Help save the rate freeze

Last year during the Knight riots, I remember thinking to myself that students' opinion of the administration had nowhere left to go but up. Then came a 7.5 percent tuition hike and calls for a huge downscaling in athletic prominence. Was the administration trying to hurt its image on purpose? It sure seemed like it.\nNow comes the latest self-inflicted blow by IU administrators: Removal of the dorm rate freeze currently in place for returning upperclassmen. \nJust about every year, Residential Programs and Services raises the costs of room and board. But in order to help retain older students, and in the interest of fairness, RPS lets upperclassmen keep their original rates. Now, according to RPS, that rate freeze is in jeopardy. The resolution has been in committee for eight to nine weeks and a decision is expected soon.\nIt doesn't take a genius to know why students favor the idea. Beside the cost savings, IUSA president Jake Oakman, a senior, points out that the rate freeze helps build community by keeping students on campus longer. Oakman is living proof that it works; he's lived on campus for more than three years.\nRead Center president Eric Hafner, a junior, points out that until now, the rate freeze has been something to brag about. \n"We're the only Big Ten school that has it," he said.\nUnfortunately, the move by RPS is less about community or pride and more about money. With fewer funds from the state, IU is scaling back, IU President Myles Brand said.\nI really like Myles Brand, and I hope he comes over to eat a pizza with me soon like he promised. But the rest of the administration (mainly RPS) is dropping the ball on this one. These sorts of fee hikes may not hurt academics, but they'll definitely affect our pocket books, forcing many students to move off campus.\nRPS doesn't seem too worried about retention. Director of Residential Operations Bob Weith predicts they'll keep the same number of upperclassmen. Moreover, he argues that giving everyone the same rate will help freshmen save money. But how true is that?\nWillkie president and IUSA off-campus senator Ilia Smith, a senior, crunched the numbers to discover freshmen wouldn't really see savings until 2015, according to her study. And by then it would only be about $10. Is $10 of savings really worth it? She also points out that no studies have proven either way what effect rate changes will have on retention. Nevertheless, nearly all of the hall presidents say their residents are strongly in favor of keeping them.\nFrom unfair C-store prices to mysterious $200 business fees to tuition hikes to possible higher dorm rates, the University is sucking us dry penny by penny. The interplay between students and the administration has been a mirror of Charlie and Lucy's kicking antics in the "Peanuts" comic strips. Each time the optimistic Charlie Brown is suckered into trying to kick the ball for a goal, Lucy picks it up and Charlie falls on his butt. Charlie lets her take advantage of him every time. "Peanuts" is a cartoon. What is our excuse?\nIt's time for students to draw a line in the sand. So far IUSA and RHA have done an excellent job, but their strength lies in large part to the involvement they get from students. It appears to be waning. What are you doing to help?