Regents approve fee hike for theater, film, television school

Monday, April 1, 1996

Decision to increase fees 45 percent for incoming studentsBy
Michael Howerton

Daily Bruin Staff

SAN FRANCISCO — A very close vote by the Board of Regents
approved a 45 percent fee hike for UCLA School of Theater, Film and
Television students next year.

The current fee of $4,366 will increase $2,000 more for students
beginning this fall. Fees will not be increased for current
students.

The increase follows the established pattern of raising fees for
selected professional schools throughout the UC system, including
law and medicine. These additional fees, called "differential
fees," are placed on top of the basic tuition.

The extra fees, which differ from program to program, are based
on the speculated future incomes of the graduates. Since students
graduating with professional degrees are expected to earn high
salaries, regents are in effect "taxing" students’ future
wages.

And in the face of severe budget cuts, the university has turned
to differential fees as a way of making sure certain programs
receive adequate funds.

UCLA Chancellor Charles Young favors the use of differential
fees in professional schools and was the main force behind the push
to convince the regents to approve the recent fee increase for the
School of Theater, Film and Television.

"The program is one of the finest in the United States," Young
said, "but we are not going to be able to maintain the quality
unless we have fees of this kind to maintain and enhance the
quality."

UCLA was named the third best film school in the nation,
according to the most recent rankings by U.S. News and World
Report.

The vote by the regents was close, with the fees passing by only
six to five. Many regents expressed their concern that the students
would not be able to withstand the extra financial burden the
increase would cause.

Regent Ward Connerly, who has traditionally been a staunch
opponent to student fee hikes urged his fellow regents not to just
approve the fees without thinking over the consequences first.

"This is a substantial increase," Connerly said. "This is a lot
of money for these kids ­ let’s talk this out."

But as Regent Tirso del Junco then said, the course had already
been set at the last meeting for the increase in professional
school fees and expected the fees to be approved.

One of the most convincing reasons to raise fees for the School
of Theater, Film and Television ­ one of the most expensive
programs to fund at the university ­ was that without these
increases, the program would drain off undergraduate resources,
Young said.

However, UC Berkeley undergraduate David Friedman said that
although he initially agreed with this reasoning, he found that the
amount needed to supplement the film program and keep the fees
where they are now was "infinitesimal."

The small amount could be funded from taxes rather than resting
solely on the small number of students in the program and, thus,
raising their tuition by over 45 percent, he told the regents
before the vote.

But the close vote in favor of Young’s proposed fee hikes will
make additional financial aid to the program possible while still
keeping the cost the lowest of all other competitive film schools
around the country, he said.

Before the vote, two students of the School of Theater, Film and
Television urged the regents not to raise the fees and force the
students to bear the financial burden of making up for the
debilitating budget cuts the programs has endured.

"The (budget) cuts have threatened education and the $2,000
would only go to maintain, not enhance the program," said Paul
Katami, a student in the theater department. "There is a lack of
money for education, but before making students make up for it,
other options should be consulted. The culture, spirit, and
economic life of the state depends on this."

Paige Lifkin, another student in the program who spoke before
the regents, called the increase an "extremely harsh jump in cost.
It is short-sighted to turn to the students which the public school
was meant to help."

Student Regent-designate Jess Bravin said he was troubled about
the fee hikes and differential fees in the professional schools.
The reliance on differential fees is moving the university into a
system of privatization and away from its traditional role as a
public institution, making education equally accessible to all
students, he said.

"This is not the direction we should be heading in," Bravin said
after the vote. "It is unwise to fundamentally change the character
of the school. We will end up with a privatized system is we keep
going."

Bravin said that this trend would probably cause many film and
theater students to go elsewhere.

"Young’s philosophy is committed to the privatization of the
University of California," Bravin said. "I oppose that and support
the return to the 125-year tradition of being the greatest public
university in the world."Comments to
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