Yesterday's Board of Regents meeting and civil disobedience made clear the need for us to continue organizing in order to influence and lead decision-making in government and bureaucracy. No governing body should be allowed to carry on without the sometimes painful direction from their constituents. We should not follow blindly, but lead as well.
Real democracy means that the people affected by a decision are empowered to make that decision.
The BOR, a Governor-appointed board with only minimal student participation, has sought to institute tuition increases which we, not they, pay. Civil disobedience is the way in which we can bring decision-making power back into students' hands by leading the regents. Every member of the BOR, like 'em or not, comes from a certain ethnic, national, religious, class, or gender perspective. These elements invariably influence decisions they make while sitting in Campus Center 220. Above and beyond these natural biases are their political connections.