protest.

Because of budget cuts, class cuts, and fee hikes, pretty much every UC and CSU in the state has already had its share of rallies and strikes. I don't know if anyone else feels the way I do, but when I see chalk writings on all concrete surfaces imaginable telling me to go to the next rally to fight budget cuts, I can't help but roll my eyes. Sure, budget cuts at colleges are a serious issue--especially at SF State, have you seen the new schedules for next semester? I glanced at them and my first thought was, this cannot be all the available classes. But I seriously don't think these petty little rallies hold the answer to our problems. For one, most times we have to cut class--the thing we are fighting to maintain--to do them. Another good point is that these strikes aren't doing enough to make an impact. They are just a small irritance to those who are approving these budget cuts and fee hikes.

I think Adriel Luis of Illiteracy found a better way to solve our problems:

Organize a quarter-off. It will be the easiest revolution ever. Take a vacation. Get a job. Do something you’ve always wanted to do. Get away from school. You know how easy this will be to sell to other college students. You/Mom/Dad won’t have to pay ridiculous school fees. You won’t have to pay back student loans yet. You can earn extra money. You can organize an educational trip to Madrid or Paris or Argentina, etc. No midterms or finals. AND it’s for a cause??? Watch how quick those fees drop if you can convince even a quarter of those undergraduates how easy, beneficial, and personally advantageous taking a quarter off of school can be. They will start negotiating even if they catch word that you are actively organizing a college strike. A REAL strike. A strike that YOU can afford at this point of your life. They can’t. And that’s where your power lies. In the extreme case that this doesn’t work, you can and will go back or, if you really can’t afford it, drop out of UC Davis. But this is what the situation would have forced you to do anyways. There is no real loss for you.

If this was done on a wide enough scale, I could definitely see this working. Not only will it cause the system to lose money, this would show that the students are serious in their demands. The only thing is getting people on board. I myself would be hesitant to do this for a number of reasons. But could you imagine how successful this could be, if done right?