Dear Students,

This Tuesday the Dutch Government introduced its plans and, most importantly, her budget for the coming year. Due to the financial crisis the government was forced to make some tough decisions and make deep cuts into the budget. For now, this means that next year the “studiefinanciering’ (Student Budget) will be reduced, but more plans to cut costs on education are in the pipeline, including plans to abolish the student budget altogether.

These plans come after years of full of budget cuts already. Over the last ten years the amount of funding the university receives from the state has significantly decreased. In addition to this, last year 10% of our funding was cut, which could be earned back through research, leaving us, a non-research faculty, with a huge problem.

How we as a campus should deal with this problem will be a matter of further negotiations and planning. During the upcoming Agora in October these issues will be discussed by ASIC, the administration and of course, you, the students whose main interests are at stake in the hope of finding some sensible solutions. It will not be simple. Harsh measures such as significant course reductions are already under investigation, therefore it is important that you take part in these discussions and make your voice heard. You will receive more information about the Agora over the coming weeks.

Fortunately, until then, we have also been offered the opportunity to fight this problem at a higher level, where we should be fighting it: in The Hague. The national union of students has decided to call for a nationwide protest this Tuesday. It will take place near ‘het Plein’ close to where the house of commons (2e Kamer) is seated. During this manifestation speakers will give a lecture (in Dutch) on the importance of proper funding for higher education and the minister himself will be there as well. Our voice will be stronger with every student present there.

If you decide to join, you should know that the protest will take place from 12:30 till 14:00. This means we will leave at around 11:00 at the gate and will be back on campus before 16:00, allowing us to join the campus activities planned that afternoon. If you want to join us and let your voice be heard, send us an e-mail and will give you further information on the plans.

Lovingly yours,

ASIC 09-10

If UC is your budget cut, ASIC is your protest!