SUBMITTED BY Asad Ramzanali
I dislike fee hikes as much as anyone else on campus. I’m an out-of-state student, and I understand how expensive college is.
At the same time, I take pride in being at one of the best universities in the world and knowing that we have amazing professors, do great research, excel in athletics and arts and provide a place for free speech.
UCLA would be unable to do everything it does so well without funds. After the budget cuts, UCLA had to and will have to raise fees. That’s part of the deal. I think that, while those who were part of the UC-wide walkout probably had good intentions and wanted to promote less expensive education at UCLA, they were unknowingly promoting reducing languages taught at UCLA, eliminating Night Powell, paying professors less and cutting research funding. When UCLA can’t get the money from the state to fund all of these things, fees are raised. That’s how it works.
Chancellor Gene Block and UC President Mark Yudof are not the enemies of students because they had to raise tuition. They are making these decisions to keep UCLA operating as one of the best universities in the world.
If you want to protest, you have every right to ““ but I think the fight is better fought in Sacramento, not in front of Kerckhoff.
Furthermore, the student government that “represents me” had no business officially endorsing this walkout. USAC should represent the voice of all students ““ and I stand and say that not all students agreed with this walkout.
Ramzanali is a third-year economics and global studies student.