When plans for the new $60 million Baker University Center were still being formulated, the administration decided to tack on an additional fee of $60 per quarter for every student on campus.
For their forced donation, students can use the new facility and its amenities, from a secluded study area to a soon-to-open theatre. The escalators are convenient, and the plush chairs provide a welcome break, but neither is worth $60 a quarter.
Students who have meal plans get some of that money back with $100 worth of Dining Dollars with a 14-meal plan and $50 with a 10-meal plan.
But for the vast majority of juniors and seniors who do not have meal plans, the returns on their $180-a-year investment fall short.
The administration should give all the students a fair share in the new building ' including Dining Dollars. It's unfair to levy an equal fee without providing equal benefits. Essentially, all of those extra dollars from upperclassmen help fund free meals for underclassmen.
The other fees that all students pay, such as those for Ping Center, entitle them to uniform advantages. Here, Cutler Hall is helping the few with the funds of the many.
As a whole, the building is a welcome addition to campus, but the ground floor's main feature is just another expensive lunch place for half the campus. Adding one more function to students' ID cards would allow everyone to enjoy the benefits of the food court, and it wouldn't require an entire restructuring of the campus-wide computer system.
Give everyone the benefit of their dollar and, thousands of students will have one more reason to head to the new building.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the executive editors. Send your submissions to posteditorial@ohiou.edu.
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Fees for student center benefit students with meal plans while upperclassmen foot the bill
