<p>The reason why tuition is going up because of budget cuts. I would much rather pay a lot more money now than pay for it in the future via taxes. With the way the economy is going, it’s going to take decades to pay off this debt and is frankly very embarrassing that it even exists in the first place. Please understand that this is something I have put a lot of thought into, and after weighing my options and values, I am willing to accept personal responsibility now instead of later. If not make cuts to education, then where? However this is just my personal belief on something that is not directly related to the faculty/student walk-out.</p>
<p>That being said, while it sucks that tuition is going up, the real reason why we are having the walkout in the first place isn’t even necessarily because tuition is going up- it’s because they raised the tuition without transparency and input, which I am completely against. However, I still don’t think the right way to do this is to play hooky on your first day of class; I am willing to bet the majority of students care more about their education than taking action (or rather, nonaction) that does not have a direct relation to tuition cuts. Talking with this A.S. council or holding a protest on transparency is much more conductive than playing hooky.</p>
<p>Tuition increase may be a focal issue but is not really what the walkout is about any more than the US Civil War was about slavery. The ability of the UC system to govern itself as a democratic organization is at stake as well as protection of the more economically vulnerable members of the academic community on both sides of the lecture podium.</p>
<p>I’m just going to selectively copy and paste from another poster on another forum who is much smarter than I am and phrased this in a way I think is very effective.</p>
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<p>What do you guys propose we do? To be honest, raising fees is the most logical solution. We’ll still get a phenomenal eduction at a world class university for a rather low price.</p>
<p>However, the UCs pride themselves on offering a great education at a low price. These fee increases will just keep stacking unless something drastic happens.</p>
<p>The entire country’s in an economic slump and our state has decided that education isn’t that high of a priority. We lose millions of dollars in funding and that money has to come from SOMEWHERE. </p>
<p>We need a dramatic solution. Criticize the UCSD professors all you want for recommending that UCSC, UCR, and UCM be shut down, but at least they had some proposals.</p>
<p>Agreed with SDTriton. It’s important to remember that everybody, and not just the students, is suffering as a result of the economy. If we do not raise tuition then more jobs would have been slashed, and indeed it is increasingly difficult for students to find part-time jobs on campus. Students would have been deprived of even more classroom resources. To remain a top tier university, we still need to offer professors the incentive to teach here (higher salary) and be able to compete with private universities. The UC Laborers were demanding a higher salary throughout all of last year. The UC Librarians are demanding higher salaries. The top UC administrators have already put a cap to their salaries and bonuses.</p>
<p>So which is it? Less classroom resources? Pay cuts or pink slips for the most vulnerable UC workers? Worse professors? Less published papers as a result of less research funding? Remember that the University of California has the responsibility to provide world-class education for all of its students, and that responsibility must come from all of us.</p>
<p>this isn’t just about cutting jobs and raising tuition… it’s also about why the **** that idiot Yudof thought it was best to raise his own salary (now at about $828,000) and also the salaries of the Regents executives.</p>