The start of this new school year at Sonoma State University was marked by grim financial news and warnings that things will almost certainly get worse next year.

The faculty and staff at Sonoma State are resigned to the cutbacks that the current economic climate has necessitated, said SSU Faculty chair Susan Moulton (left)  as she opened yesterday’s University Convocation. But there is also lingering unhappiness over the perception that the pain has not been equally shared by the school’s administration.

While much attention has been focused on the faculty’s furloughs, Associated Students President Heather Hanson pointed out that they have been feeling the financial hardships across the past decade, and the most recent moves present a double impact on students, as they must pay more even as fewer classes are being offered.

In addition to the furloughs and other budget cuts, University President Armanana noted that his school has been forced to close enrollment for the spring semester next year, and cut back on admissions for the 2010-11 school year but 450 students, effectively denying access to a university education for hundreds of eligible young people.

Compared to other states, Californians are only moderately vulnerable to changes in the cost of oil, but we’re leading the list in taking steps to reduce our use of gasoline.

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You can read the full 21-page report here, or  a two-page summary here.

Percent of Income Spent on Gasoline by the Average Driver, 2008

 important way to reduce oil vulnerability is by adopting public policies to reduce across the board consumption of fossil fuels. Deron Lovass, the Natural Resource Defense Council’s Transportation Policy Director, says those policies tend to fall in one of three general areas.

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Oil Vulnerability Rankings by State 2008

  A dispute over funding for a new Death Row at San Quentin is just one of the subtexts in the latest legislative showdown over the state’s budget.

 The existing death row cellblock is shown in the photo on the right, while the entire prison is seen from the air, below.

Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) suggests that the renewed debate over funding for the construction of a new Death Row at San Quentin should be an opportunity for the state to also revisit the larger question of capital punishment in California.

State Senator Jeff Denham (left) and Assembly Jared Huffman (right) at news conference in front of San Quentin State Prison last spring at which they articulated their opposition to the new Death Row proposal.

Health Care reform and a forward-looking energy policy are not competing subjects in need of Congressional action, but interlocking national priorities, said speakers at a Santa Rosa rally yesterday.

Sebastopol City Council member Kathleen Shaffer (left), spoke out strongly in support of the health reform plan endorsed by President Obama, and the much maligned "public option" within it.

 Photos courtesy of John Hartong

Another speaker at the rally, Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo, defended proactive climate change legislation as a potential engine for economic, as well as environmental benefits.

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The Santa Rosa rally was one of many scheduled across the country yesterday by MoveOn.org.