Happy Hour: A Kind of Rant

Zune Social: raiderette 87 | By: Alfa Santos | 3/05/2009 |

I'm not sure how much news exposure the state of California gets, or what local/state headlines end up being broadcasted on a nation wide scale, (I know the Danielle Van Dam case, the 2003 and 2007 wildfires [the 2003 fires were worse] we had made national and international headlines. As did the Scott Peterson deal), but in case you didn't know, California is in a bit of a money crunch right now. We were supposed to have run out of money as rencently as a few weeks ago..

And why is the English major that hates numbers with a mad passion (that's me) talking about something that involves numbers (the economy)?

Because I'm directly being affected by the insane budget cuts.

-- One academic year ago, I was working 16 hours a week on campus.

- I'm now down to six a week.

-- We used to open from nine in the morning and close at five in the afternoon; plenty of hours to go around for the various mentors.

- We open at noon and close four hours later now.

-- The resource center where I work was open Monday through Thursday throughout the semester unless there was a state or federal holiday.

- This was our last week open for the next month. As a college student, I'm one step above homeless regardless of anything else. Now I'm not going to work until after Spring Break 2009 (mid-April).

How in the hell are these "at risk" students supposed to receive the academic help they need now?!

These kids don't know that they can go to college. They don't realize that it IS within their reach to do whatever they want so long as it's legal.

I think the scarcity of our hours of operation will totally affect the kids already in college in a negative way.

Others around me are also being affected:

-- Four out of 10 teachers just got laid off from my sister's small charter high school.

- Two of those laid off were the two most popular teachers in the schoool that were able to control those rowdy high school kids.

-- My sister's school may not even exist next year due to lack of funding.

- Amy is all worried about being able to get a hold of her transcripts next spring.

-- As a result, many seniors are thinking about ditching the school and attending other high schools for the last few months of their senior year.

-- My parents own their own advocasy business; est'd when Amy was a baby. But money really hasn't been flowing in lately.

- My mom had to leave the business and now works for an attorney firm.

-- One of my best friends use to have $20 sushi lunches just about everyday.

- He has now been reduced to the $5 foot-long subs from SubWay.

The. Horror.

What about all of you out there? Has the resession made any difference in your way of life? Do you think the stimulus package will benefit or harm the current economic situation? Your thoughts..?