The Development and Education Readiness taskforce will host a variety of workshops on Feb. 9 in the Hinson Campus Center at De Anza College in conference rooms A and B with two purposes: make students aware of coming statewide educational budget cuts and explore what they can do about them.

“What actions can they take to keep this from happening and prevent it from getting worse? We want to help give tools to students to become more involved and let them know how empowered they actually are,” Emily Kinner, D.A.R.E. member, said.

Kinner cited student’s busy schedules and a level of apathy towards activism and job futures as possible hurdles for D.A.R.E. to organize students. “I hate using [apathy] as an excuse, but on this campus there is an unprecedented level of disillusionment, discouragement, and… no faith in [politics]. Students are competing for the same jobs as their parents. They feel powerless, and so it’s just easier to be apathetic rather than active. Apathy is very toxic,” Kinner said.

Alondra Juarez, D.A.R.E. member, agreed. She said that if you’re in school, the budget cuts will affect you.

The workshop will address the immediacy of the budget situation, as well as develop an outlook for the future. Most of the event will be run by students from De Anza and surrounding colleges and include informational panels and motivational speakers, who are yet unnamed.

Enhancing student’s awareness is only the first step, Kinner says. “We’re not going to fix the budget in two weeks. We’re not going to fix the budget … in two years. It’s going to be a long fight,”said Kinner.