The opinion piece “N.C. State students: Uptight?” that appeared in Wednesday’s Technician reveals the unwillingness of the newspaper’s editorial board to step outside of the traditional left-right political dichotomy, in order to entertain a philosophically consistent argument on an issue. Said editorial board automatically assumes that someone making a fiscally conservative argument is also a socially conservative prude. 

Ironically, those responsible for planning the protest of the Dirty Bingo event would have been the first to defend the UAB’s ability to host the event had they sought private funding from the start, rather than using student fees to subsidize the event. Furthermore, those who planned the protest “never showed up” because the UAB finally agreed to use private funds for the event, resolving all grievances and resulting in the protest being cancelled. 

This year, full-time students at N.C. State paid $2039.56 in mandatory fees. While some of these fees serve a purpose directly tied to the educational mission of the University, many like the UAB fee simply extract money from all students in order to host events that benefit only a few and make the cost of attending N.C. State more expensive. The Dirty Bingo event is just a particularly ridiculous example that draws attention to the fiscal irresponsibility that is all too common at NCSU and raises bigger questions about the legitimacy of organizations like the UAB.