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Thousands of students turned out Thursday night at UNLV for a boisterous rally against Gov. Jim Gibbons’ proposed budget cuts, which would hit the school particularly hard. Organizers of the rally drew support from a barrage of fliers posted around the campus announcing the event. A town-hall meeting is planned at the school on Monday.
Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009 | 2 a.m.
In a display of campus activism not seen for years, more than 3,000 demonstrators converged on UNLV’s academic mall Thursday night to protest cuts in higher education funding.
Students Rally Against Budget Cuts
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About 2,000 college students and supporters rallied at UNLV's campus protesting a proposed 36 percent budget cut to higher education.
Sun Archives
- College students band together, rally against budget cuts (1-22-2009)
- Chancellor calls Nevada schools a ‘disaster’(1-23-2009)
- UNLV fundraising campaign falls short, so deadline extended (12-18-2008)
- Emotional farewells at Regent’s meeting(12-5-2008)
- Rogers to budget cut protestors: Glad you’re here (12-4-2008)
- Fee hikes may become too steep to endure (12-4-2008)
- UNLV fundraisers fighting to the finish (9-1-2008)
- With that pay, no way, many would-be graduate students tell UNLV (5-11-2008)
- Some say setting fees every two years gives universities a blank check (2-16-2008)
The crowds were so thick that dozens of students climbed a few flights of stairs and hopped a fence to access a rooftop balcony on nearby John S. Wright Hall to get a better view of the evening’s proceedings.
To express themselves and stand out among the masses, participants waved placards bearing handwritten words of protest, many aimed at Gov. Jim Gibbons, whose budget proposal slashes state support for higher education by 36 percent.
Here are a few of the signs, and what the students who carried them had to say.
“EPIC FAIL GIBBONS”
UNLV freshman James Valera’s sign used the slang phrase, popular on the Internet, that turns a verb into shorthand for “failure.”
“Epic means really big. That guy’s failing big at what he’s doing,” Valera said of Gibbons.
“I’m scared that prices are going to go up, because I’m paying my own tuition,” said Valera, a full-time nursing student who lives at home to save money and works full time as a Sam’s Club phone salesman.
Like many classmates, Valera was pleased but surprised by the size of Thursday’s rally. Past demonstrations have been much smaller, drawing, at most, a few hundred participants. Last year few students bothered to show up at town hall meetings on cuts.
Thursday’s protest was the first Valera attended. The experience energized him, and he said he’ll take part in future rallies.
“I feel like I’m part of the community,” he said.
“Gibbons — Cut your texting, not education”
Because she holds two jobs in addition to studying computer engineering at UNLV, Chequala Fuller, a sophomore, doesn’t have a lot of spare time for text-
ing. She works as an undergraduate researcher for the Engineering College and as a leasing consultant for a local student-geared apartment community.
Like Valera, she worries that budget cuts will force the university to raise tuition, making it difficult for students like her to afford an education.
She apparently didn’t have time to make her own sign, either. She picked up hers from a pile of signs that protest organizers had made. It referred to the revelation last year that Gibbons had used his state cell phone to exchange 867 text messages over six weeks with a woman who was not a state employee.
“Gibbons makes teddy bears cry!!”
“If teddy bears can cry, that’s the worst thing that can happen,” explained Sangeeta Ullal, a master’s student studying psychology at UNLV.
She also earns a stipend teaching and researching as a graduate assistant and worries that she will lose her funding as a result of budget cuts.
The amount most departments at UNLV offer graduate assistants — $10,000 per academic year for master’s students and $12,000 for doctoral candidates — is lower than what many Western schools offer, putting UNLV at a disadvantage in recruiting.
An erosion of that funding would signal a lack of commitment to graduate education.
Ullal said Thursday’s turnout shows “we won’t just sit and take it.”
An international student from Canada, Ullal said if she loses her graduate assistantship, “I would go back to Canada or go to some other school that is willing to fund me.”
“Kiss our butts, budget cuts”
Eric Carreau, a senior studying economics at UNLV, and Emmanuel Espiritu, a freshman studying business marketing at the College of Southern Nevada, have a long list of gripes about proposed reductions.
Carreau worries that the best teachers will flee Nevada, drawn elsewhere by better opportunities. Espiritu frets that colleges will reduce class offerings.
“A lot of people won’t be able to graduate,” he said. “People aren’t going to get the career they wanted.”
A lack of educational opportunities would hurt the economy, preventing people from gaining skills they need to land higher-paying jobs, Carreau said.
The flip side of the friends’ “Kiss” sign carried a second message, inspired by President Barack Obama: “THIS IS NOT THE CHANGE WE NEED.”
“(VEILED OBSCENITY) CUTS”
Josh Koroghli, a junior studying biology at Nevada State College, said an erosion in state funding for higher education will hurt students’ ability to graduate in a timely manner because it will limit the number of classes offered.
“The way the education is going, I wouldn’t want my kids to grow up here,” said Koroghli, who aspires to attend pharmacy school in Nevada.
If Koroghli’s observations are any indication, Thursday’s rally could be the beginning of a movement.
Student leaders mobilized peers through an advertising blitz that included fliers Koroghli said he saw “in every bathroom, on every wall.” Organizers printed 3,000 form letters protesting cuts in education, and all were signed at the rally.
On Friday, a Web site student governments started to fight budget reductions exhorted people to attend a town-hall meeting Monday at UNLV on cuts.
