The Indiana Daily Student ran an article Oct. 24, 2014, about a legislative resolution that was proposed and written mainly by the Indiana Public Interest Research Group that strove to change the way optional student fees are ?implemented.
Currently, student groups on campus who wish to be placed on the Optional Bursar Fee listing must gain signatures from 25 percent of the student body. Those organizations that are successful must then receive funds from at least 10 percent of the student body to remain on the listing.
Students are presented the list of organizations when they register for classes. The current organizations on the list are IU Dance Marathon, the Red Cross, the Sexual Assault Fund and the Student ?Sustainability Council.
With more than 750 student groups on IU’s campus and only four being serviced by this option, it’s clear there needs to be a change.
The change offered by INPIRG, however, is not the change we need.
In its vision, INPIRG would have the student fee listing be an opt-out option. This means that students would have to unselect optional fees they don’t wish to pay, as opposed to selecting optional fees they wish to pay. It preys on students who don’t pay attention.
I understand calls from the other side that say those students ought to be more careful when clicking through screens that may impose fees. However, relying on psychology and trickery to force students to either pay attention or accidentally incur fees they may not be able to afford is not serving our students well, nor honestly.
My concerns are echoed by a supermajority of the IU Student Association Congress, of which I am a part, which voted to table the resolution offered by INPIRG. The resolution has all but died since, as in my mind, it should.
Monday, the IUSA Student Life Committee passed my resolution for a new student fee system that would allow student organizations to gain signatures from 10 percent of the student body. After doing so, these organizations would be placed on the IUSA ballot as a referendum. They must receive 20 percent of the student body’s vote to be placed on the Bursar list. They will then remain on the list for 3 years.
By doing so, I hope organizations will get involved with IUSA, students will pay attention because of organizations and clubs they’re a member of and democracy will once again flourish at IU.
Most importantly, there would be no risk of students accidentally being charged money they did not select to pay themselves. Those in opposition will say this will not yield sufficient funding for clubs. However, I uphold democracy and honesty above all else.
The resolution will go before the IU Student Association Congress on Monday. I plan to speak on behalf of my resolution, because democracy must be optional for it to be a true democracy.
ajguenth@indiana.edu
