UC San Diego Delegation Advocates for University in State Capitol

Jeff Gattas | March 17, 2008

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and a delegation of UC San Diego alumni, staff and students met with state lawmakers in Sacramento on March 4 to advocate on behalf of the university as part of UC Day.

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and UC San Diego Advocates meet with Assemblymember Martin Garrick (R – Carlsbad).

Click here to view a slideshow of the UC San Diego Advocacy Delegation and UC President Robert Dynes on the State Capitol steps at UC Day.

UC Day marks the University of California’s annual trip to the state capitol, where more than 400 representatives from all 10 UC campuses and the Office of the President meet with state legislators. The UCSD delegation reminded legislators of the return on investment that higher education, and the University of California, provides to the people of California by educating a highly-skilled workforce, developing new technologies, creating new jobs and businesses and fostering long-term prosperity for California’s families. This message is particularly important this year as the governor’s budget is proposing $417 million less than what the Regents requested to meet the university’s needs for next year.

This year’s “UC Goes Green” theme highlighted the campuses' commitment to developing new sustainable technologies that could fuel future business development and enhance California’s economy. A solar-powered tent displayed environmentally conscious research conducted at the 10 campuses and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2). UC San Diego highlighted its work with micro-weather stations using data from wireless environmental sensor networks to make smarter decisions about how to design and operate buildings, manage water use for irrigation, and monitor air pollution exposure, and to be more responsible overall stewards of our resources.

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox talks with Lt. Governor John Garamendi (left) about UC San Diego’s “green” technologies in “UC Goes Green” tent at UC Day.

The UC San Diego advocates met with the entire San Diego legislative delegation or their staffs, while Chancellor Fox had one-on-one meetings with Senators Christine Kehoe and Denise Moreno Ducheny, and Assembly Member Martin Garrick.

UCSD Alumni Board President Mark Diamond, ’87, a 16-year advocate for the university, brought a timely perspective as the president and CEO of a start-up company, telling how he chooses to grow his business in California because of the readily available talented graduates from the University of California.

For Yao Leung, an ’09 current student, on the other hand, it was her first UC Day. “It was an amazing experience from buying my first suit and preparing what to say when I met the elected officials, to actually meeting them and participating in conversations,” Leung said. “It was a great experience.”

To find out more about UC Day or becoming an advocate for UCSD, visit advocacy.ucsd.edu or contact Jeff Gattas, Director of Advocacy at 858-822-6914.