Fees spark outcry

John Hornberg
San Jose State Spartan Daily
Apr 2, 2008

Some students seeking lower tuition are attacking the problem on two different fronts - in Sacramento and on the streets.

In response to increases that have doubled CSU tuition and dramatically increased UC tuition since 2002, an organization called Tuition Relief Now is working on both efforts, currently trying to qualify an initiative for the ballot and getting a bill passed in the California Legislature. The bill would freeze tuition at the higher education level.

The organization, according to its Web site, claims to be completely volunteer and student run.

The bill would freeze tuition in CSU and UC systems for the next five years, and would only increase at the same level as inflation, according to the organization's Web site. It would offset the loss of funds by levying a 1 percent tax on individuals with an income of $1 million or more, said Esther Alumba, director of student fee affairs for SJSU Associated Students.

A number of students liked the idea of what the initiative had to offer.

"None of us make a million dollars, and if we did, we wouldn't mind giving back for education," said Gisela Sandoval, a graduate student in social work .

"It's costing us a lot on the back end because people aren't educated," added Nicole Jordan, also a graduate student in social work and one of Sandoval's colleagues. "People open their eyes and change their philosophies by becoming educated."

President Kassing was not as enthusiastic as students were regarding the idea of a tuition freeze.

"I hope it wouldn't happen because it would just devastate (SJSU). It would be very, very harmful," he said at a news conference in March.

The current assembly bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Joe Coto (D-San Jose), and it passed the Assembly's Higher Education Committee, said Chris Vaeth, the campaign director for Tuition Relief Now. The Legislature has looked at the issue of student tuition in the past, Vaeth added.

"Students have been frustrated that the Legislature won't pass a long-term fee solution," he said. "We want to give them another opportunity."

Even though the higher education committee passed the bill, Vaeth said the bill is likely to have a rough time once it reaches the Assembly floor.

"The difficulty with any legislation this year is the budget," he said, adding that the group is working to make a case for the state's investment in higher education.

Alumba said 60 percent of the revenue generated by the proposed tax would go back into California's two public university systems, while the rest would go into California's other educational institutions.

"Our entire public educational system will be better off if this bill passes," Alumba said. "It would benefit everyone."

In addition to lobbying the state Legislature, the group is petitioning to qualify the same bill for the ballot in November. The petition process began mid-January, Vaeth said, with the deadline set for the third week of April.

The assembly bill and the proposed ballot initiative are the same thing, Alumba said.

"We want to keep it safe," she said. "We just need the support in just getting our name out there and making sure this passes."

Targets for the number of signatures were set for each campus, Alumba said, with SJSU's set at 10,000.

The biggest obstacle facing the tuition initiative isn't the number of signatures collected, he added, but how many will be valid. Only 65 to 70 percent of people who sign the petitions for a ballot initiative are valid, Vaeth said, because people not registered to vote sign the petition, or individuals sign the petition in the wrong county.