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Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                            Matt Dulin                             Tony Hernandez 
                Jim Parsons             Dusti Rhodes           Blake Whitaker

Student Service Fee increase a necessary evil

The Student Government Association Senate voted Wednesday to allow the Student Service Fee to exceed the previous cap of $150. State law still prohibits the fee from being increased beyond $250, and allows for the fee to be increased no more than 10 percent each year. Some students will no doubt be displeased with this turn of events, but all sides must be considered when looking at the SGA Senate's decision.

Last year, the Student Fees Advisory Committee was $300,000 short, which translates into cut funds for everything from Athletics to the Health Center. 

Suffice to say, the fee covers a great deal of services that students enjoy on a daily basis. These services aren't free, and when things like salary increases come along, the money has to come from somewhere. 

If there were a case in which SFAC was irresponsibly distributing its budget, there would be cause for concern. It's the students' responsibility, however, to make sure that doesn't happen -- all the fee forums, where organizations that receive student fee money plead their cases, are open to the public and have time designated for the public to make comments. If you feel strongly about the situation, show up and have your voice heard.

The bottom line is the University is growing, and changing situations call for flexibility from students. SFAC is either going to be faced with some tough decisions, and valuable student services will be trimmed back or cut completely, or students will have to help keep the committee's budget in the black.

Keep in mind, this cap removal doesn't necessarily mean increases; although we're sure to see the fee go up, given the recent budget shortfall, the cap increase really offers flexibility for the SFAC to do its job. 

Perhaps, given the nature of this type of fee in a university like UH, the cap was wishful thinking to begin with.