Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Waah! IwantitIwantitIwantit!!!
Luckily, we have children making the decisions for us.
The class pass is up for rereferendum, and the price has gone up. I personally think that fee increases should be voted on by the folks paying the bills, because as things stand, kids whose parents pay for them or who are covered by financial aid only consider the benefits of "free bus rides" in exchange for an abstract concept of "fee increases." E.g.:
"I would support (the referendum) if they have to raise the fees," said senior Pammy O'Leary, a former Student Action candidate for ASUC external affairs vice president. "I don't like the fee increases, but I don't want to lose my bus pass."
Note that she says "fee increases," which suggests she's not really viewing it as a purchase.
Anyway, the referendum, which will certainly pass for the reasons stated above (the folks who are opposed are the ones who don't care about the buses and aren't going to run to the "polls" to vote), is to extend the Class Pass system for the higher fee of $55. Currently, bus rides are $1.75 a pop, so that's a little over 31 rides a semester. If you use the bus regularly, that's good, if you don't, that's probably bad.
But our mature government wants more stuff.
"The costs students paid for the class pass have been held fixed over the years. So while transit fares have gone up over the years, the class pass fee has not," said Nadesan Permaul, director of transportation at UC Berkeley. "The fee increases will help pay for significant increases in expenses experienced by both AC Transit and Bear Transit. Students are also going to pick up a larger portion of Bear Transit costs."
The ASUC and the Graduate Assembly, however, lobbied the chancellor and a university parking committee to delay the vote and include new services for students in the referendum, saying the increases, which currently do not come with additional services for students, would not be fair, said Alan Lightfeldt, chief of staff for ASUC External Affairs Vice President Sharon Han.
Hmm... costs have gone up... but to pay more without getting something extra would be unfair. Right. Children.
If students vote to increase fees, the pass, which currently allows registered UC Berkeley students unlimited rides on AC Transit and university-run Bear Transit lines, would increase from $37.50 to $55-60 per semester for the next three years.
...
The increased fees would be in effect until 2013, when they would need to be renewed again through another referendum.
We can reach 2013 in three years, eh? Those must be some long years.
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