EDITORIAL BOARD Editor in
Chief  Timothy Kudo
Managing Editor
 Michael Falcone
Viewpoint Editor
 Cuauhtemoc Ortega
Staff Representatives
 Maegan Carberry
 Edward Chiao
 Kelly Rayburn
Editorial Board Assistants
 Maegan Carberry
 Edward Chiao
  Unsigned editorials represent a majority opinion of
the Daily Bruin Editorial Board. All other columns, letters and
artwork represent the opinions of their authors. Â Â All
submitted material must bear the author’s name, address, telephone
number, registration number, or affiliation with UCLA. Names will
not be withheld except in extreme cases. Â Â The Bruin
complies with the Communication Board’s policy prohibiting the
publication of articles that perpetuate derogatory cultural or
ethnic stereotypes. Â Â When multiple authors submit
material, some names may be kept on file rather than published with
the material. The Bruin reserves the right to edit submitted
material and to determine its placement in the paper. All
submissions become the property of The Bruin. The Communications
Board has a media grievance procedure for resolving complaints
against any of its publications. For a copy of the complete
procedure, contact the Publications office at 118 Kerckhoff Hall.
Daily Bruin 118 Kerckhoff Hall 308 Westwood Plaza Los Angeles, CA
90024 (310) 825-9898
No one in California is in any position to be economically
demanding right now. A sagging economy has forced cutbacks in
nearly every UC department, and left the job market stagnant at
best.
Despite these harsh realities, UC employed nurses are
considering a strike after a May 13 negotiation session if their
demands for higher pay, higher nurse to patient ratios and no
mandatory overtime aren’t met. The five percent pay increase
offered by the university ““ which should have been happily
accepted ““ has been deemed too small. Likewise, a strict
nurse to patient ratio could limit access to treatment, resulting
in patients being refused. Something similar happened to graduate
students when union requirements for student-teacher enrollment
ratios left many grads unable to enroll in needed classes. And
mandatory overtime ““ as university spokesman Paul Schwartz
put it ““ is part of working in the medical field.
Everyone would like to be making more under ideal conditions,
but the reality of the job market right now is harsh. Every UC
employee, professor, department, and student will feel the pending
budget cuts; nurses demands have to fit in with the rest of the UC
community’s needs.
What’s worst in all of this, however, is that if nurses
aren’t willing to consider budgetary constraints and continue
to pursue the strike, the patients will be hurt most. Perhaps they
should remember the people who rely on their care before they
reject a perfectly reasonable offer.