UCSC Review Winter 1997

Alumni influence the California legislature

Every year for most of the past decade, John Laird (Stevenson '72) has spent two days--of vacation time and at his own expense--at the annual University of California Legislative Conference. "The issues we read about in the papers are issues we lobby about at the conference," he says. "Affordability and fee increases, access for students who qualify, the expansion to a tenth UC campus, affirmative action: All those things are on the table when we are lobbying."

The conference is a joint project of the UC system's nine alumni associations. Participants attend briefings by top UC officials and legislators--even, in some years, with the governor. A small handpicked group of alumni then meets with legislators in their offices.

"Last year," says Laird, "I heard a legislator tell a non-UC group that the UC Legislative Conference is a model of how good lobbying is done. The UC delegation that visits the legislator might include an individual who worked on his campaign, a neighbor down the street, and someone from a business he patronizes. A few years ago UC had me visit Terry Friedman, then a legislator; he and I were antiwar activists together 25 years ago!"

This year's conference is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, April 14 and 15. All interested alumni are encouraged to attend and to personally influence the California legislature's support for UC. For more information or to get involved, contact the UCSC Alumni Office locally at (408) 459-2530; toll-free at (800) 933-slug; or via e-mail at alumni@ua.ucsc.edu.