Welcome back to Skyline College everybody. I trust you all are well, and let’s face it, if you’re not, I probably don’t care anyway. Since this is our first issue after the break and the general feeling around the office is something along the lines of, “Nobody reads us anyway,” I’m not going to go into an introduction of any spectacular magnitude. Suffice it to say that I am glad to be writing again and for those of you who are reading I am glad that you are doing so.

With that aside, let us begin doing what it is that I enjoy most: complaining, whining, and being generally dissatisfied with the state of the world. The topic of this week is one that is very important to me, one that has a very powerful effect on not only my life, but the lives of everyone around me:

Money.

Now, I like money, collecting it has become something of a hobby of mine, and I’ve learned from those in the business of money that it’s actually rather profitable. Unfortunately, I have come across a terrible threat to my money: I am currently a student at Skyline College.

This would not necessarily be a problem except for the fact that attending this school is not just something that simply happens to an individual, but rather an education from this institute is something one must pay to acquire.

Just to clarify to my readership that I haven’t been living under a rock for last two years, I am well aware of the fact that many others before me have tackled this issue. However, the simple fact that other people have discussed this topic before me does not mean that I cannot mention it now, especially, if by doing so, I am also bringing forth what I consider to be a rather valid point.

The fact of the matter is that since September 2003, tuition prices have risen from roughly $11 to the now standing $26 per unit. That’s more than a double in cost in just under a year and a half. So, at this point, the best question it ask would have to be is “Just who exactly is responsible for this fee hike?”

Many people say it’s our new governor’s fault that the prices have gone up so high; however, if you remember, the prices for classes were increased before Gray Davis was ever recalled from office.

The fact of the matter is that there are many individuals responsible for the increase, and although I have no way of knowing for sure, I would be willing to bet that at least 75 percent of those involved in the decision making process actually attended a community college at one time or another throughout the course of their lives.

Did these individuals have to pay the increased prices? Did any of the thousands of people who came to this school in the past have to pay what we do? Of course they didn’t.

So, what’s different now as opposed to then? Has the cost of teaching risen that dramatically? Is it because paper has become as rare as gold, and is now so expensive that it is necessary to have a 100 percent increase in tuition simply to afford the supplies needed to teach?

I think our generation should not be held responsible. Those of us who attend classes now are in no way at fault for the deficit California has fallen into. That deficit was caused by the already educated individuals who are now in power and have already received their education from this, and other schools similar to this across the state.

Although it is not our fault that the state desperately needs money, it is inevitably us who are going to pay for it. Personally, I think we should try to balance this issue.

If we have no choice but to pay the $26 per unit, our elders should pay the same. Anyone and everyone who ever attended community college before should be billed to make up the difference between the amount of money they paid, and the price they would be paying today. If they don’t think it’s fair, that’s perfectly fine. We don’t think it’s fair that we’re paying for the deficit now.

Long winded? Yes. Relevant? Probably. Filled with angry complaints? Most definitely. You all know my style, so I don’t think it needs to be explained. Until next time and as always, I am the Accordion Cowboy, and this is I’m Mentioning.