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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
! r, o9 r. \* U4 ~7 ~ a4 smy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
5 o/ z* L3 q( ~4 rin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for ) w* w8 z8 ~' a& @7 Z
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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: T8 V2 E4 b" o6 {1 B4 O n$ jis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for
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the current price look at this link & [$ C4 A" e4 B
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% . A) I% S0 @" Y" H
increase in housing cost!& l$ `8 e& L9 A1 f
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
5 ~6 [6 y" A1 H, c3 J600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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5 |' j9 e& E4 b, w* Z# g: m) kOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university
; _8 [4 ]+ Y0 T( m6 {1 h: B8 qincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
! c1 x4 L, E% e9 g+ {+ rdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, ; i) Y$ ~7 D0 r: b9 a
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
/ b5 }! X! z- u$ v. Qand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
& ~, s+ K8 U e, x' Casked to look for a residence on open market.- ~0 w) [: \ q. @
7 G% R9 R# H9 f% O6 A" NWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has / ] }/ n Q8 p6 l3 s6 M
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid 2 F$ R& R1 P- C/ d$ ?6 e
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our ( T, G/ O7 E. {3 D6 p
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students $ ^( s$ J, j5 S+ N
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
& L& E( ~, R' F8 g" Y) ntuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
6 z- @* c3 f$ t0 B; d6 ?imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am ; j% U( Q c2 u# x6 \: l, O
getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of ; u) v5 }) M- s) R5 A6 p
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was $ E+ J i+ ]" C& w) Q$ s7 L! J
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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: M! {# g2 \/ _, j( yAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of 9 h8 N+ R5 U. |2 O4 T* W
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
1 ~7 Z& l* Z0 Q8 w% [from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
6 t( |% s+ ~2 e4 A2 D Gstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention ( h* e; T; O' ^$ N R6 L
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
- l3 s( I5 w1 u& O1 b* v: ]2 P$ J6 qespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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* F) g U0 s& F# S# Tinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for ( L* u1 i ]0 N; w5 @7 J
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.
4 [- j/ F5 T8 p6 eThank you all
- L9 c4 d# V( i$ \" dAli |
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