Rents for UC San Diego graduate and professional students who live on campus are about to go up. The cost of one type of unit is expected to nearly double later this year.
The university’s housing department said the hike is needed to offset ongoing debts. Administrators contend that rents had been well below market value for years and they’ve portrayed it as an unfortunate but necessary correction because housing services are supposed to be self-sustaining.
Sofia Mejias Pascoe reports that students and faculty are now pushing back.
Over 500 students living in campus housing have pledged to withhold their rent until the university concedes. Organizers contend that the university created a problem where one previously didn’t exist, setting aside the values of the campus at the expense of growth.
They also argue that the university’s low rents have been a draw for many graduate students and that the increase will make it harder for researchers from lower-income backgrounds to commit to attending.
Student workers unions across the UC have also been fighting over the past year for a cost-of-living adjustment.
Who Was in School the Past Year
The Union-Tribune took stock of how students across the county spent their time over the last year, and found that while there were wide variations, “generally districts that serve few low-income students provided the most in-person instruction time, while districts that had a majority of low-income students spent the most time in distance learning.”
The data drives home many existing fears about the ways in which the pandemic is exacerbating the achievement gap.
Meanwhile, more Poway schools are reopening Monday, NBC San Diego reports.
Now in Politics
- Big spending is underway in the 79th District Assembly race. The Politics Report breaks down which groups are pumping cash in, and looks at another state legislative race on the horizon, the 36th District Senate race, where coastal Dems see a pickup opportunity.
- San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria has reiterated his pledge to change how the city handles homelessness in response to a deadly car crash last week. On the podcast, our hosts put the gruesome episode into context and discuss the major roadblock to any real homelessness solutions: a lack of truly affordable housing.
- State officials have sea-level rise and wildfires on the brain. As Sara Libby notes in the Sacramento Report, a Senate committee recently highlighted the dangers facing San Diego and suggested bluff stabilization efforts are moving too slowly. Meanwhile, the California Attorney General is intervening in a pair of Otay Ranch developments, arguing the environmental studies don’t adequately analyze the increased wildfire risk.
In Other News
- Migrant camps are growing just south of the border as people harbor hope that President Joe Biden might suddenly allow entry into the country. (Associated Press)
- Bishop George McKinney, a longtime community leader, has died. (NBC San Diego)
- The county is buying a property in Campo to expand its conservation land. (Union-Tribune)
- An independent review into the 101 Ash St. scandal was edited before it was released to the public. (Union-Tribune)
- San Diego and Los Angeles counties have signed onto Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to centralize vaccinations under a state system run by Blue Shield. (Associated Press)
The Morning Report was written by Jesse Marx, and edited by Sara Libby.