Very rarely do students at N.C. State have the opportunity to provide some sort of input on any issue here at school. Yes, we do have a Student Government and administrators do include students on a committee from time to time, but how representative do you think these students are of the general population? This coming up Monday and Tuesday, we’ll have the opportunity to take part in an unprecedented general survey on our feelings about the latest batch of proposed fees from the various University entities.

In years past this process has been restricted to Student Government and the two or three students that the Student Body President has asked to be a part of the Fee Review Committee, but this year Student Senate President T. Greg Doucette pushed for a general survey to see what students really feel about each individual fee.

We as students are in an interesting predicament when it comes to fees and tuition, our payment isn’t voluntary, and we can’t walk down the fee buffet line and pick and choose which services we’d like to fund with our tuition. As well, these fees aren’t like taxes in the real world because we can’t vote in and out of office the people that assess us year after year with these new increases. Instead, we’re forced to go along with the flow, and our payment is compulsory or else we can’t attend classes.

Money is a strong talking point in the world. Every day governments give out and withhold funds to make things happen, but we as a student population can’t do that when we feel that we’re not getting our money’s worth out of a certain fee.

For instance, the Athletics Department is requesting a $17.50 fee increase, taking the total Athletics Fee up to $144. What are we getting out of this fee? Students in general are not happy with the state of the Athletics Department, not necessarily the teams, but instead how we’re treated as individuals when we go to watch a football game. Is it really worth $144 to maintain the status quo of herding students through two gates and strip-searching us like criminals? That’s for you to decide, but until the University tells me that this $17.50 will go toward opening up new gates for students at football and basketball games, I will be voting “no” for that increase.

While this survey isn’t binding by any stretch of the imagination it can be a powerful voice for us here at N.C. State. The administration has made a habit out of discrediting Student Government, but how can they discredit a vote by the very students that are going to pay this increase? This is our opportunity to tell the University and the Athletics Department that we don’t support giving them more money until they start treating us like people rather than second-class citizens. Monday and Tuesday, go to vote.ncsu.edu and give your opinion on each individual fee.

Will you voice your opinion on fees? Tell us by e-mailing your plans to [email protected].