Despite having lived in the state of California for all but her senior year of high school, in the eyes of the University of California, UCSC student and now 19-year-old Lauren Dike is not a resident of California. This qualification has resulted in her withdrawal from the UC for fall quarter.

UC Board of Regents meeting in San Francisco leaves some confused and some nervous about the UC’s financial path forward. A regent suggests seeking corporations for funding.

The UC Board of Regents met on Thursday at UCSF to consider a proposed 9.6 percent tuition increase systemwide. The board approved the fee hike 14-4, raising undergraduate tuition by $1,068 per student for this academic year.

DJ Bott is a determined young woman, but pressure from student fees is forcing her family to make immense sacrifices to finance her education. Motivated by her families’ sacrifice, DJ Bott continues to strive towards completing her education.

The latest statement made by Gov. Jerry Brown that the UC system could see campus closures and double tuition in the near future reflects just how ill the system is. If the UC is to be saved from certain death, Californians must band together to revive it.

The University of California Office of the President recently established a new budget proposal that would decentralize funds and tax each UC campus for central projects. After a recent meeting between SUA and executive vice chancellor Alison Galloway. However, UCSC decided not to implement this 2 percent tax at this time.

UCSC is wasting students’ tuition and intentionally keeping community members in the dark by failing to comply with records requests. On top of all that, the university found it necessary to hire a private investigator to take photos of protesters, spending $6,000 in the process.

Free education and a call for awareness on March 1 and March 2 advocate for a space of open discussion for future strategic planning on UC education. The Open University Together has been organizing since the start of the quarter to make the March protests a peaceful, fun and informative demonstration.

The UC regents recently proposed placing a fixed-percentage tax on new university fees regardless of each site’s current fees — a move that adds financial strain for already fee-heavy campuses like UCSC. We should not be required to pay for projects that may never make it back to Santa Cruz at all.

As UC Regents look to non-residents as a source of revenue, more and more of them are transferring out of the UC for a more affordable education.