Please help spread the word about the situation here @ UC Berkeley
As those of you from California may or may not know, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger AKA "The Governator" has made a series of budget cuts to education. At my university, UC Berkeley, the budget cuts were especially severe on the East Asian Languages & Cultures Department. The budget cuts were so severe that each department (Korean, Japanese, Chinese) in EALC will be cut approximately 50 percent, and the Korean minor will be removed. The breakdown as follows:

Korean: 66% cut
Chinese: 54% cut
Japanese: 40% cut

5 out of 11 Japanese teachers fired
5 out of 10 Chinese teachers fired
4 out of 6 Korean teachers fired

Not only is this shocking because the demand for East Asian Languages is growing, but a 45% majority of our 40,000+ students are ethnic Asians, and from the 3200 students taking an EALC class, especially native speaker/heritage classes this year, 1500 students will cut from next year. For example, all non-L&S (Haas, Architecture, Chem, Natural Resources, Engineering, etc) students and most grad students will be cut immediately.

Also, many of the lecturers fired were on work visas and will probably have to go back to their country of origin. I personally know which of my teachers in both my Japanese and Chinese classes are going to cut; it's brutal & sad to see this happening. I was especially close to my Japanese teachers: they were my mentors, aunts, true "senseis" in every sense of the word.

The lack of transparency in these budget cuts are also worth noting. Not only has it been extremely difficult to find out who is responsible for these specific cuts, but the higher ups have also been completely unavailable for contact and completely disrespectful to the students by releasing this information last week, when I know for a fact the budget cut talks have been in the works for at least a month already.

If anyone knows anyone from any of the Bay Area newspapers, please contact them and ask them to come to the press conference on Wednesday May 7, 11am, 2223 Fulton 6th floor.

If anyone has connections to businesses willing to sponser or donate to the EALC, please ask them to donate.

The school administrators released this information right before finals for a reason: they didn't want students taking action. But we are trying. Please, please help out if you know anything. Anyone who goes to any of the other UCs, please ask around about your school's budget cuts (specifically on East Asian Languages). Any information would be helpful.

For information, flyers, and articles, go to the website or the Facebook.Though the focus is on saving the Korean minor at UC Berkeley, this is also to help save the entire EALC department from being slashed in half.

Please, please help get the word out. If you live in California, especially the Bay Area, we need this information to spread out.


EDIT: Please help sign the online petition! The due date has been changed to May 12, 2008. Non-Berkeley students/alumni can sign as well! And visit the news blog for updates!