By Ron Meyer
Published in the Santa Barbara News-Press
Students walking down Del Playa often brag that Isla Vista accounts for 1 percent of America’s alcohol consumption. The U.S. consumes 482,678,000 gallons of alcohol per year, and in order for this urban legend to be true, every student in I.V. would have to drink the equivalent of more than 150 beers per day. That’s impossible, even for UCSB students.
No one knows the exact alcohol consumption for Isla Vista, but it is evident that the bars and liquor stores in this town are not struggling. Students spend thousands of dollars on alcohol.
It makes me wonder if some of the UC Regents and California legislators have been thinking, “Can’t these kids invest a little more in their education and spend a little less money getting wasted?”
California has been able to keep tuition rates low for years by using a heavy dose of taxpayer subsides. In reaction to their own unruly spending and subsequent budget crisis, Sacramento cut UC funding 20 percent, and left the UC Board of Regents scrambling to find a way to keep the schools afloat.
The Regents have decided to raise tuition rates 15 percent for the remainder of the year and 32 percent next year, bringing 2010-11 rates to $10,302. Students obviously don’t like this idea and have since been organizing protests, garnering news coverage across the city and state.
As a college student who fronts the bill for my schooling, I sympathize with the few students at UCSB who are actually paying for college out of their own pockets. This decision is tough on them.
I don’t sympathize with the majority of students — and probably the majority of protesters — who complain about higher tuition, and then go out the next weekend and spend $50 on booze.
Higher education is a privilege, not a right. One student interviewed on a local news station even went so far as to say she believed the government should be paying for more or all of her education, not less.
I’m not sure my generation grasps that in this context the “government” really means the people who fund the government. Education may be a noble and wise investment for the state, but students must realize that this money comes from normal Californian taxpayers. We don’t have a right to other people’s money.
On second thought, I’m not sure it’s fair to expect students to understand this concept when Sacramento itself doesn’t get it.
Last Wednesday, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office released a report showing the state’s general fund deficit could reach $20.7 billion. The LAO is expecting a $6.3 billion deficit this fiscal year and a $14.4 billion from 2010 to 2011.
Maybe before we demand that students stop binge drinking, we should tell the government to stop binge spending.
The irony of this situation is that college-aged citizens will be forced to deal with the consequences of both of these bingeing actions: our livers will pay the price for the alcohol and our wallets will be enslaved with future taxes.
Frankly, we students cannot afford to develop an entitlement mentality about education or anything else. We should not expect the government to take care of us when they can barely take care of themselves.
The federal government and the state government have not and probably will not stop spending my generation into debt. This year, students have felt the pain of these irresponsible policies through these tuition hikes; the government spent too much money and had to cut education funding.
Students need to learn how to be self-reliant, and while I’m not saying the government should or will stop funding education, I am suggesting that students should not be mad or surprised when the government fails us.
The first step in becoming self-reliant is managing your personal budget. Yes, that probably means buying less alcohol. UC students should expect more budget cuts in the years ahead unless they are willing to hold their politicians accountable.
We students need to spend less time drinking and more time getting informed and politically active — less money on beer and more money on books.
Instead of blindly asking for more funding, students need to advocate for fiscal responsibility. We shouldn’t expect taxpayer handouts, but we should hold the government accountable when it frivolously spends money. These steps will ensure a strong California government and UC system that will be able to offer affordable tuition rates for years to come.
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