Most college students are pretty unhappy with Congress right about now and rightfully so. With huge cuts to education and high unemployment especially among recent college graduates, the Republican majority in Congress is focused more on cutting taxes for millionaires on the backs of the 99% as opposed to job creation and economic recovery. They’ve taken a lot of heat for their actions with the Congressional approval rating in the teens.
It’s important to let our elected officials know when they’re not representing us properly, but it’s equally important to let them know when they do something right.
A couple weeks ago, Congresswoman Lois Capps came to a Campus Democrats meeting and spoke about recent events in Congress and what to expect from Washington in the next year. She spoke about President Obama’s student loan package as well as other efforts to create jobs and relieve economic tension on those of us that are hurting the most.
The most interesting part of the meeting however wasn’t hearing her speak, it was watching her listen. After she finished her speech, she took questions from students in the audience. One student activist asked her opinion on SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act.
The Congresswoman recognized having seen the legislation, but didn’t know the details. After asking the questioner for details about the bill, she responded that something needed to be done about online piracy and that there needed to be some sort of regulation to prevent piracy, but said that she was still learning about the issue and the bill.
So several Campus Democrats members informed her that SOPA would drastically threaten the flow of information on the Internet, forcing websites to regulate anything and everything posted on their site. If any commenter posted a copyrighted image on the website, the website could be shut down under SOPA.
Congresswoman Capps listened intently to all of the concerns of the students and acknowledged our disapproval of the bill.
Over the next few days, opponents of SOPA waged a multimillion person online protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act. Wikipedia shut down for an entire day and Google blacked out its logo on its homepage to raise awareness that both sites and many smaller sites would be severely threatened if SOPA became law.
Millions of people signed online petitions in protest of SOPA and many called, emailed or Facebooked their representatives in Congress. I even emailed Congresswomen Capps and wrote on her Facebook wall asking her to oppose the legislation.
The day after the massive protests, Congresswoman Capps posted on her Facebook page thanking her constituents for sharing our opinions with her.
The next day, she again posted on her Facebook page, stating her opposition to SOPA and citing the many constituents who shared their opposition to the legislation with her.
I have heard many speeches from Congresswoman Capps over the years and I’m always impressed by the things she has to stay, but now I am more impressed with her ability to listen. At the Campus Democrats meeting, she could have phoned it in, writing us off as a bunch of college students that were going to support her anyway, but instead she listened to us and took our concerns seriously.
And now because we were willing to share our opinions, and she was willing to listen, we have a representative that is taking our concerns as students with her to Washington, D.C.
At an special endorsement meeting held Wednesday, November 2nd, Campus Democrats at UCSB endorsed former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson in her bid for California State Senator for the 19th District. Jackson will face both Democratic and Republican challengers in the primary election next year, and fought hard for this endorsement critical to winning support on campus and in the local community. She was endorsed with near-unanimous support from club members.
Jackson is making a second bid for the 19th District seat after losing the 2008 election to current Republican Senator Tony Strickland by an incredibly small margin. Out of 414,587 ballots cast, she trailed Strickland by just under 1,000 votes. The race was known state-wide as one of the single most competitive in California even prior to Election Day in 2008, and the subsequent mandatory recount process kept supporters of both candidates on the edges of their seats for weeks. The recent redistricting following the 2010 census is expected to be a game-changer in this battleground district.
Campus Democrats at UCSB is an official affiliate of the Democratic Party, chartered with both California Young Democrats and the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party. As one of the largest and most active chartered clubs in the Santa Barbara area, its vote is critical to nabbing an endorsement from the county Democratic Party at the pre-primary endorsement conference in January.
Jackson served in the California State Assembly from 1998-2004, representing the 35th Assembly District (the seat currently held by Das Williams). During this time, she earned a reputation as a fighter for higher education, women’s rights, and economic equality, environmental protection, and affordable healthcare. She was re-elected twice, ending her time in the Assembly only after reaching the three-term limit. Jackson is a highly-regarded local progressive who was named “Legislator of the Year” by the Consumer Federation of California, the Congress of California Senators, the California League of Conservation Voters, the National Organization for Women (NOW), the Junior League of California, and Californians Against Waste. She has received similar awards from the California School Employees Association and Planned Parenthood.
President Erik Anciaux remarked: “We’re thrilled to support Hannah-Beth Jackson. She has a long track record of supporting higher education, protecting the environment, and fighting for equality. In her time in the Assembly, she fought incredibly hard for students and the residents of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties for six years. Now it’s our turn to fight to make sure that she can continue her work in the California State Senate. We couldn’t be happier to have her back.”
