The Ball State trustees say the university is on course, and theUniversity Senate and the Student Government still set the sametype of courses they always have. Their focus on attendance and thebuilding of a new student center is proof that they are out oftouch with problems we face each day. The faculty might really wantto make changes, but they cannot seem to get together on anyproblem, so their course is still the same.
Maybe Trustee Tom DeWeese is right. There will be no coursechange at Ball State. We are simply having too much fun withfighting each other and proposing changes that will only undercutone group or another.
We should work together to demand some control over what happenshere — to demand that the administration, trustees, governorand the legislature deal with the fact that soon no one will beable to attend this institution because of cost.
"The Chronicle of Higher Education" has reportedthat Ball State has increased its tuition and fees by 28.7 percentincrease. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education reports thatthere was a 15.2-percent jump last year. The Commission alsoreported that there has been a 270.2-percent jump in the lasttwenty years, a 91.6-percent jump in the last 10 years and38.3-percent jump in the last five years. The National InformationCenter for Higher Education reports that in Indiana, it takes anaverage of 24.5 percent of a family's income to attend afour-year public university, and it takes 55.1 percent at thelowest income group to get the same education.
Here at Ball State, based on the years from 1990 to 2001, wehave seen a 9.6-percent loss in faculty, and if we check out justthe last five years, that percentage is 8.3. Each year there arefewer and fewer professor teaching because the pay is not there.Each year I hear of more and more educational programs nothappening because of money while the football program get $12million.
A friend of mine who used to work in Washington met me in a darkpublic-parking garage to discuss this problem.
"The problem at Ball State is the same problem facing allthe public universities," he said. "They have forgotten why theyare here, and the money they use is hidden and hard totrack."
"I'll tell you what I told Woodward and Bernstein back in'72," he added, smiling. "If you really want to know what is goingon, just follow the money. That is the key … If youunderstand where it comes from and how it is used, then you willunderstand why, and maybe you can make a change"
I agree with my friend that this paper, the SGA, the UniversitySenate and the faculty needs to first demand that a cap be put ontuition. Then they need to "follow the money" to see ifis really being spent on education or just to make the institutionlook good to the outside world.
If these institutions don't address this soon, there willbe no professor left to teach, and the cost will be too high forthe average student to pay.
Write to Eric at eerichardson@bsu.edu
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