While reading Abby Lubbers’ MSU’s tuition should include other amenities (SN 2/21), I found it contained several arguments that were logically problematic, and many that I found problematic as a Spartan.
First off, Lubbers assumes a $120 tuition increase would have beneficial effects to the student body that would outweigh the negative effects of such an action. Lubbers contends this increase would be covered by student loans, making them accessible to all students, given that those who did not want it could get a refund. However, for students who pay for tuition and don’t notice a difference between paying in advance and paying at the time of use, you’re going to pay eventually anyway.
The downside of such a system is it undermines competition between gyms and transportation services, which benefits students in the form of lower rates or more amenities. She also assumes providing students with a new university-run bus system would cost less for each student than the annual rate the Capital Area Transportation Authority, or CATA, charges.
However, in acquiring the capital to build and maintain buses and their drivers, the initial start-up costs would probably have to be provided by the students. She also contends that the University of Missouri’s athletic facilities are superior to ours, but there they have only one facility while MSU has several spread throughout campus to provide convenience.
Lubbers infers that MSU’s campus is larger than “Mizzou’s” and for that reason somehow worse than “Mizzou.” I would refute this assumption and urge students to take a look around at everything in their surroundings: the majestic trees, the ivy-covered buildings, the incredible size of the student population. They are some of the reasons that I and other Spartans chose to go to MSU over “Mizzou.”
Neil Vora
2007 MSU graduate
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