External Affairs Director Halie Albertson represents the club on the Democratic Central Committee of Santa Barbara County, and at Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County meetings. She explained why Jackson is the clear choice for supporters of public education, full employment, and a woman’s right to choose. “I’m confident in Hannah-Beth’s dedication to supporting the interests of students and young people. She presents real solutions to issues like rising tuition costs, attacks on reproductive choice, and high unemployment. I believe her vision in Sacramento will help put California back on the right track.”
Congratulations on finding the Campus Democrats at UCSB website. You’ve taken the first step to making your life more Democratic. Please join us at one of our meetings on Tuesdays at 8pm in the State Street Room in the UCen or at one of our fun social or political events.
Campus Democrats is an organization dedicated to promoting Democratic candidates and issues in the UCSB community and beyond. As you may have heard, UCSB leads the nation in voter registration every single year, in large part thanks to the Campus Democrats at UCSB. At no other College in the Country will you find a student body so committed to civic engagement than UCSB nor will you find a club as dedicated to involving more young people in our political process than the Campus Democrats.
So no matter whatever you’re looking for, whether it’s an internship or job in politics, a chance to discuss how insane Michelle Bachmann is, or just a place to meet a new friend, you will be sure to find it in Campus Democrats at UCSB. Please join our facebook group “Campus Democrats at UCSB” or our email listserv by emailing “Add Email” to ucsbdemocrats@gmail.com or stop by a meeting for a free slice of pizza.
If you would like more information on this event, please go here
Hello! Congratulations on finding the Campus Democrats at UCSB website! The fact that you looked us up shows great initiative and we hope that you will decide to join our club!
We meet every Tuesday at 8 in the UCEN State Street Room (on the lower level).
Campus Democrats is both politically active is a social club. We have huge parties every quarter and many smaller events where you can get to know new people. If you like talking about politics, this is definitely the place you want to be! We also go on a few major trips together across California, including meeting campus democrats from other colleges and going to the California State Democratic Convention where everyone from Nancy Pelosi to Bill Clinton make appearances (in 2007 all the democratic candidates for president showed up, including now-Sec of State Hillary Clinton and now-President Barack Obama).
If you have any questions please feel free to contact any of the officers by email or Facebook!
Candidate statements for next year’s officer corps are up! Please direct your attention to the tab at the top of the page labelled “Candidate Statements”, or the multiple links to the right and bottom of this post. Or just click here.
Elections for 2010-2011 officers will take place this Tuesday, May 25, at 8 PM at our usual meeting place. Qualifications for voting are as follows:
- You must have attended at least two meetings.
- You must have attended one outside event. (Parties do not count. Sorry.)
Elections are now closed to new candidates. Congratulations to those running unopposed, and best of luck to those whose fate will be decided this Tuesday!
Check out this video recapping our great event on Monday with California’s next Governor Jerry Brown!
Arizona just passed the broadest and strictest immigration measure in generations. It forces citizens of the United states to carry documentation proving their citizenship and upon failure to do so allows law enforcement to arrest them. President Obama has come out in strong protest to this law, saying that it threatens “to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.”
On Monday, April 26th, former/next Governor of California Jerry Brown will address UCSB students on the Lagoon Lawn (between the Faculty Club and the backside of the UCEN). Brown, who was California’s chief executive from 1975-1983, is currently running in the California Democratic primary for governor.
That’s right–Jerry Brown is gonna be governor AGAIN. And we are psyched.
With a budget crisis that is affecting all levels of government programs, most notoriously education, and an incredible amount of partisanship that is keeping the state from making ANY progress at all, we need a governor with the experience necessary to get the job done without falling prey to divisiveness or the status quo. As Brown’s campaign puts it: “An insider’s knowledge; an outsider’s mind.”
This should be the largest event at a university campus by a gubernatorial candidate this year, and Campus Democrats is extremely proud to be ones presenting it. If successful, it will kick off a string of campaign stops at colleges and universities across our state–what better way to show the students of California who’s really going to stand up for them? This was a last-minute event, so we need everyone’s help getting the word out!
12 PM, April 26th, Lagoon Lawn @ UCSB.
Justice John Paul Stevens, the leader of the courts liberals, will retire in the summer. He was nominated by Gerald Ford in 1975. His retirement should not change the liberal-conservitive balance on the bench. This announcement comes 11 days before his 90th birthday.
