Students invited to 'Flunk Arnold'

Myspace. Facebook. Livejournal. These days, the average college student is a member of at least one social networking website. Growing in direct relation to the popularity of these sites are the ones that show users how to create colorful backgrounds, use different colored fonts, or add a graphic image to a comment left for a friend. Students have become masters at computer codes that manipulate their pages and make them more viewer-friendly.

In September, the "Flunk Arnold" campaign was launched by the California Faculty Association (CFA) and students in the CSU system learned that their ability to add an extra heart to their user name was not the only benefit their knowledge of computer codes could grant them.

The CFA, a union that represents almost 22,000 professors and other CSU employees, came up with an idea: in order to raise awareness about the fee increases at California colleges over the past few years, as well as get students involved in politics, they have asked students in the CSU system to create a 30-second television commercial criticizing Gov. Schwarzenegger. John Travis, CFA president and political science professor at Humboldt State University, has stated that he hopes students will use the skills and knowledge that they've acquired while using sites like Myspace or YouTube to put together the commercial.

"'Flunk Arnold' is a groundbreaking project that will harness the power of the user-generated content and social networking that makes sites like Myspace and YouTube so popular," said Travis. "We want to change the consultant-driven way that political campaigns are conducted and tap into the unbridled creativity of our CSU students."

The winning video will air statewide during "The Daily Show" in October, and its creator will win a year's worth of paid fees at their school. One year of annual fees will also be paid for the student who creates the best "Flunk Arnold" website. With undergraduate students in the CSU system paying $2,520 a year in tuition fees, the time spent making a short commercial or designing a website might be considered an easy trade for a year with fewer financial worries.

Members of the CFA chose to make their campaign distinctly anti-Arnold because of cuts to funding for colleges and universities, as well as the increase in fees for students since Schwarzenegger became governor. Because the association's political action committee is paying for the project, direct support of Phil Angelides' campaign against Schwarzenegger cannot be shown in the videos.

Students submitted their videos by Oct. 18, and the final round of judging will end on Oct. 29. While only CSU students are eligible to submit videos and create websites, students from any university are able to vote. Videos can contain all elements of Schwarzenegger's failures as governor, but the CFA has placed the main focus on the blows taken to the educational system.

Since entering office, Schwarzenegger has broken his promises to protect and improve education. He has raised college tuition and fees as well as tried to cut college academic preparation and outreach programs for disadvantaged students. After promising to raise fees by no more than 10 percent, Schwarzenegger then raised the tuition for attending a community college by 44 percent. By cutting funding to financial aid programs at the same time as he raised tuition costs, many qualified students were not able to go to college. Schwarzenegger has also taxed teachers by eliminating $570 million in tax credit for teachers who buy school supplies, forcing many of them to pay out of their own pockets for necessary supplies.

"Without a proper education, as well as one without enough funding, there won't be anyone to run the state of California in the future. It's like we're being punished for wanting to get an education. Schwarzenegger needs to realize how important education is before it's too late," said Katy Starr, a senior majoring in art.

To view the finalists of the both the Web site and video contest, as well as register and place a vote, go to www.flunkarnold.com.