Covering the Town meeting held by AUB Administration to discuss the tuition increase at AUB

Today, I attended the tuition increase town meeting that was held by members of the AUB Administration (President Dorman, VP Kenny, Provost Dallal, Dean Kisirwani, etc) and I was reporting the event live on twitter via @mhijazi.

This was my first experience with twitter reporting, and I am glad to say it was very enjoyable.

Tomorrow, I will be covering parts of the protest via twitter also, and between my classes. (No, I am not skipping classes, here's why)

Below are the tweets related to today's meeting from newest to oldest, so I would recommend that you read from bottom to top.

1. again mentioning the wasta in admissions and denying themabout 2 hours ago via mobile web
2. basically this new policy is like robin hood: taking from the rich and giving to the poor.about 2 hours ago via mobile web
3. "aub medical centre is currently making profit and covering its debts" - vp kennyabout 2 hours ago via mobile web
4. "we dont want the students to pay the debt of the aub medical centre" - the shouting speakerabout 2 hours ago via mobile web
5. "this new financial aid policy will be transperant" - dallalabout 2 hours ago via mobile web
6. "we need to have more transperancy at AUB" - dallalabout 2 hours ago via mobile web
7. provost dallal is refering to my wasta article, but claims that he cannot do anything without evidence.about 2 hours ago via mobile web
8. "it is simply impossible to balance our budget without the increase" - dallalabout 2 hours ago via mobile web
9. "cost of aub faculty and their salaries is increasing." - dallalabout 2 hours ago via mobile web
10. "current students will not get additional financial aid because they are not affected by the 15 credit policy" - vp kennyabout 2 hours ago via mobile web
11. the shouting speaker is talking again and being very rudeabout 2 hours ago via mobile web
12. dallal is explaining that the scholarship donors are minimal / only 5%about 2 hours ago via mobile web
13. usfc vp elias ghanem is asking why will AUB be paying financial aid from student tuitions.about 2 hours ago via mobile web
14. "we modified the policy according to the student's feedback"about 2 hours ago via mobile web
15. "the student loans will not replace the financial aid" - dallalabout 2 hours ago via mobile web
16. "financial aid budget will leap from $13mil to 28mil in 4 years" - dallalabout 3 hours ago via mobile web
17. provost dallal is responding to the speaker's statementabout 3 hours ago via mobile web
18. the speaker, who didnt mention his name, is now off the stageabout 3 hours ago via mobile web
19. the speaker is comparing aub to the lifestyle is auc and aud...about 3 hours ago via mobile web
20. "our campaign is a non violent one - revoke the 15 credit policy"about 3 hours ago via mobile web
21. the speaker should stop screaming at the provost and the VPabout 3 hours ago via mobile web
22. cheerful crowd clapping for the speaker, reminds me of a political leader speechabout 3 hours ago via mobile web
23. many points of what he is saying were already refuted by VP Kennyabout 3 hours ago via mobile web
24. he is stating the drawbacks of the 15 credit policy while almost screamingabout 3 hours ago via mobile web
25. "students who want to attend classes tomorrow are free to do so"about 3 hours ago via mobile web
26. "our aim to cancel the 15 credit system" he said.about 3 hours ago via mobile web
27. a chosen representative from the protest took the stage.about 3 hours ago via mobile web
28. time for audience questionsabout 3 hours ago via mobile web
29. "80% of the students will qualify for financial aid with this program"about 3 hours ago via mobile web
30. 65% of the additional revenue is going directly to financial aid.about 3 hours ago via mobile web
31. "the average net increase is 5.8% and not 25%"about 3 hours ago via mobile web
32. "new students will pay upto 15 credits rather than 12"about 3 hours ago via mobile web
33. "in the next few years, the tuition increase will not exceed 4%"about 3 hours ago via mobile web
34. "after this increase, AUB will be cheaper than all institutions except LAU"about 3 hours ago via mobile web
35. "right now aub tuition is lower than other institutions in the middle east, LAU, AUC, AID, AUS..."about 3 hours ago via mobile web
36. "we will not allow students to borrow more than 25% of their tution, they shouldnt have a huge dept when they graduate." - kennyabout 3 hours ago via mobile web
37. "the central bank loan program will replace the AUB loan program" - Kennyabout 3 hours ago via mobile web
38. Kenny is talkng about the history and process for reviewing policies.about 3 hours ago via mobile web
39. VP Kenny will be explaining the changes and the decisions made to the tuitions and financial aidabout 3 hours ago via mobile web
40. "we owe it to our selves to maintain a respectful dialougue" - dormanabout 3 hours ago via mobile web
41. president dorman is introducing the dialouge and is speaking about the money donations made to aubabout 3 hours ago via mobile web
42. dean kisirwani asks of the audience to maintain the character and the reputation of AUB theabout 3 hours ago via mobile web
43. i will be tweeting updates throughout this hour for those of you who want to know more about the issue!about 3 hours ago via mobile web
44. mhijazi is at the general meeting hosted by the AUB President to discuss the tuition increase issue with the students.about 3 hours ago via mobile web