Letter to the editor
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 22, 2004 9:00 p.m.
Editorial on GSA skews plans
Tuesday’s editorial highlighted the most important issue
in the Graduate Student Association election: the impending 40
percent graduate fee increase and the university budget cuts
(“GSA needs leaders who propose real solutions,” April
20). This editorial and the story on the two presidential
candidates states that neither of the candidates has adequate plans
to deal with the issue.
During my 20-minute interview with a Daily Bruin reporter, I
repeatedly mentioned my strategy to deal with these financial
problems. I would like to restate my plans for the record. As
president, I would organize a coalition of all of the University of
California and California State University campuses to provide a
united front to the Legislature in opposition to these cuts. It is
only with the strength in numbers that we can hope for any serious
response to our concerns. I estimate that there are half a million
students in the UC and CSU systems. If we can get only one quarter
of these students to send a letter (we’ll even give them a
pre-written letter they can sign and mail) to Gov. Schwarzenegger
and the Legislature, we will inevitably have a large impact on the
state budget itself.
We must use a loud voice to tell our representatives that
high-quality and affordable graduate education is vital to our
state’s economic future. It is an investment that we cannot
overlook or under-fund.
Jared Fox GSA presidential candidate
