Who's University? Our University!

I hate talking about money. Money is an awkward topic. Nothing good ever comes out of a conversation about money.

But the 32% increase in undergraduate tuition fees is just plain ridiculous.

I know my parents aren't going to happy about it, especially since they have two kids going to universities in the UC system. Financial aid only goes so far, especially when you are "middle class."

But that's not really what bugs me. I know we'd have to be a lot more frugal, but we'll probably pull through okay.

What bugs me is how it would affect the student population.
The students I respect the most aren't the people who are getting straight A's, in a bunch of student orgs, doing a bunch of research, and/or interning at a different company every summer.
The students I have the most respect for are those who went to shitty high school, who are working to put themselves through school, who were never expected to go to college but ended up in the same place as well, me, who was expected to go to a university like UC Berkeley since I was in the womb.
And I think these students deserve to go to a place like UC Berkeley or UCLA the most. I mean, I worked my ass off in high school to get here, but I was expected to. I was nurtured into it. I have friends whose families didn't even want them to go to college. They were the ones who took the initiative to pursue higher education. They applied, they got in, and they feel/are responsible for paying for it because their family can't or don't want to. I mean, fuck, my parents are happy to pay for my education. Well, not happy per say, but it's like an intrinsic fact of life to them. Raise healthy kids, infuse them with ideas of being a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or business person, make sure they are doing well in school, put them through college, and drop subtle hints that they should buy them a yacht.

You could argue that the fee increases isn't going to affect the student population because this just means more financial aid for those who need it. But think of it this way: If an admissions officer is trying to decide between a well off high school senior who can afford to pay all of the tuition sans financial aid and a student who is of a lower socioeconomic status who needs the aid, all other qualifications (grades, SAT scores, etc.) being about equal, who's it going to be? Oh and take into consideration that the economy is in a shitty state and we are undergoing budget cuts and financial crises as it is. It's really not rocket science which one will get the pretty big envelope.

Fuck. We are suppose to be a public university. This means that we are suppose to be financially accessible to those who worked to be here, who wants to be here, who deserves to be here.

Ugh. Just thinking about it makes my blood boil.

I hate talking about money.

EDIT:
There was a sit-in in the Wheeler building.
Some students ran around pulling fire alarms so the students who attended class had to file out and stand in the rain.

I am not sure where the line was exactly, but pulling the fire alarms definitely crossed it. In fact, I'm pretty sure pulling a fire alarm when there isn't an actual fire is illegal. Yeah. Il-le-gal.

I know you're angry. So am I. But the 32% increase in tuition fees already passed. Keeping students from going to class isn't going to change that. Breaking laws isn't going to change that. If it was for the media coverage, then congratulations you got it. And you look like fuckin' juvenile delinquents on TVs across America.

Jesus.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

I had lunch with an old friend from high school the other day. We started talking about people who have changed or stayed more or less the same since high school.

I think college breeds change.
Actually, maybe it's not even change. Maybe it's just...self-discovery and self-assertion. Perhaps in college, people just feel more free to be themselves. In high school, they are funneled into cliques defined by set behaviors and actions. In college, they are left to their own devices, doing their own thing. It's not a big deal if none of their friends are in their classes. People are not tagged as loners if they eat lunch by themselves. Once people discover that they can get by determining their own daily agenda, they start working on defining their own person, their own statutes, and eventually, their own lives.

Perhaps those of us who haven't changed much since high school were already at that level of security.

I was extremely socially aware in high school. I saw high school cliques as separate countries that I did not have visas to. I could not even imagine hanging out with the people who were "popular," or "goth," or "hipster," or what have you.
Interestingly enough, it wasn't until after high school, that I became randomly reaquainted with a few people outside of my original high school clique. They weren't attached to their high school labels anymore. They are individuals. Individuals I can now relate to.

Yeah, I hate high school.

I can honestly say that right now, at this point in my life, I am the most self-assured as I have ever been. I am free. Independent. Ambiguous. Clique-less.

And it feels pretty darn good.