Officials uncaring toward students

At the IU board of trustees meeting Tuesday, IU President Myles Brand and the trustees voted to raise tuition 7.5 percent on the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses, and 6.5 percent at the rest of the regional campuses. This will result in a $340 rise in tuition for in-state students and almost a $1,000 rise for out-of-state students.\nSeveral reasons existed for the tuition hike, including faculty and student retention and maintaining IU as one of the top research facilities in the United States. Trustee Steven Backer said "from the Bloomington standpoint, this tuition increase helps us considerably to maintain the stature of the institution."\nYet what some of the trustees failed to realize is that by raising the tuition so much, they might be driving away the most important aspect of a university -- its students. One would think that as a top-notch university, we could maintain our quality programs while remaining accessible to students. Accessibility is a fine line, and these tuition hikes could drive existing and prospective members of the student body to other universities where they can get an equal education for less money.\nOne of the many initiatives funded by the tuition hike is aimed at retaining students. Yet, in a way this notion is paradoxical: Wouldn't it be in the University's best interests to keep tuition lower so more students could afford to attend?\nBrand and the trustees apparently don't see how detrimental the tuition raise can be to the student body. In all fairness, Brand said they were "pushing the limits" on how high the tuition could actually be. Yet, at the meeting Brand brushed the required monthly sacrifice off as merely "a dinner out and a pizza a month."\nPerhaps Brand hasn't spent any time recently as a college student, or maybe he's a little blinded by all the raises that have been coming his way as University president, but this tuition raise will mean a lot more to students' finances then a couple of pizza dinners a month. Most students are dealing with limited budgets already, or have taken out many a loan to attend IU, and this raise just gives them even less money, or more loans, to deal with.\nTack on the fact that the administration approved a 4 percent room and board increase for next year as well, and it's apparent that the University is caring less and less about the students, and more and more about the bottom line. Those who decided to come to IU in the fall are now faced with a bigger bill than expected.\nThe board discussed a raise of only 6.5 percent, but talk of that quickly fell by the wayside as the officials were confident they could get the 7.5 percent raise easily. Brand even said the 6.5 percent raise would have been possible to accomplish all of his goals, but that didn't prevent him from going for more money. Apparently the University is running a business, a bad business. \nBut what might be the biggest slap in the face is the lack of student input sought. Members of the IU Student Association said it was never contacted. Student Trustee Dan Hertzler barely spoke a word at the trustee meeting, and he is supposed to be the liaison between students and the trustees. It is clear by this decision that Hertzler is out-of-touch with the student body.\nBrand and the trustees need to remember next time they are figuring out their budget that it's the students that make the University, not the bottom line. After all, this is supposed to be a place of higher learning, not a business.\n