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When arrived to Edmonton to start my graduate studies on 2004, me and
; F2 `: N+ C- P5 Q$ x- D: ? Jmy friend rented a very nice, spacious and shiny 2-bedroom apartment , M" @- W6 p- ~6 }! ^, D
in one of the Boardwalk's high rise buildings (Galbraith House) for ( |; G! g; i1 p9 P8 Y
680 CAD(everything was included), believe it or not the same apartment
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8 r' |0 T1 `5 V- Z' Gis more than 1300 CAD now.(I still have a copy of the contract and for" z: `! n/ m- \+ U
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the current price look at this link
7 _8 t+ ^0 {9 u9 N; m+ zhttp://www.bwalk.com/Rental/infosheeta.asp?projectno=92). 100%
' i5 C4 {3 E- [2 jincrease in housing cost!
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) ^5 d+ r4 f* g5 ?$ b* \While I was paying 340CAD/month for more than a year, I抦 paying
( n1 i6 h( m# M" i$ u$ k6 a600CAD/month plus utilities right now, some thing around 700CAD/month.
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! n; l' m: Z( _Other costs of leaving have also increased and the university
4 N$ s: q* N! Z1 w r0 p2 ^/ Xincreases the tuition fee by few percent every year and international
, s6 ^: @+ ]3 hdifferential fee was increased by almost 20% last year. Add to this,
8 r }7 ~4 i& F% x) _ Y9 H9 V" t6 Nthe fact that the university housing has no more space for newcomers * }! C7 I) K% F+ N+ T8 `" H8 M
and most of the newly admitted students who applied for housing were
/ {; n& c1 K2 w6 ?asked to look for a residence on open market.: v( N9 T+ W2 `8 g, D
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While the average cost of living for a typical graduate student has
# x Z' i8 K1 G( vincreased by something more than 70% percent we are getting paid " m$ m# ^9 |! B; u. r5 R5 d
exactly for the same amount of money that we were offered in our
! T* n+ v" _# r6 Sadmission letter (18000 CAD + 1500 CAD for international students 3 \% ]% w, \0 g( o3 m: z
=19500CAD. What I get is something around 1000CAD/month!!! after & v: l& l* t) _$ z# a' H$ M* D( E
tuition fee and taxes). To make the argument easy to understand just ) u) P7 k: `' z7 V2 t! H( M
imagine that a new student gets the same amount of money that I am
$ e3 q) w& O& L2 ]getting now and I was getting 3 years ago but he or she (like all of
9 W! N4 w! R0 Z7 b! e5 sus) has to pay twice as much as I was paying for housing when I was 8 ?" z8 ^3 ]: b9 a
admitted and has to incur at least 70% more in average living costs.
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8 V4 b" m6 X4 e5 l9 g, h- QAlso have in mind that Alberta is a rich province and University of
2 W8 J' i/ f E, J# B3 bAlberta has a remarkable record in absorbing various money and grants
: Q4 R* R7 F* Qfrom different governmental and non governmental sources and graduate 4 N$ k4 {# Y2 h! N! O
students are the main pillars of research work at the university.2 I+ R8 F x( o3 f0 H* R
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My objective in bringing all abovementioned points in your attention $ p7 D, F$ v. t
is to question the adequacy of financial aid for graduate and
- Y5 Q* d' A7 ^$ ]+ M) ~$ Vespecially international students. Isn抰 it time for the GSA to take
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" C* E( o6 c E! b. M( o4 J/ \initiative in raising the issue of increasing financial aid for + Q3 j8 d3 W. r# W: n
graduate students so that the can afford this increase in costs?" n" [7 ^! l4 x9 ?3 h, U
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Please come with your experiences and ideas.
$ e0 y) \( Q6 r: Q, [# U& F9 h/ c ?Thank you all
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