I hope everyone is ready to roll up his sleeves and get into the ring, so to speak, as the new semester gets rolling. It seems like every spring semester I come back to Tucson after a relaxing break and holiday season where I sit on the couch and eat, hang out with the family or have fun. And then I'm hurled helplessly back into the chaotic rapids that are the UA.
If you're not ready for all the activity we left behind when we took our little break, it'll hit you like a Mack truck or blow right by you, leaving you in the dust. And right now, there is no larger issue than the tuition increase that looms before us in the coming months.
Fortunately for us students, this issue wasn't forgotten by all; President Peter Likins and many other administrators were hard at work while the rest of us were catching up on our movies. On Wednesday, the Wildcat reported Likins' stance on this year's proposed raise, and we all found out exactly what was widely anticipated: a $500 increase for next year's in-state tuition.
Depending on whom you talk to, this proposal could be met with praise or opposition. Most students, of course, don't like the idea of shelling out more money to a university that is already
sapping its wallets dry. The student government was also quick to say it will most likely propose a smaller increase. Although we still don't know ASUA's official stance, President J. P. Benedict said, "We're looking to lessen that amount." His reasoning was consistent with those stances that student governments have taken in the past - saying that, since there was just a large increase last year, students shouldn't have to pay more now.
Well, to those students who agree with this point of view, I have to ask you: Are you having trouble getting into classes this semester? I'm sure that many of you are, because every class I have gone to, both those I am already in and those that I want to get into, have more students than ever pulling up a piece of carpet or standing in the back. It makes our classrooms look like one of the upcoming NFL playoff games.
In one particular class, I was witness to one of the most creative ways I have seen to determine which students get to remain in class. The scene was a mock "Survivor" episode when it became clear that there were at least a dozen students who wanted to sign into the class. The potential classmates of ours had to make an ad hoc plea as to why they deserved one of the two open seats that the professor decided to open. After a class vote, those two lucky students who got to stay happily received their syllabi and sat down among the ranks. The whole process made me laugh, and I was very glad to be able to register for the class online ahead of time.
This is obviously a huge problem, and one that nobody should think the tuition hike will fix completely. However, it is a step in the right direction. In the short term, yes, students are going to have to pay more next year. But in the long term, this $500 raise will be the best thing for the university and its students. The raise will get tuition to the top of the bottom third among peer institutions in the country, a goal that was adopted by the Arizona Board of Regents last year through the efforts of the university presidents.
In the future, tuition raises will be smaller, since they will only have to maintain that level and will not have to make a large leap to bridge the gap we have now. This will also give the university more money to battle problems such as class availability, faculty retention and financial aid - issues that plague every state institution.
This is the right call for our university to make, a step that has to be made in order to gain greater stability for a university that has had very little in recent memory. I hope everyone, including the student government, can see and support what might be looked at by future UA students as the best move they could have possibly made. We have a responsibility to help the university recover from what has been a very troubling time.
Jason Poreda is a political science and communication senior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.