THE FACTS: University administrators are pushing an $83 fee to pay for renovating and expanding Talley Student Center, which is to be included within the estimated maximum increase of $102.30 for student fees.OUR OPINION: The political and economic environment is not conducive to implementing this fee, and the administration should look to push the issue on this fee when the situation improves.University officials are looking to implement an $83 fee to help finance the renovation and expansion of Talley Student Center.Talley is a poorly lit eyesore on campus, and building a student center for future generations that is aesthetically pleasing and conducive to creating a good environment for students is a worthy cause. But given the hard economic times, the difficulties on campus with academics as classes decrease in number and increase in size and the scandals, now is not the best time to be building a new student center.According to Chancellor Jim Woodward, the UNC Board of Governors has unofficially capped increases on student fees to 6.5 percent. Further, Woodward said indebtedness fees like the one proposed to help finance the Talley expansion do not have to be included within the 6.5 percent fee increase.However, Woodward has imposed the 6.5 percent cap on all student fees, including the proposed $83 indebtedness fee. As a 6.5 percent fee increase amounts to about $102.30, this leaves only $19.30 in increases for all other student fees.This does little to address the immediate concerns for other programs funded by student fees and may have negative long-term consequences for these organizations. Improving Talley is important, but University administrators should not jeopardize the health of other student fee-funded programs and focus solely on fixing up the student center.Ideally, the chancellor should try to keep the indebtedness fee separate from the student fees, thus funding both current programs and servicing the debt for Talley. But unless the political atmosphere in the UNC System changes or students overwhelmingly support making the indebtedness fee a separate item to include with other fee increases, now is not the time to force the issue on improving Talley. The economy is still recovering from the recession, and the University is not in a position to try to make a stand on a fee increase when it has already been plagued by scandal and budget cuts.This is not to say renovating and expanding Talley should be put on the back burner and ignored for several years. But the University would do best to build up a modest stock of revenue and hit the market when the economic and political environment supports it.Until then, students may just rally themselves into the brick wall of economic and political reality.