SDS is organizing a mass protest of the modern day fascist war criminal Karl Rove.
On Thursday, December 3rd at 6:30 pm students and community groups will rally in force outside the UWM Union to say "war criminals are not welcome here!" and "Fund Education, Not Occupation!"
Please join the facebook group (which has exceeded the size of the speaking event)
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=168942391403&ref=nf
Karl Rove was in Milwaukee this summer to speak at a private meeting with the MMAC on union-busting strategies. SDS joined Labor to protest in force: http://sds-mke.blogspot.com/2009/07/sds-joins-labor-to-protest-karl-rove.html
11/19/09
Protest Karl Rove at UWM
11/17/09
In Solidarity with Striking Graduate Employees
Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) stands in solidarity with the Graduate Employees' Organization at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the striking workers of CUPE 3906 at McMaster University in Ontario. Students, Faculty, and Graduate Employees share the dream of quality higher education that is affordable for all students, and a good place to work for all educators. We also understand that education should never be just a privilege, but a right. Milwaukee SDS thanks the workers and students in the struggle for their admirable efforts in propelling the important fight for education and workplace rights.
Support the GEO at UIUC:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/GEO/171984109397#/pages/GEO/171984109397?v=info
and CUPE 3906:
http://unit1bargaining.wordpress.com/
11/5/09
UWM Education Rights Campaign
Click on Image for full size
We're students, faculty, and staff fighting back against the unjust budget cuts, pay cuts, and tuition hikes at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Justice for students and workers at UWM!
1) Chop from the top!
We want the Chancellor and high level administrators of the university to take a pay cut from their six-figure salaries before deciding to cut salaries of faculty and staff. Currently, the Chancellor is making $307,000, a 3% pay raise from last year. The Chancellor is also accepting other benefits that include money to pay for his million-dollar condo, a car, and $20,000 a year from the UWM Foundation. The Chancellor accepts all this and more while cutting all faculty and staff pay by 3%, a net 5% loss after a 2% salary increase was canceled.
2) Transparency now!
“We will address issues relating to the university’s budget with openness and transparency,” stated Chancellor Santiago on December 1, 2008. So where is the transparency? After the Chancellor called for all Deans to cut their departments by five percent, we demand to know exactly what is being cut and who is making these decisions. We demand that staff, students and faculty be part of the decision making process. We demand this information be easily accessible to the public. Who does the university work for?
3) Education first!
Students are continuing to pay a greater percentage of their educational costs. The university is raising tuition by 5% for the next two years. This leaves thousands of students struggling to figure out a way to remain in school. On average, students at UW-Milwaukee work at jobs for more hours than all other students in the Wisconsin university system. We demand a tuition freeze and increased money for need-based scholarships. An urban university must reflect the urban community.
4) Academic freedom!
We demand free, fair and open discussion of issues on campus. Students and employees have the right to organize unions and other associations at the university. The university administration must not try to influence or interfere with the rights of students and employees to share information and perspectives on issues affecting us.
Campaign sponsors:
Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Milwaukee Graduate Assistants Association (MGAA), The Association of University of Wisconsin Professionals (TAUWP), Students Equalizing Rights Forever (SERF), Students United for Immigrant Rights at UWM (SURFRIR), Progressive Students of Milwaukee (PSM), UWM Association of South American Students (ASAS), Black Student Union (BSU), Jews for Justice, Systematic Peace Project, Colombia Action Network at UWM, Latin America Solidarity Committee, Latino Student Union (LSU), Black Graduate Student Alliance, National Society of Black Engineers at UWM (NSBE)
http://www.educationrightscampaign.com
Editorial: The War on Students
When I was 17 I signed a four-year contract with the U.S. Air Force, for a chance to go to college without incurring a paralyzing amount of student debt. I was able to meet young men and women from all walks of life, but the one thing we had in common was that we were from modest backgrounds, searching for opportunity. Young people join the military for the chance to go to college or to receive other basic needs that their lives in civilian society just didn’t offer them. By far, the biggest opportunity these young people desire, is higher education. These are the working class and oppressed nationality youth who are offered a “way out” if they will serve on the front lines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The United States spends $750,000 per year for each soldier sent to Afghanistan by President Obama. In comparison, a student can attend a public university for an average of $7,300 a year. Yet, this economic system enlists poor and oppressed people to fight its wars instead of sending them to school. This system saves the real opportunities for corporations that are built to profit from war. While wealthy families seldom worry about paying their child’s tuition, working students have to earn their higher education through military enlistment, or piles of debt to banks that are making record profits on student loans.
The banks who are making profits on low-income students are also robbing hard-working people through hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts. This has pushed many students to drop out, move back in with their parents, or even join the military. Many university students are forced to juggle education with part time jobs, when they can find them. Corporations and universities take advantage of working class students’ cheap part time labor, so they can cut good union jobs with benefits. This contributes of course, to unemployment and a downward spiral of debt and desperation.
With so much joblessness, the prospects are not looking good for recent college graduates. We all probably know a few college graduates who have been out of school for a couple years and are still unemployed or underemployed. This has contributed to record enlistment numbers for the U.S. Military this year, as university students and high school graduates scramble to stay afloat in a backwards economy. Clearly, this is not a formula for the peaceful, sustainable society we desire. It is no surprise therefore, that the United States is in an economic crisis.
The gross mismanagement of national priorities is leaving working class and oppressed nationality, and immigrant youth with shrinking access to higher education. This incredible rate of debt spending on two occupations, and billions of dollars squandered on greedy banks and the wealthy elite is leaving us, the working class youth and future of this country with little opportunity. Past generations have left us with the largest debt in the world, ever. We cannot ignore this problem for our children to deal with.
Without the right to education, this pattern will continue to dismantle our future, piece by piece, hitting low income, immigrant, and oppressed nationality students the hardest. If the ruling class had their way, universities would become private corporate training grounds for the children of the wealthy. We can’t accept education for the privileged any longer. We have to demand education for everyone!
All people should be able to learn important skills in college, regardless of class, gender, or race. Young people don’t deserve to be sent to war, or indebted to banks simply for seeking essential knowledge. If President Obama sends just ten soldiers home from Afghanistan, he can send 1,000 to college. Fund Education, Not Occupation! Bailout for Education, Not for Corporations!
Jacob Flom is a member of Students for a Democratic Society
11/1/09
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