Broken principles: fight the hike

By Shruti Patrachari | Special to the Daily Cal

In late November 2014, Janet Napolitano, president of the University of California, announced a 27.7 percent increase in tuition over the course of five years. In conversations preceding this announcement, students were withheld information of the upcoming tuition hike. The reason behind the increase in tuition, Napolitano claims, is to ensure a sufficient budget for the UC system, requiring more money than is provided by the California state government.

The UC Board of Regents is responsible for overseeing university affairs and setting fees. Conversations between Napolitano and Gov. Jerry Brown have excluded the student voice, despite the fact that students are the direct victims. The proposed tuition hike imposes an increase in tuition for in-state, out-of-state, international and graduate students enrolled at any of the campuses in the UC system. At the current tuition rate, approximately 65 percent of students were acknowledged by the university as financially burdened and received some form of aid. Escalating the tuition costs further increases financial burden on the majority of UC students. Despite students already struggling with the affordability of higher education, the UC regents continue to advocate the more than 25 percent increase of tuition.

In the past academic year, the UC regents voted to pass a salary increase of up to 20 percent for UC chancellors across the state — including those from UC Merced, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside and UC Irvine — all falling just short of Chancellor Nicholas Dirks’ income of approximately half a million dollars, the highest income of a chancellor in the UC system. The leaders have taken pay raises while also supporting the tuition hike, placing a burden on students and receiving no burden in exchange (other than public opposition). The allocation of funding toward executive salaries rather than toward the betterment of education forces students to feel skeptical of where the university’s priorities rest. Another source of ever-increasing funds for the university is private institutions. The university is experiencing a continued increase in revenue from private sources while at the same time pushing the need to increase public funding. The reason why students must provide more money thus becomes more opaque; the public should make the decisions for a so-called “public institution.”

Students have suffered the brunt of the already-implemented budget cuts to the UC system, which have resulted in overcrowded lectures and difficulties enlisting in required courses. Within the last decade, the university has seen a 300 percent tuition increase, yet we still see the system continue to increase prices. From the its cost of $4,000 in 2000 to today’s costs, in-state tuition has risen $10,000 over the past 15 years. Due to escalating costs, communities, too, are affected: The rising college costs relative to the family income places financial distress on those already qualified for aid as well as those in the middle class, who must pay the full price out of pocket.

Students have organized themselves in opposition to the UC regents’ decisions, from conducting demonstrations on Sproul to mobilizing students to protest at the UC regents’ meeting at UCSF. In efforts to bolster the student voice, UC Berkeley students, in association with students from other UC campuses, have created a call to mobilize students for 96 hours. The 96 hours of action calls to mobilize students and reinvigorate efforts to prevent a further increase of tuition. The Office of the External Affairs Vice President is hosting multiple events as part of the mass mobilization, including a rally at Sather Gate beginning Tuesday at noon, as well as a town hall, featuring key political figures such as Councilmember Kriss Worthington, on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Wheeler Hall lobby. These events will culminate in the statewide strike that is to be held Thursday on Sproul at noon.

As of now, the tuition hikes will be addressed near the end of summer, leaving enough time for a tuition increase to be imposed during the next academic year. Meanwhile, students continue to oppose tuition increase through mobilization and presence at UC regents’ meetings, the soonest of which will occur March 17.

The UC system was built upon the fundamental ideals of quality, accessibility and affordability. With the ill transparency of funds and underhanded distribution of our money, however, the university has failed to live up to the original principles it so excessively champions. The student body at UC Berkeley is following examples of its famous past, challenging the ignorance of authority and the demeaning hierarchy.

Shruti Patrachari is a UC Berkeley student and the Fund the UC coordinator for the ASUC EAVP.