Opinion
 

Regents should be elected by the UH community

By Jim McCormick

The recent action by state legislators to deregulate university tuition rates and to allow regents to set rates, has left the prices we pay at the beginning of each semester to a group of people appointed by the governor. While nobody seemed to notice it at the time, this means our tuition, as well as taxpayer money, is under the control of a group of people who are not accountable to anyone.

Basically, we have an oligarchy here at the University which controls how broke we are each semester and how to spend the money we give them without having to get our input. This should concern us all. If we have no say in how our money is spent, it opens the door to corruption.

We've all seen the "artwork" around campus. I know most of us would hesitate to call it art, but that's how this University chooses to spend the 1 percent of the building fund it must, by law, spend on art. If we had some say on how the building funds were spent, it would better reflect the personality of the people on this campus.

On another note, instead of gubernatorial appointment, regents should be elected by the students, faculty and employees of the university community in which they want to serve. It would discourage any potential abuse of tuition money and would force the regents to listen to issues on every Texas college student's mind.

Tuition regulation is a double-edged sword. It can be used constructively to build a stronger university through more student services, higher faculty pay and better facilities. But it also opens the door to embezzlement and wasteful construction projects.

Another benefit of having regents elected by university communities is that it would give everyone here a reason to think their opinion matters to the regents, no matter who's sitting in those seats. This would help with the general apathy that plagues this campus, and would keep the regents in touch with our needs.

As it stands, we have a bureaucracy in charge of the University that has the right to raise costs without restraint. This is far too dangerous for my taste. 

McCormick, an editorial writer for The Daily Cougar, can be reached at rantman_2000@sbcglobal.net.