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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
# i+ |, ?" e+ `& c: W' Smy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
3 s, y; a1 v, e2 R' i9 r) Zin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for
& _/ V( f; ~4 g, G6 T8 h, A680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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# y! R, n% \6 ethe current price look at this link 1 { o6 {/ A0 K# n
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% ' D0 |4 z" `! }1 q& s
increase in housing cost!0 U; e! r/ H, X/ h+ h
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
+ t$ {; p/ f8 j5 J5 s3 s600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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7 m2 y) O l6 C/ T; DOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university
' q! l$ } `( @3 x0 [$ g" yincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
2 I6 }1 p& F/ M8 rdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, ! j8 z& w$ E' i
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
0 U5 f3 X: _& p: Uand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
" W' v( }# c7 ^7 K* C- Sasked to look for a residence on open market.) ^7 Z8 `2 Z% q7 x. |2 T% l9 U
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
% j! q% M0 l) k. oincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid . m8 g, m- u4 U/ w. \
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our $ ]- ]* M( V) O# ~& ]4 N
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students & L+ g7 ?% M) S6 e$ ]
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after 7 G% J0 p4 M2 [7 N+ u/ C. c; z, V( `) b
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just 5 @' o. k5 i: w3 q# ?4 x
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
+ M0 X" D/ n5 `6 y% Ggetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
8 p5 W' v% ]; O) | T8 A mus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
* _5 x$ t6 v* k( o9 W9 Badmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of " Q5 q6 \2 R7 d+ v+ J
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
& y2 E1 Q% S6 B# F4 u9 C* [from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
7 i8 h2 D- A3 X. C) y* A2 gstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.% ]1 l. s/ \) [; y, W2 ?
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention + K/ o/ L. o5 `/ J8 P( G8 @
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
% |8 L! H" w1 ~- hespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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! o1 B' \! o' Q* \& z+ `initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for
5 J) W: f0 ~4 `graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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Please come with your experiences and ideas. B3 H+ ]. W! h) `1 F8 ~, d: o
Thank you all" v, @6 \( K, A( ~
Ali |
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