BERKELEY “”mdash; About 500 students marched outside the UC Board
of Regents meeting at the UC Berkeley campus Thursday, holding
cardboard signs decrying the fee increases approved Wednesday.
During a majority of the meeting, the first held on the Berkeley
campus in over a decade, students chanted phrases such as “We
won’t go to the back of the bus. No fee hikes. No
cuts.”
Students held papier-mache balls with pictures of Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger and UC President Robert Dynes to show their
disapproval of the Higher Education Compact negotiated between the
governor and the UC in 2004. In the compact, the UC agreed to raise
student fees in exchange for a more stable and predictable pattern
of state funding.
In accordance with the compact, undergraduate fees were raised 8
percent and graduate fees were raised by 10 percent in a vote of
the full board Wednesday. But the regents emphasized that the
increases could be reversed if the state can provide sufficient
funding to the UC in the future.
The regents also passed a provision to use 33 percent of the fee
increases for undergraduate students as financial aid, a measure
students have been fighting for since early this year.
During the meeting, students thanked the regents for approving
the 33 percent “return to aid” and asked them to
continue working with the students in lobbying for state
funding.
“We’re using our financial-aid victory as a
springboard so we can work with the regents to put the pressure on
the governor to increase state funding,” said Jeannie Biniek,
external vice president for the UCLA Undergraduate Students
Association Council.
Associated student groups from all UC campuses were represented
at the student rally, with the exception of UC Merced, whose
student government has not fully formed.
During the meeting, students reminded the regents how the fee
increases will affect them personally.
UC Davis student Michael Caporusso told the regents that
students from middle-income families, some of whom work
minimum-wage jobs and often do not qualify for financial aid, will
have to work an additional 73 hours per year to pay fees.
“Students are going to be more focused at just making ends
meet than … on their grades,” he said.
Associated Students UCLA Legislative Liaison Jeanalee Obergfell
said it was important for students to attend the meeting and show
the regents that they care about the decisions made.
“This is the kickoff to our lobbying campaign (for
increased state funding),” Obergfell said.
Third-year UC Santa Barbara student Amanda Velasquez said by
traveling to Berkeley, students showed they are serious about
stopping fee increases.
“We’re not just whining. We’re willing to do
something,” Velasquez said.
UC Irvine student Shehzad Huda said more students were able to
come to the meeting because it was held at a campus with a large
undergraduate population. Regents’ meetings are frequently
held at UC San Francisco, a campus of mostly graduate and
professional students.
The regents addressed the merits of holding more meetings on
undergraduate campuses in a special session on regent
procedures.
Regent Sherry Lansing said it is important for the regents to go
to the various UC campuses to be more accessible to students,
specifically allowing more students to address the board at public
comment sessions.
During the meeting, Regent Odessa Johnson stepped outside to
encourage students in their efforts.
“Yesterday we won a battle but we lost a war,”
Johnson told them, referring to the approval of the return to aid
and the increase in fees.
She said students’ continued efforts and sacrifice will
pay off in the end.
“Now it’s time for a compact with the students. …
Tell the governor it’s time to put the students first,”
Johnson said.