EDITORIAL BOARD Editor in
Chief  Timothy Kudo
Managing Editor
 Michael Falcone
Viewpoint Editor
 Cuauhtemoc Ortega
Staff Representatives
 Amanda Fletcher
 Kelly Rayburn
 Marcelle Richards
 Vytas Mazeika
 Corey McEleney
 Linh Tat
Editorial Board Assistants
 Maegan Carberry
 Edward Chiao
  Unsigned editorials represent a majority opinion of
the Daily Bruin Editorial Board. All other columns, letters and
artwork represent the opinions of their authors. Â Â All
submitted material must bear the author’s name, address, telephone
number, registration number, or affiliation with UCLA. Names will
not be withheld except in extreme cases. Â Â The Bruin
complies with the Communication Board’s policy prohibiting the
publication of articles that perpetuate derogatory cultural or
ethnic stereotypes. Â Â When multiple authors submit
material, some names may be kept on file rather than published with
the material. The Bruin reserves the right to edit submitted
material and to determine its placement in the paper. All
submissions become the property of The Bruin. The Communications
Board has a media grievance procedure for resolving complaints
against any of its publications. For a copy of the complete
procedure, contact the Publications office at 118 Kerckhoff Hall.
Daily Bruin 118 Kerckhoff Hall 308 Westwood Plaza Los Angeles, CA
90024 (310) 825-9898
Hindered by the slowing economy and the lack of adequate state
funding, the University of California is facing one of the largest
budget cuts in recent history. The UC Board of Regents is preparing
to slash the overall UC budget by 15 percent ““ or $450
million ““ for fiscal year 2002-03.
And as usual, it is students who are first in line to cover the
costs.
During their meeting on Wednesday, the UC Regents suggested
raising student fees in order to meet the budget reduction, rather
than cutting funding from other areas of the university.
Student fees have not been raised in the last seven years.
Instead, they have been reduced by as much as 10 percent for both
undergraduate and graduate students. Currently, UC students pay
$3,426 in student fees per year, $2,000 below the national average
for similar public universities.
But that fact shouldn’t be used as leverage.
Increasing student fees is antithetical to the purpose of a
public university: to provide the public with access to affordable
higher education. With each boost in student fees the UC ““
which once charged no fees ““ increasingly resembles a
high-priced, elitist private university.
Gov. Gray Davis has publicly promised to not raise student fees
at UC schools ““ he needs to find alternatives to keep this
promise.
Regent Ward Connerly was correct in stating the regents
“should raise fees in good times rather than bad.” At a
time when the economy is spiraling downward and the costs of living
for students are booming upward, additional student fees could
threaten student retention. At UCLA and UC Berkeley alone, housing
costs have skyrocketed by as much as 20 percent.
This is not to say that raising student fees during an
economically prosperous period is acceptable ““ but raising
them in a period of economic weakness is just ridiculous.
Instead of placing the burden on students, the regents should
focus their efforts on scaling back, consolidating and eliminating
non-essential research programs and institutions across the UC.
Cutting back these UC programs instead of raising student fees
will send a message to the students that the regents realize the
importance of giving as many people access to a public education as
is possible. A fee increase would hinder outreach efforts that
would normally attract students to the UC because of low costs,
hurting the UC in the long run.
Student regent Tracy Davis needs to learn how to become a
stronger advocate of student rights at regent meetings. It’s
upsetting that she did not mount an aggressive defense at the
regents meeting in favor of the students she purportedly
represents.
The board of regents allows only one student ““ out of nine
campuses ““ to vote on issues that directly affect all
students. If that representative does not take advantage of her
privilege, she’s doing a great disservice to all UC
students.
After all, Davis is not a regent who happens to be a student,
she’s a student who happens to be a regent.