How do you feel about an impacted university? A university where classes are a pain to get into. A university where housing is tremendously hard to find. Founding father, Dean McHenry, of the University of California in Santa Cruz (UCSC) didn't envision a university that would be small like many liberal arts schools or any large public university. He imagined that UCSC would be a university for students to grow and interact with their peers. When the school was first developed in 1965, you could find founding father Page Smith playing baseball with students on the open fields. We could argue now that this didn't benefit his career or the students' education, but any connection like this will cease to exist if we keep bumping up our student population. An increase in 650 students will not only take away from the original vision of UCSC, but it will also risk other benefits for currently enrolled students.

Dean E. McHenry discusses the idea of impersonality.

In Dean E. Mchenry's speech, "The Problem of Impersonality and Size" (1966), he argued the importance of the small college system within the large university. He discussed how students form bonds with their peers within the smaller university setting that are essential for the rest of their years in college and beyond. The smaller setting allows students to form closer connections with their peers who take classes with them and live in the general area of campus.

Getting to know your professors is vital.

Also, think about the connections students can form with professors now at UCSC. Some professors are easy to form bonds with if their class is smaller. Other times, it is quite hard for most students to interact with their professors who teach lectures. They are lucky if they get any individual time during their office hours. Now, think what it will be like if 650 more students are admitted. Way harder than what is currently being described. Like Mchenry said, it is worrisome that these connections with professors will become impersonal.

Letters of recommendation are important for graduate school and future careers.

Plus, if a professor doesn't get to know you, how do you expect a good letter of recommendation? Would you rather have a professor who really knows you write one for you or one that barely knows you exist?

Class size will increase.

If the school lets in 650 new students, imagine how packed classes will be next year. It will be hard to get a seat in lecture, and ideally, they will open up more lectures to fit the student body's needs.

Classes will be even harder to get in.

You will have to waitlist everything, or they will all be closed. Classes are tremendously hard to get into. If you are a psychology, STEM or legal studies major, you are fortune if you graduate in time, let alone early. Imagine how terrible it would be if we let in more students. Imagine how much harder it will be to get into the classes we want – the classes we pay and earned to deserve.

Housing for continuing students Fall 2016-2017.

Please consider the housing crisis, as well. Because the university has to accommodate 650 new students, continuing student are not guaranteed housing. As a continuing student, it is frightening to think you might not find affordable, convenient housing next year.

Incoming students will have to live in smaller living spaces.

Because the university needs to house first and second-year students, the residential halls are going to try to squeeze in more people to the current living spaces. For example, this would convert some of the triples, which we already think are cramped, into quads. This would convert some singles, potentially, into doubles. As this idea is still up in the air, it could very much be the fate of many incoming students.

Also, consider the bus system.

Some of the metro buses are going to be cut next year. First of all, the buses are already hard to catch as it is. If we have more students living off campus next year, more students on campus and less buses, how do they expect for students to be able to access transportation?

We shouldn't compare UCSC's population size to other UCs.

Even though other UCs have a larger population, we shouldn't compare ourself at UCSC to other UCs. Dean Mchenry created UCSC to be quite unique to other UCs. He wanted small colleges with close kit populations within the larger college system. While it is understandable that we are all part of a UC system and we have to fit similar forms to other UCs in this modern age, the current UCSC needs to be able to fit that new population.

This is a call for action. In order to comfortably fit these new students, we must be able to have enough housing for those students, let alone our current students. We must strive to have enough classes, so students can get into the classes they want because they rightfully deserve their education. Their education is what they worked for; it is what we, as students, pay for. In order to fight for these rights, as a student body, we must defend what we deserve. We deserve a comfortable environment to have an education. UCSC is definitely that place. It is a place to grow, learn and develop with our peers. But in order to be guaranteed our rights, we must understand the foundations of UCSC and how 650 more students can be a problem for the current university.