Raising student fees bad way to budget

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Students have the least say in what policies are adopted by the
University of California, and yet they are the first ones to bear
the brunt when the university is in trouble.

During its meeting this week, the UC Board of Regents considered
the possibility of raising student fees in order to account for
financial shortcomings. Specifically, the beleaguered 2002-2003
state budget did not allocate funds to account for the
cost-of-living adjustments of UC faculty and staff ““ some
regents fear this may encourage them to seek jobs elsewhere. In the
eyes of regent S. Sue Johnson, raising student fees in order to
account for these missing funds is the only plausible option she
sees.

We encourage her, and all the regents, to look harder, or at
least listen more closely to those most in touch with the student
body: the student regents.

Both Tracy Davis and Dexter Ligot-Gordon are correct in
asserting that raising student fees will threaten the accessibility
of education, especially at UCLA, where both on- and off-campus
housing alone costs students thousands of dollars a year.
Increasing fees will also make it a lot more difficult for students
with fewer economic resources to afford the UC ““ a public
university.

Larry Hershman, UC vice president for the budget, might believe
fee increases are fine if they are “moderate and
predictable” ““ sadly, these two qualities don’t
make textbooks and rent any cheaper.