Savenevadastudents.org carried this message: “THANK YOU FOR SHOWING UP IN FORCE! Nevada’s Students have been noticed. Now you need to be heard.”
Charlotte,
Please try to report facts. If I want opinions, I will make up my own.
Would you be kind enough to state where the reporter gave her opinions? She quoted protesters, who were at a protest. She stated the facts: what graduate assistants make, that it is lower than other places, and, in the only comment that could be seen as the reporter's opinion but is in fact true, further cuts would be seen as a lack of commitment to graduate education.
michaelgreen, I agree. It's a story about a rally against proposed cuts. End of story.
I bet skisailmtb is worried Nevada will have to tax some of his ski, sail and mountain biking money.
Maybe the first commenter is the editor of the R-J, trying to spread his bile and poison to other sites.
I have to admit this is a more of "news story" than most other articles on the Sun.
They usually put a lot of subjective opinion into a "news story" on Gibbons or similar topics.
They do not have to do that this time because they are reporting actual subjective opinionate statements.
It would have made it a more meaningful story if it had some balance. Perhaps, some statements from people who realize that there will be budget cuts to higher ed no matter what happens. (Shsss....do not tell anybody that...it is a top secret at the Sun)
Of course, the Sun is not interested in writing good news story articles except when they are obviously trying for news award.
I am happy that they go the obvious over-the- top opinionate route because it greatly weakens the power of the Sun.
Given that you claim the Sun is biased, do you believe the R-J is unbiased, Nance?
LVRJ has professional news story articles.
Can you point to one news story in the LVRJ in the past week that is a hit piece on Democrats with subjective opinion statements in it?
Sure you will find subjective opinion statements in the editorial pages and in the columnists sections. That is were they belong. Just a FYI, LVRJ has more left-wing columnists than right-wing columnists. The Sun has zero right-wing columnists.
The Sun has many "news stories" that have a ton of subjective opinion statements in them.
"The Sun has many "news stories" that have a ton of subjective opinion statements in them."
Funny, you have made that accusation alot but can't point to a single instance, or give a single quote.
This from jfnance32, who loves to quote! (And "quote," right jfnance32?!?)
I wonder why jfnance32 won't give us a few examples of this horrible, horrible bias by the Sun...
Nance... you make me laugh. "LVRJ has professional news story articles." And how about those "liberal" columnists. And Editorial board. I just love that Vin Suprynowicz guy. He's so "centered". And the Big Guy, the Editor; Thomas Mitchell. He's VERY liberal. Yep. Yessiree. Very subjective reporting over there. Mm Hmm. Oh, And that lovable Sherm. He's a real lefty, eh? You sir, are just a laugh riot.
gmag39....You do know the difference between a news story sections and editorial and columnist sections....right?
Columnist and editorial sections are expected to be bias.
Are you in grade school are something?
Below are some examples of subjective opinion statements that should not be in objective news story article.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jan...
"Gov. Jim Gibbons' budget would take a major toll on more than 8,700 retired state workers."
This is a subjective opinion by the writer. The writer should present the facts and let the reader decide if they are a major toll or not.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jan...
"He's not about to see Gibbons dismantle that legacy, even if it means joining with a Democrat to oppose his governor."
This is conjecture on the part of the writer. He should not be putting his guesses in a news story. He should be quoting Raggio and not putting words in his mouth.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jan...
"At moments, he was like a teenager who has tell his parents that he wrecked the family car, but puts off the task with buttery good news and pointless small talk."
This subjective opinion would make a good colorful remark in the editorial section but does not belong in a news story.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jan...
"If the economy rebounds, the governor would be "happy'' to call a special session of the Legislature to restore some of the reductions, says Josh Hicks, chief of staff for Gibbons."
The only reason why the writer is putting the word "happy" in quotation marks is to make an digg at Gibbons.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jan...
"On its current path -- the path of the first-term Republican governor -- Nevada will be an adult playground, a tax haven and an experiment in modern social Darwinism."
Excellent....excellent....editorial comment....and should not be part of a news article.
Why is the name of reason does anyone pay any attention to "Nance" and allow yourselves to be baited by him? Especially you Dr. Michael Green - this guy "Nance" isn't worth your time or talents!
Please think twice before even risking giving "Nance" any creedance people - I look at who's writing the comments first, and when I see it's another comment from "Nance" I just scroll on by it!
Our time is valuable - let's not waste anymore time on these radical, right-wing, neo-con, nut-cases who have nearly broken the back of our military and brought us to the brink of bankruptcy over these past years!
I'm not forgetting anything, but I don't have time to waste on mean, rude, nasty sociopaths who we can never convince no matter how many facts we present objectively - they're full of BULL and NUTS!
poor nance. Your right johnathan_Abbinett.
He gets so mad! Boy, do NOT CHALLENGE the great and powerful Nance! He will get filled with false bluster and puff his chest out and huff & puff and call you names! The Wise One will tell you off! You betcha, we'll sure be put in OUR place in a hurry by the Omnipotent One. Ya, sure.
Nance is the WIZARD from OZ.
"pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"
Good turnout kids. I urge you all go on a hunger strike and remain in the commons until the cuts are fully restored. Here is your source: NV Elected Officials Yearly Budget of $5,714,081,857. Let the elected officials take paycuts, reduce staff, agree to defer payments until next year. Hold a students' Tea Party and don't eat until they back down. Gandhi, T. Paine, MLK, = Epic Win!