Students lead push to halt fee hikes

Samantha Salas
Spartan Daily
Nov 27, 2007

California's first ever student-led ballot initiative under the Tuition Relief Now campaign was filed with the Attorney General on Nov. 14.

Organizers, students and community members in Berkeley began this campaign in hopes of making college more affordable for everyone in California.

According to the California State University Web site, system-wide undergraduate fees will have nearly doubled since 2001-02 at both the CSU and UC systems.

Valeria Fike-Rosales, lead organizer for the campaign, said the motivation for this campaign has been that dedicated, willing students are being pushed out of higher education because they can't afford it.

"If this law is passed in the 2008 ballot, the law would freeze tuition for five years for resident undergraduates in both UC and CSU campuses," Fike-Rosales said. "We've created a new way of doing something that people have been trying to do for years.

"Students are tired of being the ATM of their universities, and we're finally gaining the power to make a change," she said.

Fike-Rosales also said the campaign involves four different phases. Phase 1 is well under way since submitting the proposition to the Attorney General.

Phase 2 includes signature-gathering from the first week of January, when the proposition is said to return, until mid-April, Fike-Rosales said.

"We have to get 434,000 signatures throughout California by April," Fike-Rosales said. "We have 150 days to make the ballot valid. After that, Phase 3 begins.

We work together, running our campaign to the November 2008 election," Fike-Rosales said.

SJSU Associate Students President Benjamin Henderson said that although he is in support of lowering tuition and fees for students in California, SJSU is pursuing a different campaign to initiate lower fees.

"The California State Student Association is the official voice of students in California," Henderson said, "and I don't think with all the time and organization put into that campaign that we'll have time for another one on campus."

Jeremy Bearer-Friend, another lead organizer for the campaign, said students aren't important decision makers in the university systems.

"There is a more bleak economic outcome for California's future," Bearer-Friend said. "There's going to be a short fall of educated workers by 2025, and the problem is rising tuition costs.

"It's a question for every student to answer: Should college be affordable for everyone? The answer is yes, and it's up to the students to make this happen," he said.

Fike-Rosales said, "We have to wait 45 days to get a response back. In the meantime, we're building our volunteer base. More and more student organizations are being built, and we're assigning lead organizers for every campus in California."

Kimberly Johnston, a freshman business major at SJSU, said she would vote for this initiative and believes it is unfair that fees continually increase at SJSU.

"It would really help my graduating class, as well as next year's graduating class, because our fees would be frozen until graduation," Johnston said. "Even though the economy and the money needed to maintain it is increasing, I hope this law will pass and help anyone who wants to attend college."

According to the campaign's news release, after those five years, any future tuition increases will not be allowed to exceed the inflation index.

"The law would raise new revenue specifically for the cost of educating UC and CSU students through a 1 percent tax on millionaires' income over $1 million," the press release said.

If passed, the proposition would also set up a process requiring UC and CSU administrators to report to a citizens' panel of students and parents how the new revenue is being spent.

"This campaign and law protects the future of the universities," Bearer-Friend said. "They are going to be able to continue to serve their mission to everyone who wants to attend college and not be a school just for the wealthy.

"Students won't be in as much debt from tuition come graduation, and parents can count on their kids going to school. There's the opportunity to plan in advance how much school will cost, instead of being surprised every year when fees continued to go up."

Sharon Seitz, a junior public relations major, said that although she plans to vote for the ballot, she doesn't think it will pass.

"Compared to a lot of other states, many California tuitions are inexpensive," Seitz said. "There is a reason the tuition is rising, whether it be to increase professors' salaries or organize new programs, it probably is something students cannot fight against or avoid.

"One of my professors once told me, 'College is not a privilege, you should have to work for it,'" Seitz said. "I agree, but I also think the world would be a better off if there were more people with higher education. I do think the price of college education intimidates capable people."

Caitlyn Whitney, a senior political science major and campus organizer at Cal State Fullerton, said she has received numerous positive responses and great support from students, as well as faculty, on her campus.

"This campaign is a good compromise to the two sides I hear around campus," Whitney said. "One side is that college should be completely free. Some students feel that we're giving schools too much power by paying fees at all, other than tuition.

"The other side is that if we stop paying fees, what will happen to our universities?" Whitney said. "This campaign is a balance between the two. We just want our schools to be more responsible in what they use the money for."

Jason Robo, a senior political science and economics major at Humboldt State University, said, "The only thing rising as fast as tuition rates is the price of gasoline, and what's worse is that prison guards are being paid more than our professors. Something needs to change, and it needs to start with our higher education system and the student body."