CALPIRG at UCLA

Welcome!

Students Creating Change

Stopping Global Warming*Making College Affordable*Feeding The Hungry*Advocating for Students

Concerned about global warming!? Want to be a part of REAL Social Change!?

Come by and learn how you can help out on any of our campaigns.

 ++Internships for course credit!

              ++Hands-On Training!

                         ++Volunteer/Resume building opportunities!

Contact Gambit Ramos, Campus Organizer   gambit@calpirgstudents.org

EVENTS  

Core-Weekly Meetings Every Tuesday 7-8   [Sarah's Apt]

Campaign Meetings TBA.  Contact Campaign Coordinators (below)   

CAMPAIGNS

UCLA is currently focusing on...

Stopping Global Warming, "Campus Climate Challenge" -- UCLA Climate Neutrality

Global warming is all over the news right now, but almost no one is talking about solutions — even though we have everything we need right now to solve the problem. We already have cars that can get over 100 miles per gallon. We already have the technology to get most of our energy from wind and solar power. All we need now is the leadership to make it happen. That’s where students come in. This is our problem, and it’s up to us to solve it, starting right here on campus, right now. That’s why we’ve joined the Campus Climate Challenge, along with over 300 other universities and high schools across the U.S. and Canada. We’re working to get all of our electricity from clean sources like wind and solar power, transforming the way our dorms and classrooms use energy, and educating ourselves and our fellow students about real solutions to global warming. It’s going to take hard work, but we are committed to making it happen. By 2008, over 1,000 universities will have taken the Challenge.

For more info/volunteer, contact Coreen Weintraub at: cweintraub@ucla.edu

ELECTION 2008, "What's Your Plan?" -- Make Presidential Candidates acknowledge younger voters

Young people are going to vote in 2008. Presidential candidates will be well served by targeting young people. Not just with big smiles and empty rhetoric, but with substance, engaging us in conversations about the issues we care about.  Issues like global warming, college affordability, health care, and financial security.

These are critical issues, and we’re the generation who will be most affected by them. So we’re not waiting for the candidates to come to us - we’re going directly to them and asking one simple question: “What’s Your Plan?” To stop global warming. To make the dream of a college education affordable for all Americans. To provide effective, affordable health care. And to give every young American a shot at being a financially secure adult.

For more info/volunteer, contact Sarah Dobjensky at: sdobjensky@ucla.edu

Public Transportation, "CA High-Speed Rail" -- LA to SF

CALPIRG is teaming up with environmental groups, transit riders and workers, and local officials to convince the Legislature that public transit funding must be a priority for the state in order to reduce traffic congestion, cut pollution, and improve our quality of life.

CALPIRG is working to make sure California invests in its future by:

1. Fully funding public transit in the budget. We're working now to ensure that the budget Governor Schwarzenegger crafts this fall enables public transit to expand services.
2. Funding the best new transit projects. We're working to make sure that the best local transit proposals move forward quickly – projects like new subways in Los Angeles, new light rail in San Diego, and faster bus lines in the Bay Area.
3. Moving forward with high-speed rail. Imagine being able to get from the Bay Area to Los Angeles in two and a half hours – without the hassle of the airport. A high speed rail line currently in the planning stages would emit less pollution than car or plane trips, and also cost less than the highway and airport expansions California will need without it.

For more info/volunteer, contact Gambit Ramos at: gambit@calpirgstudents.org

Cheaper/Free Textbooks Campaign -- Statewide measure to enforce fair market practices on textbook manufacturers.

To come up with effective, reasonable solutions to the problem of rising textbook costs, PIRG students surveyed 287 professors. The resulting report of our findings, Exposing the Textbook Industry, found that textbook publishers are not disclosing price information clearly to faculty.

The College Textbook Affordability Act (SB 832) would require publishers to disclose the price of their products in their marketing materials and on their website so that faculty can make informed decisions about the books they assign to students. Specifically, publishers would be required to provide:

• The wholesale price of the product.

• The estimated length of time the publisher intends to keep the product on the market.

• A complete list of all differences or changes made between the current edition and previous editions of the textbook.

CALPIRG worked with State Senator Ellen Corbett to develop this bill. Supporters of the bill include the California Association of College Stores, California State Student Association, UC Student Association, California Teachers Association, and individual faculty members throughout the state.

The bill passed through the state legislature, but unfortunately Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed it. By vetoing the bill, the Governor failed to heed the research and recommendations of the academic community and missed a simple and important opportunity to lower textbook prices. We hope that over time, the Governor rethinks his position and reconsiders similar efforts in the future.

For more info/volunteer, contact Tessa Adams at: tessa_atkinsonadams@umail.ucsb.edu

Hunger + Homelessness -- Local and Statewide Efforts, Food Drives, Shelter Services

There is plenty of food worldwide to feed the existing human population. In fact, the world produces 10% more food today than is needed to feed everyone. Yet millions of people throughout the world and the United States currently exist without adequate food and shelter. The U.S. is one of the richest, most advanced nations in the world and could easily end hunger and homelessness if we prioritized it as a society. Experts estimate that if we fully funded federal assistance programs, we could end domestic hunger in five years. The problems of hunger and homelessness worsen each year as critical societal decisions are made based on special interests instead of the public's interest.

CALPIRG students volunteer in shelters, raise money for food banks, and participate in educational events on campus. Our biggest event of the year is the Hunger Cleanup, which takes place each April. The Hunger Cleanup is a serve-a-thon, where students get people to sponsor them for each hour that they volunteer on a Saturday. This way, students provide both people-power in the form of volunteers, and money to help support the organizations that need it most.

For more info/volunteer, contact Anithe Anne at: angel.anne@gmail.com

Affordable Education  -- Lower student interest rates, Increase Grant/Loan Availability (Passed College Cost Reduction Act!)

Our Higher Education campaign is devoted to expanding the opportunity of a college education to all Americans and strengthening our democracy by building an enlightened citizenry. As part of the campaign, one of our primary goals is to make student loan programs more affordable and efficient.

Students are borrowing more than ever before to pay for higher education, as tuition levels continue to climb and grant aid fails to keep pace. Today, the average undergraduate borrower leaves school with nearly $20,000 worth of student loan debt. In addition, nearly one-third of all low-income students work more than 35 hours a week to help cover college costs. As federal and state grant aid diminishes, and college costs continue to rise, we must provide college loans on terms that do not take the dream of a college education and turn it into a nightmare of debt lasting far beyond the college experience.

For more info/volunteer, contact Sarah Dobjensky at: sdobjensky@ucla.edu

Student Credit Card Scams --"The Truth About Credit" --  Prohibit pariah loan/credit companies from soliciting on campus 

More and more college students are graduating with credit card debt every year. We are working to limit the marketing credit card companies can do on campus and also to provide better credit management information.

For more info/volunteer, contact Gambit Ramos at: gambit@calpirgstudents.org