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An unhappy UC students protesting 32% tuition increases at the 2009 Regents meeting.

It was almost a year ago to the day that the Patt Morrison team was at UCLA for the 2009 Regents meeting, where Regents would eventually approve a massive 32% tuition hike to help cover dramatic funding shortfalls from the state. This year the Regents are meeting at UC San Francisco and yet another tuition hike is on their agenda—the UC president is recommending an 8% tuition increase and is also seeking to renegotiate retirement benefits for UC employees, which makes him an unpopular man on many UC campuses. There are other big issues looming over this Regents meeting, from the UC’s aggressive recruiting of out-of-state students (who pay full tuitions) to the California Supreme Court ruling this week that the UC should treat undocumented students as California residents, making them eligible for the same discounted tuition. This meeting also lays the groundwork for what is sure to be another fight next year with California facing budget deficits of at least $28 billion. Can UC students shoulder yet another fee increase?

Guests:

Claudia Magana, president of the University of California Students Association; she’s a junior at UC Santa Cruz, double majoring in Latin American politics and sociology

Jesse Cheng, student Regent on the University of California Board of Regents; senior at UC Irvine