Point
Raising Tuition Causes More Problems Than It Solves
By: Ryan Smick
With the UC Regents set to vote on a tuition hike that would raise tuition a further 5 percent annually over the next several years, once again we have seen the voices of students swept aside in favor of closed-door meetings that exclude the very people they affect most. By ignoring our protests, Napolitano has broken her promise to Governor Brown, choosing once again to put the burden of a poorly-managed budget onto the backs of students.
As it stands, many students can barely afford to pay their tuition, even with the help of grants and financial aid. A vast majority of middle class students have not seen their incomes rise significantly since tuition was last raised in 2011. In this time of penny-pinching, where far too few individuals can afford to get a good education, is it really in the UC’s authority to ask families for more?
Though the regents may claim that Governor Brown’s $119 million budget increase is not enough, I feel this is merely an excuse. While Napolitano states that announcing the increase earlier would “help students prepare”, the fact is a raise in tuition is still a raise in tuition, no matter how you spin it. Throwing more money at our struggling public education system is not the solution—rather, it is merely smoke in the eyes of the student body, meant to cover up the larger problem of our government’s misplaced priorities as a whole.
Counterpoint
The Peasants Should Not Be Educated Lest We Risk Another Uprising
By: Baron Von Heidinger III
Lo, what is this talk of “Public Education” I’ve been hearing now? Education? For the Public? Preposterous! Does the Public not remember what happened last Time They took to Books, hmm? Has the Common Man once again mistaken himself a Scholar?
In case You’ve forgotten, might I remind You of the Natural Order and Law of Man, which states that He who was born within his God-given Class should remain as such. This should be no Mystery to You, my Good Reader, as alas—the entirety of our Civilization was founded on it! Since ancient Times, Society has thrived on this Paradigm which says to be content in One’s Place, as All is for The Best in The Best of All Possible Worlds. It is through this Natural Order that We find harmony among Men young and old, rich and poor—anything else is Chaos.
Now these poor Plebeians speak of Knowledge as if it is their Right, as if being born among the Ragged somehow makes Them worthy of learning to read. Fie! I ask You: if all Men are Men of Letters, who will work the Fields? Who will fight and pay Duties when We go to War? For better or worse, our Good Lord placed these Plebeians on the Earth for a Reason, and should They not afford to enter the Realm of Scholarship due to a measly 5% Tuition Increase, why, then all for the Better! The quicker They should learn their Place.
As the Studies of Scientific Men have shown, Man is happiest when He is pursuing a Profession within his Class. These Students who complain of high Tuition should be out working where They are happiest—in Table-Waiting, say, or Alligator Wrangling—not wasting away behind dusty old Books! It is well known that the Hunger for Knowledge breeds a Hunger for more things beyond reach; a state of perpetual Unhappiness awaits He who wishes to know all. Why should these Plebeians suffer in Unhappiness then, hmm? Why not learn the Satisfaction of One’s Place?
If They wish to complain, let Them complain. Let Them spread their Pamphlets and storm the Lord Regents’ Office in demand of free Books and higher Tariffs on the Noble Classes—I’ll have my Cannons at the ready. ❖
