WARNING - In the near future, you might begin to notice a slight odor. I realized that while on campus Tuesday. It all started when I had to pay the newly increased parking meters so I could run into Lucina before class. It didn't bother me all that much to have to empty my pockets to park for a matter of minutes, but you don't realize how many coins it takes to fill that thing up until you actually have to do it.
Where Ball State University finally stepped over the line was in Robert Bell, where I had traveled to take my first InQsit test of the semester. I had just come from class and had my bag and was planning on just setting it in the lockers in the room. The only problem is I stepped in to find that the university is now requiring students to pay 25 cents to lock up their bags.
First of all, why should I pay for a service the university should provide? There is paid staff on duty sitting right in front of a bunch of empty lockers. What has changed in one summer that makes our bags no longer good enough for those wonderful cubicles of wood? Apparently the safety of my stuff is of less concern to the university than the quarters I have left in my pockets. Since the university had already sucked me dry of the quarters I had on me today, thanks to the new parking rates, I left my bag in an unlocked locker so I could take the test that I had so diligently planned into my schedule.
Now, if Ball State had come to me and said, "Jeff, we need the money to help pay off the bet Letterman made to the Michigan fans last year," then I might be more willing to oblige. While I admit I am ranting about something I know mostly nothing about, thanks to a sudden wash of anger, I am willing to bet that my quarters, just like the rest of the money the university is taking in by tuition hikes, parking hikes, etc, is going to the same place - the university.
Maybe we should consider cutting costs so poor students could work harder on grades and less to pay for a locker, let alone school. Maybe one day someone, somewhere will realized the value of an education can't be measured in dollar signs, and buildings can't really be built with quarters. Until then, I guess students are going to have to stop feeding them to the university. Man, this is really going to stink.
Jeff Renoe is a junior advertising and public relations major and wrote this 'Your Turn' for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
Write to Jeff at jvrenoe@bsu.edu
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