In-state tuition at UW-Madison has increased an alarming 37.5 percent in the past two years. As the governor and state Legislature begin work on the 2005-'07 biennial budget, students are putting the pressure on lawmakers to recognize the needs of students and their families by curbing the rising cost of a public education in Wisconsin.
A courageous group of students is in their third and final day of staging a hunger strike in the Capitol. Together with students from UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse, they will have spent 24 hours in protest of an \elitist institutional tax,"" aka tuition, which can impede socioeconomic diversity on campus.
While their facts are straight-the average family income of an in-state UW-Madison undergraduate is more than $60,000, twice the state average-and their mission admirable, the starving students on the other end of State Street are off-message, unorganized and, unfortunately, unrealistic.
First, the student advocates are promoting extremely varied positions. UW-Madison participants want a rollback in tuition, while their counterparts from Eau Claire are asking for a freeze. Secondly, both groups have departed from the official stance of the United Council of UW Students that an increase in tuition is acceptable as long as it is under 5 percent. Without a consistent message, it is unlikely that members of the state Legislature will take the students' concerns seriously.
Furthermore, both plans-the rollback and freeze-are incredibly unrealistic given the current economic and political landscape in the state. With a budget deficit ranking in the billions of dollars and the impending state property tax freeze, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that tuition will increase.
Sit-ins, marches, hunger strikes and other demonstrations en masse have certainly been important to social movements throughout human history. However, they can only be successful when their objectives are clearly defined and within reach.
Tuition is an issue that affects every Wisconsin student and their families. As such, our student leaders from every organization and campus must come together to develop a realistic plan of action that state lawmakers will consider. More importantly, the communication of their proposal must be better coordinated to promote a unified goal for all. We support the Kreibich Bill, which would cap tuition at 3 percent each year during the upcoming biennium.
