On Thursday, the Arizona Board of Regents will decide if we should have to pay more money to get an education here at the UA. They will take a vote on whether particular departments can raise or make a new fee for certain classes and particular majors. In essence, this is a tuition raise for the students in those classes. If the regents vote yes, they will be footing the higher bill or they will be going home.
The question is: Should students at the UA have to pay a different amount of money to get a UA degree? Somebody in political science and somebody in molecular and cellular biology will be paying a different amount of money, but they will both get UA bachelor's degrees.
Personally, I would pay more if that meant my education would be a better one. If I had to pay a few extra bucks to make sure that I was getting a better education in a field of study that I was very interested in, I would pay it every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Even as I say that though, I can't help but have a sour taste in my mouth. I'm sure lots of people would agree with me that a few extra bucks for a quality education is OK, even right. That's the easy solution: Charge a new fee every time a department can't afford to hold a class or print syllabi, or whatever.
New fees for everyone? Brilliant!
Sounds like a great idea - graduate programs here at the UA and across the nation all charge different fees, but should this be something that becomes a precedent for undergraduate departments? Is it right for a public institution to charge every student on campus a different undergraduate tuition? Put it that way, and it sounds very different.
This is a very dangerous road these regents are taking. They know it and the administration knows it. If the regents vote yes on the new fee for an undergraduate finance course and raise the fees for a molecular and cellular biology course, expect more fees in other departments to follow soon as all of these seemingly small stones cascade into an avalanche.
Last year about this same time, the first stone fell. People all over campus were worried about the business college's new $500 fee for the same reasons. Those in student government took that fee very seriously and were very concerned about it. People were worried about other fees popping up around campus if that one went through. What would be stopping every UA department from charging a fee? Well, here we are one year later and those other fees have popped up. Expect more to follow in the near future.
The worst nightmare for many is not around the corner; it is about to smack us right in the face.
Departments around campus can't just start charging students for an education that was included in the price of tuition. What's next, paying for admission to the library or the union?
If a particular class is expensive to have, such as a science lab, the administration should distribute funds in a way that that class is taken care of. Just because a student has an interest or a talent in biology or finance doesn't mean he or she should be punished for it by having to pay more money to get a UA degree.
I know these fees are not much, but they are something; and if they pass, larger fees might not be as far off or as ludicrous as it may seem. People in the English department should be paying the same as people in the biology department, period. We should hope these fees don't make it through.
Jason Poreda is a political science and communication senior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.