Editorial: Hearings bring more questions than answers

With the tuition hearings this week, we found out that the university will possibly be putting even more strain on our already shrinking bank accounts. The university has decided they may need more money from us next year to fund new projects, apparently ranging as far as China, India and Pakistan.

As the latest in a line of fees that are taking away all of our money, we are a bit hesitant about a proposed hike in tuition fees. Obviously we do not want to pay any more money than we already are, but we are not strictly opposed to the idea of paying a little extra to help expand and improve our university. However, it is still unclear at this point what exactly is going on. We feel these tuition hearings raised more questions than they answered.

How exactly will the Board of Regents be deciding how much we have to pay? In terms of a tuition hike, zero to $3.71 is quite a broad figure. What criteria will be used to make this decision? Will the Board of Regents be covering their eyes and pointing at the number on a piece of paper? We want to know.

We actually do like Jones' idea of a "forced reallocation" and the fact that it will free up almost an extra $500,000. We like it because, unlike other recent policies, this one calls for someone other than us cracking open our piggy banks. We want to know if the student body will have any say in how that money is spent, or if will we get another One Stop Shop, which few seem to use and even fewer seem to like.