As we get ready to kick off the new semester, we wanted to
look back at 2009.
Here on campus - and across the country -
students are taking action. We’re volunteering our time, educating the public,
and working together for change.
Here at UC
Berkeley, we’re excited about what we’ve accomplished this fall. Take a
look:
Global Warming Solutions: We’re
calling for local, national, and international action to solve global warming. To support the first national legislation on global
warming we generated 102 calls on campus to Senator Feinstein. Across
the country our volunteers generated 4,300 calls.
Hunger and Homelessness: It’s been a
tough year for many American families. On
campus we joined the 9/11 National Day of Service by organizing a change drive
to raise food donations for local shelters.
And in November we participated in the National Hunger Awareness week by
hosting a week of events on campus including a clothing drive, speaker night,
and a film screening to raise awareness and collect donations for those in need.
Making Higher Education Affordable: In
September we helped pass the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA)
through the House. SAFRA will increase financial aid for students by $87
billion by cutting subsidies to banks and private lenders like Sallie Mae and
Citibank. Since September we’ve been building support for the bill in the
Senate. On campus we participated in the
National Raising Pell Week of Action by hosting a call in day to Senator
Feinstein. Across the country 10,000
students called, wrote, emailed, and tweeted their Senators asking them to take
action.
Making Health Care Work: We’ve been demonstrating support from young people
for reform that will make health care more affordable and reliable and create a
public option to compete with private insurers. We’ve co-sponsored a Health Care Forum, collected petitions, and
generated calls to Congress.
More and Better Public Transit: We’re
building support for high speed rail and other public transit options to reduce
our dependence on oil and fight global warming.
Environmental
Justice: This year we won a local campaign to increase
diesel fuel standards in the Port of Oakland which will greatly reduce air
pollution in the area. We also generated
over 400 public comments to clean up the Pacific Steel Casting plant in West
Berkeley.
As a student funded and directed
organization, we are only able to do this work because of you. Thank you for
your support!
We’ve got big plans for Spring 2010 and we hope
you’ll get involved.
