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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and $ |4 w4 ~: Y; x8 D0 p# M
my friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment
& o. ?- s* G/ O8 E" s+ G& Gin one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for : Q q% K' I, v: z4 I& y8 N
680 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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the current price look at this link & F1 {" L ^& ?; Z ?) v0 g/ m [
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% " A) J5 r. k6 e1 P( C p
increase in housing cost!
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" m- h; r7 e- }7 eWhile I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying 7 v1 k4 B! o3 o
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.: J4 y- q( d# x$ N( b5 e5 _
9 Q6 U6 k" p A* c- COther costs of leaving have also increased and the university : h H* J$ w3 Q7 m, V& j
increases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international * \+ o4 `" D7 ?. X) I% O
differential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
! A2 v) s; k; V! \6 Athe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers " F+ j6 ~ d% c8 t! c
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
# v$ M% M6 o. V' P: qasked to look for a residence on open market.5 R0 k! e8 |1 E' ]7 w# O. v
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
+ E4 g/ y2 Z1 U& \increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid 0 C9 ]1 p4 e1 s- V
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our ! O8 Z4 K8 r* x( R! Z" X3 T$ w4 L
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
+ x+ b! ?- _3 X, _=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after . b# x* \7 x$ G" S& V, B3 F$ `
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
9 ~" ], M( _5 {8 F% A6 o( H. ^imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
% b1 i* B a' y ?2 Z `$ Ggetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of # i" M: T; ~1 d! f8 y4 ?
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
( ?7 Q" m$ e5 w9 a3 Qadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.3 k$ v2 N" `! Y2 ^% L7 o4 k3 c+ s
: n/ l# }& T6 ^# `Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of : k2 g' ^3 l) a2 w$ k
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants ' ? Q" D2 B# X- Z' V& m3 G1 u" R5 A
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
4 `; @$ q, I- m6 r# J0 Q0 Tstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.7 q6 J1 o" Z: z$ m: r: o
! Q+ I2 j1 y: J) B9 M0 |/ FMy objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
6 J K" m: a7 p0 ^" [0 n8 |is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and 8 A8 R% [/ \" f& y
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take- P# Q3 Z5 r3 t2 O: ?# J) N: U
: C! f. H p* hinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for F2 M+ i/ Y0 i- Q" ~5 `* r% `
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?8 p* l$ w. l7 B+ }) I
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.8 {$ g2 Q z) f' w( O. E
Thank you all( j2 q, e( l0 e
Ali |
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