Today, students have the privilege and opportunity to vote on many measures. Many of you will be voting on crucial student legislation you still do not understand. The largest issue at hand is the Rally4Talley campaign. This is a wonderful idea that has great potential for N.C. State. However, it can have disastrous results for the student body, as it may reduce the number of returning or future students because of its high price tag.
Students can agree that they want a nice student center — but now is not the time. You will hear rhetoric about “every year we wait will cost $10 million.” If that were true, Talley would cost $250 million based on those same unsubstantiated and vague numbers.
There are many other student fees on the ballot. A surprising fact is that the fees you are voting on will vary in increase from 3 to 10 percent to a total of $738.13 from the current $696.13. If you include the Talley project, the same fee would skyrocket to $821.13 or $1028.13 as the fee incrementally increases.
Folks, these are just the fees, you haven’t purchased books or enrolled in classes! To add insult to injury, there is the mandatory $200 fee levied by the N.C. General Assembly and for the uninsured, the mandatory $700 health coverage act that would boost the student fee rates to $1928.13. The good news is that Chancellor Jim Woodward is willing to return 10 cents from the Reserve-Student Affairs fee. You should by now be pretty concerned or upset.
This is why I am against Talley. It’s expensive, it’s vague and it’s in the wrong place, this is made worse by the economic crisis and cutbacks the University has already received. Students want better classrooms, residence hall life, ticketing planning, parking options and Talley center hours; expanded hours for food vendors currently on campus; efficient and greener transportation; more class choices and tutors; free Webassign licenses and more diverse food choices around the campus community with the ability to use the AllCampus card at a private establishment at any hour. Instead we’re focusing millions of dollars on pet projects with no guarantees apart from massive expense.
Many hours and dollars went into the Talley idea. You should be proud of the people that worked behind the scenes to make Talley a focal issue. The expectations of a grand idea burdens freshmen, sophomores, juniors, transfer and future students — not the legacy stake holders that will leave students with the final bill by graduating this year. Proposition 909.30 and other propositions are on the ballot today, only you can send a clear message that Talley expansion and excessive fees are not needed at this critical time.
