Do not increase our student fees

It’s time for students to stand up for themselves.
Only a month after administrators announced a 23.5-percent increase in tuition for Fall 2003, they turned around and asked student leaders to approve an increase in student fees as well.
While the proposal is only for a $6.50 increase a semester, it’s more of an issue of principle than cost.
Is it just us, or do they seem to be milking a dead cow?
Can students really afford to pay all of these increases? We think not.
Inch by inch, penny by penny, administrators — and now our student representatives — keep raising the cost of our education and keep pushing students away.
Administrators increased tuition for the 2002-2003 school year and the 2003-2004 school year. On Tuesday, the SUUSA Senate will vote on increasing student fees for fall.
Does anyone else see a pattern here? The pattern will continue until we stand in front of administrators and tell them we’ve had enough. We cannot sit around and allow more increases.
Paralleling the administrators’ pattern for destroying our checkbooks is the students’ pattern of apathy.
Few SUU students told the administration or student leaders their true feelings about all the increases. A lot of students have complained to friends or in class about the tuition increase, but not many have spoken out to student leaders or administrators.
The University Journal is speaking out now and asks all students to speak out with us.
Administrators seem to believe it’s OK to increase fees and tuition, and the students won’t say anything about it. If students are against the proposed fee increases — and we sense that they are — they need to tell their student leaders and administrators.
We understand the tuition increase is needed. A good portion of the the tuition increase will go to marketing. If done right, marketing can bring more students and increase our per-student funding from the state. But what’s our new marketing slogan going to be? “Find yourself . . . paying 23.5 percent more for tuition.”
If we’re going to pay 23.5 percent more for tuition, that money ought to be used to improve programs already on campus. Too many current programs are under-funded and require improvement. Marketing cannot fix a flawed program, but a sound program will sell itself.
The argument for allowing a hike in our student fees is to improve the computers on campus and to decrease cost of admission to shows produced by the College of Performing & Visual Arts.
Five dollars of the $6.50 increase is supposed to be spent on improving the computers. What’s wrong with the computers now? Most students would be willing to sacrifice the perks of