Through 3 years or so of school here at the U, I have never known exactly what my student fees go towards. So you can imagine my interest when the “Openings” edition of the Chronicle published the distributions of these student fees.
For the most part, the fees all seem very sensible and reasonable, and I think that for most of them I am definately getting my moneys worth. However, I do have a problem with the athletic fee charged to each student every semester. We all pay about $45 so that we can attend any and all U sporting events free of charge.
This fee makes no sense to me whatsoever. I know most students aren’t getting a deal. I mean, no one I know has ever attended an athletic event at the U, and even if most people attend 1 or 2 events a semester, surely the ticket price of a few events wouldn’t ammount to $45. The only people who are getting their money worth might be the very few percentage of students that attend a lot of U sporting events, and of course the Athletic Department which would love if every student spent $45 attending sporting events every semester. If the athletic department charged admission to students there is no way they could ever approach this $45 dollar ticket sales per capita every semester. Instead, they have to result to obligatory charges to make money from the mostly uninterested student-body.
Many might argue that the same would be true of other fees, like the transportation fee where we pay $10 a semester for an unlimited bus pass and shuttle service. I would argue that if UTA didn’t make this deal with the U, they could make more money per semester simply charging students like other patrons. However, it is in everyones–drivers and bus riders included–best interests to attract more students to using public transportation, and the school has used its huge “clientel” to get an amazing deal on a 4 month bus pass.
Really, there is no reason for us to all pay $45 a semester to the athletic department. If the administration really thinks the fee is reasonable that would imply they are perhaps losing money on the deal. Personally, I’d rather make students pay admission, get rid of this fee, see how much money you are making then, and then try to tell us all how “reasonable” the fee is.
-Jared JohnsonComputer [email protected]