Amid cameras and television reporters, many UCLA students
gathered together Thursday afternoon to rally against Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger’s proposed 2004-2005 budget, which calls for a
variety of fee increases and program defunding.
Galvanized by the UCLA Law Student Committee Against Fee
Increases, the rally featured law and undergraduate students along
with university workers condemning the proposed 40 percent graduate
tuition hike among other increases and program cuts.
The event was more than a congregation of students carrying
banners reading “Higher education is not a tumor, don’t
cut it” ““ rather, those present had a mission and a
plan.
“We want the Legislature to understand that higher
education is something that’s going to serve the state … we
should be putting money into it, not cutting it,” said
Jonathan Delshad, a second-year law student and secretary of the
Student Bar Association.
Implementing their goals, law students met with Assemblywoman
Jackie Goldberg (D) later in the day at a town hall meeting, and
outlined their exact thoughts and recommendations regarding the
budget cuts.
The statements provided by the students will hopefully be taken
into consideration by the California State Assembly when Goldberg
returns to Sacramento.
“The most important message we’re trying to get to
Sacramento is that the cuts are also about the communities that
students will eventually serve,” said Zach Shepard, chairman
of the UCLA Law Student Committee Against Fee Increases.
The average law student will graduate $80,000 in debt, and with
tuition rising, many law students will choose jobs based on the
paychecks, instead of the value of their work, said Rea Holmes, the
co-chair of the Black Law Students Association.
In early January, Schwarzenegger issued his proposed budget
which stipulated $372 million in cuts for the University of
California system.
This cut would result in both undergraduate and graduate tuition
hikes and numerous program adjustments, such as an elimination of
all funding associated with the UC’s K-12 outreach
programs.
To many students, faculty and staff throughout the UC system,
the proposed budget would create more problems than could be
solved, including the loss of graduate students applying to the UC
system due to the increase in fees.
For the 2003-2004 school year, tuition at the UCLA School of Law
comes out to about $17,000. At other private institutions, such as
Stanford Law School and Yale Law School, tuition is about $32,000
and $33,000 respectively.
With tuition costs skyrocketing, private schools may become more
attractive to students who consider the private college fees to be
not much more of a financial stretch than those of the UC.
“Students, especially students of color, will be attracted
to other schools since there will be no reason to come to this
school after the fee increases,” said Pearl Del Rosario, a
third-year law student who attended the rally.
Many students say this growing trend in fee increases and the
lack of graduate students coming to the UC is unacceptable and will
only be exacerbated by the budget cuts, added Christopher
Punongbayan, a third-year law student present at the rally.