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OcTOiER 2, 2003
Serving UNC Wilmington sincgl948
State Student Government strives to
end tuition increases with new Web site
Sarah Broders
News Editor
Have complaints about
icreased tuition or university
uaget cuts? Now these stories
nd complaints can be put to good
se.
The University of North
jarolina Association of Student
lovernments has taken on an
wbitious project - getting the
^te of North Carolina to under
land the burden that is being put
n students, parents, faculty and
|aff by the university budget cuts
ad tuition increases that have
seen on a yearly basis for the
ist several years.
To get the state’s attention, the
ICASG is gathering personal
iries and testimonies on the
)ject from individuals from all
p UNC system schools. The sto-
es focus on the impact that
liion increases and university
Iget cuts have had on the indi-
uals’ lives.
rhese narratives range from
ulty explaining the burden put
hem by increasing class sizes,
ludents who have had to drop
of school, to parents taking on
tiple jobs to pay the increas-
tuition bills.
3ver the past five years,
ion has steadily increased.
courtesy of Brownie Hams
In addition to Senator
Edwards’ plans to help
students with tuition, stu
dent government has also
come up with a plan.
ranging from an increase of 3 per
cent to 14 percent for out-of-state
residents, to an increase of 5 per
cent to 23 percent for in-state res
idents. The increases have been
more drastic each year.
Students are usually the first
members of the academic com
munity that are thought of as
being impacted by tuition increas
es. Repetitive hikes in tuition
have led many students to have to
get additional loans from finan
cial aid, attend different schools
for the first few years before
transferring to UNCW, attend dif
ferent schools all together, and it
has even led students to dropping
out of school.
“It does affect me, but I just
get more financial aid, so it’s
more money I have to pay back in
the end,” said senior Brandy Lail.
Parents also suffer along with
the students they help support.
Many parents have had to cut out
many luxury items such as family
vacations, while others have had
to take a second job to help pay
their child’s tuition.
The students are not the only
ones directly affected by the
tuition increases and university
budget cuts - faculty and staff
suffer as well.
Administration has had to cut
down drastically on things such
as office supplies.
Faculty has had to deal with
ever-increasing class sizes
because of the university’s
growth but has had no compensa
tion because there wasn’t money
in the budget. The option of addi
tional staff to help decrease class
sizes by teaching additional sec
tions has also been taken away
because there is no money for
that in the budget.
“It tends, to make classes big
ger, and it puts pressure on every
one to increase enrollment, which
leads to more students and less
faculty. It also leads to professors
teaching classes that they normal
ly wouldn’t plan on teaching,”
said English professor Dan
Noland. “Also, if students pay
more money, it sometimes can
change the whole tenor of the
classroom because they see it as
more of a commercial exchange
than an academic one. They
might even get grumpy about it.”
The UNCASG’s goal for this
campaign is to collect 100 stories
from students, parents, faculty
and staff from each of the 16
UNC system schools.
Once all the stories are collect
ed, they will be bound and
copied.
The book will be given to each
and every member of the North
Carolina General Assembly and
the University of North Carolina
Board of Governors, as well as
every UNC system trustee and
chancellor.
“A lot of students are looking
for someone to tell about their
hardships; someone who can
make a difference,” said Jonathan
Ducote, president of UNCASG, in
a recent press release. “You have
to make it personal, or the deci
sion makers don’t understand.”
All North Carolina residents
and students are strongly encour
aged to submit a story of the per
sonal hardships they’ve endured.
To submit a story or to view oth
ers’, log onto www.personalsto-
ries.org.
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