Monday, April 1, 1996

Decision to increase fees 45 percent for incoming studentsBy Michael Howerton

Daily Bruin Staff

SAN FRANCISCO -- A very close vote by the Board of Regents approved a 45 percent fee hike for UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television students next year.

The current fee of $4,366 will increase $2,000 more for students beginning this fall. Fees will not be increased for current students.

The increase follows the established pattern of raising fees for selected professional schools throughout the UC system, including law and medicine. These additional fees, called "differential fees," are placed on top of the basic tuition.

The extra fees, which differ from program to program, are based on the speculated future incomes of the graduates. Since students graduating with professional degrees are expected to earn high salaries, regents are in effect "taxing" students' future wages.

And in the face of severe budget cuts, the university has turned to differential fees as a way of making sure certain programs receive adequate funds.

UCLA Chancellor Charles Young favors the use of differential fees in professional schools and was the main force behind the push to convince the regents to approve the recent fee increase for the School of Theater, Film and Television.

"The program is one of the finest in the United States," Young said, "but we are not going to be able to maintain the quality unless we have fees of this kind to maintain and enhance the quality."

UCLA was named the third best film school in the nation, according to the most recent rankings by U.S. News and World Report.

The vote by the regents was close, with the fees passing by only six to five. Many regents expressed their concern that the students would not be able to withstand the extra financial burden the increase would cause.

Regent Ward Connerly, who has traditionally been a staunch opponent to student fee hikes urged his fellow regents not to just approve the fees without thinking over the consequences first.

"This is a substantial increase," Connerly said. "This is a lot of money for these kids ­ let's talk this out."

But as Regent Tirso del Junco then said, the course had already been set at the last meeting for the increase in professional school fees and expected the fees to be approved.

One of the most convincing reasons to raise fees for the School of Theater, Film and Television ­ one of the most expensive programs to fund at the university ­ was that without these increases, the program would drain off undergraduate resources, Young said.

However, UC Berkeley undergraduate David Friedman said that although he initially agreed with this reasoning, he found that the amount needed to supplement the film program and keep the fees where they are now was "infinitesimal."

The small amount could be funded from taxes rather than resting solely on the small number of students in the program and, thus, raising their tuition by over 45 percent, he told the regents before the vote.

But the close vote in favor of Young's proposed fee hikes will make additional financial aid to the program possible while still keeping the cost the lowest of all other competitive film schools around the country, he said.

Before the vote, two students of the School of Theater, Film and Television urged the regents not to raise the fees and force the students to bear the financial burden of making up for the debilitating budget cuts the programs has endured.

"The (budget) cuts have threatened education and the $2,000 would only go to maintain, not enhance the program," said Paul Katami, a student in the theater department. "There is a lack of money for education, but before making students make up for it, other options should be consulted. The culture, spirit, and economic life of the state depends on this."

Paige Lifkin, another student in the program who spoke before the regents, called the increase an "extremely harsh jump in cost. It is short-sighted to turn to the students which the public school was meant to help."

Student Regent-designate Jess Bravin said he was troubled about the fee hikes and differential fees in the professional schools. The reliance on differential fees is moving the university into a system of privatization and away from its traditional role as a public institution, making education equally accessible to all students, he said.

"This is not the direction we should be heading in," Bravin said after the vote. "It is unwise to fundamentally change the character of the school. We will end up with a privatized system is we keep going."

Bravin said that this trend would probably cause many film and theater students to go elsewhere.

"Young's philosophy is committed to the privatization of the University of California," Bravin said. "I oppose that and support the return to the 125-year tradition of being the greatest public university in the world."Comments to webmaster@db.asucla.ucla.edu