these places in order to do business. they too have employeees and they too pay taxes.
That’s a very sad-seeming picture of this “mass” protest above. (Hard-to-read black marker against a red background?) This is what it comes down to at Montclair State, four doltish-looking students? And it of course elicited the usual nonsense from Comrade Laser.
Mikey, it might be time to tell us, are YOU in fact a union man? (“Oh you can’t get me, I’m part of the union, you can’t get me….”) You know, swing, swing together and the rest of that class struggle rot? Honesty. Comrade, you’ve eventually got to find some other line to “tow.”
My post was regarding the university itself not the employees. I pay taxes but my employer doesn’t get a tax break from them, why should their employer get a break (a break in addition to being tax exempt) regarding what it’s employees pay as private citizens?
“why should their employer get a break (a break in addition to being tax exempt)”
It seems a little silly for the state to pay itself tax money, don’t you think hrh? It would just result in a lot of meaningless pencil pushing.
Here we come, walkin’
Down the street.
We get the funniest looks from
Ev’ry one we meet.
Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees
And people say we monkey around.
But we’re too busy singing
To put anybody down.
We go wherever we want to,
do what we like to do
We don’t have time to get restless,
There’s always something new.
We’re just tryin’ to be friendly,
Come and watch us sing and play,
We’re the young gneration,
And we’ve got something to say.
Here we come, textin’
Down the quad.
We got some budget cuts from
that Christie-tightwad.
Hey, hey, we’re the slackers
And people say we act like brats.
But we’re too busy sexting
To give the asses of rats!
We expect it all to be paid for,
mostly by someone like you
We don’t know what taxes are
We hope it’s a thing we outgrew
We’re just tryin’ to be “thoughful”
All the world’s our buffet!
We’re the young gneration,
And we would like you to pay.
We’re just tryin’ to be “thoughtful”
Deb,
Points taken. Sorry if I came off as sanctimonious. That wasn’t my intent. My point was that life just sucks sometimes and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to get what you want. If someone wants to get a degree there are ways to do it. Personally I wish I had been different for me. There wasn’t any of the usual personal “fun” experiences that also go with being in college. It was all work and all study and I couldn’t finish fast enough to suit me and when I did I never looked back. It wasn’t a pleasant experience at all, but I got my degree.
Sometimes you just have to suck it up and go with the flow. (Not always an easy thing for me to do, admittedly.)
cro – I was working full time. I paid taxes. I paid rent, I paid property taxes. One of the reasons I went to Montclair was that as a state school is was more affordable than a private school and it was on a bus route which helped during the early years when I didn’t have a car (which I bought and paid for myself, thank you).
What’s your point?
“$850 Million in school Aid cuts! WTF?”
————————————–
How about:
“$850 Million in school Aid cuts! OMG!
My point, Karen Banda, is that you are wrong in asserting that you”got your degree and it didn’t cost anyone else a dime.”
It cost the taxpayers of the state of New Jersey a dime, because the school is state supported.
And, by the way, it is money well-spent in my estimation. But it might be time to come down off that horse for awhile.
Cro, I’m not on any “horse”, high or otherwise. Just stating my experiences and the fact that I, too, paid taxes when I went to MSU and still do.
Well by all means let me thank you for paying taxes.
We certainly appreciate it!
Karen its sounds as if you are complaining and looking for some type of validation in regards to the “pain” you went through to obtain a degree.
Since you are/were such a hard worker, why didn’t you perform better in HS or on the SATs and procure a full-ride scholarship? I know I will get crucified for this comment (how shall I say this?), but MSU is not close to being considered in the upper echelon of higher education/learning.
Spare us the hysterics…People deal with their own “perilous” situations each day without trolling for sympathy or trying to make others feel like their path has been less meaningful because it was perhaps a bit less trying. The degree you worked for means no more than my Ivy league degree just because my parents could pay for 90% of school and I could enjoy not only the academics the far north has to offer, but also the fraternities, the sports, and the outdoors.
…Now, if you put yourself through Harvard Medical School by slinging crack rock or turning tricks, then I might be interested.
King-
Are you just an a-hole here, or does it carry over into real life too?
Just askin’.
I like to think I’m actually a pretty damn good guy, but the whining tried my patience.
The sense of entitlement in Karen’s post was infuriating, and I decided to post my thoughts, knowing that some may not agree with it. I think I said what many people think/were thinking about the aforementioned discourse.
Most of us struggle to fulfill our goals, and constant aggressive posts make it seem like the author has a weighty chip on her shoulder that somehow crowns her queen of the “besmirched”.
Karen’s story is neither new, nor enlightening, and shouting it from the mountaintops or constantly repeating it does not make it so.
King, hysterics? Really? Please.
Cro…oh, to hell with it. It’s just not worth the effort. Enjoy.
You’re quite right, Karen. Its not worth the effort. Would that you had come to that conclusion before pouring the whine, so to speak.
Enjoy.
This thread never really got off the ground, did it?
Which is a shame, because whenever I see the picture above it makes me laugh. Kind of bring to mind the Three Musketeers as played by Monty Python.
I’m pretty sure I had a class with the guy making the squirrel-like face.