Students Pay Enough

Out of the rarefied atmosphere of state government, Gov. Wilson and the Legislature have shown just how out of touch they are with their own constituency. Instead of a minor annoyance to affluent college graduates taking the occasional art class, their extortionary and selective quadruple fee hike for students who hold previous degrees slams unemployed and part-time workers attempting to get retraining for the current job marketplace.

Now Wilson’s current proposals include raising the $50 per-unit fee for those with previous degrees to $105 per unit, and the $10 per-unit fee now in effect for the majority of students to $30 per unit--another short-term, knee-jerk “solution” with ultimate long-term effects of increasing California’s already backbreaking welfare rolls.

The state’s complete non-comprehension of the role of the community college is criminal. A bachelor’s degree does not guarantee a livable income. Most people believe some fee increases are inevitable; however, students cannot continually be forced to take the brunt of the state’s budget problems.

ELYSE ANN KUTZ

Ventura