Arrest UC Pres. Napolitano! UC Workers/Students Protest Corruption, Privatization & Fees

Go to https://www.change.org/p/university-of-california-regents-rollback-redistribute-restructure-in-the-u-c
It is addressed to University of California Regents
Governor
Jerry Brown
State Representative
Kevin McCarty
The text is:
On April 25, 2017 the California state auditor released a “scathing” report that revealed the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) keeping $175 million in a hidden fund(1) and engaging in shady book-keeping practices. This report also highlighted that UC executive compensation is excessively high(2). This news is disturbing and betrays the public trust.


Therefore we are making 4 demands:


1.Rollback

Given that in January the UC Regents voted to raise tuition for the first time in six years(3), because they claimed to need the $88 million this tuition hike would raise, when the whole time the UC system had more than double this sum, we call for an immediate rollback of the recent tuition hike.


2.Redistribute

In light of the UC continually not paying livable wages to its students and workers we demand that the UC pay a living wage to all of its workers - not just those working over 20 hours per week, and to not exempt contracted workers from this living wage(4). We also demand the UC build more affordable on-campus housing for both students and workers and lower class sizes. The UC can fund these demands with the remainder of the hidden $175 million, after the tuition rollback is paid for, and by cutting the excessive executive compensation.


3.Responsibility

We demand Janet Napolitano to resign for this mismanagement of funds, and for lack of transparency and loss of public trust. As Mercury News reported, “Napolitano’s office interfered in a survey of campuses. Campus statements that were initially critical of the Office of the President were revised, the auditor said, and quality ratings shifted to be more positive.”(1)


4.Restructure

This $175 million dollar question is the last straw in a long series of UC administrative scandals. Last year UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi resigned under pressure(5) after a thirty-six day long student sit-in outside her office(6) after news about excessive compensation from moonlighting on outside boards and conflicts of interest because of those boards. Despite this, the new UC Davis Chancellor, Gary May, will be making more money from his outside board positions than former Chancellor Katehi(7). There has also been a string of inadequately handled sexual harassment cases that have come to light recently, including top professors from Berkeley(8,9,10)) and UCLA (11), a Dean(12), a UC Regent (13), and many more(14).


We believe that the administration is incapable of holding itself accountable. Unfortunately when students try to hold it accountable, the administration has a history of repressing student activists including but not limited to: beating them with batons(15), pepper spraying them(16), drawing loaded guns on unarmed peaceful students(17), and pressing trumped up charges on them(18).


Therefore we demand structural reform, including:

More oversight power by students and workers - expand the number of student regents (students need more representation than just two representatives for the regents who aren’t even elected by the students) and add union representatives to the board, or abolish the regent system altogether and move toward a more democratic governance by students and workers
No more outside board positions for Chancellors. Our chancellors should be dedicated and focused to their single duty to the UC community, and not allowed to hold outside jobs that would compromise their jobs as chancellor.
Better policies and procedures for preventing and handling sexual harassment.

Our school needs to be a place of higher learning rather than a place of higher profits. We must resist the growing administrative power and the incentive to run the UC like a corporation for their own profit. We call on all residents of California and students involved with the universities to sign this petition and support our efforts for a more equitable and democratic university.


Footnotes:

1 http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/04/25/california-auditor-slams-uc-presidents-office-over-175-million-in-hidden-funds/
2 http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-uc-audit-20170425-story.html
3 http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-uc-regents-tuition-hike-01262017-story.html
4 http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Why-UC-s-new-minimum-wage-falls-short-6445602.php
5 http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article74181532.html
6 https://firekatehiblog.wordpress.com/
7 http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article135583378.html
8 http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/11/15/uc-berkeley-students-furious-over-new-sexual-harassment-case/
9 http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/03/23/top-uc-berkeley-professor-accused-of-sexual-harassment/
10 http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-uc-berkeley-astronomer-sexual-harassment-20151013-story.html
11 http://nymag.com/thecut/2017/01/ucla-professor-accused-of-sexual-harassment-returns-to-post.html
12 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/18/uc-berkeley-sexual-harassment-dean-sujit-choudhry-deal
13 http://dailybruin.com/2016/11/06/sexual-harassment-by-uc-regent-faces-backlash-from-bruin-community/
14 http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/28/university-of-california-details-emerging-on-100-sexual-harassment-cases-systemwide-new-documents-show/
15 http://www.dailycal.org/2012/02/21/birgeneau-emphasized-enforcing-no-tent-rule-emails-show/
16 https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/uc-davis-pepper-spraying-raises-questions-about-role-of-police/2011/11/20/gIQAOr8dfN_story.html?utm_term=.96722feb02cc
17 https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/e8ma3/uc_cop_pulls_gun_on_students_lies_about_being/
18 https://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/why-the-davis-dozen/content?oid=5639065