UC Berkeley has decided to restrict berkeley.edu subdomains to official campus units raising allegations that it is reneging on a decade-old deal granting student group access to these subdomains.
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.”