The facts: A Student Senate sub-committee made recommendations to increase fees for fee-funded campus services on Sunday. The Student Senate met yesterday; tomorrow, a fee review committee will meet to decide which recommendations to present to Chancellor Woodson.
Our opinion: The recommendations made by the sub-committee should amount to a solid decision. The fee review committee should continue to consider how these increases will help the overall student population at N.C . State, and should not allow superfluous fee increases.
On Sunday, a Student Senate sub-committee debated on and decided to recommend conservative increases in fees. For all but one department, the sub-committee recommended less than what the departments requested.
Student Senate considered the sub-committee’s recommendations yesterday night, and this will factor into the fee review committee’s decision when they meet tomorrow. The fee review committee, along with the Chancellor, will both wield the most influence over the Board of Governors’ eventual decision.
As this committee holds the most power regarding this decision, the nine individuals who comprise it should uphold the conservative recommendations made so far and ensure these increases benefit the N.C . State population as a whole, not merely certain groups.
The Student Senate sub-committee recommended a reduced increase for the athletics department. The committee considered that teams may need more funding to increase their wins rate, but decided that the requested increase was too high. This recommendation should be upheld by the fee review committee, because it is an acceptable compromise.
For Student Health, the sub-committee recommended an increase per student of $3 less than had been recommended. Largely because of a generous fee increase the previous year, it was considered that a lesser increase this year was not unreasonable. Student Health, however, does serve the majority of the general student population, while athletics is geared more toward a particular group. The review committee may want to consider this in making their decision.
University Recreation was the only service to receive a recommendation for the same amount as they requested. Union Activities Board received a recommendation of no increased funding, and Student Centers was granted much less than they had requested.
The trend among the recommendations to these organizations is necessity, not want. The sub-committee clearly operated on this principle and chose to deny increases to cover certain requests they believed were unnecessary. When money is tight, necessity is needed. Every organization and service could use a little extra cash, but not every department needs the fee increase.
During the fee review committee meeting tomorrow, the nine committee members should honor the recommendations made by these committees and grant only necessary fee increases. The committee should favor organizations and services which benefit the majority of the general student population, and abstain from any unnecessary recommendations.
