If the leaders of MSU’s undergraduate student government want students to shell out an extra $3 in taxes each semester, they need to explain themselves.
A joint session of ASMSU’s Student and Academic assemblies on Thursday approved measures to increase the organization’s student tax by $3 per semester.
The tax hike must be approved by a campuswide student vote before it can be collected. Undergraduates will vote on the measure in March.
It is our concern that ASMSU leaders need to justify their request to students.
The organization now collects a $13-per-semester student tax. That amount was increased from $10 three years ago.
While some representatives may feel an extra $3 each semester isn’t a financial burden, we remind them of budget woes being experienced at both the university and state levels.
Students already face the possibility of tuition rates going up by up to 8.5 percent. And the costs of other academic necessities, such as textbooks, aren’t going down either. An extra $3 may prove a financial burden topping off all the other fees that come with attending MSU.
The state Legislature has called upon Michigan’s public universities to trim budgets as much as possible to confront the dismal economic forecast that lays ahead. Likewise, MSU administrators have asked the school’s departments to budget efficiently.
ASMSU is not exempt from tight budget requests. The organization must show students it has made every attempt to cut corners - wanting words will not suffice.
If programs have suffered because of a lack of dollars, then ASMSU leaders need to tell students what those programs were. If programs that have gone on without a problem in the past couldn’t be funded this year because of money restraints, students need to know what those events were and why.
ASMSU has not had an unblemished record of tax-dollar spending. In 2000, the organization spent almost $1,800 to furnish its offices with two new green leather sofas. The extravagant purchase was made, officials said, to create a more “hospitable and inviting” environment for visitors. In 1998, two student leaders used tax dollars to take a personal trip to Detroit.
Despite those indiscretions, ASMSU does offer a lot to students in free legal services and student event programming. If these are the areas which need help, ASMSU leaders should illustrate those needs.
If ASMSU wants students to show the money, it needs to show the reasons.
