Student Government is hoping to raise $500,000 for its Student Relief Fund, a number that if divided by the 12,000 students affected by Hurricane Katrina would amount to only $41 per student.
The fund currently has $30,000 in the bank. If SG reaches its goal and only 6,000 students apply for assistance, they would get $82 a piece – barely enough to buy a textbook.
We understand that not all affected by the storm will apply, but for arguements sake, we will assume a large amount will.
SG is hoping to raise a large chunk of that half-million dollars from T-shirt sales through its Mission:Possible campaign. The shirts, which have themes based on the upcoming football game against Tennessee, are on sale now, but only $2 of the $15 pricetag will go to the fund.
The thought is noble, but its execution is flawed. The T-shirts themselves, which will be sold as officially licensed University products, are sold at what certainly seems to be market price, but we wonder why only $2 is going toward the relief effort.
We would wager it does not cost $13 to assemble and manufacture these T-shirts.
Then there is the question of corporate matching funds, which SG President Michelle Gieg said she is eager to get. This, again, is a noble ambition. But instead of merely asking for matching funds, perhaps a general plea should be made regardless of the amount of T-shirt sales generated.
If the thought was all that counted, everyone who volunteered, raised money or gave blood would have a chest full of medals right now, including many SG members. But we believe that no matter how noble the goal is, it will almost invariably fall short of meeting the real needs of displaced students.
It is not SG’s fault. The hole is simply too big for students to fill by themselves – especially with the little amount of T-shirt money actually donated to the fund.
Yet another problem that should be mentioned is that the shirts themselves are gold, and students are being encouraged to wear them to the football game against Tennessee on Saturday. Tennessee, for those not familiar with the SEC, wears bright orange, which looks quite similar to gold.
One wonders what television audiences will think when they see an entire student section, if the T-shirts sell as well as hoped, wearing nearly identical colors.
Our solution is simple: don’t buy the shirt. Take the $15 you would have spent on this one-time-use T-shirt and give it directly to the Student Relief Fund. SG will have representatives taking donations today at Chats with the Chancellor in Free Speech Alley from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and around campus on game day.
The idea of T-shirts is not a bad idea, but the amount of money raised from selling the shirts will not be enough to provide anything more than a pittance for students who have lost much of their lives in less than a month.