Guardsman - Opinions

Volume 140, Issue #6

Opinions

Special Election

STAFF EDITORIAL

CHARLIE CORRIE / GUARDSMAN

As the highly debated special election nears, voters will make their way to the polls to decide if they want to grant Gov. Schwarzenegger the power to restrict political clout of unions, a teacher’s ability to obtain tenure and ultimate authority over the forever sapped budget.

Proposition 74 is one of the governor’s proposed items. If passed, K through 12 teachers will be required to work five years to obtain job security through tenure, instead of the original standard of two years.

Such a ruling scapegoats the teachers of California for the abysmal state of the public education system — ranked 46th in the nation — when the real issue is the constant cuts made to education.

Proposition 74 will only further hinder teachers’ ability to educate the youth of California. Students are at a high risk of being denied the best possible education they deserve.

The other educational hindrance at hand is Proposition 76, which will take away money already allocated for education in times of “fiscal emergency.”

The governor’s support for Proposition 76 clearly contradicts the widely approved Proposition 98, and is a clear indication that Californians are not in his best interest.

His bid for the costly special election is a feeble attempt to pander to his right-wing audience to raise his abysmal approval ratings and essentially ignores teachers’ pleas for support in the cantankerous debate on public education.

e-mail: editorial@theguardsman.com

The Board of Trustees Serving the Students

BY JON GUNTON
Staff Writer

What many students don’t understand is that a board of eight elected officials decides much of our academic fate at City College.

As students and taxpayers, we trust the board of trustees to administrate our massive institution and spend the money given to us to allow for the most enriching learning experience.

In all forms of government, one must question the motives of elected officials. As recipients of such a large public benefit, we as students must be vigilant in the examination of the people who represent our interests.

Ambition is inherent in politics, and is often the motivator for certain politicians to pursue local positions as stepping-stones to higher profile public office. It is important that the people we elect be focused on the task at hand and not on their personal career goals.

Although one can never fully understand an individual’s intentions or motivations without knowing him or her personally, we can gauge dedication to our institution by his or her actions.

The current board of trustees seems to be focused and concerned primarily with the proper functioning of the college above all else, and for that we are lucky.

There is no crime in wanting to climb the ladder of success in any field. However, if it threatens the effectiveness of one’s current agenda then it becomes a problem.

We must be dedicated as students and citizens to holding the board accountable and responsible. The board works for us, and if their actions ever suggest any wrongdoing or ill motives, then it is our job to relieve them of their current duties.

e-mail: jgunton@theguardsman.com

Same-Sex Marriage Bill Vetoed

BY ALEX K. FONG
Editor

Mary Kelly (right) and Cindy Arvanites (left) celebrated after receiving their marriage license in San Francisco, Feb. 20, 2004. Such jubilation will not happen again with the veto of the same-sex marriage bill.

LOU DEMATTEIS / SPECIAL TO THE GUARDSMAN

No matter what happens with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s initiatives on the Nov. 8 special election ballot, his only legacy will be his failure to address one of the greatest civil rights quandaries since women’s suffrage and Jim Crow.

On Sept. 29, the governor vetoed AB 849, the first marriage equality bill to be passed by an official legislative body in the United States.

He based his decision on the 2000 passage of Proposition 22, which banned same-sex marriage. Signing AB 849 into law would go against the decision of the people, he reasoned.

But the will of the masses should never be substituted for an individual’s sense of right.

The governor clearly believes in equality. He signed four bills to expand gay rights, including one that gives death benefits to the domestic partners of retired public employees should the latter die first.

He signed them in the face of opposition from the conservative interest groups responsible for the Republican Party’s dominance of the American political landscape.

But the Terminator backed down on same-sex marriage. “Hasta la vista,” he said in exchange for whatever ephemeral honors a politician gains from a public life.

Gay people, however, receive nothing. The government does not recognize their spouses or their in-laws. Their children have guardians, not parents. What they call each other in private has no significance.

And that’s the biggest tragedy.

Words have great power, and when people see an object, they know it in words.

Right now, gay people don’t get access to the words they want. Built in shared toil and ache, their family lives are, in the eyes of the government, not worthy of words.

e-mail: managingeditor@theguardsman.com

COMING IN

Faculty Poll

Do you support the tenure initiatives on the ballot this November?

Yes: 0% (0 out of 10)

No: 100% (10 out of 10)

“I cannot support any of the governor’s proposals. He is ill-equipped to govern and bought and paid for by special interests. He is anti-education.”

Phil Pasquini, art

"No. Evaluations for faculty at the K through 12 levels are done by the school principal alone (plenty of room for bias and politics here). Maybe I'd support it if the evaluations were being done by a committee of faculty peers."

Darlene F. Alioto, social sciences

ON THE RECORD

Is the special election in November a waste of City College's money?