We stood in solidarity this week, and were semi-defeated with the approval of the proposed 32% fee hike to tuition within the UC system. So, that means that $2,500 will be tacked onto the already $4,176 - $4, 874 (depending if you have opted to be covered under the University's health insurance plan) next semester, bringing tuition costs to $6,676 - $7,374 for Spring 2010. This is detrimental to students who are already struggling to pay for their education, and it is devastating for certain campus communities, such as students of color and student-parents. Although the Regents say that low-income students will be shielded from this hike, we are having a hard time trusting that. The fact that the University is laying workers and faculty off left and right, closing child care centers, imposing new regulations and eliminating vital resources, DOES NOT provide any ease. We all fear that this is the beginning of the "death of public education".


We have been reminded by fellow students that this decision to approve the fee hike was not solely the decision of the UC Regents, but more of a snowball effect of our dry state. California's budget crisis has not improved and people are still feeling the sting of frigged air from being left out in the cold for what is starting to feel like forever. Whatever the reasons, we simply CAN NOT afford to dish out more money, and we are being told that neither can the financial systems that have been in place to aid us. So, then what? What happens to the student who has invested so much, but can not afford to continue on the journey? What happens to high schoolers who may not be able to get fully funded? How will the University, particularly, UC Berkeley, maintain its status as one of the most prestigious schools in the country if it has to shut out thousands of hopeful applicants? There will surely be some interesting times ahead as things continue to unfold.


The movement to stand up, fight for what is right, and be heard, will press on today, as students have organized themselves for another day of protesting. There is still a great belief in the power of a mass and collectivity. The hope is that the University will see that the students they serve "ARE the University and they have the power to shut it down". No business as usual for many, even as the semester is ending and finals are being thought up, students still have justice on the brain. I can't predict an outcome, but I can show my support by participating in the movement as I have been while I am still officially on campus, and show my solidarity to my UC Berkeley community once I move on.

Click here to read the story of my friend, and UC Berkeley single dad, Ramon Quintero, as he bussed down to LA with other UCB students for the UC Regents meeting. He is an inspiration and he couldn't have made his Cal student-parent community more proud!

(Note: "We are the University and we have the power to shut it down"... its ringing true, if only for today, as UCB strikers have succeeded in shutting down one of the buildings on campus in massive protest. The same is in progress at UC Davis.)