My first year at NCSU, I saw a referendum about renovating Talley Student Center. A majority voted that a renovation of Talley was not worth the fee increase needed to pay for said renovations. This is because they did not want to pay exorbitant amounts of money for a renovation that they would not even get to see, nor did they want to force future students to pay for renovations that are not essential for operation.

   Changing the name to Talley Student Union is my first grievance with this situation. The rationale behind changing the name was explained to me as, “This is a place on campus for students to call their own; a single building to unite the students.” Not only did the administration decide to renovate Talley against the referendum, but now it wants to name it a place for the students to call their own when the students that voted said the renovations were not worth the benefits. They wanted to say that the students want the renovations, but when the students do not agree, they do it anyway.

   I support calling the “Student Union” a crown jewel of the university. This is the perfect metaphor for what Talley truly is: the plundering and exploitation of the students so that the administration has something to show off. Then the administration tricks the student population into taking the “jewel” on as a symbol of pride and honor.

Sam Griffith

senior, forest management