18 July 2003

How does the state budget crisis affect you as a student?

'I'm worried about the cuts here and how the loss in funding for UC will affect my own budget. I'm still dependent on my mother financially, and we fall into the trap of being in the "middle-income" bracket where you can't get financial aid. It will hit us hard. I'm also concerned about how the extra costs will change people's decisions about what they want to do — what housing they can get or what opportunities they can pursue. And cutting resources for public education — for elementary schools, middle schools — is really going to hurt. Overall I feel that some structural change has to be made, because these problems were here before Governor Davis took office and they're going to be here after he leaves, too.' —Maya Jones, fourth-year History major

'The main way the budget crisis affects me is that my roommate told me that they just increased fees by 25 percent. That's on top of the fee increases we already had this year. That sucks. I've gotten financial aid before; I'm waiting to hear if I'll get it for this year.' —Hai Dao, fourth-year History/English major

'I read in the newspaper that they are planning to raise fees by 25 or 30 percent. That is definitely going to affect me because this year I'll be a sophomore and already my family doesn't have a lot of money to spend. Because of this budget crisis, not as many people will be able to get a college education and that will affect the economy in the long run in terms of fewer qualified people for jobs. It goes in circles. What I want to know is, Why should education suffer because of the government policies? They should raises taxes on something else first. Maybe public transportation, although that would make me suffer too because I take BART.' —Jenny Belotserkovsky, second-year Business or Mass Communications major (intended)

'I'll be starting school here in the fall so it does affect me. Prices going up for school are not a good thing for anybody. It will be hard for my parents financially, and it might jeopardize the things I can do, like extracurricular activities. Other people might not be able to afford to come here at all, they'll have to go to another university or a junior college or something. I just hope the government can fix its problems.' —Jonathan Richina, first-year Integrative Biology major (intended)

'I'm worried about the budget in that my tuition is going up. I am not on financial aid, but a lot of my friends are and I am worried that they might suffer more. And besides tuition increases, a lot of campus facilities won't be as available — they're cutting back on library hours and a lot of things that are pretty essential to a college campus. On the other hand, money is money, and if the state doesn't have it, you can't really argue with the numbers. So what can you do?' — Nancy Lee, third-year Molecular & Cell Biology major