Story by  Lidya Muñoz and William Herbe

The frustrated and detached minds of our students and faculty can reattach their concerns and gravitate toward CSUN’s newest activist saviors. Last week the Coalition for Students and Teachers (C.O.S.T.) held the C.O.S.T. Carnival event in front of the Oviatt Library. The information, entertainment and energy that poured out of the week-long event is exactly the kind of organization and leadership the campus needs to shake their heads free of the apathetic hypnosis. Information regarding oil severance tax AB 656, petition signing for our governor and state leaders and many other elements of activism all breathed heavy in the face of the budget cuts crisis. In their first attempt at activism and organization, members and students had plenty to say.

We started a Cost for College organization, our Web site is costforcollege.org. It stands for Coalition of Students and Teachers. We’re here to send a statement to the government that education funding needs to change in California. The big push is for Amendment Bill 656. It has passed twice in state legislation but Arnold has vetoed twice. This is one thing that will effectively eliminate the budget cuts crisis.
– Bart Krasowski,
Junior, Communication Studies

We want people to know their options, to support AB 656, which is the oil severance tax, and trying to get people to think more broadly about what they can do to help. It’s not just faceless regions or faceless bureaucrats that make these decisions, it’s us who lets them make these decisions. We can’t do it alone. Everyone needs to come together and in unity we can preserve.
– John Kephart,
Assistant professor, Communication Studies

Some people don’t really care until it’s already happening and then they want to scramble and deal with it.  I hope they realize we are trying to make a change; it’s all about change.
– Ndidi Asianua,
Senior, Communication Studies

This isn’t a protest and it’s not a rally. We’re trying to educate students and other faculty members here on campus about the effects of the budget cuts, about their own agencies in fighting the budget cuts, solutions for it, and just to teach them about what’s going on.
– Randi Picarelli
Professor, Communication Studies

UCLA had a big rally because they are unified, but we are a commuter school so it’s hard to unify, so if we can just get people to care.
– Mark Guirguis
Senior, Multimedia major

Hopefully, the end of the great apathy is fast approaching here at CSUN with the likes of this movement started by C.O.S.T. Unfortunately it may be subject to hibernation just as quickly as it has seen a rise because of the semester break, but C.O.S.T. said this is the beginning of many festive and educational events that will inform the campus of solutions and methods of action that can free education from its budget cuts stranglehold.