Every term that I pay tuition to University of Waterloo, there’s a number of additional fees, nominal amounts, that are tacked onto the overall bill.

Most of these, such the WEEF fee, I pay gladly, confident that their role on campus is worthwhile. Others, such as the student newspaper, I may object to elements of the organization, but I realise that they perform a necessary service on campus which requires significant financial backing to assist with.

However, during my first term, there were some students circulating a petition to have a full-scale referrendum on whether the fee to a certain WPIRG should continue to be an automatic payment. Like the Imprint and WEEF fees, it’s possible to go to their office and have it refunded, but in my mind, there’s a fundamental difference between this WPIRG and student newspaper: A significant chunk of the first-years have no idea what the organization is, let alone that it’s a highly socialist body with questionable views on rather important issues such as racism.

Additionally, there’s the issue of where the money’s going. For a group that collects in $167,000 in an automatic fee, it’s a little disappointing that $90,000 of it pays two full-time staff. Why is it that this group over the dozens of student clubs qualifies for automatic support? Clubs like WatsFic and CTRL-A actually collect $5 a term from their members to help fund various activities and purchases.

Could we just rename the Intervarsity with something neutral like “Social and Religious Research Board” and then tack a fee onto everyone’s tuition so we can get a fancy glassed-in office and hire outsiders as full-time staff?

I’d like to see all of the optional tuition fees clearly stated as such on the bill, with a tick-box for the ones you’d like to opt-out of. Not because I don’t support the organizations, but because they should have to persuade us that they’re worth it. They could even include literature in the envelope explaining what they do and encouraging people to pay.

Basically, it’s frustrating that the sort of group who publishes a pamphlet informing renters of their rights has to survive on fees collected from students too apathetic to reclaim them. If they carpool to Ottawa to protest non-environmentally sound new laws, they should be able to persuade students to opt-into the fee.

Mike

← Earlier Later → Posted at 3:19 pm to Waterloo.