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<H1><FONT size=5>State university fee hikes are a test many families can't
pass</FONT></H1>
<H2><FONT size=2>As California's promise of affordable higher education slips
out of reach for many, some parents urge making a noise in
Sacramento.</FONT></H2>
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<TD><IMG border=0 alt="Cal State"
src="http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2009-12/51191236.jpg" width=580
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<P class=small><FONT size=1>Rafael Curiel, left, and Berenice Vite have
been hard hit by Cal State Long Beach fee hikes for son Alonso Curiel,
right. The father has also needed surgery and lost his job. </FONT><SPAN
class=credit><FONT size=1>(<SPAN class=photographer>Jay L. Clendenin / Los
Angeles Times</SPAN>)</FONT></P>
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<DIV class=byline><SPAN class=byline>By Carla Rivera</SPAN>
<P class=date><SPAN class=dateString>December 21, 2009</SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV id=articletools-email class=tools>Los Angeles Times</DIV>
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<DIV id=story-body-text><!-- sphereit start -->The budget crisis afflicting
California State University could not have come at a worse time for Berenice
Vite and Rafael Curiel, whose son Alonso is a sophomore at Cal State Long Beach.
As the university was imposing a 32% student fee hike this year, Curiel
underwent two shoulder surgeries and lost his job at a medical equipment
firm.<BR><BR>The family has missed three house payments to scrape together
tuition to continue educating their son, who does not qualify for financial aid.
They are frustrated and worried, and they believe that their voices have not
been heard as fast-moving decisions have been made to raise fees, cut enrollment
and eliminate programs.<BR><BR>"All of these things are coming at the same time,
and I'm really concerned," said Vite, 46, an instructional aide for the Los
Angeles Unified School District. "I was raised learning about the importance of
education, and I want my children to be educated. But we don't know if we're
going to have a house or not."<BR><BR>Vite and Curiel echo the voices of
families throughout the state who are being severely tested by the budget cuts
at the Cal State, University of California and community college
systems.<BR><BR>The fee increases, as well as mandatory staff and faculty
furloughs, steep reductions in enrollment (40,000 otherwise eligible students
will be turned away in the next two years at Cal State) and elimination of
programs and majors have spurred student and faculty protests on many
campuses.<BR><BR>But now there is an emerging movement of parents who are
speaking out and assuming a bigger advocacy role.<BR><BR><B>Time for
protest</B><BR><BR>Emma Hernandez, 56, took a page from her younger days
supporting the United Farm Workers when she attended a recent rally in front of
the governor's downtown Los Angeles office to protest the cuts. Her family is
using the equity in its home to help pay tuition for son Tomas Diaz, 22, who
attends Cal State Long Beach, and daughter Sonja Diaz, 24, who attends UCLA's
graduate school of public policy.<BR><BR>Hernandez's youngest, Cerena Diaz, 17,
an Alhambra High senior with a 4.4 GPA, wants to attend UC Berkeley. Hernandez,
a retired program coordinator with the L.A. housing authority who is disabled,
isn't sure if she and her husband will be able to afford the
tuition.<BR><BR>"She tells me, 'Mom, I'm reading about the budget cuts and the
enrollment cuts, and I'm not going to get in,' " said Hernandez. The former
migrant worker said she and other parents should be role models for the younger
generation. "I think it's so important that people get up there and start
talking. I feel like the university and state leaders have let us
down."<BR><BR>Average undergraduate fees at Cal State rose this school year to
nearly $4,900, not counting books, transportation and housing costs, which can
add $10,000 more. Basic undergraduate fees at UC next fall will be about $10,302
a year, with about $1,000 in additional campus-based charges; and room, board
and books could add $16,000 more. Community colleges increased fees 30% from $20
to $26 per credit.<BR><BR>Critics of the fee hikes fear that more low-income
students will be shut out, but middle-income families who don't qualify for
need-based financial aid say they are being equally squeezed. Curiel and Vite
are awaiting word on their application for a mortgage modification. They are
reluctant to saddle Alonso, a pre-nursing major, with student loans. Meanwhile,
the couple are waiting to find out if they can make installment payments for
spring fees. A payment is due this week. <BR><BR>Bob Combs, president of the
parent advisory council at Cal State Chico, is organizing a campaign to contact
