Thank you NIU faculty, staff, students and local residents who pitched-in to the relief attempt on campus.

During the first three days of NIU’s Hurricane Katrina fund-raiser, $3,489 was raised to aid victims of the most violent natural disaster in America’s history.

Some people gave spare change while others wrote checks for literally hundreds. Some offered clothing and supplies such as sleeping bags and blankets.

All this, with Friday remaining to cap off the week.

But then again, shame on you NIU faculty, staff, students and local residents who could not spare a buck.

During the first three days of NIU’s Hurricane Katrina relief fund-raiser, only $3,489 was raised to aid victims of the most violent natural disaster in America’s history.

That’s right, a total of $3,489 was donated at 11 locations by a student body of roughly 25,000 people.

If each student gave $1 (the amount equal to a bag of chips from a vending machine, or a trip through the toll-booth on Annie Glidden Road) the sum would be $25,000 from students alone – more than seven times the amount donated.

As it stands, and in fear of sounding eerily similar to Sally Struthers, the breakdown equals 14 cents per student.

If the hundreds of faculty and staff members are factored into that total, the average per NIU patron is even less.

What makes the low turn-out so frustrating is the amount of bleeding-heart lip-service uttered in classrooms and on the streets. People regale one another with tales about tragic CNN images, who, when asked if they donated, utter, “I haven’t had a chance to yet.”

Oh really? Because the locations are far out of your way? Because it takes so much work to scrounge up change from your couch cushions? Or because talking about the tragedy is just easier than doing something about it?

But then again, this is just our 2 cents. It pails in comparison to the 14 you all chipped in.

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