Buses to roll against tuition hikes

Those bummed by the looming clouds of tuition hikes can hop an Uncle Harry to Quebec City at 10:30 a.m. next Thursday and spend the day persuading the government of the tragic error of its plan. The decision to set loose buses from Concordia’s Hall building and Berri Square was taken by students troubled by former PQ education minister François Legault’s hints that Quebec’s tuition freeze, in place since ’96, could soon go the way of spring icicle. School fees have already been rising in spite of the freeze, says David Bernans, Concordia Student Union archivist and author of the recent book Con U Inc. “They’ve gotten away from direct hikes with backdoor fees. Concordia charges an administration fee of $9 per credit that adds up to $270 a year per student. Plus there’s a mandatory $2 per credit fee classified as a donation to the university’s capital campaign,” he says.

Tuition hikes will only serve to banish the poor from the halls of higher learning, killing the social diversity that make universities thrive, thinks Bernans. “If school becomes just a club for the rich, then even those students won’t get the education they deserve.” Bernans says that the province has cut the education budget by over $2-billion since 1994, and in the seven years prior to the freeze tuition fees skyrocketed by 350 per cent. Dial 931-2377 to get on the bus. :

—Kristian Gravenor