Jogging our wallets

This is a story about a lot of money.\nWith a campus that shelters roughly 36,000 students -- after taking into account second semester drop outs -- a little bit of our money goes a long way. Of course, with the rising costs of maintaining a quality staff of in-demand faculty and administrators, every now and then we're asked to sacrifice just a bit more.\nAnd frankly, as much as we hate to admit it, we're happy to do so. We want IU to look good on our resumes, we want to leave Bloomington and feel as if the money we paid was worth the wealth of new jobs that have been placed before us. So, though we cry when called upon, we happily fork out the dough when needed.\nHowever, sometimes the student body can't help but feel that the University is asking for just a little bit too much.\nLet us introduce you to the Student Recreational Sports Center. It is a wonderful facility that helps the average over-studied college student release tensions and maintain a healthy body, which we all know leads to a healthy mind.\nFor such a service, we pay a mandatory "activity fee" of $62.60 every semester, $39.15 of which goes to Rec Sports -- the proprietors of our super gym. A little bit of math shows that every semester, Rec Sports takes in $1,409,400. Yes, every year they receive more than $2 million of our money. \nFair enough. It is a great facility that houses not only equipment but also knowledgeable staff members and worthwhile student events. Our IU ID and paid tuition stub are our tickets to weight loss, muscle tone and mental well-being.\nBut here's the catch: That $2 million apparently doesn't cover the three months of every year when the University is not siphoning greenbacks from our throats.\nDuring the summer sessions, unless you are taking classes and paying the prorated summer activity fee, you cannot get into the SRSC, even as an active student for the coming fall. Instead you are asked to pay $39.15 for the whole summer or $19.58 per session for access. It's worth noting that such prices add a few extra dollars to the $31.28 charged to students taking more than three credit hours, as well as to the $15.63 charged to students taking three or fewer credit hours.\nBottom line: After reading the recent news that several administrators modestly gave themselves pay raises for the upcoming fiscal year (raising the number of employees making more than $200,000 from 25 to 32), and the sight of our still-mysterious "athletic fee" (used to pay off debt that our newly pay-raised administrators oversaw), we feel that the University could use a lesson in good customer service. \nSometimes you tighten that $2 million waistline to help out the few students who stick around Bloomington during the summer and don't take classes -- you know, to show you care. It's preposterous to think that allowing students enrolled for the fall semester into the SRSC would cut into the University's pockets deep enough to show even the slightest of results. \nAsking us to pay extra fees only communicates one thing: "We're not here for you, you're here for us." That's not good business. \nAnd they wonder why enrollment dropped for the upcoming semester.\nThe IDS editorial board voted 7-3 on this issue, with one abstention.