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加州,Pay more taxes?

(2010-09-05 10:29:40) 下一個
Pay more taxes? -- 柏克萊文化

邱鴻安

September 02, 2010 09:00 AM | 2011 觀看次數 | 21 21 評論推薦: | 電郵給朋友 | 打印

柏克萊加大開課,今年大一新生4200人,轉學新生2200人,研究院新生2800人,全部新生加起來差不多達到一萬人,為了向新生提供指導,校方提供不 少資訊,包括校長寫給全校師生、有如施政報告的長篇信件。不過,校方資訊無論如何詳盡和開誠布公,始終是官樣文章,離不開建製的調子,反而一些有心師生所 寫的非官方資訊,更為精采,更能反映出柏克萊的文化。

例如由不署名師生所寫的一份「反新生指導」(disorientation guide),就非常吸引。這份派給全部新生的文件,一開頭就說,校方新生指導不會說的話,例如性與種族歧視、經費被削與學生抗議、以及柏大與BP(在墨 西哥灣造成世紀災難的石油公司)的曖昩關係等,這份文件都會一一揭露,讓學生知道柏大的真實情況。這份文件還呼籲學生就柏大的問題采取行動,並且列出整個 學期的抗議活動和舉行日期,包括10月7日在校園舉行的大規模學生抗議教育經費被削的行動。

不過,最具爆炸性的資訊,應是公共政策學院麥可·奧哈亞教授所寫的一封「給學生的公開信」。這封公開信引起了巨大回響,不僅在校園引起討論,還被灣區報界評為「為加州現狀畫龍點睛的一篇精采文章」。

公開信一開始就說,學生墮入了一個騙局,成為受害人,而欺騙他們的,就是學生的「父母」那一代,亦即奧哈亞教授所屬的嬰兒潮一代。

奧哈亞教授解釋說,柏大新生的「祖父母」那一代的加州人,很有理想和遠見,投入加州的基礎建設,他們建成的公路網、南北輸水道、社會服務和教育製度(公校和三級製大學),成為全國和全球向往的建設。

但 是到了約30年前,亦即柏大新生的父母那一代的加州人,開始興起反稅之心,他們說∶「我的子女已完成學業,還要我繳稅,那不是白繳,於我何益?」於是,從 那時起,加州稅收大減,祖父母那一代的承諾變成了詛咒,教育經費不斷削減,公校撥款排名跌至全國墊底,校舍教室破爛失修,公立大學不斷漲學費,大學生連必 修科都選不到。「柏大可能仍是全球最佳公立大學,但已經開始衰落。」

以上是描述加州從「金州」變為「荒原」的洞見,但奧哈亞教授的公開信還有更精采的一筆∶他傳承了柏大自1960年代初發起言論自由運動以來的社會改革精神,呼籲學生投入改革。

他說,柏大新生有很多事可做,但總的來說,就是要恢複祖父母一代對加州的承諾,如果學生不行動,不但保不住自己的利益,更保不住自己子女的利益,讓下一代承受更大損失。學生應說服父母,恢複對加州的承諾;學生之間更要互相提醒,同心協力挽救加州。


Michael O\'Hara, addresses his students in an Open Letter to them in the Berkeley Blog; the UC Berkeley Professor of Public Policy tells the UC Berkeley students they\'ve been cheated out of a good education by the state\'s bureaucratic system that has denied appropriate funding to colleges and universities.

http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2010/08/24/a-letter-to-my-students/



O\'Hara blasts the effects of Proposition 13 thirty years ago when Californians decided by their votes to not worry about the future education of other people\'s children. Thus, teachers were paid less and less, trained less and less well and school programs have been reduced ever since gradiently and now most significantly.

責罵之一:做父母的不管孩子的公共教育,把麻煩甩給老師,不付錢。
But it\'s the parents also that get some of the heat. parents who took a hike are referred to by O\'Hara and he seems to be referring to the fact that with both parents working, life being very difficult for all, the schools are left with the training and education of children, rather than the parents being partners with the teachers in the process. Volunteering and supporting what the teachers alone cannot provide, like discipline in studies and development of attitudes that serve the student in their participation in a public education.

責罵之二:那些畢業了的校友,賺了大錢,不思回報,不給學校捐款,是白眼狼。
Another group that gets O\'Hara\'s attention, those who have come through the University of California Berkeley who have succeeded as a result of the education that is possible at the University of California, Berkeley and yet they have not taken on the pay it forward attitude of previous generations. These people who have benefited from the premium education have not looked to how they can contribute as others have contributed to the education they found available now suffering under budget crisis after budget crisis.
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