The Arizona Board of Regents will set next year’s tuition for all three state universities tomorrow at Arizona State University’s Tempe campus.

But many students will not be in attendance, as the meeting is held on the UA’s and ASU’s “”reading day,”” or “”dead day.””

Dead day, the final day before exams begin, could lead to few students appearing to support or oppose the separate tuition proposals put forth by the Arizona Students’ Association and President Robert Shelton.

ASA, which represents the three universities’ student government, calls for a freeze in tuition and increased state funding in lieu of more money from students.

Shelton proposes a 9.8 percent rate increase for resident undergraduate students, and a 14.7 percent increase for nonresident undergraduates, including new program fees.

ASA is ensuring the student voice will be heard in some form tomorrow. It will bring about 9,000 blue cards from students statewide who support a tuition freeze, said Tiffany Troidl, ASA government affairs director.

ASA plans to string all up the cards like laundry on a line to show regents the breadth of student opposition to increased tuition, Troidl said.

She estimated that there would be about 200 students at the meeting, based on ASA’s work on Arizona university campuses.

ASA has asked regents that, if possible, the meetings should be held on days when students can attend, Troidl said.

“”We’ve worked really hard to express our concern to the regents about the days that they hold these meetings,”” Troidl said. “”They’re very understanding that students have finals and deadlines – and, unfortunately, it does conflict (this year) – but we’re working with them to make sure that the meetings don’t conflict in the future.””

Regent Ernest Calderon, vice president of the Board of Regents, said he does not feel that dead day will affect the outcome of the vote, whether or not students come out in full force.

The tuition hearings, which occurred last week on each Arizona university campus, were of more importance, Calderon said, because the meeting will result in a vote, not a discussion.

Bruce Riccardi, a UA economics junior, does not plan on attending the meeting but signed one of the blue cards.

Both proposals seemed extreme to Riccardi, and he said he hoped a compromise could be met. He suggested slower, steady increases in tuition could be passed to keep up with costs to students.

“”If there could be some legitimate compromise where you could balance out the needs of the university with also the financial constraints that the students have, it would be a better solution,”” Riccardi said.

Other students, like Krista Calderon, were unaware of the tuition proposals going on.

Still, Calderon, a sophomore majoring in French and
psychology, believes an increase would affect her budget.

“”I’m almost entirely relying on financial aid as it is, so that’s just more to pay back in the end,”” Calderon said.

Runa Ingimundardottir, a third-year music composition doctoral student, is also not attending. She thinks the state should increase funding for universities to give students a financial break.

“”Education is the cornerstone of any country, any place,”” Ingimundardottir said. “”So of course the state should see the value of that.””

The meeting begins at 1 p.m. in ASU’s Old Main building. Setting of tuition and fees should start at approximately 1:30.

UA students who wish to obtain a ride in a motorpool van can e-mail the Associated Students of the University of Arizona at asua@email.arizona.edu by 5 p.m. today.

BY THE NUMBERS
Shelton’s proposal:

raises tuition for resident graduate and undergraduate students 9.8 percent, including fee

Undergraduates:

$494 – increase

$5,531 – up from $5,037

Graduates:

$564 – increase

$6,321 – up from $5,757

Non-residents

$2,394 – undergraduate tuition increase (from $16,271 to $18,665)

$2,394 – graduate tuition increase (from $16,564 to $18,958)

Students’ proposal

? calls for a tuition freeze, or 0 percent increase,
and more money from the state
? asks ABOR to create a “”tuition taskforce”” to create long-term goals, rate predictability

UA program fees

-Eller Master of Public Administration: $500 increase
-Evening MBA: $8,500 increase
-Journalism: $500/year
-Optical Sciences- Graduate OSC programs: $450/credit