Governor makes surprise appearance at UC Regents meeting

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Gov. Jerry Brown made a brief surprise appearance at the UC Board of Regents meeting in San Francisco on Wednesday to thank the board for endorsing his tax increase measure on the November ballot and to urge students, faculty and staff to vote for Proposition 30.

“This is a matter of all hands on deck. Let’s pull together for the university and for our country,” said Brown, who holds a seat on the Board of Regents because he is governor but who has not attended a meeting, UC officials said, since he began his current term in January 2011.

The regents gave Brown a standing ovation for providing what could be a partial way out of their budget crisis. But Brown said: “We can’t celebrate until we pass Proposition 30.”

Earlier in the day, the UC regents voted to freeze undergraduate and some graduate school tuition as part of a funding deal with the governor and state Legislature.

The governing board of the 10-campus system also endorsed Brown’s tax hike measure on the November ballot and warned that tuition might rise 20%, or more than $2,400, and that course offering and library hours could be significantly reduced soon after the election if the measure fails.

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--Larry Gordon