Last Thursday the NIU President’s Fee Study Committee recommended a $1 per student annual refundable fee to help fund the Illinois Student Association. The fee must be approved through a student referendum this semester. Both the Champaign and Chicago campuses of the University of Illinois have already approved the fee. NIU should join them.

Among the ISA’s objectives are to make higher education accessible and affordable, advocate student interests to educational policy-makers, promote voter registration and student participation in elections and coordinate student lobbying efforts on a state-wide level for greater efficiency and effectiveness.

The main purpose of the new fee is to fund the establishment and maintenance of an ISA office in Springfield. There is an important advantage to having a constant student presence in the Capitol. It’s impossible to ignore.

The higher education system in Illinois is in big trouble. The legislature is not providing adequate funding for state colleges and universities. Consequently, students are faced with spiraling tuition and fee hikes. University faculty and staff have had their salaries frozen—again. Services have been cut so much that most students probably will take more than four years to get their degrees.

Student lobbying efforts for increased funding for the universities were unsuccessful last spring and again in the fall. The legislators didn’t listen—and the student voice simply wasn’t loud enough or constant enough to make them listen.

There are two major avenues students can employ to make their voice heard and to effect the necessary changes in Springfield. The first is the power of the vote. Politicians hear most clearly when their re-election bids are jeopardized. The second is to maintain a continual presence in the legislative offices—in effect, to become such pests, legislators will be glad to vote yes to higher education funding.

The voter registration effort at NIU is already under way. The next step is to support the ISA’s attempts to establish itself as an important, powerful lobby in Springfield.

Remember, “$1 Spent is $150 Saved.” When referendum day arrives this spring, be sure to mark the “yes” box.