2, 4, 6, 8, we don't want to have to...what?

Of the thousands of CSU students across California, how many are aware of the fact that almost 24,000 faculty members from all CSU campuses are contemplating "rolling walkouts" (which may become full-on strikes) later this March? That means classes being cancelled without warning and angry professors, librarians and other faculty shouting and waving signs. That means trying to work over the cries of, "CSU is filled with theives!" and the general booing of other union members who cross the picket lines, oh, and no UPD to disrupt them.

Well, I sure wasn't.

I'm not fully educated (pardon the pun) on the subject of the strike. I do know the San Jose Mercury News has told me that the majority of the dispute between the Califonia Faculty Association and the California State University system is over salary, workload, class size and tenure. On average, a full-time, tenured professor working in a CSU makes around $84,000, while about half of the other faculty work with temporary (i.e. yoinked at any time) contracts and make under $43,000. Overall, it's about 18% less than other faculty members across the US. On the other hand, executives voted for a 24% increase in their own salaries and perks.

Now, I didn't grow up with a lot of money. I do know that right now my dad gets around $30,000 from retirement, and that my mom makes about half that (although I'll never see it, but that's another story.) So, I'm probably a very biased judge of what a good salary is. However, with as long as it's been a running joke in our country that teachers are underpaid for all the junk they have to put up with and the work they have to do, it seems that the teachers of the CSU system are being underpaid even to the underpaid.

I can imagine someone wanting to strike about it. But just hold on a second.

At first glance, cancelled classes signal "free days" to party and laze around. Sounds good until you figure a) when the strike ends, all that work will have to be made up, b) those of us living in the dorms are basically paying to be babysat...without babysitters, and c) for everyone around, it pretty much sucks like a Hoover.

How does it suck? Let me count the ways:

1. Faculty
When workers go on strike, they do not get paid. Why? Because they're not working, duh! Also, they have to protest under the shadow of the previous strike members of the 1960's and 1970's, who walked out in demonstrations of social unrest, rather than union disputes. I'm sorry, but there's no "Professor X" coming out of this struggle.

2. The CSU system
Wow, way to show how well colleges are run in California, huh guys? Besides the amount of bad PR, some schools may see an increase of drop outs and transfers to other colleges who don't have teachers that go on strike. Not to mention the amount of high school seniors who may rule out CSUs in the first place...although a certain percentage of them already do.

3. Students
No classes mean no bang for more buck. Really, it's the students who are going to suffer the most with distraught employees and doubtful class schedules. Yeah, and about transferring and all that. How do you get your papers moved if no one's in the office to do it? SJSU itself is notorious for having transcripts, receipts and other papers lost to the abyss. With a strike going on, there may not be anyone to even lose them for us. During union strikes, members of other unions are expect not to cross picket lines. Our own UPD has agreed not to interfere. So food service workers, plumbers, really any other laborers can't come on campus to do things that have to be done. It's like going to a really, really expensive hotel without room service, desk service or even the police to call when you find a body in the mattress. Yay!

Also, faculty members are actually encouraging students to come out of classes (not all teachers at the CSU are in the CFA) and protest with them, which I personally find in bad taste, to say the least. A fellow classmate of mine was ready and rearin' to go to a strike, seeing as this classmate's parents pulled this classmate out of school in the past to help them rally for a different strike. I'm not one to critique parenting skills, but really, depriving your kid of education because you're underpaid doesn't seem that cool to me. We had this problem during the May Day Mexican-American protest last year. However, at least at my school, the protesting was done before and after, with students very strongly encouraged to stay in school, rather than walk out. And that was for issues dealing way beyond tenure and pay.

4. Californian tax-payers
So, where is all this money going to come from, anyway? The CSU claims it has enough money and doesn't need any government support. But the money has to come from somewhere. Student tuitions and fees are going to go up, wage hike or not, and guess who gets to pay for it?

For the most part, I'm glad that the strike is being considered a last-choice option, until other negotiations are undergone. The scary part is that most negotiations have tried and failed, leading closer and closer to an ultimate conclusion...CFA members of the CSU, unite!

So, what are students to do if and when this happens? Here's what I'm doing: staying in school.

While it may look like our 'support' is helping the cause, those in charge and in the media will only see us as lazy students who don't want to be in class. And frankly, those are exactly the students who are going to picket. For me, if my classes will be made available to me, I'm attending them because that's what my parents are paying for. Yes, I know that it's romantic to think that teachers should teach no matter the premise, and I know that without big action the CFA may not be taken seriously. But I do know that as a student, I have the right to have faculty meet my classes at the scheduled times and make presentations appropriate to the course. I will support my teachers who decide to strike by acknowledging their position and giving voice to their cause, but if I have a teacher willing to be there for me, I will try to be there for them.

Go Spartans.