OPINION & EDITORIAL
Los Angeles Collegian — Wednesday, September 24, 2014
FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!
EDITORIAL
Water is a Human Right! BY JESSICA BRECKER
ILLUSTRATION BY JOSE TOBAR
REALLY METRO, NOT AGAIN
As MTA increases its fares, it is time for student and community leaders to band together and commit to working on a solution that will alleviate the public’s burden and not leave Metro in the red. RICHARD MARTINEZ Certainly the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s recent fare hike is nothing less than what any other business would do when faced with a deficit. L.A. riders’ share of Metro’s operating costs is reportedly 26 percent, and this most recent fare hike is an attempt by the agency to bring that portion up to 36 percent. Revenue generated through local sales taxes and state fuel taxes cover the rest of the agency’s operating budget. However, it is not the wealthy who utilize the agency’s services, and it would do Metro a lot of good to remember that. There have to be hundreds, if not thousands in Southern California who simply cannot afford the new fares regardless of how small the increase may seem. Many have had to rummage through change jars to come up with bus fare. One simply cannot ask a business
to lower prices on its products because they are not affordable, but Metro is partially funded by the state. As a publicly funded entity, its first concern should be how to better serve its customers. Increased fares may be manageable for the employed masses of Los Angeles, and maybe even beneficial to those that will use the new transfer rule, but students are hardly in need of incurring a new expense. Considering the fact that the California Employment Development Department reports that unemployment in Los Angeles remains at 9.9 percent, the MTA needs to rethink its strategy. This is doing nothing more than disenfranchising the city’s minority and poorest residents, which reportedly make up about 80 percent of Metro’s ridership. The Bus Riders Union has even called the fare hike a civil rights violation, but complaints and pro-
Dealing with Life, Staying in School BY LORENZO QUINTANA As students we spend countless hours studying, doing homework and coming to classes, and sometimes that wears a person down. Many decide to give up on their careers because of personal, f inancial, or time management problems. It is apparent that students are succumbing to their problems now more than ever, and the recent enrollment numbers show it. It’s unfortunate that so many people are opting not to come to college. I am in the unfortunate position of having to leave school to attend to personal matters at home. I want to come to school, learn more and work toward having a successful career, and it saddens me to know that I cannot. As sad as it is, I know I’m not the only one going through this. There are countless other students
out there who are hoping for the ideal opportunity to come back to school. I have had to learn firsthand the difficulties of having to come to college and go to work and still try to find time for my personal life. Surely, this is a big reason why a lot of students decide to not come to school. In my case, I’m in a really difficult position to where I absolutely cannot stay in school. I have tried to think of other options or ways I could work things out and stay in school, but right now I have to make the best decision for me. I would hope that most other students would do the same, and think of any way possible to stay in school and continue to aim higher. Everybody’s situation is different, but all I hope for is that more students choose to stick it out and continue to follow their dreams. I would do anything to just stay in school and not worry about everything else in life. People who are fortunate enough to be able to come to school and be successful, have no reason to quit and should take advantage of the opportunities they have been given. Some people would do anything to just be in school.
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tests will do little to stop MTA from implementing the fare increases – currently on hold – scheduled for 2017 and 2020. A definitive drop in ridership might, but that’s not likely to happen as the only reason anyone uses MTA’s services, is because there is no other choice. L.A.’s mayor, Eric Garcetti and Metro’s Board of Directors recognize that being able to get to school is key for student success. According to a motion released on May 22, “[students who] attend school regularly are more likely to graduate, and have lower rates of incarceration, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, and chronic disease.” If the well-being of L.A. students is really something MTA cares about, it will implement a freeze on fare hikes for students, and consider ways to help impoverished riders. Local and state governments must also find a way to subsidize programs that affect the quality of life of their constituents.
Fare Hikes Shortchange Patrons BY DAVE MARTIN Whether we drive our own car, or take public transportation, people need to be able to get to their dest inat ions, and those of us who rely on the bus or train to get from place to place are going to pay more from now on. Metro had some very reasonable prices in the past. Well, those days are over. With prices going up to $1.75 for a one-way fare, and up to $25 and $100 for the weekly and monthly passes respectively, it is going to be a struggle to come up with the money for Metro fare. It is probably safe to assume that most students would prefer to spend that kind of money on books, or something else for class, and not on a bus pass. If I want to continue coming to LACC, then I have to cough up the money to be able to attend my classes. Let’s face it, anyone who goes to college should be entitled to a discounted bus pass. We are all making an effort to come here to learn, and trying to improve our lives. It is a sacrifice, but it is worth it. If Metro continues to raise their prices, many of us are going to be left out, with no way to get around.
