Hey, you up there in those fancy schmancy offices -- remember the little people

For those UH students, faculty and staff members who missed Wednesday night's "Forum on a Proposal to Raise the General Use Fee," don't feel left out -- only one student and a Daily Cougar reporter showed up at the meeting.

Why? Because the administration didn't bother to tell anyone about the meeting until the last possible minute.

Although rumors about a possible fee increase have been circulating since January, the first notice of Wednesday's public hearing was an advertisement on Page 6 of Wednesday's Daily Cougar.

As far as the "proposed" fee increase is concerned, the concept of "proposing" to raise the General Use Fee is not an "if" question, it's a "when-and-how-much" question. The UH administration first poses the possibility of a fee increase, and then when few voices protest, they'll go ahead and do what they intended to do all along.

There's one catch -- all government bodies are required to post the agenda, time and place of all public meetings at least 72 hours before the event, especially public meetings which involve the allocation of public funds.

While Wednesday's public hearing involved no decision making, the announcement was posted less than 24 hours before the meeting and was not available to the public until the paper hit the news racks at 8 a.m. Wednesday, 10 hours before the meeting. That game plan guaranteed that little or no opposition to the increased fee would show up to object.

There are two ways to look at what UH administrators now describe as "an oversight": It could have been a deliberate attempt to shove this increase down students' throats without allowing much opportunity for students to object. But, that's not likely. Or, it really was an "oversight," which blatantly demonstrates that the people who lead UH need a strong dose of "reality check" from the student body.

According to the ad, questions should be directed to Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Elwyn Lee. Well, here's your question, Mr. Lee: Were you so busy counting your six-figure salary that you couldn't manage to notify the "little people," the student body members who will have to pony up the extra bucks to cover this fee increase? We thought your title was Vice President FOR Student Affairs. Maybe it should be Vice President AGAINST Student Affairs.

The Wednesday advertisement also announced a second meeting to be held March 5 at noon in the Kiva Room of Farish Hall.

The Daily Cougar believes the UH student body deserves more than one more chance to voice its opinion on this inevitable fee increase. UH should offer a third forum, and should announce the date of that meeting immediately.

Whoever is in charge over in E. Cullen, take a minute from counting your big bucks and think about the people who provide the money to pay your inflated salaries and the people who provide a reason for you to be here -- the student body.

Hey, you up there in those fancy schmancy offices -- remember the little people

For those UH students, faculty and staff members who missed Wednesday night's "Forum on a Proposal to Raise the General Use Fee," don't feel left out -- only one student and a Daily Cougar reporter showed up at the meeting.

Why? Because the administration didn't bother to tell anyone about the meeting until the last possible minute.

Although rumors about a possible fee increase have been circulating since January, the first notice of Wednesday's public hearing was an advertisement on Page 6 of Wednesday's Daily Cougar.

As far as the "proposed" fee increase is concerned, the concept of "proposing" to raise the General Use Fee is not an "if" question, it's a "when-and-how-much" question. The UH administration first poses the possibility of a fee increase, and then when few voices protest, they'll go ahead and do what they intended to do all along.

There's one catch -- all government bodies are required to post the agenda, time and place of all public meetings at least 72 hours before the event, especially public meetings which involve the allocation of public funds.

While Wednesday's public hearing involved no decision making, the announcement was posted less than 24 hours before the meeting and was not available to the public until the paper hit the news racks at 8 a.m. Wednesday, 10 hours before the meeting. That game plan guaranteed that little or no opposition to the increased fee would show up to object.

There are two ways to look at what UH administrators now describe as "an oversight": It could have been a deliberate attempt to shove this increase down students' throats without allowing much opportunity for students to object. But, that's not likely. Or, it really was an "oversight," which blatantly demonstrates that the people who lead UH need a strong dose of "reality check" from the student body.

According to the ad, questions should be directed to Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Elwyn Lee. Well, here's your question, Mr. Lee: Were you so busy counting your six-figure salary that you couldn't manage to notify the "little people," the student body members who will have to pony up the extra bucks to cover this fee increase? We thought your title was Vice President FOR Student Affairs. Maybe it should be Vice President AGAINST Student Affairs.

The Wednesday advertisement also announced a second meeting to be held March 5 at noon in the Kiva Room of Farish Hall.

The Daily Cougar believes the UH student body deserves more than one more chance to voice its opinion on this inevitable fee increase. UH should offer a third forum, and should announce the date of that meeting immediately.

Whoever is in charge over in E. Cullen, take a minute from counting your big bucks and think about the people who provide the money to pay your inflated salaries and the people who provide a reason for you to be here -- the student body.