Arnold and UC

[nibot]

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a 2004-05 state budget proposal Friday with $372 million in cuts for the University of California system. The proposed cuts would reduce student enrollments, raise student fees, scale back student financial aid, reduce spending on faculty, eliminate K-12 outreach, and make deeper cuts to research, administration, and other programs. UC President Robert Dynes, in a newsletter to UC employees, calls the cuts understandable in light of the state's deficit, but notes that they will have "a very real impact on what this institution is able to accomplish for the people of California."

Comments

education

[fanlain.livejournal.com]

i don't understand how california's education is as cheap it is. i did my grad at calstate hayward - the out-of-state fees there were the same as my in-state fees in PA.

note that the economy in PA is a far cry from CA. not to mention the numbers from way low income families like mine. i'm the first in my family to go to undergrad since my family moved here in the 1800s. i'll be the last for a few generations i think.

Pennsylvania

[nibot.livejournal.com]

But that is, in a sense, irrelevent. After all, Washington DC has a vastly higher crime rate than here in California, yet that doesn't mean everything here is fine and dandy. More specifically, I am confused by an argument that seems to justify a large cut to university funding in exchange for tax cuts based upon the reasoning that "Californians are spoiled anyway." Just because education is expensive in Pennsylvania doesn't mean that it should be expensive here too. Your low-income-family background should only increase your support for affordable education! Basically, I don't understand your position, unless you're just bitter. Or perhaps I completely misunderstand, and you're just stating facts without intending them to be interpreted in this way.

Re: Pennsylvania

[fanlain.livejournal.com]

well yeah i'm bitter. i see so many lower income students all around me growing up and most can't afford education. i even wrote to my state legislator when i was an undergrad, asking them why education is so expensive and restricts the poor. all i got was a letter back, asking me to vote for him. not even addressing the issue. and as an art major you can't get funding. and i got yelled at for applied for minority funding b/c i'm white - i was arguing that was the minority that is the subset of the majority that isn't fucking rich and has similar, if not worse, economic situations than some of the so-called minority. turns out that's not a sufficient point for one to make. so yeah i am bitter. with good reason. i have lots of student loans to pay back and i made it through undergrad on two credit cards and practically starving myself. i worked 2 jobs and went to school full-time. how many californian students do you know who have to do that? my family couldn't afford to help me.

i think it's totally fair to compare other states. we do other issues, don't we? and yes i do think a lot of californians have it far better off than other states and don't appreciate that their education is already much cheaper and some also have better economic situations.

hikes always suck. i'm just saying some other states have it worse is all but *shrug* who cares?

Re: Pennsylvania

[fanlain.livejournal.com]

most of the students - white and minority - that i went to college with were a higher economic status than my family. i endured my freshman year being called "hick girl" and being laughed at b/c my family wasn't as worldly as some of the kids i was competing against who had private tutoring in the arts. it was rather depressing during my adjustment phase where i pretty much started avoiding kids like that.

but yeah i just think these hikes are bad but when you compare to other states and put it into perspective, it's still a better situation than other states are facing for who can go to college.

Re: Pennsylvania

[nibot.livejournal.com]

Certainly... and we want to keep it that way! (eg, accessible education in California)

State schools were originally free for Californians. That they have any fees at all is a result of this sort of fee-creep.

Re: Pennsylvania

[fanlain.livejournal.com]

actually, someone has to pay for the education? you have to bridge the gap b/w making it available to everyone for nothing and coming up w/ the costs for it. i'm just saying that california, compared to other states, already has it pretty easy.