Congress Opposes Tuition Hikes

The resolution, sponsored by Student Body President Justin Young, claims students have not been given enough time to prepare for the proposed five-percent increase and may not be able to afford it.

Young said at the meeting that it is not appropriate for the legislature to take such action during the summer.

"The bill in the proposed budget comes at a time when students are not around and I think that is unfair," Young said. "It comes at a time when they will not be able to prepare for the increase."

Rep. Liz Gardner, Dist. 20, said she thinks students generally oppose the tuition increase because it would limit access to the University.

"The state prides itself on low tuition and access to education," Gardner said. "Tuition increases limit access."

The resolution also encouraged state legislators to find other ways to deal with state budgetary problems.

An early version of the resolution suggested the legislature explore alternative options such as a temporary tax increase or temporary sales tax. But Congress amended the resolution to omit that language.

"I don't think there's any question that students in general oppose tuition increases," Gardner said. "But I don't believe that Student Congress can say that all Carolina students would support a tax increase as an alternative especially without talking to our constituents."

But Young said alternatives should be expressed to legislators if doing so would help prevent tuition costs from going up.

"I think whatever alternatives are out there, those alternatives need to be expressed," he said.

But some representatives said it was not the place of Student Congress to propose specific measures for the state legislature.

The UNC Association of Student Governments has already passed a resolution condemning tuition increases.

The increase proposed by the NC Senate would raise tuition by five percent for the University, in addition to an increase of four percent for next year already approved by the Board of Governors.

Young said he was glad not only to see the resolution pass, but also because of the meeting's turnout, with 12 members attending, which he said was much higher than usual for summer sessions.

"I thought (the meeting) went very well," Young said.

Speaker Mark Townsend, Dist. 12, also said he was pleased with the turnout. "Generally, over the summer we just appropriate money," Townsend said. "It was a pet project to get a lot of representatives to show up."

He said Congress meets once each summer school session. The next meeting is scheduled for July 10.

In other business, Congress appropriated to two student organizations a total of $800 in student fees out of the $2500 available in the fund for next year.

Ama Boaten can be reached at boaten6@hotmail.com