FACCC Links Bar

FACCC_bannerpage2.gif (68713 bytes)

Question of the Month

January 2003

Politicians have told faculty that students are the sleeping political giants in the community college system. Is it a good idea for faculty to mobilize students for political action? What are the pros and cons?

Please e-mail responses to Communications Director Keri Goulart, kgoulart@faccc.org by Jan. 31 (use the subject "January Question")
Your responses will be published here at www.faccc.org and may be published in other FACCC publications.

ANSWERS RECEIVED:

Thu 1/23/2003 2:19 PM, nabrown@cabrillo.edu (Nancy A. Brown)
I think both that we could strongly suggest to students that they mobilize themselves and that we should assist them. We would not doing this for our benefit but for theirs.

Tue 1/21/2003 1:32 PM, jstroh@SWC.CC.CA.US (Joan Stroh)
It's a tricky issue. If students don't know the facts they will tend to register as Independents, which now means they can't vote in the primaries.
Getting them to register doesn't mean they will vote!

Thurs 1/16/2003 5:28 PM, prenner@glendale.edu (Peggy Renner)
I would not say the students are a "sleeping" giant. Our students are very active. I do think that if they focus on the budget problems facing the state and the proposed solutions, they will be a loud voice.

Wed 1/15/2003 5:28 PM, bob_miller@wvmccd.cc.ca.us (Bob Miller)
I think we should. Most of them can vote. The politicians are taking their education away from them. We may have to be careful on what/how we mobilize them so it doesn't run contrary to any laws.

Wed 1/15/2003 4:46 PM, piercebob@fhda.edu (Bob Pierce)
Yes, it is a good idea to mobilize the students, for not only are they concerned at the rising cost of their education (largely done because traditionally they will not squawk, while the wealthy will and do) but the impeding "inevitable" war with Iraq has begun to concentrate their minds on political matters. Most young people are environmentally aware, also.

Cons: I can't think of a reason why we would not want our young people to become more involved in the political process except for the fact that most do not read any papers, are easily manipulated by whatever cause or leader that comes along, and often vote with little understanding of the issues. But how does that make them any different than the bulk of voters?

Wed 1/15/2003 3:59 PM, Hanna@sbcc.edu (Karolyn Hanna)
I would say yes. But it needs to be done very carefully to avoid becoming "political in the classroom" (i.e., advocating a position). We can, however, describe the situation and discuss implications and encourage students to exercise their right to write letters to legislators, etc.

Wed 1/15/2003 3:11 PM, dyoung@Cerritos.edu (Dave Young)
No. The danger is that there is an inherent self interest conflict between what is good for the faculty themselves and what may or may not be in the students' best interest.

I'm pretty confident that it is the very politicians to whom you refer that have created this mess in the first place. I hope that they are not suggesting that we should encourage a bunch of essentially narcissistic twenty-somethings to find a solution to a problem that has so effectively alluded the generation that created it.

Californians think they can vote and tax themselves into wealth and prosperity. The last time I looked, it didn't work that way. My students suffer under the same delusion I did when I was their age, and that is, that there really is someone other than me out there who is gonna take care of me. Well, it took me thirty plus years to learn that there isn't anyone but me who has that job. Our generation's belief that it is otherwise is exactly the problem. I'm really afraid that we may encourage actions that might burden future generations of Californians with a debt that they'll never see the end of.

Question of the Month Archives

Do you have suggestions for future questions?
E-mail FACCC Communications Director Keri Goulart with "Question Idea" in the subject line.