March 4, 200: Opinion Over The Edge Page 5 students Say Budget is Sham! By Johan Boyden During readings week the Gordon Campbell Liberal Government delivered its budget. And not surprisingly, the document is written by the rich, for the rich, and will facilitate a new era for British Columbia where only the rich can go to University or College. The Liberal’s budget is a direct assault on public post- secondary education in a most simple-minded and hurtful way—it freezes provincial funding and shifts this burden to the individual institutions. The budget states that Advanced Education will receive exactly the same funding as last year, $1.9 billion, but when you factor-in inflation this freeze is clearly a funding cut. The vast majority of a pub- lic universities budget comes from government, but the Liberals claim that increasing tuition fees should solve the gap created by their "freeze" cuts. So who will bear the brunt of the government's lack of commitment to stu- dents? The students them- selves! Recent changes to provin- cial legislation give the responsibility of setting tuition fees to the University or College Board of Governors. These boards are dominated by business men and admin- istrators who are out of touch with the concerns of stu- dents, especially student debt levels. They are also largely composed of government appointees—a fact made clear on Feb. 14th when Minister of Advanced Education Shirley Bond sacked the College of New Caledonia's board four days after they publicly objected to CNC's massive (upwards of 50%) budget cut. The Board of Governors and administration of UNBC has officially requested an increase in tuition fees for a long time. Today, their vari- ous financial committees are threatening to cut jobs and courses if tuition is not increased. They are consid- ering amounts between 15 and 35% in the first year alone, meaning that you will already be paying well over a hundred dollars per course by next semester. At the University of Victoria, recently leaked documents suggest students may be facing a rise of over 100% in tuition fees over the next three years. And if UNBC were to increase tuition by 35% three years in a row, this too will occur. Whatever the exact per- centages, tuition rates will continue rising as they are now floating according to "The Market". What deregu- lation means is clear: the cost of an education, and thus the cost of a good job, goes up. This kind of deregulation is even more extreme that Ontario, where tuition fees have increased drastically since Premier Mike Harris came to power. In the Ontario case, an increase in tuition caused a decrease in enroll- ment. Some charlatans of Statistics are able to point to cases in Manitoba and the parts of the United States where this trend is less blunt- ly visible, but even these claims can not ignore the fact that (1) increasing tuition fees increases the student debt burden and (2) increasing tuition fees causes the num- ber of part-time students to drop. In other words, those stu- dents least able to afford a 30 to 100 % increase in tuition— people supporting families and returning to school, workers re-training, and poor student's in general—are hit the most. The current Liberal government is not just launching an assault on University and College edu- cation, it is attacking those whose opportunities are already limited. Such problems can't be solved by simply adding more scholarships and bursaries; as any student who has filled out a bursary application knows, the stipulations to receive an award are far more complicated than "do you need money?" Count the total number of awards in the UNBC calendar—even __if doubled the increased expense of education would not be compensated for the Over The Edge appreciates every students opinion, and will print will attempt to print all letters to the editor that are submitted. We retain the right to edit for length, gram- mar, and content. We suggest that no sub- mission be over 500 words. Please drop off you submission at our office or email at over-the-edge @ unbc.ca. Our deadline is Wednesday, March 13th 2002. vast majority of students. When the Liberal Finance Minister Gary Collins pro- claims that "addressing patient and student needs are the government's top goals for the year ahead" he is lying. Collins' budget, Shirley Bond's policy changes, and Gordon Campbell's leadership is steering BC into an academic world in which the only partic- ipants are those. students who can risk giant debts or have money to spare. As students we must not be afraid to criticize these changes which are undermin- ing our quality of life, rights and freedoms. A dramatic increase in tuition will occur, but this does not make it right. We must tell our friends, our families and our communities about the new challenges we face: more debt, larger classes, fewer professors. We are not alone in suffering from government cut backs. We have a valid right to be angry. We must Protest and Demand a restoration of government funding to our institutions. Put Your Degree To Work If you have a university degree in any field you may be able to obtain a BCIT diploma in just one year. 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