Student reps look beyond fee hike
By Laban Pelz
The Collegian
After Thursday’s decision
to raise CSU student fees, student representatives said there is still
a long road ahead in the battle for affordable education.
Fresno State Associated Students President Jennifer Reimer said though
the CSU Board of Trustees voted to raise fees in the face of opposition
from about 200 students representing all 23 CSU campuses, such student
protests will still be needed in the near future.
“This was just part of the process,” Reimer said of the CSU
students’ trip to Long Beach. Some spoke at the trustees’
conference, asking them not to increase fees. “It’s a foundation
for the upcoming year. We have to let people know how we feel.”
The proposed 8 percent fee hike must still pass the California state legislature
and the governor before it becomes part of the 2006-2007 state budget.
Reimer, who is also chair of the California State Student Association,
said it is as important for legislators as it was for the trustees to
know where students stand on fee increases.
“Students are willing to pay their fair share for education,”
Reimer said. “But it is not fair to keep raising the fees.”
Another student representative who said he was happy with Thursday’s
student showing was CSU Student Trustee Corey Jackson.
“I’m very pleased because it shows the strength of CSU students,”
said Jackson, a senior political science major at CSU San Bernandino.
“We need to get our message across. We need citizens to join. We
need legislators.”
Jackson voted against the decision to raise fees and said raising taxes
instead is the answer to covering rising college costs.
“We’re not asking them (the state legislature) to cut anything,”
he said. “We’re asking people to sacrifice with an increase
in taxes.”
Jackson said the fact that 80 percent of California’s workforce
comes out of the CSU system is case enough for the state to spend more
on education, specifically on the CSU.
Reimer said higher taxes remain an option: “Maybe that needs to
be looked into.”
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