ASUU:
I am against the proposal to increase student fees for the collegiate readership program for several reasons.
First, in the current budget crunch that this state and the rest of the nation are facing, it is not responsible to increase fees for a new service that is not necessary. This new service is not necessary because newspapers are already available to students who wish to pay for them at various locations near campus. If a student really wants a paper, they can find one and pay for it themselves. Besides, do we know how many students already recieve a newspaper at their homes? Without knowing this statistic, ASUU cannot make the decision to participate in this program. We don’t have the resources to pay for a program that we do not need, especially if we aren’t sure whether or not the program is needed at all!
Second, the statement that this service will increase critical thinking is absurd. The USA today is written at a fourth grade reading level, I don’t believe that any college student’s capacity for critical thinking will increase as a result of reading this paper. We cannot afford to pay for a program that is not needed.
Moreover, as a program sponsored by USA today, how much of the $300,000/year (30,000 students * $5/ semester) will go into towards profits for this corporation? Couldn’t we put this money towards a better use. It is stupid to send nearly a third of a million dollars a year out of our local economy. It doesn’t make sense! And for what? A poorly written newspaper? Is it worth it? If we are going to raise student fee’s at least we can put the money towards a program that will bolster Utah’s economy, rather than drain it! We cannot afford to pay this much money for a program that does not make sense.
Finally, this program will definately increase paper consumption and campus waste. This will absolutely increase waste disposal costs to the University, and will be a burden on campus sanitary workers. We have all seen the cronicle spread ten thousand places thoughout campus, do we need USA today, Deseret, and the Trib littered around campus as well? NO! We cannot afford this unnecessary program, nor the waste and extra costs that it will produce!
Instead of throwing student fees away on an expensive, useless, and wasteful readership program, I suggest that ASUU address an issue that has been left unaddressed for far too long. This campus needs a recycling program. It is ASUU’s responsibility to encourage the University administration to provide recycling. If you want to raise funds for a program that will be used, raise funds to establish a recycling program. We need a recycling program much more than we need a readership program! College students have plenty to read already. On the other hand, college students also have plenty of paper, plastic and aluminum to throw away! A recycling program is needed much more than a readership program. We cannot afford to pay for something that we don’t need.
I Urge ASUU to not participate in this program! Do not raise student fees for a program that we don’t need. Do not pay USA today for poor quality reporting. Do not buy into a program that will create more waste on campus. And finally, Please do not raise student fees. But if you do, do it for something that campus needs: recycling. This would be a much more responsible choice than a useless readership program.
Sincerely,
Ross PetersonSenior Urban [email protected]