Past generations weren’t this selfish
I’m not coming down on either side of the Talley renovation, but I am concerned about some statements made over the last few days in the “In Your Words” section. Several students have stated that they don’t want to pay for renovations because it won’t benefit them — they’ll be gone before the renovations are completed. It’s a good thing past generations of students weren’t as selfish, how do you think all the campus improvements you now enjoy were built?
Jim Michnowicz
assistant professor, foreign languages
A few hundred dollars can make a difference
As a senior graduating in December, it’s assumed that for my last semester at N.C. State I’m going to possess indifference about on-campus issues. Throughout my time here, there have been many issues, referendums, elections and reports that have requested my input, and all too often I ignored them and preferred instead to refrain.
Taking those two facts into account, it’s surprising I felt compelled to vote in last Tuesday’s referendum. While the proposed fees will have no financial affect on me, and would likely increase the notoriety, prestige and appeal of the University I call my own, I still voted no to the Student Center Expansion Fee.
A few hundred dollars a semester can be the difference between getting an education, and having to work another year to afford one. I voted against the fees because I felt that if the University really wanted this project to progress, it would
genuinely be able to find another way to fund it, without making families struggle further. But thanks to the consistently deaf and ineffectual Student Senate, we will never know. I voted against the fees because I struggled to afford my own education and I didn’t want to put anyone else in a worse situation than I myself had. I voted
against the fees, and 61 percent of the student population joined me — we were all ignored.
It would have been nice to know that our vote didn’t count before they asked us to participate.
Clinton Caudle
senior, agronomy
The library is working
Zakk, you have good questions!
Our brains have been a buzz continually evaluating spaces and services in the libraries and finding ways to improve them. You’ve only touched the surface regarding some of the discussions we’ve had with the students and faculty we serve. A lot of thought and student input goes into shaping the environments within the libraries. D.H. Hill, especially with all its recent changes, would look a lot different
without it. From monthly meetings of the Libraries Student Advisory Board to the University Library Committee and project-specific focus groups — details as small as our marshmallow-cushioned couches get vetted.
We’re continuously looking for new students to take part and reach out to all students, from incoming freshmen, to faculty and lifelong students. If you’d like some more information on how to become involved, or would like to see what we’re doing behind the scenes to meet the needs you identified (among many others), send me an e-mail.
Never let shiny new buildings distract you from the improvements needed at D.H. Hill — it hasn’t distracted us. We’ll be doing a lot to D.H. Hill before Hunt Library arrives, from increasing the seating and diversity of spaces (including adding more for quiet study), to trying out new technology arrangements so we can take an
evidenced-based approach to our investments in spaces included in Hunt.
We hear you.
Joseph Sevits
University Libraries, library associate
It just doesn’t matter
Stop. Please. Does anyone realize what all this bickering back and forth about the fee referendum means? Nothing. Do you know what the Student Senate vote on the referendum means? Nothing.
In the great words of Bill Murray from the comedy classic “Meatballs”: “IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER!”
It is neither the student body nor the senate that decides where fees are increased. That responsibility falls on the shoulders of a dozen old guys that sit around a table grumbling about how bored they are. Lee Fowler will say why his athletics program needs an additional $40 per student next year. Then someone from Transportation will say why they need money for a new bus, then Dining, Student Health and so on. Then the Student Senate President gets to talk about how the students voted, by which time all the previously mentioned old guys are snoring, so the “student voice” everyone is begging to be heard falls on sleeping ears.
Then Vice Chancellor Tom Stafford will wake up the geezers and tell them they can only add 6.5 percent to fees. They argue and pinch every penny until the entire increase quota has been reached.
My opinion is if we’re going to be paying the same amount of money next year regardless, at least put it towards something that will better the University’s future, not just buy new shoes and Cadillacs for the football players that will be gone in less than 2 years.
But when it comes to my opinion, just like all of yours, IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER.
Ben Mazur
senior, religious studies
