UC Berkeley Web Feature
Legislators to hold hearing on campus about effect of budget cuts
BERKELEY – A recent visit to the State Capitol by Robert M. Berdahl, chancellor of UC Berkeley, and Kathleen Moazed, director of the campus's Government Affairs office, to discuss the effects of proposed budget cuts on higher education has led to a hearing to be held tomorrow (Friday, May 21) by the California Assembly Committee on Higher Education. The informal public hearing — "Will the California Promise of Higher Education for Students Be Kept?" — will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Chevron Auditorium of the International House, 2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley.
Assemblymembers Wilma Chan (D-Oakland), Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley), Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro), Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), Carol Liu (D-La Canada/Flintridge), and Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) will participate, as will business leaders, community college officials and legislative experts.
Focusing primarily on the Berkeley experience, the hearing will feature many members of the campus community. Students who took advantage of UC academic preparation programs in their high schools will talk about the value of those programs in their lives, and undergraduate and graduate student leaders will share how budget cuts have affected them and their classmates. Professor Ron Gronsky, chair of the Academic Senate, will discuss the effects of recent years' budgets both on the campus's academic mission and on its faculty and staff. Other members of the campus community will participate as well, and some public comment will be heard.
These assemblymembers "want to listen," said Adam Parker, assistant director of Government Affairs, "to hear what's going on at the university and learn what various cuts would mean to UC Berkeley. They felt that our campus would be a good place to reach people, both inside and outside the university community."
A Webcast of the hearing will be available on the UC Berkeley NewsCenter early next week, as will the Berkeleyan's coverage of the event. For more information, contact the Office of Public Affairs at (510) 642-3734.