What was the California State University Board of Trustees trying to tell us when it voted last week to increase our fees for the fifth time in six years?

At this point in time, it tells us plenty. For one thing, the 10 percent, $252 fee increase, sends a clear message that the plight of students in the nation’s largest public university system is unnoticed. We can’t say we are surprised at our university governing board’s latest display of indifference to student needs, but we are offended. In light of the controversy surrounding the mismanaged budget, a looming strike and the recent disclosure of a large supply of cash in the hands of the CSU, we are having a hard time comprehending the audacity of the increase.

The fee hike sends a clear message that not only does our university system not care about us, but neither does the state of California. We have watched as our piece of the state budget pie has gotten smaller every year and fees have risen 94 percent since 2001. Apparently, the 417,000 of us attending a CSU just aren’t worth factoring into the budget. Is the extra funding now needed, since our schools are jam packed with students, not deemed worthwhile by the state government?

What’s more, have CSU execs stopped trying to convince the state of our worth? They have chosen to forgo arguments and discussion that would help us, and instead just dip into our pockets every year. Of the 16 board members voting on the increase, only one voted against it, showing us that most of them simply aren’t concerning themselves with finding alternative methods, such as slowing down on all the compensation and padded salaries that are being doled out. Faculty salaries have not increased sufficiently to accommodate inflation, but the top execs have enjoyed a pay raise of more than 20 percent in the past five years.

It also says that they have not taken into account that most of us come from modest family incomes, and are already working outside of school to afford rent and living expenses. While the lowest-income students who receive financial aid will not be burdened with the extra costs, many middle class students will struggle to pay because they do not qualify for financial aid, even if registration fees are difficult for their family to afford. This sends the message to take out more loans, including high-risk private loans, leading to an almost certain lifetime of debt.

The state of California is enabling the CSU to exploit us like this when it refuses to offer different methods to come up with funding. We enjoyed a break in a four-year streak of increases last year when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger coughed up the $50-odd million it took to keep the system humming, but since he isn’t up for re-election this year, it doesn’t look like he is going to do it again.

Plain and simple, the financial burdens of students who attend a public university in the nation’s most expensive state are the CSU administration’s and state government’s last concern. Arguing that fees must be increased so more lucrative salary offers can be made when recruiting and retaining quality faculty doesn’t make sense, either. We can’t pay for your prestige. Is the system so horrible that no one would even consider working here unless they get lavish perks? Is dangling gratuitous compensation funded by student fees in front of their faces the only way to get them to work at a public university?

The CSU’s attempt to quiet us by overstating that our fees are still among the lowest in the nation isn’t going to work. Cheap registration fees mean nothing when you live in California, and calling to our attention how reasonable it is compared to private universities doesn’t impress us. Of course it’s cheaper, that’s the core feature of public universities.

So, we can only hope that our state government will step up and do something to help us.