Top officials at most UC schools call for tuition hike
LOS ANGELES — Officials at the majority of University of California campuses are calling for its regents to consider a tuition increase for the 2022 school year due to drops in revenue from the coronavirus pandemic.
Chancellors and senior officials at five of the nine UC schools said that a $300 million budget cut and depressed revenues amid the pandemic have made a tuition increase a necessity, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
The UC regents have increased tuition just once since 2011.
The looming budget crisis has forced schools to borrow, halt hiring, make cuts and, at UC Riverside, propose ridding of its entire athletic program, which has drawn hundreds of protest letters, emails and phone calls.
In-state undergraduate students currently pay over $12,000 per year in tuition and fees. Non-residents pay nearly an additional $30,000.
Last March, the regents were scheduled to vote on a five-year plan to raise tuition and fees that would have begun in the fall. But the proposal did not take place after complications spurred on by the coronavirus pandemic. Now, the soonest an increase in tuition can take place is 2022.
“We’ve been eating at our fat for a long time and what I’m saying now is that we’re down to the bone,” UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said. “Even though this is not a perfect time for a tuition increase, it is a good time to start thinking about it.”
SAN FRANCISCO — Dungeness crab will be on the Christmas menu for crustacean lovers after all.
California’s fish and wildlife managers announced late Friday that the commercial Dungeness crab fishing season will open Dec. 23 following a few weeks of delay due to concerns that migrating whales might get tangled in fishing lines and low crab hauls in some areas.
The state Fish and Wildlife Department said recent aerial surveys indicate most whales have started their annual migration out of California waters to their winter breeding ground.
“Whale entanglement risk still exists, but it is low,” the depart
ment said in a statement.
The department had suggested opening the season on Dec. 16 but after reviewing scientific data and consulting with the Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group, which includes members of the commercial crab fleet, environmental organizations and other agencies, decided on a seven-day
delay, It will give crabbers more time to get their gear in the water and for the remaining whales in the area to migrate.
“We support any additional measures the fleet or specific ports wish to take to minimize entanglements and also understand the additional hardships resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic,” the statement said.
Since 2015, all but one commercial Dungeness season has been delayed either due to domoic acid, a naturally occurring toxin that contaminates shellfish, detected in the crabs or fishing line danger to whales, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Domoic acid isn’t likely to create a problem during the 2020-21 season, Bonham said last month.
SACRAMENTO — Sacramento police arrested a man Saturday after pro-Trump and anti-Trump groups clashed in front of the state Capitol building, the Sacramento Bee reported.
The arrest came after police declared the rallies an unlawful assembly about 3 p.m. Saturday, the Bee reported. Pro-Trump protesters — who appeared to include members of the far-right group the Proud Boys — and left-wing protesters scuffled in streets near the Capitol.
The fighting was the latest in six weeks of clashes between the pro-Trump and anti-Trump groups, the Bee reported.