Dear editor,
With the ongoing budget cuts and sometimes unexpected tuition and fee hikes, it is easy to see why so many students are frustrated that they are paying more for less. Teachers are being required to take up to five furlough days per semester. This means that in a class that meets two times a week, the student is missing out on almost 17% of the classes they are paying for. On top of that, tuition continues to rise at a historical rate.

Last Thursday on March 4th hundreds of CSUN students took part in a statewide “Day of Action” to protest the ongoing budget cuts and fee hikes. Students used the day to “walk out” of their classes and take part in the protests going on around campus.

Posted in the Daily Sudial on March 4, 2010 a student was quoted saying “We’re here today to fight for our education.” I did not understand the logic behind this statement or walking out of class in order to make a point about the tuition hikes and furlough days. In essence, students were sacrificing another day of education that they were paying for, so now they were missing 6 out of 32 classes for the semester: close to 19%.

I understand that the majority of students are very upset over tuition and budget problems but I think that there could have been a better way to show it that losing out on more education. Students should have still attended class and then gone to the protest. I think that this would have sent a stronger statement showing that we are serious about gaining an education but also serious that we will not tolerate the current budget system.

Andrew
Senior Criminology Major