GSA pledges to fight more hikes
By Calanit Greenberg
Jan. 13, 2004 9:00 p.m.
As the voice of UCLA graduate students, the Graduate Student
Association plans to address the sizable fee increase at the
University of California system included in the recent budget
proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The budget proposes a 40 percent increase in graduate student
fees for the 2004-2005 school year. The UC Board of Regents will
discuss fee increases during their meeting today.
Though the association has no new plans to combat the potential
increase, members said they will continue to voice graduate
students’ disapproval of the increases.
“We’ll do whatever we can to stop the fee increase,
from writing letters to working with student regents,” said
Academic Vice President Marilyn Gray.
Though the proposed 40 percent fee increase is substantial, it
is not an unfamiliar event. Under former Gov. Gray
Davis’ administration, graduate fees were increased by 30
percent in the 2003-2004 academic year ““ an action GSA had
been combatting.
“When you start on uneven ground, it’s hard to bring
back the problem to a reasonable state,” said GSA President
Hanish Rathod.
Even with the existing adversity, GSA will respond to the
governor’s proposal on two fronts, Rathod said.
First, it will contend the issue by raising a voice in
Sacramento and maintaining vigilance of the actions taken by the UC
Student Association, the student lobbying arm of the UC system.
The second front to the issue will be to get more financial aid
through lobbying and other methods.
GSA is one of several councils from different universities on
the forefront of a house bill called the “Higher Education
Affordability and Equity Act of 2003.”
The bill was introduced to Congress in October 2003. It is an
appeal to amend a 1986 bill, which in turn would allow more federal
aid specifically for graduate students.
In addition to the bill, GSA will look to scholarships to help
students deal with fee increases.
“GSA can use all the help we can get. The more people, the
more effective,” Rathod said.
Though these actions have been taken in the past, Gray said she
does not know of any definite actions GSA will take in the near
future.
“We have no plan of action so far,” she said.
GSA has been flooded with e-mails by students who want to know
what course GSA is planning to take and how they will be affected,
Rathod said.
Both incoming and currently enrolled graduate students will be
affected by the possible fee increase. Some graduate students
accepted admission with the expectation of paying one fee and being
forced to pay more than that was required at the onset of their
acceptance.
“If this higher rate had existed when I applied, I would
have gone elsewhere,” said law student Robbie Lambert.
GSA plans to educate the graduate student population by sending
out an e-mail this week about the state of the fee situation.
“As the economic prestige of other state universities
moves up, UC schools will not be as competitive should funding be
cut as deeply as it is proposed,” Rathod said.
