Protest Fee Hikes at UC Berkeley

Dear Fellow UC Berkeley students,

As many of you are aware, budget cuts have resulted in the increase of tuition, which began this semester. This trend will only continue. According to the UC Regents tuition will increase by over $1000. “Already, mandatory system-wide student fees at UC have been increased $405 per year, … [and] would increase by another $795 in the 2003-04 year” (http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkleyan/2003/01/15_budge.html). For non-residents the fee increases will be greater. To see the proposed fees for the 2003-04 school year see http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Registration/feesched.html.

Because of this, each and every one of us will have $1000 less. As a result some of us will have to seek greater financial aid packages or work extra hours to make up the difference. Unfortunately, some of us will not be able to afford UC Berkeley at all. We are asking everyone to join us May 1st for a student strike against fee hikes. Please talk to your friends and classmates and tell them to not go to class on May 1st. Talk to your professors about gaining their support. If they will not cancel their classes, tell them to open their class to the public and not to punish their students for participating in the strike.

Some students have already been planning actions against student fee hikes, among other things on May 1st. A list of their activities and demands can be found at http://www.berkeleymayday.org. Though we do not know everything being planned for ‘May Day’, we do strongly encourage everyone to skip class on May 1st and to pass this message along.

-Students Against Fee Hikes
safh_Berkeley [at] hotmail.com

P.S. Please forward this message to all of your friends and classmates who would be happy to save $1000 each year.