“Why do people keep telling me not to Google ‘hung jury’?” asked one juror.
Photo by Amit Roth
After the filing of a class-action lawsuit in early February, the AS Senate oversaw the case of The Students v. UC San Diego last week. The Students sued UCSD for damages following its recent budget cuts on Student Activities, which resulted in the defunding and disbandment of many student organizations and an increase in housing and tuition fees. The plaintiff’s complaint contends that UCSD has infringed on students’ free speech and had made unfair cuts to the opening hours of Geisel Library, the work hours for student workers, and funding for student-run publications.
The trial lasted an entire school week and was live streamed via Zoom in order for students to “spectate their long overdue vindication.” Mock Trial member and pre-law student Addie Oppenhaiser argued on behalf of The Students while lauded corporate law attorney and UCSD alumnus Richard Terncote defended UC San Diego.
After both sides delivered their opening statements, the plaintiff called Clary Clover, a student worker at Geisel Library’s Writing Hub, to the stand. Clover stated, “I’m not just worried for myself. I mean, of course I need the money that my extra shifts used to give me, but there were lots of students who relied on the help of myself and my colleagues. UCSD claims to care about its students but this is a clear, flagrant contradiction to that. And don’t think I didn’t notice the massive pay increase that the UC Regents received right before the budget cuts!”
The plaintiff’s next witness was Alice Bomb, a third-year Bioengineering major who testified about student reactions to Geisel Library’s reduced hours. “Geisel was the only spot on campus where I could actually get some quiet studying done. Opening up Price 24/7 is just placating us. If I wanted to be overstimulated and surrounded by loud people, I’d go to my apartment!” Bomb said.
The plaintiff called two more key witnesses to testify: Renay Fernaba and Bella Bopresti-Lusick. Fernaba, editor for The Protector, one of UCSD’s student-run publications currently at risk of going out of print due to massive funding cuts, spoke about the importance of student-run publications in maintaining communication between the school’s community. Bopresti-Lusick is a UCSD doctoral candidate with a Master’s degree in Psychology, and provided expert testimony about the psychological effects of a lack of student organizations on college campuses.
Chancellor Khosla served as UC San Diego’s key witness. “As Chancellor, all of the decisions I’ve made are to further my personal vision of furthering the well-being of this school. And to maintain the well-being of the school, I need to maintain the well-being of our vital community members — donors and regents. And what the regents want is more money. My hands are tied, really,” he said. In his testimony, Khosla also pointed out the “superfluity” of Geisel Library’s hours and how “no one reads the student publications anyway.”
With the trial officially over, UCSD bureaucracy has made several efforts to prevent AS Senate deliberation, yet claimed that they expect the verdict to be released soon. “I’m expecting a wait time of about three to five business years,” said Khosla.
