from The Badger Herald - February 24, 2005

Students ask for Wiley’s support

by Natalie Rhoads

Members of the Associated Students of Madison met with University of Wisconsin chancellor John Wiley Wednesday, to request assistance in sending out a letter to students’ parents regarding recently proposed tuition increases.

The letter, which would be sent out to parents of students who are Wisconsin natives, is in response to Gov. Jim Doyle’s February budget proposal to keep tuition increases between 5 and 7 percent over the next two years.

ASM member Ashok Kumar, who met with Wiley, said the letter would urge Wisconsin parents to contact their legislators and ask for an increase in funding for UW from the state.

“The letter would inform [parents] about the current budget crisis,” Kumar said.

ASM members had initially hoped Wiley would draft and send the letter out to parents. Now, Kumar and Joel Feingold, a Student Labor Action Coalition member who also met with Wiley, said the chancellor said during the meeting that he is willing to provide the necessary resources for ASM to send the letter.

Kumar and Feingold said the letter would detail the effects the proposal would have on education as a whole. They added it is being sent to parents because those are the people who have the best ability to make a difference and are often the ones responsible for paying their children’s tuition.

“Parents need to do everything in their power to contact their legislators,” Feingold said.

Doyle’s proposal, if passed by the state Senate and Assembly, would increase tuition between 5 and 7 percent and increase financial aid by 34 percent over two years. This could potentially be a total increase in student tuition costs of 14 percent.

“For the first time in more than 10 years, my budget will add more state money to UW and financial aid than it will to the Department of Corrections,” Doyle said in his budget proposal speech Feb. 8.

Despite Doyle’s statement that his proposal would add more state money to the university, Feingold said it is important to stress that ASM is asking for a larger increase in funding from the state. Kumar said students are currently paying double the amount of money coming from the state.

“For every two dollars the student [pays], the state is giving one,” Kumar said.

Feingold said they were not calling for a tuition freeze, but parents and students should not have to work double shifts at work or take out student loans to attend the university. Last year the average student was $18,000 in debt upon graduation, he added.

“It is obvious the university is becoming very exclusive,” Feingold said.

Kumar agreed with Feingold that the university is becoming less affordable for students.

“We are on a steady pace to privatization,” Kumar said.

Feingold said ASM is currently drafting the letter and it would likely be sent out in the next couple weeks.

“I am really terrified for the future of this university,” Feingold said.


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