CSU
to propose tuition hikes
By Kimberly Pasquis
On-line Forty-Niner
The
California State University system Board
of Trustees will be voting on a proposed
increase Monday for CSU student tuition
after Gov. Gray Davis announced a mid year
budget cut Friday.
A proposed $10.2 billion in sweeping budget
cuts will address the $21 billion to $30
billion deficit of California. These most
recent cuts will bring the total CSU budget
reductions for 2002 to 2003 to $125 million.
Education is a huge portion of the government
and it would be unfair for education to
not take its fair share, said Byron Tucker,
spokesman for Davis.
“Education remains the governor’s main priority,”
Tucker said. “It is necessary for California
to be in a stronger position to meet cuts
next year.”
A proposed 10 percent tuition increase will
affect undergraduates, which translates
to $72 per semester and $96 per quarter.
Graduate students will experience a 15 percent
increase, which will be $114 per semester
and $152 per quarter.
If passed, increases will begin with the
winter session. Students that have already
made their spring semester payments will
be billed, said Danny Vivian, president
for Associated Students Inc.
“The CSU was quick to announce that the
money would come from student fees,” Vivian
said.
“[Faculty and staff] have yet to consider
‘Maybe I won’t get my raise’ or ‘Maybe I
won’t have such a nice office,’” Vivian
said.
Each division at Cal State Long Beach has
set in place a contingency plan of action
in response to the CSU decision for budget
cuts.
“Most divisions are looking to do an across
the board reduction,” said Armando Contreras,
executive assistant to CSULB President Robert
Maxson.
Contreras said that the main priority for
CSULB is to maintain classes and services.
In order to spread out costs so that no
one department suffers more than others,
each division at CSULB will be asked to
cut spending by 1 percent to 5 percent.
Each divisional vice president will decide
where to make cuts, Contreras said.
CSU had been expecting something like this
to happen. In anticipation of more cuts,
the 23 CSU campus presidents had been warned
earlier this year to be cautious about spending
by such means as temporary hiring freezes,
not entering into major contracts and not
replacing equipment.
Contreras said that there will be a percentage
that CSU’s will need to give back to the
state. Although this percentage will be
the same for all CSU campuses, Cal State
Long Beach will need to give back the most
money because it will be the largest.
The California State Student Association
is planning a “No Increase in Student Fees”
rally at the Chancellor’s Office Monday
at 7:30 a.m. The association is encouraging
students to take part in this statewide
rally.
Vivian said that, according to an e-mail,
43 students from Cal State Chico and Sacramento
plan to take a bus to downtown Long Beach
Sunday to be ready for the rally Monday
morning.
“The CSSA wants to sit down and see where
we can make these cuts,” Vivian said. “The
proposal is a crisis one.
“The negative amount to accessibility to
students will be greater than the positive
amount to the budget.”
Vivian is encouraging that students take
an active role in stating that they will
not accept a tuition increase as the final
answer to the budget reduction.
“[The tuition increase] is a disservice
to the CSU who tout their diversity and
accessibility to students,” Vivian said.
“To flush that down the toilet is an even
greater disservice to the students.”
The University of California campuses will
experience a $74.3 million proposed reduction.
Alexis Kindig contributed to this story.
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