The privatization of the University of California: THE FIGHT TO SAVE EDUCATION MUST CONTINUE
OP-ED BY ELANA EDEN AND MARGARET HARDY IN THE DAILY CALIFORNIAN - THE STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER OF U.C. BERKELEY |HTTP://BIT.LY/S8BYEM
Tuesday, November 20, 2012 :: Lately, my friends have been asking me: “Proposition 30 just passed… so why mobilize?” In the relief following a narrow escape from a 20.3 percent fee hike, it seems like a reasonable question. As the pre-election panic subsides and we return to our schoolwork exhausted but reassured that we’re safe from a fee hike — at least for now — it’s difficult to acknowledge that the fight for public education is far from over.But the privatization of the university doesn’t stop for elections. We may have averted a fee hike this year, but the UC Board of Regents is already discussing one for next year. At its meeting last week, the Board of Regents passed its new budget proposal, which could lead to an estimated 6 percent increase in 2013-14 undergraduate tuition if the state is unable to provide equivalent funding, as well as fee