Regents committee recommends UC fee hikes (32%)

[XemaSab]

Source: SF Chronicle

As hundreds of students rushed the building today where UC Regents were meeting - throwing wet red bandannas meant to look like blood - the regents' finance committee voted to recommend a 32 percent student fee increase, setting off planned protests at several UC campuses.

The vote all but ensured that the full governing board on Thursday will raise the annual price of a UC education to $10,302 for next fall.

UC police in riot gear arrested at least 14 people at UCLA, where the meeting was taking place, and at least one student was injured. The meeting was shut down three times when students in the audience rose to chant against the fee increases, swear at the regents, and sing "We Shall Overcome."

The vote was being protested at several UC campuses.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/18/MNP01AMLIE.DTL

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OUTRAGEOUS! :o

[EFerrari]

1. Who's going to stop them?

:grr:

[Igel]

3. Probably nobody.

Finance committee recommends, the full Regents will almost certainly approve. Not always. Usually.

Then comes the fun part: In the '90s the state Legislature often "bought out" fee increases, lowering the amount students paid. But the fees had been increased so it was entirely up to the legislature to continue to pay for it, otherwise they defaulted to the higher rate (which wasn't technically a fee increase).

Sometimes the legislature is well disposed to UC. Sometimes it isn't. Often it depends on whose stroked, who's the recipient of intensive sucking up. Sometimes UCSA helps, sometimes it hurts. Hell, even the UAW hurt at one point, trying to use its pull with some legislators to increase pressure on UC to permit unionization and, in so doing, helping to make things more expensive for students. (Those who would be UAW members, of course, saw no fee increase as long as they were employees, so it didn't hurt their members--a very transient and ever changing group of people.)

It's a fun game to watch, even student groups doing the same silly things. The same red bandana business--it seemed neat when I was there in the '90s, but probably dates back to what? the 70s? In other words, the Regents would look at it, sigh with nostalgia, and then do what they'd do in any event.

[EFerrari]

5. I was at Cal in the late 80s/early 90s and we got divestment from South Africa.

[depakid]

2. Wow.

At some point it'll become cheaper to pay out of state tuition and go to the U of O.

[XemaSab]

4. Or Harvard

:P

[EFerrari]

6. I have to go back for one flippin year and it's more likely

that I'll lay a golden egg.

[depakid]

8. If it's undergrad you at least get an expanded tax credit now

[EFerrari]

9. No, it's grad.

[depakid]

10. Then you're stuck with 20 cents on the dollar up to $2,000 I think

Do yourself a big favor and finish it off somehow, though. You'll be happy that you did.

[EFerrari]

11. It's not going to happen. It wasn't possible BEFORE this last hike.

They just put that degree absolutely out of my reach.

[Piewhacket]

16. Sorry to hear that.

[EFerrari]

18. I was really lucky to get to go to college at all, let alone

the years of grad work I did before my visit to the middle class was over. I don't really mind most of the shifts we make but being priced out of school is the one thing I struggle to accept.

In lighter news, my son is graduating from EMT training tonight. He was a pretty good salesman but he hated it so he snuck back to school at night and on weekends without saying anything to us. He's very excited about it and says he might try to go to nursing school down the road if he does with at patient care. That was cool :)

[Bette Noir]

7. Just for perspective, when I went to UC in the '70s,

it cost less than $600/year.

[djp2]

15. about $24,000 now...

UCLA now about $10,000 tuition, $12,000 room/board $2000+ in FEES and books. Every class imposes other FEES, like Computer Access, etc...that's for IN-STATE...of course everybody becomes in-state after a year of attending as they get residency.....

Aggravating point is that almost 50% of UC students are foreign students, accepted as the STATE gets more money from them than local kids have to pay. Locals meeting entry requirements SHOULD Have full priority with only EMPTY spots filled by Foreign nationals, but they turn away qualifying in-state students in preference to Foreign Nationals.

Oh yeah....anybody check into that SLUSH fund that Housing must have...must be $150 million in Room/Board EACH YEAR paid to UCLA = $12,000 x 12500 students on campus...can't cost that much to house and feed students...and they answer to no one. Crowd them in 3 to a room for Freshmen.

[CreekDog]

12. Insane, that's in-state tuition too

we're treating our very best students like this.

damn this state sometimes! :grr:

[annm4peace]

13. Please support these protests. They are happening all over the state

If you are near one of the protesting colleges, join in the protest, honk in support if driving by.
Call the City DA if there were arrests at the college near you and tell them to drop the charges.

Call local radio stations and speak in support of the protests and against the tuition increases.

Post comments on news websites in support of the protests.

And if able donate some money to the defense of those arrested.

There is to be civil disobedience for the next 3 days and they need your support.

You can make a change in CA, but everyone needs to participate in whatever way the can.


Don't be a victim of apathy and hopelessness.

Don't let them break down the CA public education system so they can privatize that also.

[Liberty Belle]

14. Awful, especially since CSU is cutting down on local admissions

at least here in San Diego. We have a flood of refugees from Iraq--400 families a month--and nowhere for so many of our local students to go for an affordable college education. The community colleges are overfull and have budget cuts, too.

I really hate the Republicans for destroying public education in our state. My daughter just got admitted to UC -- don't know how we will afford it. Our son just graduated and his tuition shot up so much it took most of the money we'd saved for both kids just to get him through. We've taken a second out on the house to get kid#2 through.

If you are in California and care about the kids, vote every republican out of office from the Governor on down and get people in who actually care about education.

[djp2]

17. See #15 above

That's us RE: 2nd on house...even for a UC school..$100,000 for 4 years...My daughter's 3rd year at UCLA, luckily she should be able to get out this year, a year early...watch the garbage classes they throw kids into...many take 5 years because they push kids to explore first year, classes which later don't count for anything. Know what you want to do and go for it, with Summer school and APs coming in daughter is able to do it in 3.

PS /counselors and profs are great at giving kids the brush-off..kids need to be persistant...takes parents' help sometimes...Sometime let me tell you about her first year horror story with a non-student boy living in her triple (that makes 4) for a term and she couldn't get him out (roommate's boyfriend). Campus police wouldn't even investigate.

[mackerel]

19. Some kid came dressed up as the grim reeper to Solano

Community College yesterday. Now that's class.