With our state’s economic situation, the University needs to prioritize what we spend our student fees on.
We all know that higher education comes at a steep price. However, we see education as a necessity, so we fork out the cash to attend school anyway.
With that in mind, the University should stop using the word “free” so loosely. “free coffee,” “free print,” “free healthcare,” “free rec use,” “free admission” — none of which is actually free. You better believe we pay it all in our fee bills.
The University should replace all the “free” signs around campus with “come, you pay for it.” Student attendance would skyrocket.
That $245 Academic Excellence Fee we pay every semester “is used to promote academic excellence by enhancing instructional programs,” according to the LSU wensite.
So, in essence, there is no “free” tutoring on campus either.
However, fees are still a bargain if you take advantage of the different things offered around campus.
If you’re always taking scantrons from the Student Government office, paying the $2 to the Student Government Association every semester is worth it. If you’re always in the Shell Tutorial Center receiving help on homework then the Academic Excellence Fee is well worth the cost.
Paying the fees isn’t so much a problem as it is annoying, unless the money goes towards unnecessary expenses.
The required activity fees cover spring concert, recreational sports assistance, golf, facilities access, BR crisis intervention, student media and performing arts. However, those only represent a tiny percentage of the required fees.
The majority of the required fees, close to $400 a semester, go toward the student union and student sports recreation.
Meanwhile, the LSU Board of Supervisors approved the Student Excellence Fee that appeared on our fee bill for the first time this semester. With that fee, they hope to “hire additional instructors and teaching assistants to open more class sections and provide supplemental instruction to increase retention and graduation rates … Other requests include classroom enhancements.”
Our Required Activity Fees that total $636.45 a semester should not be almost five times the Student Excellence Fee. See the disproportion?
This is when prioritizing becomes essential. We don’t need more food places in the Union or a new student gym. We need better bathrooms in Lockett Hall or a re-furnished library. Or, if the Uniiversity would rather our central study location remain a dungeon, then add some of that money to the Student Excellence Fee.
The UREC and Student Union are great luxuries, but our school needs better classrooms and study rooms before it needs luxury items.
Clarke Perkins is a 20-year-old political science sophomore from New Orleans, LA. You can reach her on twitter @ClarkePerkins.