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Editorial: Surviving the Titanic debt
California is a sinking ship.
In dire need of help, the state is drowning in a sea of debt. Just this July, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed a state budget designed to cut a $26 billion shortfall.
The budget deal included a $15 billion cut to services across the state, according to an article published by the New York Times.
Now we, the students, also have to pay to keep California afloat.
The State Legislature recently agreed to raise community college tuition to $26. That is a $6 increase from the previous cost of $20 per unit. Six dollars and students throw their arms up and cry foul.
Considering the travesty California is in right now, is it really that bad to ask for an extra $6? Even with the increase, California community colleges still have the lowest tuition fee in the nation.
Just across the border of California, students pay outrageous tuition compared to our own. Western Nevada Community College currently has a tuition of $60 per unit.
Our neighbors to the north also pay far more for their education. Portland Community College, one of the largest in the state of Oregon, has a tuition of $74 per unit.
Both of these rates are for resident students.
It is understandable to feel disgruntled at doling out more money for classes, especially with the high prices of textbooks.
But California needs money, and that is going to take some sacrifice on our part. We live in this state after all. We too should bare some of this weight, even if it may be largely the Legislature’s fault for getting us all into this.
Regardless of who’s to blame, we are all now shoulder deep in a rising waterline that threatens to take us all down.
It’s time for us to take a bucket and start dumping it out, or we too will sink with this ship.