state lawmakers. <BR><BR>"We elect these officials, we donate money and we are
the voice of our children," said Combs, a real estate agent. "If one of us is
calling an Assembly member or Congress person, we're certainly much stronger if
10 of us are calling."<BR><BR><B>Looking out of state</B><BR><BR>Combs' son is a
junior at Chico. But with that campus and others tightening acceptance criteria,
he fears that his daughter, a high school senior with a 3.2 GPA, will not be
admitted.<BR><BR>The family is considering out-of-state schools, including the
University of Nevada, Reno, which offers to residents of California and other
Western states a tuition discount that compares favorably to Cal State
fees.<BR><BR>"The reason California's public higher education system has been so
successful is that it provided a good education for a reasonable price, but that
is changing," said Combs.<BR><BR>Steve Maples, director of admissions at the
University of Nevada, Reno, said increasing numbers of California students are
taking advantage of his school's tuition break; 200 enrolled in the fall and
that number is likely is to increase with the budget crisis.<BR><BR>"It's
certainly an unfortunate situation in California," said Maples. "I hate to use
the word 'benefit,' but if it leads more qualified students our way, it will be
something that helps our university."<BR><BR>That is the kind of news that Ken
Stone dreads hearing. President of the Cal State University Alumni Council and
father of three Cal Poly San Luis Obispo students, Stone has been working to
create a new alumni website and Facebook group to help alumni, parents and
students share information.<BR><BR>"There are things we can do at a grass-roots
level, like talking with friends and neighbors about the threat to higher
education, and we want to make sure we can talk from a knowledgeable base," said
Stone, who is vice president and director of sales and marketing for a national
architectural and engineering firm.<BR><BR>His biggest concern is the rollback
of access to the university. Both he and his wife, Jeanne, who teaches at UC
Irvine, are Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduates.<BR><BR>"Tens of thousands of
students who want to get an education and contribute to the California economy
are being told no," said Stone. "If they go to school in another state,
ultimately that's where they're going to end up entering the workforce. All
Californians should find that unacceptable."<BR><BR><B>Thrown off
course</B><BR><BR>Pamela Anderson is heartbroken by the distress the budget cuts
are inflicting on her daughters. Erica, 22, a psychology major at Fresno State,
was due to graduate in May -- until three mandatory classes were
cut.<BR><BR>"She is devastated that she will have to spend another year in
school," said Anderson, a member of the campus parent group. Daughter Leslie,
20, a community college student, wants to transfer to San Francisco State or San
Diego State, two Cal State campuses that will be exceptionally hard to get into.
<BR><BR>Meanwhile, Anderson's income as a senior computer analyst for Fresno
County Superior Court disqualifies the family from financial aid, so she is
struggling to pay not only tuition but an estimated $1,500 to $2,000 for books
for next semester alone.<BR><BR>"It is putting the whole family through pain,"
she said. <BR><BR>Some parents are not only protesting but also bolstering
fundraising efforts and giving from their own pockets to help hard-hit campuses.
<BR><BR>Officials in the UC system are appealing to parents and alumni to make
donations and lobby the governor and state lawmakers.<BR><BR>Howard and Jill
Singer have opened their checkbook to support the career services office and
programs serving disabled and foster students at San Diego State. Singer, 59, an
executive at IBM who lives in Laguna Hills, also got his company to provide a
matching grant for computer equipment.<BR><BR>The foster program is dear to
them, he said, because the couple's foster son, Joel, 17, a high school senior,
wants to enroll there. The Singers are incensed by cost-cutting measures on
campuses, such as staff and faculty furloughs that mean less classroom time for
daughter Jaclyn, 20, a journalism major. <BR><BR>They spoke at a recent campus
rally about the issue.<BR><BR>"Our students aren't just competing against other
students in the community but from all over the world," Howard Singer said. "Do
you think in other states and countries students are only getting 80% of an
education? I don't think parents realize yet the impact these budget cuts are
going to have on their children. Many parents can't open up their wallets, but
they can bombard the governor and legislators."<BR><BR><A
href="mailto:carla.rivera@latimes.com">carla.rivera@latimes.com</A><BR><BR><!-- sphereit end --></DIV>
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