I want to publicly congratulate Student Senate President Greg Doucette and the members of the Student Senate for doing a good job this far into the year. The recent referendum held on the proposed fee increases exceeded all expectations and for the first time gave students an opportunity to voice their opinion on just how they felt about each individual fee. This referendum was a unique tool that I hope to see continue in the future because this vote will only increase in numbers and influence over the years.
Looking at the results it isn’t really surprising to see which fees students supported and which they did not want to have anything to do with. Most students prioritized the Health Service Operations fee and the Education and Technology fee at the top of their list and most students did not support increasing the Intercollegiate Athletic fee.
Beyond a surface interpretation of fee support, the administration should also interpret this referendum as a general survey about the feelings of individual students at N.C. State. Why would 18 to 22-year-old college students overwhelmingly vote against a fee increase for college athletics at a school that prides itself on supporting our football team and has such a rich history in college basketball?
Maybe it signifies a deeper feeling among students that the University is not treating students fairly at Carter-Finley Stadium. Maybe it signifies that students are not pleased with the pat-downs, electronic tickets, general admission, restrictions on tailgating and the continued double standard between alumni and students.
Whatever the students are dissatisfied with, the University can no longer ignore the issues that face students on game day and must make a change before the next season because whenever 74 percent of the students that voted in the referendum choose not to support increasing the Intercollegiate Athletics fee something must change because there is a problem.
My hope is that the Fee Review Committee members gave the student vote considerable thought when they deliberated. I understand they were not able to follow the referendum’s result to the exact letter. It’s unrealistic to think that they will refuse to fund any the fee increase requests except for the Student Health Service Operations increase.
I hope that Chancellor James Oblinger will also take these results into account when he makes his final recommendations to the Board of Trustees. I also hope that the rest of the administration takes a look at these results and instead of questioning if the students were “informed” enough to make an intelligent decision on whether or not a certain unit deserved a fee increase.
Instead, I hope that the administration questions why 74 percent of the students that voted did not support an increase in the Intercollegiate Athletics fee. Why did 55 percent of the students that voted not support an increase in the Student Centers Operation fee?
The answer though is simple: students are not happy with these services at N.C. State.
Are you satisfied with the services here at N.C. State? Send us your thoughts and e-mail us at [email protected].