PRO STATEMENT:

It's no secret that Cal Poly has been voted the best in its class by US News and World Report for the ninth year in a row, but impacted classes, a shortage of teaching staff and failing lab equipment could soon alter that title. If each college does not approve the proposed student fee increase in order to solve these issues, Cal Poly will be unable to retain its coveted No. 1 status. I'll admit, as a journalism student, I haven't had a tough time registering for classes. But other students are frustrated with the lack of sections open in major courses. As for antiquated technologies, the computers in the Polylingual International Resource Center are due for an update, and more lab technicians are needed. Is this our problem? As students with a say in our education, it becomes our concern, albeit a solvable one. According to the College of Liberal Arts' Web site, state contributions have fallen by more than 15 percent since the late 1980s. This fee gap - money that we could have used to pay teachers so that they may develop new undergraduate programs, or to oversee more internships and speed the time to graduation - must be allocated from somewhere else. Don't forget that Cal Poly's current fees are only 56 percent of the average when compared with the best public universities in our category. A hundred-twenty five dollars per quarter will make a significant difference to our college, while allowing us to remain the least expensive public university in our class. None of the money will go to the administration -100 percent of it will go to the colleges, which will then target it directly to their departments and programs based on needs. The allocation of the increase will be an open, student-led process that recognizes students as an equal part of their education - it will be up to the students to decide what the money will be spent on once the fee increase is approved. Students on financial aid - myself included - will probably not be hurt by this increase. Because the additional fees will be added into students' eligibility when applying for financial aid, students who have not exceeded the maximum on their Stafford loan can apply for more, and students who were not eligible for financial aid before the increase may now be able to apply. Since the money is going to be allocated specifically for majors, general education (GE) courses may be the only problem. To address this problem, the Provost has committed to resolving the access to general education courses with funds other than those generated by the college-based fees unless students choose to use some of these funds for this purpose. This fee is obviously essential to keep Cal Poly functioning at the current level. Our university may be in a desperate situation if the proposal does not pass - we cannot function at our normal pace without extra funding. A university with our successful and widely respected reputation needs this fee increase to stay ahead of the game.

Cynthia Neff, Journalism

CON STATEMENT:

CLA is proposing to charge $125 more a quarter and the reasons don't add up. Administrators blame this fee proposal on budget cuts. But before the Sept. 11 attacks and the war on Afghanistan, there was talk of a fee increase. It seems like $1,187,259 is a lot of money to need to open more sections. One would think this money is going to be put toward new equipment and forms of technology. But most equipment in the College of Liberal Arts is donated by industries, so where is all this money going? Administrators want you to believe that your money will go to good use. Increase in class availability is a big promise. But where will these extra sections of classes be held? There isn't enough room for classes as it is. My mass media law class has about 40 students, and until last Wednesday, some enrolled students were sitting on the floor. How are there going to be more classes for us if administrators keep letting in more and more freshman every year? With over 66 percent of students receiving some form of financial aid, this fee increase will have an impact. An extra $125 a quarter may result in a student not being able to afford to go to school anymore. There has been speculation that there is a surplus of aid available for those who qualify. But if that is the case, why even have a fee proposal? Many students have picked Cal Poly for its low cost along with its academic reputation. For colleges that have many GE requirements in their curriculum, it will be hard to set aside a group of GEs met for particular majors. For example, four out of the five categories of GE classes required are in the College of Liberal Arts. Are the different colleges willing to set aside sections just for their majors, like the Living and Learning Program dorms are doing? If these fees do go into effect, what will graduating seniors do next fall? Imagine you have one quarter left after your four or five years and you have an extra $125 to pay. How are graduating students going to benefit? There is no real explanation for them. They have had to crash every GE just to graduate on time and now they have to pay extra for one quarter. Does that really seem fair? The other proposed reason for raising fees is to hire more faculty to reduce teaching loads and be in a position to offer more classes. Where are we going to put all these new faculty members? San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly have way too many student housing issues to take on those of faculty members. Let's not forget the parking problem either. There isn't any plan to put some of our fees toward more parking, is there? Instead of drilling the same issues into the ground, let's move on. It seems like every quarter there is a suggestion for charging students more. First it was parking, and that plan didn't work. Then it was ASI fees. When was the last time they put on a major event? Now they want to charge us depending on different colleges. I think not.

Nadea Mina, Journalism