An “occupy” movement at Pierce College would not work and it does not seem to be working at ELAC either because they are, for lack of a better reference, are shooting the messenger.
The schools, to everyone’s surprise, do not control the budget cuts. What they do control is the courses offered. The budget cuts are made by the government and not the schools or school officials.
Camping out in front of the Administration Building and Student Services Building to an issue that the school has no control over raises the question: do these protestors know what they are protesting for?
I stress the fact that the government controls the budget because this “occupy” movement argues that they are protesting the budget cuts and try to lower the cost of education. What is Pierce or ELAC to do? They take no joy in not being able to provide for their students.
If these protestors really wanted change then they would have headed up to Sacramento and protested there. That is where the problem is and that is where the problem will be solved. Let our so called representatives know how we feel about the cuts and the cost of education.
An “occupy” movement would not work at Pierce because of past experiences. The last rally that was held here could more or less be called a flop. ASO were to support them, but pulled out at the last minute.
They shot themselves in the foot when they changed the location of the rally and time. How are you going to accomplish anything if you cannot have an exact place and time to begin your protest? It might also help if they actually advertise their cause. They needed to get the word out there about this, but they failed to do so. Many students did not know what was going on the day of the rally. That must have really helped their cause.
This not to say that these protest will not accomplish anything; they might and might not. One thing is for certain it would not work at Pierce. The past attempts have fallen short of their goals. It’s great to see many of my fellow peers involved with school, but without organization they might as well be a mob.
