For Kenneth Lien, campus sophomore and executive director of Cal Hacks, the failed renewal of the Student Technology Fund, or STF, fee during the ASUC elections in April is a “loss of a safety net.”
Without the STF fee — a campus-based student fee referendum that provided all UC Berkeley students with equitable access to a range of technology services — Lien said he will no longer have access to a Wi-Fi hot spot and laptop that he relied on to take virtual classes during the pandemic, which was lent to him by Moffitt Library.
“The fund really made success; it gave everyone equal opportunity and removed technology from being a barrier to excelling in school,” Lien said. “It’s unfortunate that the fund didn’t get renewed, especially because I personally and a lot of my peers have been able to continue school and handle a virtual transition because of it.”