By UK standards, yes it is small but, no, it's not a misprint.
 
The chair of geography at Concordia issued a statement on March 12 that he has "no choice but to accept that the tactic of stopping classroom instruction represents the collective, and thoroughly discussed, decision of our students.... it would be unacceptable to me if a member of our community, whose political action was sanctioned by a truly democratic assembly, were to seriously suffer for that action."  See   http://geograds.wordpress.com/

My sense is that for the students who are striking it is a question of fighting *for* a principle rather than *against* an unbearable hardship (that said, it is no small thing for students from low income families to be graduating with $25000 debt from undergraduate, and it skews against those in the humanities or anything that does not have the immediate promise of employment ...) 

But it's also kind of a "boiling frog" scenario, the water may only be "warm" at this point (at least for some),  but these frogs want the heat turned off.

In my understanding, students are also striking in part in solidarity with those who will excluded because of fee hikes (by some estimates 30,000 potential students); because of the racialized impact of the fee hikes http://gsaconcordia.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/CFS-O-Racialised-Impact-of-Tuition-Fees.pdf; and because in Canada, at least, the sentiment among students is that the hike is unnecessary -- taking advantage of a generalized  global climate of austerity which does not fully reflect the Canadian economic situation; part of a trend to skew funds into administration and elsewhere, (and a more general tendency to privatization); and that this trend is being authorized by folks who had the full benefits of a public post secondary education themselves several decades ago.    

my two cents, but anyone closer to the action with other insights please feel free to respond.



On 12-Mar-12, at 8:56 PM, Simon P J Batterbury wrote:

That is an extraordinarily small tuition hike, viewed over 5 years. Maybe it is a misprint and it is actually $16,250?
 
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: yuseph katiya <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 10:11 AM
Subject: Concordia Geography Chair interferes with student politics, sends chilling memo
To: [log in to unmask]


Good morning,
 
Some of the members on this listserv might already be aware that approximately 130 000 students across Québec are on strike against the plan to raise tuition $1625 over the next five years. Basically unknown outside Canada, student protesters have been met with extreme violence, including aggravated assault on one college student. 
 
At Concordia University in Montréal, geography students have joined the strike, and some students have even decided to defend picket lines. I am sending you the Chair's "chilling" memo (see attachment) that I believe interferes with students and faculty's right to assemble and protest. Below is my response.
 
I think its important that administrators be held accountable for their actions. Since they seem more interested in being accountable to their funders and scientific journals to the Concordia community, they might react differently if they are pressured are by their colleagues.
 
I encourage members of this listserv to send messages of support to the following emails:
 
Dr. David Greene, Chair, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia University (Montreal)
 
David Graham, Provost, Concordia University