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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
6 G+ d$ m2 z0 O D! H4 H/ Imy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment : i- q% @ |& q" X# d5 f2 P
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for Y! N, x6 ~9 s& h8 _+ m3 G* }9 M. e
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment P5 h0 J4 f6 r$ k ~
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for3 J& N3 J8 h4 C6 t# r6 p- Q: U9 u, T4 g
' V! Y- `$ b& m. n$ X9 bthe current price look at this link
~2 h- U2 _( [1 U5 |4 b6 U1 Ghttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100% 1 Z& z3 y9 e1 K( `* e9 v
increase in housing cost!9 ~* x6 C* a# m' s# ~
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While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying + Q& j) b4 Y$ g( `/ p% v, E
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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2 o! p2 B4 k6 v8 O- n, sOther costs of leaving have also increased and the university
% \ P7 i8 Q& U* v) \/ Pincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
Q# u& R3 ~3 G+ Ldifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this, 8 `: x5 T: l9 a/ p3 D8 J! E) Q' N
the fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
3 d& D) y" t8 Vand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
. P2 I0 |# \) S! \asked to look for a residence on open market.
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has * b- z$ l n; j1 P
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid % Y* v2 w) Q" q2 F: M
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our : H+ m* A5 j( r7 U( r
admission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
' W* I8 @; k h- j=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
3 ~, L) L b2 s" [; `tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
' h2 J7 u3 M( H9 K Dimagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
/ ~4 T& q1 [. ~9 ^getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
& Y4 Q9 r. k7 Dus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was
* Y" E) @- T) sadmitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.5 G# a2 c# o4 C( q$ Q
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Also have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of 3 F& ?0 ^7 Q4 \% c7 F+ n
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants 9 y& ?2 f: F( q, \
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate
, {4 j% I, R1 G( O Lstudents are the main pillars of research work at the university.% s8 Z5 j. c1 o% Q. U
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention
- H, {0 K( B9 a6 |3 ?is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and - h' m, E3 L7 m" \, L
especially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take! f' A- |/ |, F- K$ a# h. E
. `( Z- |4 N' s* n& Yinitiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for , J0 B! o$ u+ Q$ z8 j7 S6 O% e. d6 k
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?
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9 `) x( }" n+ m1 J, h, S( nPlease come with your experiences and ideas.4 @2 j. {7 Q3 @8 y+ {
Thank you all6 i' b7 H, c* {& o0 G- E
Ali |
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