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Five weeks into the school semester and the protests against the budget cuts are still going strong, but they’re not getting the job done and are not being directed at the right source of the problem. Only in Sacramento can these problems be properly addressed.

It’s always better to be levelheaded and in a situation like this, protesters will not be taken seriously unless they are willing to at least sit down and talk about the issues and debate in a well-mannered fashion.

They did not do this at the Feb. 22 board meeting.

Campus Police Officer Tyler James Robbins said that the board meeting was open to everyone in accordance with the Brown Act, but that police could let in only so many people at a time because of the fire code.

Protesters just had to wait for people to leave and the campus police would let them in one at a time. “They didn’t want to go in,” said Robbins. “They just wanted to stay outside and continue protesting.”

Kevin Lou, engineering, said the protesters were “bringing light to the schools mismanagement.” Lou is a member of the Engineering Club and was present at the protests in the Quad during club week.

Any school can mismanage the money it gets, but this isn’t just about the school. The state is broke and that makes things more complicated than just hiring back the teachers who were reassigned and reinstating the sections that were cut.

“I am proud of the actions of this administration,” said PCC President Mark Rocha. He said that the students who were making these statements about the school’s “mismanagement” should send him an email or somehow get in contact with him.

“I hear you,” said Rocha. “Tell me what [you think] is broken and only then can we try to fix it.”

All in all, the protests aren’t doing anything other than putting more strain on an already tough situation. If protesters really want to make a difference, they should talk to California Gov. Jerry Brown.

“These protests are valid,” said Rocha “[The protesters] have to direct the protests at the right place, though. They should be protesting in Sacramento where they’ll be heard.”

Rocha is right.

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