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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
0 l- T; y! o( c! J6 u' Smy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment $ n5 }( |4 f2 V! C) x" x
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for - S: ~! F+ s( ~1 S4 n/ g2 X) @
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment3 I1 p7 _& r. E; T S
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is more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for5 @3 N$ Q3 Z3 [ O: K
& ~7 b: s' X5 ?& I6 x- P/ ythe current price look at this link t; l+ y- b2 d7 M+ {6 U
http://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
* @& k2 ]& X& U4 e' l' sincrease in housing cost!
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* c1 d& b+ K) Z4 ?While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying 2 X% Y8 { |$ z/ U& A
600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
: Y- `$ S' w! qincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
7 C5 M+ b* O! Y: o. Q' q6 r/ Sdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
* U/ s) j3 g6 X0 n3 h2 kthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers
. }9 [8 A, T$ V& v7 aand most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
! _ G2 x2 J: J$ x: k3 U4 H/ l, _# M% Pasked to look for a residence on open market.
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Q- n7 i- T2 d5 f @9 }3 N, zWhile the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has * |7 B& r6 A. Y2 C# `2 |' q/ k. K! ~* D
increased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid
0 c4 B9 B" m8 @8 s" F7 n3 n, C, o# Lexactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
8 r4 S$ J; `& ?3 A% S# _6 Nadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students
$ W7 N& A0 [) O4 v5 t( e5 W=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after
4 t0 K b* N, F+ g: Ttuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just
1 h; T6 R; b) o7 h }9 g+ s! simagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
2 c: |9 n s- hgetting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of , Z9 R, \3 B6 `5 Z3 f: l: b
us) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was & \8 F3 ]4 }& S# `. L9 \7 f6 Z
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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5 e( d7 a9 s8 a8 MAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of " M% a; i+ u: Y, @$ Y/ ]" {
Alberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants ! r |3 O% a# I0 d$ b1 D
from different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate 2 Y7 P+ I# {) }: j; d0 A) V! h
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.: o8 O! V* X: u
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention 7 {9 Q6 X' ^. {! W8 M0 d
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
9 J# Z0 n5 c0 S9 U8 M' L7 Respecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for 6 B0 d6 P0 f" B
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?; F1 q; m5 I0 ]- v$ }0 | F
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.
* \! i4 r( [9 O$ TThank you all
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