EDITORIAL Money for nothing?

In a letter sent to the campus community on Monday, March 8, President Dr. Antoinette Iadarola informed those concerned that tuition and general fees for the 1999-2000 academic year would be $16,000, a $2,100 and a 9.7 percen~increase from this year. This means that for the second academic year in a row, tuition will have been raised nearly 10 percent.

Included in ladarola's letter is a vague, one-paragraph description of what constitutes such a dramatic increase in tuition. She briefly cites such improvements as renovations to Founders Hall, the groundbreaking for a new 160-bed residence hall and the addition of four new faculty members as reasons for a tuition hike that far exceeds the standard rate of inflation of 2 to 3 percent. If we are expected to pay this much more money for our education, do we not deserve a more specific account of how the additional money will be distributed?

Without providing us with more detailed information concerning where the extra money is going, the numbers just do not add up. Each year the incoming freshman class is growing significantly in numbers, therefore even more money is coming into the school. Instead of our tuition reflecting this surge in student population, it is increasing at exponential rates.

Even though every student is being affected by the tuition raise, not everyone will benefit from the improvements that the money is supposedly going towards. The 160-bed residence hall that is being built beginning in May is intended to house only first-year students. Then why are current students being forced to provide the funding for a building that is not being constructed for their use?

Loquitur concedes that the improvements Iadarola writes of in her letter are worthy to the school on the whole. However, many students, specifically the current junior and • sophomore classes, will never have the opportunity to see and utilize the upgrades

If we are being asked to foot such a steep tuition increase for a second year in a row, are we not worth the respect to provide us with more specific information, like a cent by cent breakdown, about where our hard-earned money is going?

This editorial represents the combined views of the Loquitur's student editorial board. It does not represent the opinion of any one individual writer or any member of the faculty, staff or administration.