[T]he UC regents should be very wary of a report out of UC Berkeley proposing new levels of autonomy for each of the system’s 10 schools. That autonomy, according to the proposal coauthored by Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau, would include the ability to set tuition, within certain limits, and to determine how many students to accept from out of state… Berkeley and UCLA become campuses of rich students and poor scholarship students, while middle-class kids would be relegated to the less competitive schools… Meanwhile, other campuses with less star power would be left to fend for themselves, and the inequities among campuses would probably grow.
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by The Editors, The Los Angeles Times.
Posted: April 30th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Although several UC Berkeley faculty members have expressed support for the encampment on UC-owned land in Albany, researchers who use the land said they are not able to start work due to the occupation. In an open letter to the Albany community, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost George Breslauer and Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance John Wilton said campus officials will continue discussions with protesters to seek a peaceful resolution provided they dismantle the encampment.
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by Christopher Yee and Sam Buckland, The Daily Californian.
Posted: April 29th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
A shift in the way the UC Office of the President gathers funds from each campus has caused some concern about the impact on student fees and the financial state of individual campuses… Student leaders on the Berkeley campus have raised objections to the inclusion of student fee referenda funds in the 1.6 percent tax. Bahar Navab, campus Graduate Assembly president, said she felt that the inclusion of student fee referenda was unfair because students might have been aware when voting for the new fees that some of the money might go toward the UCOP tax.
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by Jamie Applegate, The Daily Californian.
Posted: April 29th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
With current student loan interest rates set to double in July without government intervention, both politicians and students have thrust the issue into the national spotlight. While the issue has divided both major political parties, the possibility of an increase from the current 3.4 percent rate has prompted students to protest against student loan debt as politicians have begun to recognize it as a hot button issue.
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by Damian Ortellado, The Daily Californian.
Posted: April 29th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Democratic lawmakers are offering a way to help California’s middle class families cope with soaring college tuition: close a corporate tax loophole and use the money for scholarships. But the “Middle-Class Scholarship Act,” which receives its first committee hearing this week, already is facing several obstacles. Five out-of-state corporations are lobbying against it, and Republican lawmakers are promising to block Democrats from reaching the two-thirds majority vote they need in the Legislature.
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by Hannah Dreier, NBC Bay Area.
Posted: April 29th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Over a dozen students with the Students for Quality Education announced Friday that the protest will start Wednesday and will be held at the Dominguez Hills, Fullerton, Long Beach, Northridge, Sacramento and San Bernardino campuses. The students say they will fast until university leaders freeze tuition, roll back salaries and meet other demands. “We’ve talked to state legislators, written petitions, mobilized people on campus,” Cal State Long Beach student Donnie Bessom said during a telephone news conference. “The next step for us is in the tradition of nonviolent civil disobedience.”
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by Staff, KTLA News.
Posted: April 29th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
No matter how the money is spent, it makes sense to eliminate the break for multi-state corporations that allows them to pick which of two formulas they want to use as the basis for their taxes each year. By switching to a system that would tax these companies based only on their sales in this state, the bill would bring California in line with other states, give companies more of an incentive to locate and hire here or at least not move away, and raise about $1 billion a year. This page has previously encouraged such a switch, as has the state legislative analyst. Ideally, the revenue would go into the cash-strapped general fund. And even if it didn’t, but was targeted for higher education, it’s unclear that tuition breaks constitute the best use.
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by The Editors, The Los Angeles Times.
Posted: April 27th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
The protestors’ success in this fight against the privatization agenda of the University should be cause for celebration; however, on March 29, nearly a month after the bank pulled out of UC Davis, the 11 students and 1 professor involved in the sit-in received orders to appear at Yolo County Superior Court. At the request of the UC Davis administration, District Attorney Jeff Reisig is charging the so-called Davis Dozen with 20 counts each of obstructing movement in a public place, and one count of conspiracy. If convicted, the protesters could each face up to 11 years each in prison, and $1 million in damages. The UC Davis administration is sending a clear message to protesters: dissent will not be tolerated. And those who do protest will face a violence much more pernicious than pepper-spraying at the hands of Lieutenant Pike.
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by Mela Heestand, AlterNet.
Posted: April 27th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Students at six Cal State University campuses have vowed to fast until university leaders agree to freeze tuition, roll back administrative and executive salaries and meet other demands. Members of Students for Quality Education said Friday that the hunger strike will begin Wednesday and involve 13 students at the Dominguez Hills, Fullerton, Long Beach, Northridge, Sacramento and San Bernardino campuses. In addition to a five-year tuition freeze and administrative pay cuts, students are calling for more free speech rights on campus and the elimination of housing and car allowances for the system’s 23 campus presidents. Speaking during a telephone news conference, several of the students said they decided on the fast after Chancellor Charles Reed and Board of Trustees Chairman A. Robert Linscheid failed to meet with them or adequately respond to their concerns.
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by Carla Rivera, The Los Angeles Times.
Posted: April 27th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
This study concludes that the benefits of higher education extend well beyond the direct payoff for students and include substantial gains to the state, and it is indeed worth the investment. California´s higher education investments pay off for all of California, not only for the individuals who receive a college education through increased lifetime earnings, but for the state in increased tax revenue and reduced costs for social welfare programs and incarceration… For every dollar California invests to get more students in and through college, it will receive a net return on investment of four dollars and fifty cents. That’s a net return of 450 percent.
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by Dr. Jon Stiles, Dr. Michael Hout and Dr. Henry Brady, The Campaign for College Opportunity.
Posted: April 25th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
