If you had class at DVC this past Thursday at 1p.m., chances are you didn’t learn very much.
An unidentified individual pulled at least one of the fire alarms on campus, forcing students to empty out of classrooms just in time to see the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) march around campus with their picket signs.
Five minutes after the switch was pulled, my political science classmates and I stood outside the lecture hall while the alarm wailed incessantly with no signs of giving up. My professor dismissed us, as continuing class under such conditions was impossible.
As I write this, no perpetrator has been identified and SDS’s official stance on the matter is that the club was not involved. Whoever pulled that switch, it seems obvious to me that his or her intent was to gather support for the rally. And it was a sound strategy. According to The Inquirer Online, the number of rally participants jumped from 50 to 200 after the alarms had been set off.
I am conflicted over this event. My initial reaction was one of amusement and appreciation. A disruptive way to gain support for their cause, but sometimes disruption is the best way to get attention. I was personally in support of this rally- I feel like every student at DVC should be concerned about and angered by the fee hikes and budget cuts to public education.
In explaining why students should attend the rally, Nicolas Holmes of ASDVC and SDS said “We are all suffering [and] paying more. These are historic opportunities to awaken the sleeping giant-the 2.9 million students in [California] Community College. But the awakening should not stop there.”
I feel much the same.
At the same time, I DID pay those fees, despite the “hiking” and I paid them so I could sit in class and learn. If only for one day, the alarms denied me of that. While one interrupted lecture may not be the greatest loss, I’m sure other classes were taking tests, or working on labs, or doing any number of things that were relevant to their education and impeded by the fire alarm.
I suppose the question is: Did they go too far? My answer: Probably.
But then again, hasn’t the public education crisis gone too far?
I'll leave that answer up to every student.
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