I had never been to Detroit before, but I had heard the words “bad” and “crime” constantly associated with it. What I saw could easily be what Los Angeles looks like in the future. A future in which our most precious resource c o u l d be taken away before we are even finished taking it for granted. Water is the new oil. We might not be a ghost town yet, but like Detroit, our infrastructure is ageing. In the midst of one of the worst droughts California has ever faced, we are watching it crumble. The rupture of the 90-year-old water main on Sunset Boulevard in July sent a geyser some 30 feet into the air, leaving the street in ruins and flooding several historic UCLA buildings. According to the L.A. Times, 8 to 10 million gallons of water was lost in the three hours city officials said it took to shut the water off. Earlier this month a 66-yearold water-main in Encino also burst, damaging and flooding streets and backyards. Netroots Nation 2014 had a huge turnout this summer, and almost all of its 1,000 plus participants joined the fight to turn the water back on for nearly half of the city’s’ residents. I was there representing the LACC Collegian and The Newspaper Guild-CWA. A jolly old lady covered in buttons with slogans like “sluts vote” and “I went to jail with Rev. Barber” checked me in when I arrived. I was immediately handed a flyer by a random young activist who told me to join a march the next day. Since I had a camera around my neck, I was asked to please bring it along to help the protest get exposure. The very next day, I joined National Nurses United, The Robin Hood Tax, and over a thousand protestors, as they assembled outside the Cobo Convention Center for a march to Downtown Detroit’s Hart Plaza. The purpose of the march was to declare a public health emergency and to “demand a moratorium on the unprecedented water shutoffs in Detroit.” Citizens peered at us from the few buildings that were not boarded up, as we passed chanting “no water, no peace” and “fight, fight, fight, water is a human right.” Quite a few stood at windows and raised their fists with us. They were young. They were old. They were black. They were white. They were rich. They were poor. But they had two things in common: they were American, and they were all descending on
Hart Plaza in Downtown Detroit Michigan, fists held high, faces and voices defiant. A huge majority of them were elderly. Many walked with the help of canes or walkers. One old lady attached to an oxygen tank on wheels was picked up by a strapping young man pedaling a pedicab, a large tricycle with a bench attached, where she joined her friend. Dressed up in flamboyant mock “old lady” get-ups like psychedelic Susan B. Anthonys, they waved a sign that read “Raging Grannies.” Scannell, the driver of the pedicab, told me why he believed the city was doing this. “[It] seemed like the water board was trying to make a point, but was sadly mistaken by going after easy targets or ‘little people,’” Scannell said. We were blocking nearly all the streets of downtown Detroit. Commuters did not seem at all amused as they tried to get through and I wondered if we were breaking the law. Was I going to get arrested like the little old lady who checked me in? We were definitely creating a public nuisance! Detroit police ended up arresting nine demonstrators, including one in a wheelchair, according to National Nurses United.” However the protest drew enough numbers and enough journalists that it caused Mayor Mike Duggan to impose a monthlong moratorium on the shut-offs, and thousands had their water turned back on. Unfortunately the moratorium ended on Aug. 25. That is still an incredible win on our part. I like to think we relieved the suffering of many people. It is possible we also saved some lives. After the protest was over, I started to head back to the Cobo Center. As I crossed the street I over head a lady having a conversation on her cell phone. “I’m so proud of these young people,” she was saying, “They showed up!” Even though shocking images of seriously depleted reservoirs and parched river beds are all over the internet, it is easy to avoid reality when a cool drink of water is readily available at our taps and we can take as long a shower as we want. Just imagine if our water was shut off right now. This could be us. In fact, this could be the whole country. The one thing that touches me most of all is seeing people who are of advanced age, in some cases in wheel chairs even, exhibit an energy and drive to fight for a future they won’t be around to see. I mean, some of them, are 70, 80 years old and willing to go to jail for what is right! We should all be so brave. The least we can do for these raging grannies and grandpas is to fight alongside them! No water, no peace!
UNDERSTAFFED STUDENT STORE WASTES STUDENT TIME BY GLORIA LEE Lines to enter the store in the Student Union are ridiculously long and will most likely continue to be a major nuisance for at least the next two weeks. We have fees to pay, classes to add or drop, and counselors to meet and standing around waiting in huge lines is a luxury we cannot afford. If the college administration were better prepared for the large influx of students, we would not be wasting so much valuable time. Hard pressed for time due to back-
to-back classes, I get my lunch from vending machines or the student store. I usually go to the store since most of the vending machines on campus do not accept credit cards, or bills larger than a dollar. Regardless of needing course supplies, students are discouraged to even enter the student store because of the long line to drop off their bags. They go in and have to navigate a crowded store in order to get what they need, only to see a jaw-dropping line that encircles the entire store. Afterwards, they are forced to wait in another long line to pick up their bags. In the future, the college administration should think about adding more staff at the beginning of the semester so that they are not shorthanded. A visit to the student store should not have to feel like standing in a line at an amusement park.
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