More than 1,000 people from across California, including UC students, gathered at the steps of the state capitol in Sacramento to protest the state’s proposed student fee increases that would accompany the state’s proposed budget cuts.

According to the 2007-08 Financial Plan-in-Year Forecast published by Cornell’s Division of Planning and Budget, the average salary for faculty in endowed colleges “increased 5 percent in 2007-08 while the comparable average for contract college faculty grew 5.3 percent.”

Richard Granger has resigned as director of the Neukom Institute for Computational Science following the arrest of his wife last month for allegedly stealing over $300,000 from a church in California, the Grangers’ prior residence. Granger will continue to direct Dartmouth’s Brain Imaging Laboratory and maintain his position as a professor in the computer science department.

The increasing gaps in faculty pay between private and public universities are threatening the ability of public universities to recruit and retain qualified faculty members, according to a report released this week.

Some legislators openly embraced their efforts. Others warned them the federal deficit was too high for monetary contributions to higher education. The student advocates also said they learned lobbying techniques they could use in the future.

Students should expect to pay about a 4.2 percent spike in room and board rates next fall, the result of rising energy costs hitting the university.