Just hold on a second and let me see if I’ve got this straight. The Athletic Department feels it is entitled to increase student fees by about $60 per semester in order to pay for sports programs that many students don’t care about or pay attention to. On the other hand, the Student Health Service wants a $10 per semester student fee increase to continue to provide good quality health care to much of the student population.

Obviously, students don’t want to pay both increases because, well, we’re students, so we’re broke. So let’s decide which fee increase we want to pay. The athletic department supports a bunch of adequate sports teams and provides students with some free entertainment. This is assuming, of course, that students are entertained by amateur sports and have the time to attend games or meets. Personally, I have never attended an NIU sports related function and I am annoyed each semester when I have to write a check for fees to pay for something that is absolutely meaningless to me. Furthermore, sports function rather then charging everyone through the student fee structure. If door receipts are not enough to support a program, then it is obvious that the students are apathetic and the sports program should go broke and disappear.

The Health Service, however, serves many of NIU’s students in a very low cost, efficient and professional way. With thousands of people living and working so closely with one another, it is important that people be encouraged to seek medical attention promptly when they need it. If the Health Service were to dissolve or turn into a ‘pay as you go’ plan, fewer students would seek medical attention promptly because of high costs. It is clear that the Health Service provides a necessary and useful service to the entire NIU community for a very reasonable cost.

The choice is clear that the Health Service deserves an increase in its budget. The costs athletic department , however, should cut its costs and/or its programs and stop expecting the students to fork over their hard earned money for nothing.

KIMBERLY SULLIVAN

Political Science

Graduate Student