Students and Sacramento State professors met April 4 in the Library Quad to protest increased student fees.

“Students want to do more than just sit out here and voice our opinions,” said junior ethnic studies in Spanish and Campus Progressive Alliance member Lizbet Morales. ‘The next steps are going to the Capitol talking to legislators and our representatives, and tell them we need more money for education.”

Since news of a California State University agreement to increase student fees came out, students and faculty alike have met to discuss and protest the fee hike.

California Faculty Alliance members have been involved with the protest by lobbying at the State Capitol, backing up the CPA members and promoting student rallies on campus.

In March, the CSU Board of Trustees voted to increase student university fees by 10 percent. The increase would boost current student fees by $252 per semester for undergraduate students.

According to a CSU press release, in 2005, the CSU Board of Trustees adopted a five-year plan to make salaries for all employees more competitive with comparable institutions.- The plan calls for salaries to be increased incrementally each year over the next five years.- Revenues to support the salary include state General Fund and student fees, with fee increases to support the overall CSU budget, to be “gradual, moderate and predictable.”

Along with mandatory fee increases like those that the CSU system have green-lighted, Sac State’s Student Fee Advisory Committee reviews and recommends to Sac State President Alexander Gonzalez establishment of new fees, increases/decreases in existing fees or abolishment of fees.

The committee isn’t involved with the 10 percent CSU fee increase. Since the fees are coming from the CSU, the increase would affect all 23 campuses in California, not just Sac State. The committee consists of three faculty members and four Associated Students, Inc. student representatives.

One of those representatives is sophomore business major and current candidate for ASI president, Santo Mirza.

Mirza has been on the committee for one semester and oversees many student fee proposals.

Each week, members of the committee meet to look at the proposals that different departments bring to the desk. In a given week, three to five proposals could come to the table, and about half will get passed, Mirza said.

ASI is trying to get state representatives to subsidize the CSU increase. Rather than the students, the state would consume the fees. Mirza would like to see the fee increases go away, but acknowledges the importance of certain fee increases as well.

Mirza said fees that give students more options are moved through the review process easier.

These options are usually taken for granted and go unnoticed by the student body Mirza said. For instance, Sac State’s OneCard system proposed a fee increase due to a lack of revenue.

In effect, if revenues are down for the system, OneCard’s ability to offer the services they provide, like a food discount and Regional Transit services, could likely be cut from the program.

“These fees are actually there to benefit students,” Mirza said. “These are things that people really don’t think about.”

No one can establish a fee without going through the committee, not even the president of the university.

Josh Staab can be reached at [email protected]