Academiarchy

Are you a College or University student? Do you reside in Canada or the United states? Are you apathetic about political issues because they have little or no bearing on your life? Tired of the Province/ State or Country being run by idiots? If you are, you're not alone, and although this may sound like the tag line for a new support group, I think that it describes a large swath of the population. There is no reason why high school drop outs should make decisions for University Students. There is no reason why the freedoms of individuals should be impeded by the closed-mindedness of biased individuals (on the right or left). There is no reason why social programs should go to extremes only to fail and why people seeking a sustainable balance between a pre-industrial like environment and the economy should be regarded as inconsiquential hippies.
So what tools does the educated population of North America have to combat idiocy? That's simple: perswasive logical thinking, the scientific method and money. There is a reason why technoscience networks have done so well in recent years. It's because the people making the decisions would benifit from an increase in total knowledge and power throughout the network. For example, big companies benefit if scientific research conducted at universities produces technological advances which make them a profit. The University benefits from getting reserch funding for its students and professors. If someone who holds a position at a university also holds a position on the corporate board of a large company, then that person can direct the way money is distributed to the various universities and may influence how much is given. If somebody from the university or the large company is also an advisor to the government, then he or she can direct the way budget decisions affect the universities and the amount of freedom given to the companies. If the companies make higher profits, then economy will be doing better, and the government will prosper. But lets take this a step further, what if instead of only a few people contributing to the decision making process, many did.
What I'm proposing is an academic political party. One that serves academia and its other supporters. Bill 43 here in Alberta will allow the government to raise student tuition substantially from year to year dispite the fact that the province is one of the richest in the country. The Studen Union's efforts to combat the bill were abismal. They threw a bbq to raise awareness but didn't acutally discuss any of the details of the bill or really educate the student body. There was simply no motivation amongst the students. But this bill doesn't only affect the U of Alberta, it also affects the U of Calgary, and U of Lethbridge, not to mention smaller institutions. Each of the universities has a student body of thousands. The U of A alone has over 25,000 students, and although I'm not sure of the numbers, I'm pretty sure that the U of C and U of L combined have at least that many and probably more. At each of the Universities, nearly every body is a member of the student union and dues are paid to this union. But what if the unions unified and became the Alberta student Union. There would probably be 60,000 members. Now suppose that $2 of each of these student's dues were used to support sympathetic political candidates; those with ties to the Universities and would be looking out for student interests. Fliers and posters would be distributed about campus encouraging the vote and mentioning specific candidates' pros and cons. It is difficult to change the minds of people in office, but not that hard to replace them at the next election.
But what if this was done at the National level? In canada, there are 6 provinces that would have significant student populations. If each contributes 60,000 students, at $2 per student, then roughly $720,000 or even $1million dollars in campaign influence, and 360,000 potential voters. In many states, the affects would be even greater. California alone has over 20 public universities and many private ones, all with enormous student populations. Consider also all of the parents of these students, many of them fitting the bill and paying the taxes that directly fund the universities. At $2 per year, don't you think that they would be willing to help institute money saving practices that might also better educate their children. Consider also the parents of many university bound 11th and 12th graders. Share holders in companies affected by the university research will also be deeply interested. Of course, a candidate needs more of a platform than just education reform. A few of my suggestions will appear in future blogs.